The State of Freshwaters in Ethiopia

Chapter 5 The State of Freshwaters in Ethiopia Girma Kebbede Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA, USA February 2016 Ethiopia is a major source of freshwater for northeastern Africa. Rising high above the surrounding areas, it supplies its neighbors with both freshwater and vast amounts of alluvial soil through rivers that originate from its territory. Many of its rivers are short mountain streams. At their upper reaches they run through deep and narrow canyons and are strongly influenced by rainfall. Many form numerous rapids and waterfalls. As a result, their use is limited because they are not navigable, and only a few of them have broad valleys to pursue irrigation agriculture. Utility is usually higher at their lower ends, but this part of their course often falls outside Ethiopia. Still, freshwater represents Ethiopia’s most plentiful natural resource. Overall, annual rainfall is adequate, and the country has several major lakes and rivers and significant groundwater resources. Ethiopia’s per capita share of a renewable water resource is better than most Sub-Sahara African countries. However, this situation is changing with increasing water demand induced by high population growth and increased socioeconomic development activities. This chapter deals with the state and distribution of freshwater resources in the country, threats to water ecosystems, and the challenges of water resource development and management. Distribution of Freshwater Resources Eight major river systems traverse the country’s extensive surface: the Blue Nile (locally known as Abbay), Awash, Baro, Dawa, Genale, Omo, Wabi Shebele, and Tekeze. There are several major lakes of varying depth and sizes. Every year an estimated 1.3 trillion cubic meters of rainwater is discharged into these water sources.1 The total surface water potential of the country is estimated to surpass 110 billion cubic meters annually,2“ half of which comes from the Blue Nile System, 14 percent through the Omo River in the south, and 12 percent through the BaroAkobo system in the southwest.”3 Though Ethiopia possesses large quantities of freshwater, uneven distribution of water and human settlements pose significant obstacles for freshwater use and accessibility. While groundwater is a vital source of water for domestic purposes, industries, and livestock, it is not found in plentiful supplies due to the impermeability of the crystalline rocks.4 Estimates of potential safe yields of groundwater vary. The Ministry of Water Resources estimates the total yield at about 2.6 billion cubic meters per year.5 But other estimates are more generous. The Ethiopian Institute of Geological Surveys puts the estimate at 6.5 billion cubic meters.6 The availability of groundwater is largely dependent on geology. The complex geologic history of 138 Freshwater Ethiopia has created an uneven distribution of these water resources.7 The highland areas that experience precipitation levels of 2000 to 2400 mm/year have the lowest infiltration capacity due to their extensive metamorphic bedrock or crystalline basement, which has almost zero primary porosity.8 The lowland areas are the most arid, sometimes receiving only 200 mm of rain per year or less, yet they have the highest infiltration capacities as they overlie sandstones, gravel, and alluvial deposits. Apart from the inverse relationship between infiltration rates and precipitation, there is also a detrimental relationship between topography and rainfall. The highlands have steep slopes, rocky escarpments, and narrow gorges and are also currently experiencing significant erosion due to deforestation and over-production by farmers. Water is driven by gravity but also is not stopped or slowed by vegetation or soils. Consequently, recharge rates in the highlands are too low for a mass exploitation of groundwater deposits.9 In the highlands, groundwater recharge is eight to 20 percent of precipitation due to the high level of rainfall. In the lowlands, recharge rates drop to below five percent even as infiltration rates rise.10 In the lowlands, precipitation is absorbed into the porous ground almost instantaneously, creating an ideal aquifer environment. But there is so little rainfall that the groundwater yields are insufficient for more than livestock watering and domestic water supplies.11 The primary source of groundwater is the subsurface recharge and runoff from the highlands, with recharge rates declining with distance into the lowlands.12 Aquifers across Ethiopia all have low to moderate productivity due to either low infiltration in the highlands or little recharge in the lowlands. Over 4,000 boreholes tap into the country’s groundwater year-round.13 Because many groundwater locations are “highly mineralized and non-potable,”14 only a small percentage of Ethiopia’s groundwater is usable. Across the country there are issues with unacceptably high and low levels of nitrates, arsenic, iron and manganese, and iodine.15 In the highlands, groundwater frequently contains sodium, calcium, and magnesium bicarbonates. In the Rift Valley, these bicarbonates also occur, along with sulphate, chloride, and fluoride classified as sodium bicarbonate type. The groundwater in the Valley has extremely high fluoride and salt levels. This poses a difficulty for households in the Rift Valley who depend on the untreated groundwater. Apart from detrimental health effects, the taste of water may also drive water users to more dangerous surface water sources.16 Ethiopian groundwater is minimally affected by anthropogenic pollution. However, there are localized exceptions. Nitrate levels in the water table tend to be dangerously high in several urban areas, especially Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. Leaky septic tanks primarily cause high nitrate rates and are exacerbated when the water table is close to the surface. Other causes of high nitrate levels are the evaporation of saline groundwater and fertilizer run-off from irrigated land.17 Ethiopia possesses a vast amount of thermal groundwater. Much of it is in the Rift Valley in volcanically active zones that cover about 100,000 square kilometers of the surface.18 Potential areas of thermal groundwater include the Dallol, Tendaho, and Aluto areas in the northern part of the Rift Valley and the lake region in the middle Rift Valley. Active hot springs are plentiful in the Rift Valley, including the shores of lakes Shala and Langano and in Wondo Genet, Aluto, Boku, Sodere, Gidabo, and Beseka. Higher altitude areas such as the Addis Ababa Filwuha, Ambo and Woliso districts have thermal springs.19 139 River Basins The most important river in Ethiopia is the Blue Nile or Abbay, as locally called. The Blue Nile originates as a small stream near Mount Denguiza in West Gojjam, flows north into Lake Tana, exits from the southeastern corner of the lake, and then takes a wide semicircle to the east and drops like a waterfall at Tis Isat, 30 kilometers south of Lake Tana. From there it flows south and west through deep canyons between Mount Choke in East Gojjam and Mount Amba Farit in South Wollo. Upon reaching the plain of Senna, it flows north into the clay plain of Sudan and takes the name of Bahr-el-Azraq, or the Blue Nile. It then flows another 735 km north before merging with the White Nile at Khartoum. On its 900 km course within Ethiopia, several tributaries, including the Beshillo, Jamma, Muger, Guder, Fincha’a, Didessa, and Dabus join it. These tributaries are all on the left-hand side, and like the major river, are perennial streams. The right-hand tributaries, including the Bolassa, Habad, and the Dinder, are steep and torrential.20 Despite large seasonal oscillation of its flows, the Blue Nile supplies 86 percent of the main Nile water.21 Within Ethiopia, the Blue Nile basin is the largest catchment, occupying a land area of 366,000 square kilometers—almost a third of the country’s land area.22 The basin covers 45 percent of the Amhara, 32 percent of the Oromiya, and 23 percent of the Benshangul-Gumuz regional states.23 The annual runoff of 52.6 billion cubic meters represents 50 percent of the total annual runoff of all rivers in the country.24 Many of the tributaries of the Blue Nile can be developed to generate electric power and develop irrigation schemes. However, little of the estimated 711,000 hectares of irrigable land in the basin is under cultivation.25 According to FAO, only 47,000 hectares of land was under irrigation in the Abbay Basin in 2001.26 Of the potential dozen or more hydroelectric plants that could be constructed in the basin, Ethiopia has only two hydroelectric plants, the Fincha’a and the recently completed Beles.27 In all, no more than 5 percent of the Blue Nile water is retained within Ethiopia’s boundaries.28 Historical precedence has complicated Ethiopia’s access to its own Blue Nile waters. For centuries Egypt and Sudan had appropriated the bulk of the Nile waters, to which Ethiopia contributes about 86 percent of the total discharge. The 1959 colonial-era agreement signed between Egypt and Sudan gave most of the Nile waters to Egypt, a much smaller amount to Sudan, and nothing at all to upstream countries, including Ethiopia.29 In the past both Egypt and Sudan were reluctant to come to terms with the principle of ‘equitable and reasonable use’ of water by all riparian states, the fundamental international principle laid down in the Helsinki Rules on Trans-boundary Waters.30 Egypt has consistently based its entitlement to the Nile water on an international water law principle known as the law of prior appropriation. Egypt argues that this law affords it ‘historical rights’ or ‘acquired rights’ to the full use of the Nile waters and to oppose upper riparian states that wish to carry out water projects on the Nile and its tributaries. In the past, Egypt has used diplomatic pressure and the threat of force to gain more control over the waters of the Nile and to undermine Ethiopia’s interests on the river. But in recent years upper riparian states are challenging Egypt’s continued dominance over the Nile River. Upper 140 Freshwater Major River Basins Map: Based on Ministry of Water Resources Data. Map Production:FAO (03/06/09).Retrieved on July 19, 2014: http://www.mowr.gov.et/AWMISET/Pages/Map1.html. riparian countries, including Ethiopia, have embarked on water development projects on the Nile waters that originate in their sovereign territory, arguing that they could use these waters responsibly without causing appreciable harm to the lower riparian states. As shall be discussed later in this chapter, Ethiopia, in particular, seems unwilling to wait much longer. It has already built two dams on the Beles River (a tributary of the Blue Nile) and on the Tekeze River (a tributary of the Atbara River) to generate electric power. It has embarked on building one of the largest dams in the world on the Blue Nile. Ethiopia’s determination to use its waters has now brought Egypt and Sudan, albeit reluctantly, to the negotiating table (more on this later in this chapter). The Tekeze River has many names. Where it starts near Gonder, it is called Guang. The Kunama, who live in the Ethiopia-Eritrea border region, call it Tika. Near the frontier with Sudan, it takes the name of Setit. After about 800 km, it meets up with the Atbara at Tomat in Sudan. The Tekeze River provides nearly 90 percent of the discharge of Atbara.31 The river begins near Lake Ashange in the eastern escarpment of the central highlands. It flows west through a steep gorge, circling the Lasta range, and then north and west again around the Semien range. As it runs through the mountains, it receives water from many tributaries. As it reaches its lower course, however, it becomes diminished during the dry season.32 The Tekeze basin covers an area of 69,000 square kilometers with an annual discharge volume of 7.6 billion cubic meters. The estimate for irrigable land in the basin is a quarter of a million hectares.33With the help of the China National Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering, a dam was completed on the river in 2009, which is now generating 300 Mega Watts of electricity. 141 The Awash River drains the central and northeastern regions of Ethiopia. This major river originates on the southern slopes of the Worke Mountain Range west of Addis Ababa at approximately 2,500 meters above sea level. Its drainage basin stretches across the northern part of the Ethiopian Rift Valley. The river flows east across the densely populated and intensively farmed Becho plains, where some tributaries join it to create annual flooding during the summer rainy season. The Koka Dam, constructed in 1960, impounds the waters in the Koka reservoir before releasing the river through a dam into the Rift Valley. The steep drop of the river has enabled the construction of hydroelectric facilities at Koka and a series of run-of-river schemes (Awash II and Awash III). The river turns north gradually and flows at some gradient along the foothills of the western highlands. A number of tributaries, including the deep gorge rivers of Kesem and Qabana, join it along this stretch. The Kesem and Qabana rivers cause frequent flooding in middle Awash, as do the Mille and Logiya rivers in lower Awash. Between Koka and the Awash Station, smaller tributaries that drain from the highland catchment to the east also join the river. The eastern plains constitute half of the river’s basin area. However, many of the drainage channels in this area never reach the Awash. The capacity of the river channel is drastically reduced as it passes the Gedebassa swamp located downstream of the Awash Station. The main channel flows adjacent to the swamp and often floods it. Approximately two-thirds of the river’s volume enters the swamp. Once the river flows past the swamp, it receives input from the short and very seasonal rivers, the Borkena, Logiya, and Mille—which flow down the eastern slopes of the central highlands. Then the Awash turns abruptly east and finally terminates in a series of saline lakes, including Gamari, Afambo, Brio, and Abe, near Djibouti about 150 km from the Red Sea coast. These lakes lie below sea level and are often saline.32 The Awash River flows 1,200 kilometers from its origin to its termination. It is the only major river in the country that does not cross an international boundary. The total catchment area of the Awash River is about 113,000 square kilometers. Half of this area represents arid lands