The objective of this study is to reveal the spatial and temporal variations of surface water quality in this part of the River Nile with respect to heavy metals pioneerution. Seventeen parameters in total were monitored at seven sites on a monthly basis from October 2013 to September 2014. The dataset was treated using the tools of univariate and multivariate statistical analyses. Cluster analysis showed three different groups of similarity between the sampling sites reflecting the variability in physicochemical characteristics and pollution levels of the study area. Six PCs factors were identified as responsible for the data structure explaining 91 % of the total variance. These were eutrophication factor (23.2 %), physicochemical factor (20.6 %), nutrients (16.3 %) and three additional factors, affected by alkalinity and heavy metals, recorded variance less than 15 % each. Also, the heavy metals pollution index (HPI) revealed that most of the calculated values were below the critical index limit of 100. However, two higher values (124.89 and 133.11) were calculated at sites V and VI during summer due to the temperature and increased run-off in the river system.

River was studied to assess the impacts caused by human activities. The sampling was done monthly at seven stations during October 2013-September 2014. A plankton ring net with 180 µm mesh size was used to avoid the bias toward the collection of smaller mesozooplanktons such as rotifers and copepod larvae. Thirty-six mesozooplankton taxa were recorded. Cladocera was the most abundant group (41.6%), followed by Copepods (29.9%), Rotifera (14.8%), and Ostracoda (13.2%). The decrease in rotifers density in favor of copepods and cladocerans in the ROT:CLA:COP ratio suggesting an increase in the area eutrophication. According to SIMPER analysis, the most important taxa were Bosmina longirostris, Ceriodaphnia reticulate, Moina micrura, Acanthocyclops americanus, Brachionus calyciflorus, and Candona subgibba. Multivariate analysis indicated that the variations in species distribution were associated with environmental factors, especially water temperature, conductivity, and nitrate. The degree of anthropogenic disturbance determines the quality and quantity of plankton in the study area. Consequently, the discharged post-cooling waters should be controlled to protect zooplankton fauna and in consequence the planktivorous fish of the study area.