Location
River Katonga with a lengh of 220 km is located in the south-western part of Uganda. It starts from Lake Victoria and flows, first, northwards into Lake Wamala. The river then flows westwards to empty into Lake George which connects via the Kazinga Channel, with Lake Edward on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The source of River Katonga is located in Lukaya, Kalungu District with coordinates: Latitude:-0.1222; Longitude: 31.9111. River Katonga enters Lake George at Mpanga in Kamwenge District, with coordinates: Latitude: 0.0440; Longitude: 30.2899. On its course westwards, the river forms the borders of the following districts : Kalungu District, Bukomansimbi District, Mpigi District, Butambala District, Gomba District, Mityana District, Mubende District, Sembabule District,Kiruhura District, Ibanda District and Kamwenge District.
Landscape
The vegetation of the Katonga Reserve is mixed Savannah with acacia scrubland or woodlands. A large portion of the reserve is either permanent or seasonal wetlands. There are also pockets of river line and tropical forest.
Wildlife
It is home to over forty (40) species of mammals and over one hundred and fifty (150) species of birds of which many of them specific to wetland habitats.
Commonly sighted in the wetland reserve are elephant, waterbuck, reedbuck, colobus monkeys and river otters.