with no surface discharge. The annual volume of the river amounts to 4.9 billion cubic meters, of which 3,650 million cubic meters are usable.34 The Awash River valley is the most intensively utilized for irrigation and hydropower generation in the country. The Awash and its left bank tributaries deposit huge quantities of alluvial soils in the river’s middle valley, making the area among the most fertile places in the country. The river is also one of the most contested water resources. Government-sponsored irrigation development schemes in the valley have displaced many native pastoral and agropastoral groups (as discussed in Chapter 3). Recent years have seen increased conflicts between groups in the valley stemming from reduced access to pastureland and water resources and a steady increase in irrigation farms. The Wabi Shebelle is the longest Ethiopian River. Its catchment area of 205,407 square kilometers also makes it the second largest basin in the country. However, it has a lower runoff (3.2 billion cubic meters) than most major rivers because much of the basin is dry land. The river starts in Arsi, near the western ridge of the Eastern Highlands, follows the length of the Gugu and Chercher mountains, and then turns southeast, receiving water from the eastern slopes of the Hararghe highlands. It flows a distance of 1,340 km inside Ethiopia and a further 660 km into Somalia.35 The average annual rainfall in the basin is 450 mm, with only the northern and western highland parts of the basin, from which the river and its tributaries originate, receiving precipitation in excess of 1,000 mm. Most of the basin has an average annual rainfall of less than 142 Freshwater 400 mm and decreases in the eastern direction with increased aridity. There are several streams on the east side of the basin, including the Fafan River, but these rivers reach the main river only during heavy rain, which rarely occurs. The Wabi Shebelle never dries up but often disappears short of joining the Juba River in the coastal marshes of Somalia near Mogadishu as a result of evaporation, losses by seepage, and overbank spillage due to low channel capacities.36 The lower valley of Wabi Shebelle has significant economic importance. Large numbers of Somali pastoralists and agropastoralists cultivate crops and herd cattle along the river. Government-sponsored resettlements are increasingly taking place along the river as well. Usually, the Wabi Shebele River overflows its banks and farmers benefit by practicing flood recession agriculture. The irrigation potential in the river basin is estimated at 204,000 hectares.37 In more recent years, however, the river has been experiencing frequent destructive flooding. Flooding usually occurs when the rains are particularly heavy in the Arsi-Bale-Hararghe highlands. More recent flooding episodes took place in 1996, 1999, 2003, and 2005. Each time flooding occurs, thousands of people and tens of thousands of herds are swept away in Gode, Qalafo, Musthil, and Ferfer weredas—all in the Somali regional state. The Genale, Dawa, and Weyb rivers drain the southwestern escarpment of the eastern Ethiopian highlands. The basin has a catchment area of 171,000 square kilometers. The three rivers start just east of the Abaya and Chamo lakes on the eastern slope of the Arero-SidamaBale Mountains, which form a divide separating the lakes and the rivers. Because the basin lies nearly entirely within the rain shadow of the Sidama-Bale Mountains, the average annual precipitation is relatively small at 550 mm. Except a small area in the northern mountains, much of the basin receives no more than 400 mm annually, which makes the basin a semi-arid to an arid area.38 The 640 km long Dawa River forms the border with Kenya. Mountain torrents create the Genale, which eventually forms a deep valley after going over some high falls. The Weyb, flowing down from the southern slopes of Mount Enkolo, also lies in a very deep valley and in some cases even goes underground. The Weyb meets the Genale, and the Genale in turn merges with the Dawa, near Dolo on the frontier of Somalia, to form the Juba, which eventually drains into the Indian Ocean.39 The hydrographic catchment area of the Shebelle-Juba basin is shared by Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya and extends over an area of about 810,000 km2. Nearly half of the basin is within Ethiopia, and 90 percent of the flow comes from run-off in the Ethiopian southeastern highlands.40 The Gibe-Omo river basin drains much of southwestern Ethiopia. This river basin benefits from the high precipitation that occurs during the long rainy season from July to October and runoff from the rains from March to April. The source of the river lies in highlands of East Wollega, near Bako, at an elevation of more than 2,400 meters, where it is the Gibe River. The high waters of Gilgel Gibe join the Gibe River from the west, near the mountain town of Abelti. From there, the Gibe is known as the Omo and flows through a deeply incised valley that is broken by many falls. The Gojeb River, which rises from the high rainfall areas to the west of the town of Jimma, joins the Omo in its middle course. After that, the river makes a sharp turn to the west, then southward to drain the lowland valley of the lower Omo, before discharging into the closed basin of Lake Turkana, completing its 1,015-kilometer journey. Lake Turkana is almost entirely in Kenya.41 143 Table 4.1: Proposed water resource development in the Blue Nile River Basin ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Schemes Sub-basin Description ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tana-Beles transfer Tana and Beles Transfer of water from Lake Tanat o Beles catchment for Hydropower production and irrigation; Hydropower capacity: 219 MW; Average annual transfer: 2,424 Mm3 Anger irrigation and Hydropower scheme Anger Maximum irrigated area: 14,450 ha; Average annual demand: 202 Mm3; Hydropower capacity: 1.8-9.6 MW Irrigation in the Tana Sub-basin Lake Tana Dams to be constructed on the major inflows to Lake Tana (i.e. Megech, Ribb, Gumara and Gilgel Abbay); Total storage: 1,028 Mm3; Irrigation area:61,853 ha; average annual demand: 516 Mm3 Arjo irrigation and Hydropower scheme Didessa Arjo scheme: 13,665 ha; Average annual demand: 92.1 Mm3; Hydropower capacity: 33 MW Irrigation in the Beles Sub-basin Beles Upper Beles scheme: 53,700 ha; Lower Beles scheme: 85,000 ha; Average annual demand: 1,554 Mm3 Irrigation in the Dinder Sub-basin Dinder (transfer from Beles) Upper Dinder scheme: 10,000 ha; Average annual demand: 98.2 Mm3 Extension of the Fincha’a Irrigation scheme Fincha’a Extension from the west bank to the east bank using flow regulated by the existing Fincha’a Dam; Additional irrigation area: 12,000 ha; Average annual demand: 456.6 Mm3 Karadobi hydropower Scheme Blue Nile main stem 250 m high dam, total storage: 40,220Mm3; Hydropower capacity: 1,600 MW Mendaya hydropower Scheme Blue Nile main stem 164 m high dam, total storage: 15,900Mm3; Hydropower capacity: 1,620 MW Border hydropower Scheme Blue Nile main stem 90 m high dam, total storage: 11,100Mm3; Hydropower capacity: 1,400 MW Mabil hydropower Scheme Blue Nile main stem 170 m high dam, total storage: 17,200Mm3; Hydropower capacity: 1,200 MW Irrigation in the Guder Sub-basin Guder Guder diversion: 4,100 ha; Guder: 4,896 ha; Average annual demand: 54.4 Mm3 Nekemte Anger Nekemte scheme: 11,220 ha; Average annual demand: 71.5 Mm3 Didessa Irrigation Didessa Didessa irrigation scheme: 54,058 ha; Average annual demand: 769.4 Mm3 Lower Didessa Hydropower Didessa 110 m high dam, total storage: 5,510 Mm3; Hydropower capacity: 190 MW Dabus Irrigation and Hydropower Dabus Dabus irrigation scheme: 9,661 ha; Average annual demand: 69.4 Mm3; Hydropower capacity: 152 MW Danguar hydropower Beles 120 m high dam, total storage: 4,640 Mm3; Hydropower capacity: 33 MW Lower Dabus Dabus 50 m high dam, total storage: 1,290 Mm3; Hydropower Hydropower capacity: 164 MW ______________________________________________________________________________ Source: Johnston, R.; McCartney, M. 2010. Inventory of water storage types in the Blue Nile and Volta river basins. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute. 48p. (IWMI Working Paper 140), p. 13). 144 Freshwater The Omo River has recently become a source of contention and controversy due to the ongoing large-scale, multipurpose water development projects in the valley. The government has built two dams on the Gilgel Gibe. Gibe I generates about 184 MW on a dam with a capacity of 839 million cubic meters. Gibe II, which uses the water from Gibe I through a 26-km long tunnel, generates 420 MW. 42 The government is also building a third dam, the Gibe III, downstream at the confluence of the Omo and Gibe rivers. Construction is already more than one-third done. When completed, the dam will be the second largest hydroelectric project in the country. It will rise 240 meters high, making it the tallest dam in Africa, and will hold back nearly 14 billion cubic meters of water in the reservoir 150 kilometers meters long. The dam is expected to generate about 1,870 MW of electricity, more than twice the country's present generating capacity.43A fourth dam, Gibe IV, is planned downstream next to the Omo National Park, Ethiopia’s largest national park. The dam would have the energy capacity of the other three dams combined, at nearly 2,000 MW.44 The government plans to export the excess electricity to neighboring Djibouti, Kenya, and Sudan via a transmission connection. Environmentalists are concerned that the Gibe III dam will pose a serious threat to the Omo River and Lake Turkana ecosystems. The construction of the dam is feared to disrupt the natural hydrology of the river basin, resulting in severe habitat loss and sharp declines of many animal and plant species. More than 200,000 indigenous peoples of the lower Omo basin are dependent on flood-retreat cultivation, fishing, and grazing livestock along the Omo River. The Omo River collects fertile topsoil from the western highlands and deposits it on a flat plain, and people living along the river use the land to cultivate crops and graze cattle. The dam would regulate flooding and potentially destroy the traditional way of life that has been practiced for centuries.45 The forests and woodlands along the Omo River are also home for a variety of wildlife, including lion, leopard, elephant, kudu, warthog, buffalo, bushbuck, hippo, baboon, colobus monkey crocodile, and numerous bird species.46 The construction of the dam might also threaten Lake Turkana’s biodiversity. Lake Turkana is the fourth largest lake by volume in Africa. The Lake is 260 km long and about 30 km wide, with an average depth of 31 meters and a maximum depth of 114 meters. It has a surface area of 7,560 square kilometers and a volume of 237 cubic kilometers.47 It is a closed lake without a surface outlet. The Omo River is Lake Turkana’s only perennial tributary, supplying more than 90 percent of the lake’s inflow.48 On the Kenyan side, the Turkwel River drains into Lake Turkana but has been dammed for hydroelectric power generation at Turkwel Gorge west of the lake. The Turkana basin is hot and arid. The average annual precipitation surrounding the lake is less than 200 mm and is quite erratic and unpredictable.49 Lake temperatures fall between 24.5 and 39 degrees Centigrade. Much water is lost via evaporation. At 2,500 mg/l, the salinity of the lake is higher than other large lakes in Africa.50 145 Lake Turkana provides a habitat for about 56 fish species, of which 11 (20 percent) are endemic, 51 including Haplochromis macconneli, H. rudolfianus, and H. turkanae, Barbus turkanae, Brycinus ferox, B. minutus, Labeo brunellii, Lates longispinis and Neobola stellae.52 These and other fish species feed the world’s largest populations of Nile crocodile (Crocodylis niloticus). 53 During the flooding season, which occurs from June to September, various fish species of the lake, including: Hydrocynus forskalii, Alestes baremoze, Citharinus citharus, Distichodus niloticus, Barbus bynni, Brycinus nurse, Labeo horie, Clarias gariepinus, and Synodontis schall, migrate up the Omo River to breed.54 Other aquatic animals in the lake include: Hippopotamus amphibius, Crocodylus spp., and Pelusios broadleyi.55 The livelihoods of over 300,000 Kenyan fishermen and agropastoralists depend on Lake Turkana. The Turkana, who are traditional pastoralists, have turned to fishing because of recurrent droughts that have decimated their herd population. The Turkana’s favorite catches from the lake include tilapia, Nile perch, and catfish. Environmentalists fear that the 146 Freshwater construction of the Gibe III dam might damage the ecology of the lake by drastically reducing flow of the water.56 The Baro, Pibor and Akobo Basin, which is about 74,000 square kilometers in extent, is situated in the farthest southwest of the country and has an annual run-off of nearly 23 billion cubic meters.57The three rivers combined supply 89 percent of the Sobat waters in South Sudan.58 The basin receives the highest average annual rainfall (1,588 mm) of any river basin in Ethiopia. The basin is consists of four major catchments: the Akobo, Alwero, Gilo and Baro. The largest river in the basin is the Baro. The Baro, which is 280 kilometers long, is navigable from the plains of Gambela to the Sudan border, making it the only navigable river in Ethiopia. The Baro follows the boundary for a while before joining the Pibor, which is formed by the Gilo and Akobo. The headwaters of the Baro River rise in the wettest plateaus, south of Gore town, where rainfall totals between 2,000 and 2,800 mm annually and the rainy season extends over nine or ten months. The Akobo starts near Lake Turkana and runs northwest along the southwestern border. 