Mukungwa river is about 43 km long, and lies between 4 districts: Musanze, Gakenke, Nyabihu and Ngororero. Its water source is mainly from Burera-Ruhondo lake complex, towards its confluence with Nyabarongo river, the source of Akagera that later form Nile river. Mukungwa river is in the centre of Mukungwa catchment. Mukungwa river is one of the 16 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in Rwanda. It is home to Endangered Grey crowned cranes, Grauer�s swamp warbler, vulnerable Paprus yellow warblers, Haplochromis erythromaculatus, and critically endangered Labeobarbus ruasae, Varicorhinus platystoma among other biodiversity. Mukungwa river enriches the community with fishes, and water for irrigation. It provide electricity used countrywide where it holds two hydropower plants.

However, Mukungwa river is threatened mainly by anthropogenic activities that include agriculture encroachment, exacerbated by the absence of buffer zone at some points of the river.