Aqushela Explained
| Aqushela |
| Coords: | 13.387°N 38.8301°W |
| Type: | Freshwater artificial lake |
| Basin Countries: | Ethiopia |
| Area: | 0.2km2 |
| Volume: | 0.81e6m3 (designed volume) |
| Pushpin Map: | Ethiopia |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Cities: | Hidmo |
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
See also: Soil in Tanqwa Abergele.
Notes and References
- Book: De Wit . Joke . Stuwmeren in Tigray (Noord-Ethiopië): kenmerken, sedimentatie en sediment-bronnen. Unpub. M.Sc. thesis . 2003 . Department of Geography, K.U.Leuven.
- Teka . Kassa . Nyssen . Jan . Teha . Nurhusen . Haile . Mitiku . Deckers . Jozef . Soil, land use and landform relationship in the Precambrian lowlands of northern Ethiopia . CATENA . 1 August 2015 . 131 . 84–91 . 10.1016/j.catena.2015.03.010 . 2015Caten.131...84T .