59 The basin is characterized by the distinctive features of extensive lowland plain surrounded to the north and east by high plateaus that receive copious amount of rainfall. The run-off from the surrounding high plateaus inundates the Gambela lowland plain for six to seven months of the year. The water covers an area of about 350,000 hectares overflow.60 All the rivers, except for the Akobo, are slow moving waters because of the low gradient of the topography through which they flow. This allows aquatic plants to survive in the rivers. Unfortunately, recent years have seen the growth of the invasive water hyacinth in large sections of the Baro River.61 The Baro, Pibor, and Akobo rivers are part of the White Nile or Sobat watershed. The vast area of the Gambela Lowland Plain is designated as a protected area, including the Gambela National Park and two controlled hunting areas, Jikawo and Tedo. The Baro River and the Gambela National Park are home to three near threatened bird species: The Shoebill, Blackwinged Pratincole, and Basar Reed Warbler. Around 300 bird species have been recorded in the region.62The rivers and wetlands provide habitats for a vast number of aquatic animals, including crocodiles and hippopotamus. Some 100 fish species thrive in the waters of the basin, of which the Nile tilapia represent 80 percent of the catch.63 However, human activities in the basin are increasingly putting pressure on the land, forest, and wetland resources. Over 100,000 hectares of irrigable sites, 3.5 million hectares of land suitable for annual cropping, and nearly a million hectares of land suitable for perennial crops and grazing have been identified for development.64 Energy and Hydropower Ethiopia has substantial renewable energy resources in the forms of hydropower, solar, wind, natural gas, geothermal, and biomass. Ethiopia’s rugged topography is favorable for the development of hydropower. The rivers that cascade down from its highlands have the potential to produce an estimated 650 terawatt-hours per year. In sub-Saharan Africa, only the Democratic Republic of Congo tops this amount. 65 There is a substantial area of geothermal reserves stretching from the Danakil Depression in the Afar regional state along the Rift Valley to the Kenyan border. Geothermal energy can potentially provide about 7,000 megawatts of power. 147 Table 4.2: Drainage Basins of Ethiopia: Area and Water Volume ______________________________________________________________________________ Basins Area (km2) Annual runoff (billion m3) ______________________________________________________________________________ Blue Nile (Abbay) 199,812 52.62 Awash 112,697 4.60 Wabi Shebele 202,697 3.16 Genale-Dawa-Weyb 171,042 5.88 Rift Valley Lakes 52,739 5.64 Omo-Gibe 78,213 17.96 Baro-Pibor-Akobo 74,102 23.24 Tekeze 90,000 7.63 Danakil 153,346 0.86 ____________________________________________________________________________ Source: Tamiru Alemayehu, Ground Water Occurrence in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa: UNESCO, 2006. Retrieved on November 29, 2010, from: http://www.eah.org.et/docs/Ethiopian%20groundwater-Tamiru.pdf; Fitsum Merid (National Consultant), (2006), National Nile Basin Water Quality Monitoring Baseline Report for Ethiopia, Nile Basin Initiative, Trans-boundary Environmental Action Project, Addis Ababa, 2008. Retrieved on March 24, 2011, from: http://nilerak.hatfieldgroup.com/English/NRAK/Resources/Document_centre/WQ_Baseline_report_Ethiopia.pdf, p. 15. There is a confirmed natural gas reserve of 108 billion cubic meters, the vast majority of which is found in the Somali regional state. Because Ethiopia receives significant sunshine throughout the year, the potential to produce solar energy is vast. Wind energy potential is also great. The wind and solar energy cost almost nothing although the up-front costs are high. All these resources remain mostly underutilized, and per capita energy consumption rate in the country is among the lowest in the world. Like many other sub-Saharan African countries, most of the energy consumed in Ethiopia is in the form of biomass. Rural populations almost exclusively use biomass to meet domestic energy demands. Fuelwood, crop residues, and animal dung are all used as fuel. More than twothirds of all urban households depend on these energy sources as well. Ethiopia produced and consumed more than 93 million cubic meters of fuelwood in 2005, the highest production of timber for firewood in Africa.66 Very few modern forms of energy are used in the country, and overall energy consumption is low. The dependency on traditional biomass energy sources puts a strain on natural resources; the country is suffering from severe environmental destruction. The combination of population growth, expansion of agricultural land, and high demand for fuelwood for energy has created a detrimental ecological imbalance, including deforestation and soil erosion (as discussed in detail in Chapter 2).67 148 Freshwater Ethiopia’s per capita energy consumption is among the lowest in the world: about 25 kWh of electricity, 16 kg of petroleum and 276 kg of oil equivalent of other energy sources, mainly biomass. 68 The bulk of energy consumption, about 82 percent, is in the household sector. Currently, 95 percent of national energy consumption is from biomass: wood, dung, crop residues, and human and animal power. The remaining 5 percent is provided by electricity and petroleum products, of which 90 percent is from hydropower.69Access to electricity remains beyond reach for the vast majority of Ethiopians, with only 15 percent of the population having access to electricity. In the rural areas, where 80 percent of the population resides, less than 2 percent of the households have access to electricity. In cities and towns, the figures are considerably better, with 86 percent of the households being serviced, albeit experiencing frequent power interruptions and rolling blackouts. Even with copious rainfall, silting problems in reservoirs frequently diminishes hydroelectric generating capacity. Ethiopia has the second largest number of citizens without access to electricity in Africa—after oil-rich Nigeria.70 The Ethiopian government estimates the demand for electricity will increase by 25 percent each year. The growth is fueled by the country’s expected GDP growth rate at 6 percent or more, industrial growth rate at 7 percent, agricultural growth rate at 5.4 percent, and growth rate in services at 7.7 percent, urbanization growth rate at 4.5 percent, and population growth rate at 3 percent annually. 71 According to the government’s estimate, Ethiopia’s power production capacity from hydro, wind, geothermal and solar may well exceed 60,000 MW, which is almost half the total present installed capacity in Africa.72 The government sees the development of hydropower as the primary means of increasing the energy supply. Ethiopia has the potential to produce 100 times more hydropower than it now does, which is less than 2,000 MW annually.73 Realizing the potential of this resource, the government has designed a ten-year plan to increase the country’s power generation capacity about fifteen times the current capacity in 2020. The government plans to invest $13 billion in 10 hydropower plants over the next ten years. The completion of the 2,000 MW Gibe III hydro dam is expected in 2015. Sinohydro, the Chinese firm that built the famed Three Gorges Dam, has been contracted to build the 1,600 MW Gibe IV dam and the 254 MW Genale- Dawa III and Chemoga Yeda hydropower projects.74 A 6,000 MW project on the Blue Nile is also under construction. Upon the completion of these and other hydroelectric projects, the country could become a major exporter of electricity in the Horn of Africa. Then electricity will easily replace coffee as the top source of foreign currency. The government has already initiated plans for constructing transmission lines to neighboring Djibouti, Sudan, and Kenya.75 From the government’s perspective, hydropower dams provide several potential benefits. They can provide a reliable source of power at low cost, thus raising standards of living and encouraging economic development. They help protect the environment by providing a clean, renewable source of energy. Large thermal power generation plants could produce fuel savings. They can help regulate river flow and reduce floods in the lowlands caused by high rainfall in the highlands. They can release water during dry periods for water supply, irrigation, navigation, fisheries, and aquatic ecosystems in the lowlands. They can enable small-scale enterprises and non-agricultural opportunities that help raise populations out of poverty. Finally, by providing a reliable power source for industry, they can promote economic productivity.76 The increase in the supply of affordable electricity will also reduce dependence on biomass and protect forests and watersheds. 149 With the completion of these dams, the government plans to provide each household in the country with energy for heating, lighting, cooking, and domestic work. The provision of clean energy will significantly reduce indoor pollution. Indoor air pollution is a serious human health problem in all rural and most urban homes in Ethiopia. In particular, women and young children are exposed to large amounts of smoke and particles from indoor cooking and heating fires and, as a result, they suffer from several respiratory diseases. Reservoir storage is essential to regulate river flow for irrigation and power production since the country is prone to hydrological variability and drought. Infrastructure, such as large dams for water supplies and energy, will be needed in the future as the population increases. However, any development of infrastructure will have an impact on the environment. Construction of dams or power plants, along with the creation of reservoirs, will have various social and environmental impacts. Most negative environmental consequences of water resource development projects occur during construction and in the first few years of operation. They include water-related diseases, resettlement of populations, and loss of agricultural and forest land. Sedimentation of reservoir becomes a major problem years later; it reduces the storage volume of the reservoir and the reservoir’s ability to regulate the flow, mitigate floods, and supply water and also causes operational problems, as has occurred with the Koka Reservoir in the Awash basin.77 The Ethiopian government has undertaken integrated master plan studies in several river basins such as Abbay, Baro-Akobo, Gibe-Omo, Tekeze, Wabi Shebele, and Genale-Dawa. It envisages comprehensive potential development projects in a number of these basins, including water supply, irrigation, hydropower, flood control, fisheries, recreation, navigation, and industry (See Table 4.3). There are no comprehensive agreements between the nation-states that share trans-boundary river basins with Ethiopia. Ten states share the Nile Basin, but it is one of the few major rivers in which there is a great disparity between the riparian states. Some states contribute much to the Nile’s flow but use very little of its waters (like Ethiopia), while others contribute nothing but use most of its water (like Egypt). The Helsinki Rules laid down equitable and reasonable use of water between riparian states sharing a trans-boundary body of water. However, among the Nile Basin states, reluctance to recognize this principle has remained a challenge in negotiating water use.78 Sharing the waters of the Nile River has been a delicate matter of negotiation and political tension for several decades between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.79 There is no international treaty for the sharing of the Blue Nile waters between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. The 1959 Nile treaty between Egypt and Sudan excludes Ethiopia, the source of the Blue Nile. For years, Ethiopia has been pushing the Nile riparian states for an equitable allocation the Nile waters, arguing that the countries of the Nile Basin have to meet the challenges of poverty, rapid population growth, environmental degradation, and instability. In response to this challenge, the Nile riparian states launched the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) in 1999. The overall objective of the NBI has been to promote socioeconomic development by utilizing the Nile’s resources. This goal is to be realized through strategic action programs, including basin and sub-basin joint investment projects. Such projects include promoting efficient use of water for agriculture, implementing trans-boundary environmental protection and rehabilitation projects, undertaking water resource planning and management actions, promoting power linkages and trade between basin states, building confidence between stakeholders, and capacity building through training. 150 Freshwater Table 4.3: List of dams and hydropower plants ______________________________________________________________________________ Name Installed capacity Commissioning Fincha 134 MW 1973 Gilgel Gibe I 180 MW 2004 Fincha (Blue Nile) Omo River Tekezé 300 MW 2009 Tekeze (Atbara) Beles 460 MW 2010 Gilgel Gibe II 420 MW 2010 Gilgel Gibe III 1870 MW Basin Contractor Financing Cost Salini Sinohydro Corporation World Bank $331m Chinese $365m Lake Tana (Blue Salini Nile) Omo River (no dam, Salini fed by GG I) Ethiopian government 2012-13 Omo River Salini Italy Planned Fincha’a (Blue Nile) China Gezhouba Exim Bank of $276m Group Co. (CGGC) China 2014 Omo River Sinohydro Corporation Fair Fund Euro 470m Gilgel Gibe IV 2000 MW 2014 Tributary off the Omo River Sinohydro Corporation Chinese $1.9bn Chemoga Yeda 278 MW 2013 Tributary of the Blue Sinohydro Nile, near Debre Corporation Markos Chinese $555m Fincha’a Amerti 100 MW Nesse (FAN) Halele Worabese Genale-Dawa III Renaissance Dam 440 MW awarded in 2009 6,000 MW 2011 Italy and EIB Between Oromo and Chinese CGGC Chinese Somali states Blue Nile Italian & Ethiopia Eth. Military Engineering ___________________________________________________________________________________ 256 MW Euro 370m Euro 1.55bn $408m $5b Dams and hydropower in Ethiopia. Wikipedia. Retrieved on January 5, 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dams_and_hydropower_in_Ethiopia. In spite of these positive developments, negotiations through the Nile Basin Initiative have been unable to come up with solutions acceptable to all the riparian countries. To date there is no binding legal and institutional agreement between the states that share the Nile waters that acknowledges each state’s right to use its waters or that such rights “are limited in any way by the principle of just and equitable water sharing.”80 It is because of the lack of progress in arriving at basin-wide agreements that upstream states have recently begun launching unilateral projects to develop their trans-boundary water resources. Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda have already signed a Cooperative Framework Agreement declaring colonial era over the Nile waters invalid. In 2000, Ethiopia issued a proclamation declaring its entitlement to the use of its waters based on international norms and conventions endorsed by the country (Ethiopian Water 151 Resources Management Proclamation, No. 197/2000, dated March 9, 2000). The Ethiopian parliament also ratified the Nile Basin Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2013, replacing the 1929 colonial agreement that gave Egypt the lion’s share of the Nile waters. And finally, despite stiff opposition and dire warnings from Egypt, Ethiopia pressed ahead with the construction of one of the most complex hydraulic projects in the country’s history, the US$5 billion dam—the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)—over the Blue Nile River.81 The dam inundates 160,00082 hectares of land and is predicted to be the largest hydroelectric power plant in the African continent and the seventh largest in the world, adding about 6,000 MW of installing capacity to Ethiopia’s energy grid. It has the capacity of holding 63 billion cubic meters of water, twice the size of Lake Tana, which is the largest natural lake in the country83 or equivalent to the annual flow of the Nile at the Sudanese-Egyptian border. One beneficial outcome for both Egypt and Sudan is that this mega dam will retain much of the silt washed away from the Ethiopian highlands. That will certainly help increase the useful lifetime of the Roseires, Sennar and Meroe dams in Sudan and the Aswan High Dam in Egypt. On the other hand, siltation might shorten the lifespan of the GERD unless the country embarks on a massive re-afforestation of the Blue Nile basin. While Sudan has sided with Ethiopia on the GERD project from the start, Egypt opposed it despite Ethiopia’s assurance that there will be negligible reduction, if at all, in the flow of water downstream during the years the reservoir fills up. However, after years of foot-dragging and hostile approach to dealing with Ethiopia on the use of the Nile waters, Egypt The GERD under construction: 40 percent completed (Photo by author) 152 Freshwater finally came around and chose cooperation than confrontation by acknowledging Ethiopia’s right to build the GERD and signed the agreement on Declaration of Principles (DoPs) on the GERD. The DoPs was signed in Khartoum on March 23, 2015 by Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn of Ethiopia, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt, and President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir of Sudan. 84 The DoPs agreement outlines the principles determining the managerial approach that Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia should adopt for the Easter Nile waters. The principles: common understanding, good faith, development, not causing damage, fair and appropriate use of water, trust building, exchange of information and data, dam security, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the state, and peaceful settlement of disputes. By agreeing to and signing of the DoPs, Egypt has accepted Ethiopia’s right to use the waters of the Blue Nile. Egypt’s President Al-Sisi paid a visit to Ethiopia immediately following the signing of the DoPs in Khartoum. In his address to the Ethiopian Parliament, he praised the Ethiopian government for its understanding, flexibility and genuine mindfulness of Egypt’s water needs and acknowledged Ethiopia’s right to build the GERD. Egypt’s turn around is a milestone in the history of cooperation on the Nile waters, and the hope is that the cooperation between the three lower riparian countries will reduce tensions and build trust for a future comprehensive agreement between all the riparian countries. Also, basin-wide cooperation is vital to sustainable water resources management in the region. Part of the 1,840 square kilometer land that will be inundate when the dam is filled (Photo by author) Water flow in the Nile River is predicted to fall by 60 percent or more over the next three decades.85 Given this dire prediction Egypt, Sudan and the rest of the Nile riparian countries 153 must improve water management and use. For instance, farmers in both Sudan and Egypt use irrigation water wastefully and excessively to the point of causing salinization and waterlogging of soils. On the other hand, the Ethiopian farmers who live in the same river basin suffer from water shortages and unreliable supplies. About 30 percent of Egypt’s irrigated lands suffer from waterlogging and salinization due to overwatering. Water continues to be subsidized in both countries and water efficiency is abnormally low. In fact, many farmers in these countries think that water is an unlimited resource and should be available for free of charge.86 Lake Ecosystems Ethiopia has dozens of large and small lakes, as well as several major swamps.87 They are found in various ecological zones and at various altitudes. Most lakes of economic importance are in the Ethiopian Rift Valley, including central Rift Valley lakes of Ziway, Langano, Abijata, Shala, and Hawassa (from north to south). Located further south in the Rift Valley are lakes Abaya, Chamo, Chew Bahir, and Turkana—which is almost entirely in Kenya. Seven smaller lakes are scattered around the town of Bishoftu. A group of saline lakes are found in the most arid section of the Rift Valley near the Djibouti border, including Afambo, Laitaf, Bario, Gamari, and Abe. Further north in the Afar lowland are desert lakes like Asale and Karum. Four major lakes— Tana, Ashange, Hayk, and Wonchi—are found in the central and northern highlands of the country.88 Lake Tana Lake Tana sits at 1,820 meters above sea level. This craterlike fresh water lake is the largest body of inland water and the main source of the Blue Nile. The lake accounts for half of the total inland water in the country. The drainage area of the lake is 16,500 square kilometers, of which 3,600 is the lake area. It is about 80 kilometers long, 68 kilometers wide, and has a 250kilometer perimeter. The lake is very shallow; it is only 14 meters at its deepest and, no more than four to seven meters deep elsewhere.89 Thirty-seven islands are scattered about the surface of the lake, half of which house “ancient churches, monasteries, and rich fauna and flora.”90 Bahir Dar, the capital of the Amhara regional state, sits on the lake’s southern shore. Numerous rivers and streams discharge 10.3 billion cubic meters of water into the lake annually,91 but about half of the water is lost to evaporation.92 The Gilgel (Little) Abbay, Megech, Gumara, and Rib are the major contributors. Up to 90 percent of the region’s total rainfall occurs during the June to September rainy season. As a result, the average annual flow at the outlet of the lake is about 3.5 billion cubic meters during the wet season and about 1 billion cubic meters in the dry season.93A large area around the lake is wetland. The flood plains of Fogera and Dembia are the largest wetlands adjoining the lake. Heavy flooding during the rainy season contributes to the wetlands and the sediment load of the lake. Both wetlands are important waterbird habitats, including the “vulnerable Wattled Crane and the Greater Spotted Eagle, the near threatened Pallid Harrier and the Lesser Flamingo and Roget’s Rail.”94 The wetlands also provide habitat for many migratory birds. However, these wetlands are quickly shrinking as water is drained to make room for crop cultivation and grazing. 154 Freshwater The most remarkable feature of the Lake Tana basin is the presence of extensive agricultural activities and the virtual absence of forests—except on the islands scattered in the lake. Cultivation has expanded up to 3,000 meters above sea level. Where land is not cultivated at higher elevations, including the Choke Mountains, the major natural habitats are moist moorland with Jibrra (giant Lobelia spp.), lady’s mantle (Alchemilla spp.), sedges and tussocks of guasa (Festuca spp.), as well as other grasses, montane grasslands, cliffs, and rocky areas. Woody plants such as asta (Erica), Amija (Hypericum reolutum) and bamboo or qerkeha (Arundinaria alpine) are only found in patches. Extensive beds of papyrus (Echinochola sp.) grow on the shores of the lake. Papyrus is a versatile plant that is used for making reed boats or tankwas, roofing, matting, and fencing. There is some vegetation in proximity to the lake dominated by sedges (qetema), reed grasses (shembeqo), and bulrushes (filla) along with swamp grasses like Echinochla spp. (asendabo) and Cynodon aethiopicus (serdo), which make for very suitable grazing during the dry season. Broad-leaved trees, including Albizia spp. (sas), Croton macrostachyrus (bisana), Cordia africana (wanza), Olea europaea subsp (surround the churches and monasteries on the islands), Cuspidata (weira), Phoenix reclinata (zambaba), and figs.95 An extensive flat land that is settled surrounds Lake Tana. In the last few decades, population and urban growth have led to increased demand for firewood, expansion of farmland, and industrial and commercial development in Bahir Dar and its hinterlands surrounding the lake. Deforestation in the upper catchment areas and extensive farming activities have caused increased soil erosion; this, in turn, has led to increased sediment influx into the lake. The lake annually receives an estimated 9.6 million tons of sediment load from the upper catchments areas and the many rivers that feed the lake. The outflow of sediment overload from the lake is about one million tons. That means 8.6 million tons of sediment is retained in the lake and the wetlands around it annually.96 The lake also is under threat from pollution and increasing demand for water, owing mostly to growing economic activities in Bahir Dar, one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Commercial establishments such as hotels, banks, retail shops, small-scale industrial plants, and infrastructural developments have been on the rise in the last two decades. Many of the establishments built on the lake’s shore have found it convenient to discharge untreated waste directly into the lake. Nutrient run-off from nearby farms, discharge of untreated sewage from the surrounding settlements, and manure run-off from grazing lands are slowly enriching the lake. This pollution has had adverse effects on the growth of local fish species such as tilapia and the livelihood of local fishermen. Pollution has precipitated macrophyte (rooted and floating aquatic plants) on an extensive scale, interfering with the reproduction of the tilapia fish. This dense distribution of macrophyte is due to sediment accretion and the nutrient content of sediments. Excess sediment loading is known to make it difficult for fish species like tilapia to breed. Shallow lakes like Lake Tana are more vulnerable to macrophyte infestation because they are of medium alkalinity and high pH. There is a concern that excess plant growth and increases in phosphorus levels could lead to eutrophication of the lake.97 Current conservation policies are inadequate. The lake ecology and the surrounding communities, which depend on it, are under severe threat. The lake provides livelihoods to as many as three million people living around it. Water resources for agriculture and livestock and a significant fishing industry are made possible by Lake Tana. People cultivate large quantities of staple crops such as rice, pulses, and tef in the watershed. The Ethiopian Department of Fisheries 155 and Aquaculture reports that 1,454 tons of fish are caught each year at Bahir Dar. It is only 15 percent of the sustainable catch, according to the Fisheries Department’s estimates. The fish resource potential of the lake is about 10,000 metric tons per year. The lake has 26 species of fish, of which 18 (69 percent) are endemic.98 The fish population includes, among others, an endemic Labeo barbus species, Barbus pleurogramma, Barbus humilis, Barbus tanapelagius, Oreochromis niloticus (Nile tilapia), Varicorhinus beso (Beso), and Clarias gariepinus (African catfish).99 The lake is also an important source of hydropower.100 Lake Hayq Over 300 kilometers east of Lake Tana is Lake Hayq. It is a freshwater lake located on the edge of the western escarpment of the Rift Valley in North Wollo Zone, 423 kilometers northeast of Addis Ababa. Three kilometers to the west of the lake is the town of Hayq. The lake is seven kilometers long, five kilometers wide, and has a surface area of 35 square kilometers, with a maximum depth of 23 meters.101 The lake was famous for its distinctively clear water and low phytoplankton biomass. It is no longer the case, as nutrients from nearby farms have enriched the lake, enabling the growth of aquatic plants.102The lake also contains microcystis, phormidium, sutirella, pediastrum, amphora, and synedra, as well as characteristics of saline water such as nitzschia and gyrosigma.103 Lake Hardibo, which has a surface area of only 16 square kilometers, is about seven kilometers southeast of Hayq. The two lakes are hydrologically linked by the Ankwarka River, which drains from Hardibo to Hayq.104 Lake Haramaya (no longer) Lake Haramaya used to be the largest freshwater lake on the Hararghe highland in eastern Ethiopia. In the 1950s, its surface area of was approximately five square kilometers (based on estimates from aerial photos), with a maximum depth of about eight meters. The lake was recharged by direct rainfall, several small streams that drained the catchments to the north and west, seasonal overflow of neighboring Lake Finkile, and by occasional floods from the adjacent watershed. The areas around the lake supported dense vegetation and “the lake itself had extensive beds of sedges, reeds, and bulrushes.”105 The lake was the source of drinking water for the residents of the city of Harar (100,000 or more people), the town of Haramaya, Haramaya University, and the nearby rural communities. The lake often supported a large concentration of Greater and Lesser Flamingos, Great White Pelicans, Red-knobbed Coots, Avocets, Egyptian Goose, and Black-tailed Godwits.106 During European winter, the lake hosted a large amount of migrant waders and waterfowl. Since the 1980s, however, the lake has considerably been diminishing in size. It shrunk from 3.9 square kilometers in 1965 to 3.1 square kilometers in 1996 to 2.3 square kilometers in 2001.107 The lake had completely disappeared by 2012, and farmers were using the space that was once covered with water for grazing and cultivation of crops. The wetland that surrounded both the Haramaya and nearby Finkile lakes has also entirely dried up, and the land is now under settlements and