Aqushela

Aqushela
Aqushela
	The reservoir never gets full with water, as evidenced by the trees growing on its bottom
	Aqushela
Coordinates	13°23′13″N38°49′48″E / 13.38695882°N 38.83006536°E
Type	Freshwater artificial lake
Basin countries	Ethiopia
Surface area	0.2 km2 (0.077 sq mi)
Water volume	0.81×106 m3 (660 acre⋅ft) (designed volume)
Settlements	Hidmo

Last updated June 12, 2025

Aqushela is a typical over-dimensioned reservoir located in the Tanqwa-Abergele woreda of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia. The earthen dam that holds the reservoir was built in 1999 by the Relief Society of Tigray.^[1]

Dam characteristics

Dam height: 11.5 metres
Dam crest length: 456 metres
Spillway width: 16 metres

Capacity

Original capacity: 810,000 m³
Dead storage: 121,500 m³
Reservoir area: 20.5 ha

These are the design values. In practice, the runoff from the catchment is largely insufficient to fill the reservoir, which serves only as shallow drinking pond for livestock.^[1]

Irrigation

Designed irrigated area: 50 ha
Actual irrigated area in 2002: 0 ha

Environment

The catchment of the reservoir is 13.5 km² large. The lithology of the catchment is Precambrian metamorphic rock.^[1] Land use is strongly dependent on lithology: soils on metamorphic black limestone are used for cropping, while those on the schist and slate formations are under savannah woodland. Lands on the green-reddish-gray metamorphic banded marl formation are used for settlements. Most common soil types are:^[2]

in the metamorphic black limestone formation: Endoleptic Calcisol at the upper slope (plateau); Endoleptic Cambisol and Vertic Leptosol at the middle slope; Hypercalcic Calcisol at the footslopes and Grumic Vertisol at the lower slopes
in the schist and slate formations: Leptosol both at the upper slope and at the foot slope positions; Regosol (Calcaric) over Hypercalcic Calcisol at the mid slope position and Fluvisol at the valley bottom
in the green-reddish-gray metamorphosed banded marl: Leptic Calcisol at the upper slope, Haplic Calcisol at the foot slope, and Fluvisol at the valley bottom

References

1 2 3 De Wit, Joke (2003). Stuwmeren in Tigray (Noord-Ethiopië): kenmerken, sedimentatie en sediment-bronnen. Unpub. M.Sc. thesis. Department of Geography, K.U.Leuven.
↑ Teka, Kassa; Nyssen, Jan; Teha, Nurhusen; Haile, Mitiku; Deckers, Jozef (1 August 2015). "Soil, land use and landform relationship in the Precambrian lowlands of northern Ethiopia". CATENA. 131: 84–91. Bibcode:2015Caten.131...84T. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2015.03.010.

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[joke-1] 1 2 3 De Wit, Joke (2003). Stuwmeren in Tigray (Noord-Ethiopië): kenmerken, sedimentatie en sediment-bronnen. Unpub. M.Sc. thesis. Department of Geography, K.U.Leuven.

[2] Teka, Kassa; Nyssen, Jan; Teha, Nurhusen; Haile, Mitiku; Deckers, Jozef (1 August 2015). "Soil, land use and landform relationship in the Precambrian lowlands of northern Ethiopia". CATENA. 131: 84–91. Bibcode:2015Caten.131...84T. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2015.03.010.

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