The negative consequences of floods on the socio-economic welfare of the global society cannot be
over emphasized. Flood causes lost of lives, properties and destruction of environment, these result in
several unwanted effects. Rwanda is not left out of the effect of this global disaster. Almost every year
a series of flood events that have negative impact on the society are recorded. This necessitates taking
measure to mitigate the impact of flood in the country. Nyabugogo wetland, located in the City of
Kigali, is one of the major flood prone areas in the country, where almost every year flood events are
recorded. This study aims at contributing to the mitigation of flood in the Nyabugogo wetland by
proposing the design of hydraulic structure which, if implemented, can reduce the magnitude of the
effect of flood in the area. The methodology involved the use of rainfall data for the period of 20 years
(1993-2012), flow records of Nyabugogo River for 2011, interviews and analyses of flood control
technologies to determine and propose the most appropriate measure for flood control in the concerned
wetland. The results show that in 2011 the peak of flash flood in the area takes place in October and
this coincide with the maximum recorded river discharge of 10.65 m3
/s, and water level of 2.01 m in
the Nyabugogo river. Among the analyzed methods, Self-Close Flood Barrier (SCFD) was proposed as
the most suitable flood control measure in the area as this technology can detect flood and protect the
area while it does not requires the use of electricity. It is recommended that further studies be
conducted to assess the economic feasibility of using this technology for flood control in the
Nyabugogo wetland.