intensive cultivation. Hundreds of thousands of people living in the vicinity now suffer from acute shortages of water for drinking, washing, and irrigation. Many factors may have contributed to the disappearance of Lake Haramaya, perhaps one of Ethiopia’s biggest ecological disasters in the last 50 years. Increasing domestic water use and 156 Freshwater irrigation, deforestation-induced siltation, and growing population of both rural and urban areas were mostly responsible for lake’s disappearance. Agricultural activities expanded considerably since the 1980s mainly in response to increasing demand for food, induced by population growth and changes in commodity prices. The fall in coffee price in recent decades prompted many farmers in the region to shift to high paying but water-intensive khat cultivation. Khat is a shrub whose leaves and buds provided a stimulant with the qualities of a mild amphetamine when chewed. Farmers drew increasing amounts of water from the lake for irrigating this perennial crop, which became an important export cash crop in the last two decades. The result of all this was that the rate of withdrawal far exceeded the lake’s natural capacity to recharge.108 Also, deforestation and intensive farming activities in the catchment area resulted in sedimentation that contributed to the reduction of the lake storage capacity.109 The vanishing away of Lake Haramaya is an example of failure in water resource management. In fact, it is a classic example of what can happen when resources are exploited at faster rates than they can be replenished through natural processes. Today, communities around what used to be the lake are suffering from a shortage of water. Some wells have dried up, and people walk long distances every day to fetch water. Communities in the area now regrettably realize what they have done to themselves. As Jason Hill, an American water rights lawyer once said: “You don’t really know the value of something until you run out of it and know you want it again. And water has historically been an underappreciated resource.”110 Lake Koka Lake Koka (also known as Lake Gelila) is an artificial lake located about one hundred miles south of Addis Ababa. It was the oldest major reservoir built on the Awash River, in 1960, to generate hydropower, provide irrigation water for the Wonji sugarcane plantation, and to control the perennial flooding. The lake covers a surface area of about 180 square kilometers with a storage capacity of 1,850 million cubic meters.111 Besides the Awash River, the Mojo River is a major contributor of water to the reservoir. The area around the reservoir is densely populated and intensively cultivated for cereals, particularly tef. Farmers also use the alluvial soil around the lake to grow horticultural crops. The wetland around the shore hosts large numbers of water birds, including the globally threatened species such as the Pallid Harrier, Lesser Kestrel, Lesser Flamingo, and Basra Reed Warbler. In addition, the Common Crane, Avocet, Greater Flamingo, migrating Caspian Plover, Yellow-legged Wagtails, and Swallow find a habitat in marshes around the lake.112 The main fish species in the reservoir is tilapia, but barbs and catfish are also present in smaller quantities. The lake was once a source of clean freshwater for the thousands of people who live around it. Today it is highly polluted and covered with toxic algae. The source of the pollution is the Akaki River, a tributary of the Awash River. The Akaki River has two main branches. The Little Akaki rises in the northwest part of Addis Ababa, in the eastern slope of Wechacha Mountain. The Great Akaki, the eastern branch of the river, rises from the eastern edge of the Entoto mountain range and drains the northeastern part of the city. Both rivers enter the city as clean, freshwater resources but turn into a toxic sludge after they leave the city and drain into the shallow and hyacinth-infested Aba-Samuel reservoir, about 45 kilometers south of Addis Ababa. The Little Akaki River is by far the most polluted river because several large industries line its banks and tributaries. Nearly nine in ten of these industries discharge their effluents directly into 157 the river without treatment.113The river also serves as a natural sewerage line for domestic wastewater (estimated at approximately 100,000 cubic meters per day) due to the near absence of a sewerage system in the city.114 In the last two decades, a number of polluting factories and flower farms have been established along the Awash River and its tributaries, including the Akaki River. These industries also release extremely polluted effluent into the waters that drain into Lake Koka. The Ethiopian Tannery Share Company in particular discharges highly polluted effluents into the lake. Agricultural run-offs, human sewage and factory effluents entering the lake are now causing the growth of notorious, highly toxic algae in the lake. Nitrates and phosphates entering the lake have been especially responsible for the blooming of the toxic blue-green algae known as microcystis. Microcystis cells break open when they die and release the toxin microcystin into the water.115 Microcystin is a powerful liver toxin; thousands of people who rely on Lake Koka as a source of water have reported severe illness and death from drinking the water.116 Heavy metal contaminants that are carcinogenic, such as mercury, lead, chromium, and cadmium, have also been found in the water and soils around the lake, indicating risks to human and animal health.117 Traces of these metals have been found in vegetables grown using the water for irrigation.118 There are also other problems for those living close to the lake, such as disease. The marshes around the lake and nearby irrigation schemes have also created a breeding environment for malaria vector mosquitoes. People living in proximity to the lake are 20 times more likely to contract malaria than those living five kilometers or more from the lake.119 Sediments increasingly fill Lake Koka. Since its impoundment, sedimentation has been an ongoing problem in the reservoir. In the Awash Basin and particularly the Koka watershed, erosion rates are high, often above 6,000 tons per square kilometer per year.120 An estimated 25 million cubic meters of sediments settle in the lake every year. The lake has now lost 40 percent of its original water storage capacity of 1,650 million cubic meters because of siltation.121 This has reduced the reservoir’s ability to regulate the flow and to supply water. It is negatively impacting both irrigation projects and any hydroelectric plants that rely on the reservoir for water; nearly 70,000 hectares of irrigated land in the Awash Basin depends on water from the reservoir. Sedimentation can also reduce the reservoir’s ability to mitigate floods. Aquatic life in the lake, including fish, is also diminishing fast. As the human impacts of the lake increase through pollution of the lake and inflowing rivers, the capacity of this reservoir to maintain its biological functions will be threatened. There is, therefore, an urgent need to prevent nutrients from run-off of agricultural fields and effluent discharges from industries entering the reservoir. Lake Beseka Not far from Lake Koka is Lake Beseka, just east of the town of Metehara, along the highway and railroad that connect Addis Ababa to Dire Dawa and Djibouti. The lake has grown from a small pool of water of less than 3 square kilometers in the 1960s to an expansive lake of 40 km2 158 Freshwater Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad inundated by Lake Beseka (Photo by author) at present. The lake’s expansion is due largely to groundwater inflows from the western part of the watershed.122 Its expansion has caused the loss of a vast amount of grazing land, displaced communities, inundated irrigated farmlands, and flooded the nearby highway and railroad many times.123 The government now drains the water from the lake into the Awash River to keep the lake’s water level a foot or so below the highway and the railroad.124 The government’s decision to channel the lake’s water into the Awash River is not without controversy. The Awash River is the only major source of drinking water and irrigation for people living downstream. Farmers downstream are also concerned that the salty water from the lake could “render the fertile soils under irrigation eventually sterile.” Excessive draining of the lake could harm aquatic lives in the lake and destroy bird habitats around the lake.125 Hora, Bishoftu, Bishoftu Gudu, Kuriftu, and Cheleklaka are crater lakes around the town of Bishoftu, about 40 kilometers south of Addis Ababa. They are closed systems with no streams feeding into or draining out of them. Precipitation and underground springs recharge them. Most have steep cliffs and rocky shores. Small forest patches consisting of Albizia spp, Phoenix reclinata, Schinus molle, and Jacaranda mimosifolia surround the Hora and Kuriftu lakes. Various acacia species, shrubs, scramblers and succulents like Carissa edulis, Euphorbia tirucalli, Pterolobium, Caesalpina stellatum, and Opuntia ficus-indica thrive on the slopes of the other three lakes. These lakes provide habitats to a variety of birds. Around Lake Hora, there are African Fish-eagle, Malachite Kingfisher, African Pied Kingfisher, Grey-headed Batis, African Silverbill, Sedge Warbler, Little Bee-eater, Little Grebe, Squacco Heron, and Great and Reed Cormorants. The Savannah grassland, acacia scrub, and riverine forest nearby support a variety 159 of bird life. 126 Lake Cheleklaka, a seasonal swamp, is relatively luxuriant, with aquatic vegetation including Typha spp, Potamogeton spp, Persicaria spp, and the floating grass Odontelytrum abyssinicum. The swamp is an important habitat for Greater and Lesser Flamingos, Ferruginous Duck, Imperial Eagle, Pallid Harrier, shorebirds and a significant number of Common Cranes as well as Storks.127 This lake/swamp is, however, threatened by farm encroachment, sediment build-up, fertilizers and pesticide run-off from adjacent farms, and contaminated storm water washed off nearby town roads. Rift Valley Lakes Within the Ethiopian Rift System there are four geographic sections: Lake Turkana on the Kenyan border; Chew Bahir, in the southeast corner of Ethiopia; the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), also known as the Central Rift Valley (CRV) and the Afar, bordering the Red Sea. The Rift Valley system climates range from sub-arid near the Kenyan border to sub-humid in central parts to arid in the Afar, altering water availability and the rate of evapotranspiration. The annual rainfall within the CRV varies between 100 mm in the Afar to 900 mm near Lake Abaya with rainfall totals reaching up to 1500 mm in the highlands. The terrain constantly changes from steep volcanic hills within the rift floor to deep valleys and depressions in the highlands.128 The Rift Valley lakes are terminal and are primarily fed by perennial rivers. Moving north in the Rift, the alkalinity of the lakes rises because there are fewer outlets and greater evaporation. Some are so alkaline that they are used for mining salt. The Rift Valley lakes consist of a series of eight terminal lakes that contain an estimated 5.7 billion cubic meters of water per year. The lakes include, from north to south: the Ziway, Abijata, Langano, Shala, Hawassa, Abaya, Chamo, and Chew Bahir.129 The Central Rift Valley is a closed basin consisting of four lakes all connected by streams and rivers: Ziway, Langano, Abijata, and Shala. The four lakes cover an area of about 14,640 square kilometers. A network of surface waters consisting of the Meki, Ketar, Bulbulla, and Hora Kelo rivers connects the three northernmost lakes—Ziway, Langano, and Abijata. The Bulbulla River connects Ziway and Abijata, and Langano and Abijata by the Hora Kelo River. Shala and Abijata are terminal lakes without a surface water outlet. The climate of the area is semi-arid to sub-humid, with a mean annual rainfall ranging from 600 mm in the valley floor to 1,200 mm in the elevated margins of the valley. The mean annual temperature ranges between 15 degrees Centigrade on the humid plateaus to 25 degrees Centigrade around the lakes.130 The area was once dominated by open acacia woodland but has now dwindled to a scattered few due to extensive deforestation. Deciduous woodlands cover the walls of the valley while Cupressus lusitanica, Pinus, and Eucalyptus regnans replace the original vegetation (Podocarpus gracilior) at elevations between 2,000 and 3,000 meters. Afro-alpine grassland vegetation and Ericaeae bush occupy areas with elevations exceeding 3,600 meters.131 Here there are extensive open woodlands and shrublands. Common species are Acacia spp. Ficus spp. and Croton machrostachis. Cropland intersperses these areas Lake Ziway The open and shallow Lake Ziway sits at an elevation of 1,636 meters above sea level. It is the highest, largest and northernmost of the four lakes. The surface area of the lake is about 434 160 Freshwater square kilometers, with a maximum depth not exceeding nine meters.132 Its water is muddy reddish brown. The small town of Ziway sits on the lake’s western shore. Two rivers drain into the lake. The Meki drains the western wall of the Rift Valley, and the Ketar River originates from the eastern side of the Rift and the Arsi highlands. The two rivers combined annually discharge an estimated 675-695 million cubic meters of water into the lake. The lake, in turn, drains southward into Lake Abijata via the Bulbulla River. Approximately 10 percent of the inflowing water, 110 million cubic meters, discharges into Lake Abijata via the Bulbulla River.133 Extensive swamps of Phragmites, Typha and Cyperus papyrus fringe the northern end of the lake while swamps of Aeschymene elaphroxylon, Panicum repens, Nymphaea, Potamogeton, and Juncus dominate the western shore and extend far from the shore. There are nine islands scattered in the lake, but many are mostly bare rocks. Three small islands near the southwestern shore of the lake support a thick cover of Ficus sycomorus, Euphorbia, Aeschyomene, several Acacia species, and Typha swamp on their margins. The largest island—Tulugudu—is covered with scattered Acacia and Euphorbia.134 The Lake Ziway catchment area has seen large-scale irrigation developments since the 1970s and the 1990s. The 2000s have especially seen the development of 7,500 to 10,000 hectares of newly irrigated areas devoted to the production of vegetables, fruits and flowers, mainly for export. Irrigation has been made possible by extracting water directly from the lake and the lake’s two feeder rivers, the Meki and Ketar. Irrigation is estimated to use annually around 150200 million cubic meters. Water use for domestic purposes has also seen a substantial rise due to increased urbanization and a growing population. All these activities have contributed to the reduction of the lake’s water level and river discharges.135 The drop of the lake water level has reduced the discharge of the Bulbulla River into Lake Abijata. In addition, irrigated fields consume about 59 million cubic meters of water annually from the Bulbulla River. During the dry season, the river often dries up before reaching Lake Abijata. This has significantly reduced the level of Lake Abijata, which derives about 42 percent of its water from the Bulbulla River. The Bulbulla River is also a critical source of water in the area and is the only potable freshwater for its 30 km stretch along the semi-arid floor of the rift. The diversion has thus created shortages of water, especially during the dry season.136 The reduction of the water level in Lake Ziway could have severe consequences for the fragile ecosystem. Lake Ziway has broad shallow margins that are often fringed with swamp, along with dense floating vegetation and a high concentration of phytoplankton. This environment provides an important habitat for fauna. Lake Ziway has the heaviest fish stock in the region and is the principal source of commercial fishing in Ethiopia. Three endemic fish— Barbus aethiopicus, B. microterolepis, and Garra makiensis—live in this lake, as do the introduced species of Tilapia zilli, Clarias gariepinus, and crabs.137 As such, the main economic concern of using water from Lake Ziway for irrigation is how this will affect the fisheries. Another consequence of using water from the lake for irrigation is the effect on the vegetation around the lake’s edge. This vegetation provides food and shelter for many animals. Some species are sensitive to short-term disruptions in their environment. Large numbers of bird species inhabit the lake's edges, including cormorants, spur-winged goose, fish eagles, Ibis, egrets, herons, stilts, darts, snipes, grebes, gulls and ducks, which make the area scenic. Some hippopotamuses inhabit the lake. Irrigation and deforestation have already affected the large 161 mammalian population. Many large mammals in the rift valley are on the verge of extinction. Of the large mammals only hyena, jackal, and verve monkeys remain.138 Around Lake Ziway is a rim of grassland that provides an important source of dry-season grazing for livestock. If the level of the lake drops, there may be an increase in transpiration loss from the marginal vegetation. This in turn would cause the groundwater table to drop, endangering the grassland. Lowering the groundwater level would also endanger the water supply of the local community, as the springs on the eastern shore of Lake Ziway would dry up.139 Lake Ziway: Eutrophication in process (Photo by author) Lake Ziway is receiving increased sediments and nutrients via its feeder rivers that originate in the intensively cultivated highland areas. Fertilizer use has been growing in recent years. It will inevitably increase the amount of nutrients entering the lake, thus resulting in eutrophication. Eutrophication promotes the growth of algae and other aquatic plants. One of the main causes of algae growth is an excess of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus. These nutrients not only come from agricultural activities but also from industrial and municipal sources. Significant quantities of these nutrients could cause the phytoplankton population to increase with numerous undesirable results. The color and odor of the water would change. Phytoplankton and other aquatic plants would settle at the bottom of the lake and create a sediment oxygen demand. The oxygen dissolved in the water would then drop. The growth of rooted macrophytes, or larger plant forms, would interfere with navigation and aeration. Human 162 Freshwater activities in the catchments around these lakes may ultimately result in fish kills, algal blooms, and the death of wildlife.140 If the water level of Lake Ziway falls enough to make it a terminal lake, its salinity levels will rise enough that, within a short period, lake water will be too saline to drink or use for irrigation. As a shallow lake, averaging only four meters in depth, it is very susceptible to water loss from irrigation. As the largest water resource in the Central Rift Valley, its loss would be significantly damaging to Lakes Abijata and Shala in particular and the Abijata-Shala Lakes National Park in general. The diversity of birdlife within the park is vast, with over 400 species recorded. The park is beneath the major flyway for migratory birds, especially raptors, flamingos, and many other water birds. The edges of Abijata are ideal for wading birds and ducks, as there are fluctuations in alkalinity, creating the algae that attract food for these shorebirds. These alkalinity levels are determined by discharge from the Bulbulla River that is fed by Lake Ziway.141 Lake Abijata Situated at an elevation of 1,573 meters, Lake Abijata is a relatively small, shallow, alkaline, closed terminal lake. The lake is 17 kilometers long, 15 kilometers wide and has a surface area of 205 square kilometers with a maximum depth of 14 meters.142 A steep escarpment along its eastern shore and gently rising land along its western and northern shores surround the lake. Steeply rising hills separate it from Lake Shala to the south. Pasture, mainly of salt adoptable Sporobolus spicatus and Cynodon dactylon, dominates its northern shore while Acacia varieties, A. Seyal, A. campyacantha, and A. Tortilis, surround the lake elsewhere. Patches of Cyprus, Ficus sycamores, Ricinus communis, Acacia albida, and Crotalaria laburnifolia occur along the Bulbulla River. There is, however, clear evidence of overgrazing, soil disturbance, and deforestation surrounding the lake.143 Three rivers feed into Lake Abijata: Gogesa, Hora Kelo, which originates in nearby Lake Langano, and the Bulbulla River, which drains from Lake Ziway. Over time, the level of Lake Abijata has dropped drastically. Lake Abijata’s shallow depth and terminal position make it more susceptible to climatic changes, variations in precipitation, and the flow of its feeder rivers. As it is a closed lake, its only significant water loss is through evaporation. Groundwater flow from the lake is negligible. In general, changes in the water level are related to variations in rainfall and river flow. However, recent schemes to pump water for soda ash production and the withdrawal of water from the rivers that feed it and upstream Lake Ziway have begun to affect the water level. When irrigation happens year-round, its effect on the lake is magnified as water continues to be extracted during the dry season when evaporation rates are high and precipitation rates low.144 At present, vast salt plains border the lake. Increasing silt loads are also endangering the lake because the rivers feeding into the lake are being heavily used for agricultural purposes. The establishment of a soda ash plant on the shore of Lake Abijata is also not without adverse consequence. The plant produces “soda ash (Na2CO3) from sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) dissolved in lake water”.145 The plant evaporates lake water and then collects the remaining sodium bicarbonate. It is then heated and decomposed into water, carbon dioxide, and sodium carbonate (soda ash). The plant annually produces 20,000 tons of sodium carbonate.146 Water extraction from Lake Abijata for the production of soda ash is about 13 million cubic 163 meters each year.147 The extraction threatens the biodiversity and increasing the salinity and alkalinity of the lake. Lake Abijata is shrinking in size and depth. The foreground used to be part of the lake. Lake Abijata is of great biological importance for a number of reasons. The lake is shallow, alkaline and has a muddy shore that supports a wealth of bird life almost unparalleled anywhere else in Africa. The Ethiopian Rift lakes also form an important migration route for Palearctic birds during the northern winter. Lake Abijata is also part of the Rift Valley Lakes National Park. The blue-green algae of the lake support a large flamingo population while many other birds rely on the lake for fish. Lake Abijata is a vital feeding ground for Cape Wigeon, Abdim’s Stork, and Great White Pelicans. Great White Pelicans breed in Lake Shala, in large numbers. However, the alkalinity in Lake Shala is too high to support a large fish population for the pelicans to feed on. The pelicans, therefore, rely on Lake Abijata as their feeding grounds. The increased changes in the alkalinity of the lake have caused a reduction in the fish population, ultimately leading to the death of fish-eating birds.148 Lake Shala At an elevation of 1,558, a mere four km south of Abijata is Lake Shala. The lake is 28 km long and 12 km wide, with a surface area of 409 square kilometers. Its maximum depth of 266 meters makes it the deepest lake in the country.149 Its water is blue, clear, and quite stormy in contrast to the other lakes. Hot springs (90-100 degrees centigrade) gush from the banks and bottoms of the lake.150 Two perennial streams and many seasonal creeks drain into the closed basin of Lake 164 Freshwater Shala. Open Acacia vegetation and a belt of Euphorbia abyssinica, Typha, and Sesbania punctate grow to the east of the lake. Patches of similar vegetation also cover the two largest islands in the lake.151 Dwindling acacia forest fringing Lake Shala (Photo by author) Lake Shala’s shores are steep, and its waters are deeper and more alkaline than Lake Abijata. As a result, the lake produces a limited amount of biomass to support aquatic lives. There are still many bird species, however, and four of the lake’s nine islands are used as breeding sites by many birds, and are home to the continent’s most important breeding colonies of Great White Pelicans, Cormorants, and Storks. A tiny saline crater lake, Chittu Hora, sits less than two kilometers east of Lake Shala and is also a home to 5,000-10,000 flamingos.152 165 Volcanic hot water flowing into Lake Shala (Photo by author) The waters of Abijata and Shala and their surrounding areas form the Abijata-Shala National Park. This nearly 900-square kilometer park, which was established to protect the high diversity of terrestrial and aquatic birds and the scenic splendor of the areas, is home to one of the largest African colonies of the Great White Pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus). These birds, and others like White-necked Cormorants, Abdim’s Storks, Sacred Ibis, Cape Wigeons, Egyptian Geese, and Speckled Pigeons use Lake Abijata as their feeding grounds and the islands on Lake Shala primarily as their breeding and roosting sites.153 There are about 436 bird species in the park: 292 terrestrial and 144 aquatic.154 However, the ecosystems within the park and the park, in general, are suffering from poor protection. Fields of sorghum and maize have replaced its savanna woodland acacias (A. etbaica, A. tortilis, and Euphorbia abyssinica) and bushes of Maytenus senegalensis. The lowering of the Bulbulla River has reduced the riverine vegetation, and overgrazing has destroyed the grassland. Much of the acacia forests around the lakes are gone. Deforestation and charcoal schemes, farms, and grazers are all making the park less habitable for wildlife.155 In fact, the wildlife of the area has almost entirely been eliminated by habitat destruction. The area had an abundance of species in the past, including Swayne’s Hartebeest, Water Bucks, Buffalo, Oryx, Giraffe, Grant’s Gazelle, Greater Kudu, Klipspringer, Olive Baboons, Colobus and Vervet monkeys, Jackals, Warthog, and Spotted Hyenas. Today, there is no evidence of the presence of most of these species in the park except the spotted hyena, 166 Freshwater warthog, and Colobus monkeys. A few ostriches live in captivity next to the main entrance to the park. Lake Langano To the east of Lake Abijata, separated by the Addis Ababa-Hawassa motor road, is the resort Lake Langano. The lake is 18 kilometers long and 16 km wide, with a surface area of 230 square kilometers and a maximum depth of 46 meters.156 Like Ziway, its water is muddy and reddish brown. Its shores are rocky in the east, swampy in the north, and sandy in the west. A steep escarpment of 20 meters or more borders most of its western shore. The lake is drained by the Hora Kelo River, which empties into the adjacent Lake Abijata. The lake receives the bulk of its waters from several small streams—Jirma, Gedemso, Lepis, and Huluka—that originate in the Arsi highlands to the east and south. A fifth of its annual water also comes from precipitation. The water of Lake Langano is more stable than Ziway or Abijata. There is no major irrigation within the Langano catchment although pastoral and agropastoral activities are increasing around it. The lake is kept stable by groundwater flow coming from springs and large underground faults.157 Hot springs awash its northern shore. Dense acacia woodland (mostly A. seyal, A. tortilies, and A. campylacantha) and bushes used to cover the areas to the north and west of the lake only three decades ago. But today much of the vegetation has been cleared, and a large number of pastoral and agro-pastoralists have settled in the areas. Sedges, Ficus sycomorus, F. vasta, and acacia ticket cover much of the rocky, eastern side of the lake. The northern and southern margins of the lake sustain Typha, Juncus and Sesbania marshes. Farther up the slope of the Arsi Mountains in the southeast is the Munissa State Forest, with Typha, Sesbania, Ficus, Maytenus, Croton, Acacia, Combretum, podocarpus falcatus, Hagenia, Hypericum, Erica, and Alchemilla being the most dominant vegetation, in ascending order.158 Colobus, Olive Baboons, and Vervet Monkeys inhabit this forest. The lake provides a home to large numbers of water bird species.159 Along with Lakes Abijata and Shala, Lake Langano also provides excellent ground for migratory birds from Europe and Asia, as well as breeding and roosting sites for Flamingos and Pelicans.160 Tilapia and barbus are significant fish stocks in the lake. 167 Lake Langano Beach (Photo by author) Lake Hawassa Moving south for about 100 kilometers from Lake Langano is the smallest of the Rift Valley lakes, Lake Hawassa. With a surface area of 129 square kilometers and a drainage area of 1,259 square kilometers,161 it is 16 km long and nine km wide. It has a maximum depth of 10.7 meters.162 The immediate surroundings of the lake are flat, but the small Tabor Hill rises in proximity to the lake in the northeast, and there are large ranges some kilometers to the northwest. An extensive marsh of Juncus and woodland dominated by Maytenus senegalensis, Rhus natalensis, and Balanites aegyptica borders the lake’s shores.163 The city of Hawassa, with a population of 157,000, occupies the eastern shore of the lake. Occasionally, Lake Hawassa overflows its banks and damages properties and economic infrastructure in the town. A twokilometer dike runs along the eastern shore of the lake to prevent flooding the city when the lake swells up, but the structure appears to be too short to contain the water. Drawing excess water from the lake for irrigation or channeling it into nearby drainage systems is other ideas being considered to prevent potential overflow.164 The lake does not have an outflow, and probably has a subterranean inflow, judging from its relatively diluted nature, as well as dilution from the feeder Tiqur Wuha River and basin overflow. The lake water is home to over 100 species of phytoplankton, freshwater invertebrates, bacterioplankton, and six different fish species, three of which are both endemic and 168 Freshwater commercially important. The lake is also the habitat for some species of waterfowl and reptiles. The Shallo Swamp drains into the lake. The lake is extremely biodiverse due to its plants, animals, and microorganisms. Emergent and submerged macrophytes cover the littoral area, serving as shelter and breeding zones for weed bed fauna (annelids, crustaceans, and insect), protozoan, rotifers, cladocerans, copepods, ostracods, and fish. Some of these plants include Cyperaceae, Typha, Paspaladium, germinatum, Nymphaea coerulea, Pistia stratiotes, and Wolfia arrhiza. The lake also supports over a hundred species of both local and migrant Palearctic water birds.165 Hippopotamus, otters, monitor lizards, and vervet, grivet, and Colobus monkeys are also in the habitat. Other wildlife, including leopards, warthogs, jackals, bush duikers, wild cats, kudus, and Swayne’s Hartebeest, were said to have existed in the area in the past, but local people have not seen any in recent years. The ecosystem in its entirety stabilizes the microclimate and also provides cultural and religious services to the local people. Lake water uses include irrigation, bathing, recreation, and drinking water for both humans and animals. The lake supplies the city of Hawassa and the surrounding communities with all their water and supports a flourishing local fishery. The fish (mostly Barbus, Clarias, and Tilapia) are used both for home consumption and for the market, while the vegetation is used for grazing, boat making, mattresses, mats, agricultural implements, and building construction.166 Human activities have caused a range of serious ecological problems for the lake, river, and swamp. Urbanization, irrigation, forest clearance, factory construction, and the use of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides have contributed to the damage of these ecosystems. Leached chemicals from both large and small-scale farming are reaching the lake by drainage systems. As the number of hotels, commercial establishments, and factories grow, the amounts of solid and liquid wastes being generated are also growing. Most of the town’s sewer lines terminate in the lake, and the municipality does not currently have a system to manage or collect most of its solid Lake Hawassa: Eutrophication in process (Photo by author) 169 and liquid wastes. Another major problem is the untreated toxic discharge that comes from many industries in the area, including state-owned industries of textile, flour, ceramic, sisal, and tobacco production. The Hawassa Textile factory uses large quantities of chemicals, water, and energy and discharges 50 cubic meters of wastewater per hour at less than full capacity. This waste is colored and high in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total suspended soils. It is highly alkaline, with a pH of 12, and hot. The factory releases untreated waste directly into the Shallo Swamp, the effects of which transfer into the hydrological system of Lake Hawassa and affect both the ecosystem and the societies that rely upon it for food, water, and livelihoods. Solids from the fibrous substrate and processed chemicals can hinder oxygen transfer and reduce light penetration. If they settle on the wetland beds, they can cause the formation of an anaerobic layer. The BOD varies considerably in type. Some, such as starches, are entirely biodegradable while others, such as the refractory compounds found in dyes, are entirely non-biodegradable. Effluents with high concentrations of xenobiotic deplete the dissolved oxygen (DO) in water, which kills fish and reduces water quality. Phosphates entering the water from detergents can cause the nutrient levels in the water to rise and leads to algal blooms. This, in turn, can alter the food chain and ionic composition of the water, increase organic matter in the sediment, decrease metalimnetic and hypolimnetic oxygen (which causes fish suffocation), and cause changes in the water temperature. The water of the swamp is causing illnesses and is no longer considered potable.167 Lakes Abaya and Chamo Lakes Abaya and Chamo—which sit side by side—are located farther south in the Rift Valley. Savannah plains and mountains surround the lakes. The catchment of the lakes’ basin covers an area of about 18,000 square kilometers. The town of Arba Minch sits in the foothills of the western Rift Valley escarpment, overlooking Lake Abaya to the north and Lake Chamo to the south. At the base of the escarpment, below the town, is a flat land covered with dense evergreen forest that provides a habitat for many mammals and birds. Numerous small springs bubble up from the forest floor, perhaps the ‘only groundwater forest in East Africa.’168 With a water surface area of 1,160 square kilometers, Abaya is the longest and second largest lake in Ethiopia. The lake is 60 km long, 20 km wide, and has a maximum depth of only 13 meters. Low vegetation of grasses and sedges cover the shores of the lake, and away from the lake shore acacia-commiphora woodland is the dominant vegetation. 169 The lake is fed by numerous mountain rivers, of which the Gidabo and Billate flow year-round.170 The Billate River rises from the southern slope of Mount Gurage while the Gidabo drains the eastern slope of the Guge Mountains. Lake Abaya is reddish in color, owing to a vast amount of suspended sediments entering the lake, mainly via the Billate River.171 The blue water of Lake Chamo is 26 kilometers long, 22 kilometers wide and has a maximum depth of 10 meters.172 The lake receives regular inflows of water via the Kulludu River and several small streams. In addition, Lake Abaya overflows into Lake Chamo via the Ualo River, especially during years of unusually heavy precipitation in the highlands surrounding the lakes. However, Cham itself overflows into the Sagan in years of heavy rainfall. The 551-square kilometer Lake Chamo is separated from Lake Abaya by a kilometer-wide ridge surrounded by swampy forestland in the west. To the east of the ridge is the savannah plain of 170 Freshwater Nech Sar, a national park established as a sanctuary for the surviving herds of Swayne's hartebeest, Burchell’s zebra and Grant's gazelle. The park also protects large parts of Lakes Chamo and Abaya. The lakes provide a habitat for many species of fish, including tiger fish, giant Nile perch, barbel, catfish, and tilapia. A large number of hippos and waterbucks make their home in Lake Chamo. The lake is also teamed with Nile crocodiles. The forest and savannah lands that surround the lakes provide a home to Colobus and velvet monkeys, olive baboon, warthog, bushbuck, and bush pig. The forest provides habitat for numerous bird species, some of which include Kingfishers, Great White Pelicans, storks, ibises, silvery-cheeked hornbills, cormorants, and black and white fish eagles.173 Abaya and Chamo suffer less impact by anthropogenic activities than most other lakes. There exists no large extraction or diversion of water from the lakes. Rivers and streams drain into the lakes unhampered. They do not experience significant seasonal variation in precipitation. Pollution is a negligible problem mostly because of the limited degree of urbanization and industrialization in the areas surrounding the lakes. There is, however, a concern that wastes from the Arba Minch textile industry is contaminating Lake Abaya since there are no restrictions on disposing of waste into watercourses. Local people, including the Ganjulle, Gujji, and others, utilize the resources of the rivers and lakes with little or no adverse impacts on their ecology. However, the last few decades have seen increased sedimentation of Lake Abaya. Sediment inputs to the lake come from inflowing rivers and the rain-induced erosion from farms and areas devoid of vegetation cover. Chew Bahir is a vast saltwater lake located at the southern end of the Ethiopian Rift Valley. The southern point of the lake lies within the Kenyan territorial space. The lake is 64 kilometers long and 24 kilometers wide. The Weyto and the Sagan rivers are the main bodies that feed into Lake Chew Bahir. The Bala and Dancha tributaries of the Weyto drain the northern and western part of the catchment. The Sagan River rises in the Amaro Mountains, and Lake Chamo drains the eastern catchment. The Weyto and Sagan rivers join to form the Gelana Delai River about 50 kilometers north of Chew Bahir.174 Some decades ago, the lake covered about 2,000 square kilometers, with a maximum depth approaching eight meters. Today, it has significantly shrunk into a “seasonally flooded swamp and salt marsh.”175 The lake has no outlet and lies in an area where evaporation (2,000 mm/year) exceeds precipitation (500 mm/year) fourfold. 176 As a consequence, the lake almost entirely dries out for most of the year. The lake swells up occasionally with substantial inflows from the rivers and streams that feed into it. The water of the lake is highly saline for human and animal consumption. The Hamer, Arbore, and Tsemay inhabit the Weyto River valley and Chew Bahir basin. They are agropastoralists who keep small animals and cultivate some crops when climatic conditions permit. But they suffer from a constant shortage of and conflict over access to freshwater springs in and along the margins of the lake.177 The lake and its hinterland are part of the Chew Bahir Wildlife Reserve. The lake’s salttolerant vegetation and dry acacia savannah woodland in the catchment support a fair number of Grevy’s zebra, greater and lesser kudu, gerenuk, Grant’s gazelle, Oryx, Spotted hyena, among others. The perennial swamp that lies at the mouth of the Gelana Delai River provides a home for thousands of bird species.178 171 In sum, development activities have an effect on the Ethiopian lake ecosystems, such as land and water development, pollution, the introduction of exotic species, and the overexploitation of fish stocks. Some aquatic biota cannot tolerate these conditions while others thrive on them. Other activities with serious effects include damming and diversion of rivers, channeling and building water distribution facilities, and indirect influences such as the removal of vegetation cover in drainage basins for land. Negative effects such as changes in hydrological systems, temperature conditions, nutrient levels, and sediment deposits in dams have all been observed. River and stream diversion reduces habitat diversity while canals can be vectors for pathogens. Removal of vegetation cover causes increased erosion and sediment in water bodies. Soluble fertilizers can pass into the water from agricultural land, leading to increased nutrient loads and the accumulation of toxic chemicals. Other threats include the introduction of organic sewage and domestic wastes, as well as detergents and other pollutants, possibly causing the demise of freshwater crabs. Perhaps due to irrigation schemes, water levels have also decreased having severe effects on the fish populations. The introduction of exotic species is also widespread.179 Wetlands A wetland is a geographic area that has the features of both land and a body of water. They usually occur in low-lying areas that receive water from adjacent surface water. This may be freshwater from lakes, rivers, ponds, or streams. It may also be saltwater from tides in coastal areas. In wetlands, the water table is usually at or just below the ground surface for an extended period. This creates an environment in which only plants adapted to wet conditions can thrive. It also promotes soil features like those found in wet environments. The existence of wetlands, as well as their biological components, is determined by water.180 In Ethiopia, this ecosystem contains marshy areas, swamplands, floodplains of major rivers, natural and artificial ponds, margins of lakes, high mountain lakes, and upland bogs. This ecosystem is often thought to be a wasteland, with agricultural or pastoral value only after draining. The wetlands are often considered sources of disease.181 The exact areal coverage of wetlands in Ethiopia is unknown. Few detailed study on wetland resources exist. Areas covered by wetland change seasonally. They shrink during the dry season and expand during the wet season. Johnston and McCartney estimate that around 1.5 percent of the total land area of the country may represent wetland182while others estimate 2 percent or 22,500 square kilometers.183 It may reach 5 percent in the wetter southwestern parts of the country such as Ilu Ababor.184 Wetlands found in Ethiopia include alpine formations, riverine, lacustrine, palustrine, and floodplain. These ecosystems support many species of flora and fauna though in-depth surveys of these have been somewhat lacking. Because wetlands are found at different elevations and climates, the habitats and species within them fall into a wide range of plants, birds, and other animals, including many endemic species.185 Because they combine the characteristics of both terrestrial and aquatic environments, wetlands are some of the most diverse ecosystems. Wetlands are habitats for many plant, invertebrate, fish, and large animal species. Many threatened or endangered species also live in wetlands. Wetlands provide homes for species that can live on dry land, those that live in the 172 Freshwater water, and those that can only live in a wet environment. Many fish species use wetlands as spawning or feeding grounds or as protection from predators. Birds often also rely on wetlands for food, resting, or as a nesting site. Wetlands provide shelter for breeding or migratory birds. There are 73 important bird areas in Ethiopia, of which 30 (41 percent) are wetlands. This indicates the importance of wetlands as bird habitats.186 Inland wetlands can control floods by storing excess water during wet periods and releasing it after the peak flow has passed. When wetlands are situated over pervious strata, they can serve as sites where surface water can seep into the ground and recharge groundwater and springs. Springs can also emerge from wetlands, providing a source of water for animals and people. Tourists use wetlands as recreational sites for activities such as bird watching, hunting, and fishing. The Rift Valley lakes such as Abijata, Shala, Langano, Ziway, Beseka, Hora, Bishoftu, Hawassa, Abaya, and Chamo provide rich sites for scientific study. In the north, Lakes Tana, Hayk, and Ashange provide important habitats for waterfowl, fish, and crocodiles. Because these wetlands are distributed at different elevations in different climatic zones, they provide homes for a wide array of species.187 In southwestern and northwestern Ethiopia, wetlands are important resources for communities. They are cultivated to grow maize and vegetables and thus contribute directly to food security. Harvests from these areas are usually early in the rainy season, just as food harvested from upland areas is beginning to run out. Crops from wetlands are an important source of food security, especially for households whose upland harvest was poor. Wetlands also contribute to food security indirectly by providing products that can be sold for cash. Some poor households make a living collecting materials from wetlands to make crafts to sell in the market. People collect medicinal plants from wetlands for domestic use or sale. Wetlands also provide grazing grounds for cattle. Many rural communities also rely on wetlands for drinking water. Wetlands help maintain the water table and local water supplies.188 Wetlands cover a large space in Illu Ababor Zone of Oromiya. The zone is in the southwest highlands on a moderately dissected plateau. The rainy season is ten months long and, as a result, it has the highest rainfall in the country. Tropical montane forests, which include wild coffee (Coffee Arabica), are predominant. A network of streams and rivers, some of which form wetlands—mostly spring-fed, valley-head swamps or mid-valley swamps, drains the plateau. About 1.4 percent of the zone is a wetland, but three of the 13 weredas (Metu, Chora, and Yayu) are more than 2 percent wetland.189 Larger floodplains are also common. Vegetation such as the sedge Cyperus latifolius or cheffe and the swamp palm Phonex reclinata are common in these ecosystems. The zone was sparsely settled, and only a third of its surface remained forested until the 1960s. The zone’s wetlands played an important role in the livelihoods of rural communities. Their environmental role included hydrological and ecological benefits such as the recharge and discharge of groundwater, flood control, and sediment retention, and the support of high levels of biodiversity of specific flora and fauna. The socioeconomic benefits they provided included the provision of clean water supplies, the production of cheffe (that is used for roofing and craft material), and the production of other plants with medicinal benefits. The wetlands serve as moisture reserves during the dry season and have been used on a small scale for early season agriculture.190 Demands for wetland use have increased significantly since the 1960s since the Illu Ababor region was slowly brought into the country’s economic life through coffee and spice production, 173 in-migration, resettlement, and market-oriented smallholder agricultural development. Forest clearance increased with the growing population. Wetlands were also gradually encroached upon for agriculture as land became scarce and food shortages more severe. The Derg regime’s policy of promoting regional food self-sufficiency meant that it was necessary to develop new ways of cultivating food crops in the Illu Ababor region. The government viewed wetland cultivation as a way to produce food during a season that usually had food shortages, and drainage allowed the area to meet its requirements under the policy. Coffee production was significantly promoted by the Derg government due to its value as a source of foreign exchange. Farmers were encouraged to plant coffee in the forests near their cultivated land, which partially restricted forest clearance even as the population grew, and soil fertility decreased. Farmers then turned to wetland drainage for alternative land. Other Derg policies also put pressure on the wetlands. After the 1984 famine, the government resettled half a million people from the north to the more watered southern areas. The government pursued integrated resettlement in Illu Ababor to link settlers to established communities, which were then expected to provide land and support for the new arrivals. It sometimes allocated wetlands, as they were considered less valuable than forestlands; this increased wetland cultivation significantly in the late 1980s though many settlers returned to the north after the 1991 change of government. Villagization, the late 1980s process in which the Derg regime attempted to concentrate the rural people into villages, also affected the wetlands. The sudden demand for building materials, particularly cheffe, put severe pressure on the wetlands near the new villages and caused the reduction of many sedge beds.191 Though most wetland cultivation has remained sustainable, the above pressures have caused a shift to unsustainable practices and the degradation of wetlands. As the need for output rises, most wetlands are no longer being restored to their natural flooding regimes, thus exhausting soil fertility and lowering the water table to levels below those able to sustain agriculture. Though farmers acknowledge the effects of their practices, the need for food security is their priority. As the ecological characteristics of the wetlands changed due to the dropping of the water table, the availability of natural vegetation and clean water has declined. After these changes, the wetlands were used as pasture land, but the benefits were short-lived since the cattle aided in soil erosion. These losses are having severe effects on local communities. Dried up springs force women to walk farther to find water, and wetland plants used for medicinal purposes and craft industries have become scarce. The natural sedge used for roofing also disappears where people completely drained wetlands. Those who are not wealthy enough to afford other roofing materials must then search farther in wetlands for sedge. The grass could be used as a replacement but cannot withstand heavy rains. Even if other communities allow some reed collection, they will not allow those from other communities to collect the reeds for sale, or for uses beyond roof thatch. This has an impact on those poor people who rely on reed cutting and selling to supplement their incomes to provide enough food. Local craft activities are also affected by reed shortages, and these pursuits are important for poorer women to supplement domestic resources. Other wetland products such as palm fronds or medicinal plants also become scarce, with heavier effects on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale.192 Less than ten kilometers southwest of Jimma (Oromiya), along the Jimma-Seka-Shebe road, is the Koffe wetland. It is the home of the endangered Wattled crane. It is surrounded by 174 Freshwater Eucalyptus grandis covered low hills that serve as a watershed for small rivers like Melka Faki and Kilo. Agam (Carissa edulis), sembelet (Hyparrhenia sp.), and serdo (Cynodon dactylon) are the dominant vegetation in the wetland. People have intensively grazed the land covered by serdo. The Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society survey indicates the existence of nearly 80 bird species in the area. However, farm and grazing encroachment, deforestation, and soil mining for brick making are threatening the ecological integrity.193 In the north, the wetlands around Lake Tana have a high diversity of water birds, including “the piscivorous little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), great and African cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo and P. africanus), and darter (Anhinga rufa)”. Large numbers of Palearctic migrant water birds also rely on the lake and the swamps around it for feeding and resting grounds.194 However, much of the wetlands around Lake Tana are losing ground to farming activities and grazing, owing mainly to increased population and pressure on agricultural land. For instance, much of the Fogera floodplain wetlands in the eastern margins of Lake Tana are being used for rice farming.195 Further east in the South Wollo Zone of the Amhara regional state, about 35 kilometers south of Kombolcha, is the Borkena wetland covering 12,000 hectares, consisting of “7,000 hectares of permanent swamp and 5,000 hectares of annually flooded land.”196 The wetland is replenished by the seasonal overflow of the Borkena River and many underground springs perennially. This ecosystem provides a habitat for many bird species, including the saddle-billed stork, marabou, the endemic blue-winged goose, ibises, and pelicans.197 People use reeds and sedges collected from the swamp for thatching roofs and building fences. The land adjoining the wetland is under extensive use for dry season grazing by lowland agropastoralists after the floodwaters recede.198 Encroachments by smallholders as well as commercial farmers pose a significant threat to the survival of this small but rich wetland ecosystem.199 About 20 kilometers south Addis Ababa is the Akaki wetland, a narrow stretch of land alongside the Akaki River, extending for about 13 kilometers between the town of Akaki Beseka and the artificial Lake Aba Samuel. It is a seasonal wetland that only occurs following the commencement of the summer rainy season and is almost completely dry during the dry season. The dominant vegetation includes reeds, tall sedges, and grasses. The wetland provides habitat for flamingos, waders, ducks, and European migrants, including stork, and grey and yellow wagtails. The red-chested wheatear, an endemic terrestrial bird, is common in the area, as are the crane and Wattled ibis.200 Downstream is Lake Aba Samuel, a body of water that was impounded by the Italians in 1939 to generate the first hydroelectric power, but has now turned into a wetland due to nutrient-rich sediment build up. The lake is entirely carpeted by the fast-growing water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and is devoid of any aquatic life. Shallo swamp or wetland is a drainage area for runoff from Lake Hawassa’s catchment areas before it flows into the Tikur Wuha. It covers a surface area of 77 square kilometers and is inhabited by diverse species of waterfowl, weed bed fauna, zooplankton, phytoplankton, fungi, bacteria, amphibians, reptiles, and macrophytes. The wetland grasses are used for grazing and other domestic needs. The main fish species in this wetland, Clarias gariepinus, serves as a source of food for the people. The wetland maintains the hydrology of the area, stabilizes the microclimate, and serves as a buffer against harmful additions from natural processes and human activities in the catchment.201 However, this wetland is being degraded by harmful human 175 activities such as land use and modification, industrial discharge, and other activities associated with urbanization. The Chomen and Fincha’a swamps or wetlands are on the littoral zone of the Fincha’a reservoir that was built in the East Wollega zone in Oromiya in 1973. The reservoir displaced 3,100 families or 14 percent of the people of the watershed.202 The reservoir initially contained about 185 million cubic meters of water, but its capacity was increased to 460 million cubic meters in 1987 by diverting the Amarti River into the lake to increase hydropower production. A number of small streams also drain into the reservoir, but direct precipitation is a major source of its replenishment. The inundation of this 239 square kilometer reservoir did render about 30 percent of the households in the area landless. Additionally, the construction caused the loss of 120 square kilometers of wetland, 100 square kilometers of grazing land, 18 square kilometers of cropland, and about 1.2 square kilometers of forestland.203 Much of the elevated areas of the watershed are heavily cultivated and grazed and, as a result, about 63 tons of topsoil per hectare is lost via erosion per year. This, in turn, is causing sediment build-up in the reservoir.204 Both floating and standing vegetation cover the Chomen and Fincha’a wetlands. The perennial floating stoloniferous grass (Panicum hygrocharis), sedges, blue water lilies (Nymphaea coerulea), and knotweeds (Persicaria spp.) form the dominant vegetation of the wetlands. The wetlands provide habitat for many bird species, including the globally threatened Wattled Crane, Rouget’s Rail, Blue-winged Goose, Abyssinian Black-headed Oriole, Black Eagle, Black-crowned Crane, and Lammergeyer. 205 Increased siltation and discharges of chemical fertilizers from the surrounding farms pose a significant threat to the ecology of these wetlands. There used to be large areas of wetlands along the middle and lower courses of the Awash River that provided habitats, vegetation, and water for humans and wildlife. Extensive development of irrigated large farms in the area has vastly reduced available wetlands and vegetation. People and domestic animals subject the few that do exist to intensive use. A permanent flood area in lower Awash forms Lake Yardi, covering about 6,000 hectares, and a permanent swamp above the lake covers 5,000 hectares. Lake Kaddabasa is another swampy lake covering 20,000 hectares or more. These wetlands contain papyrus, Typha, and Phragmites, along with a variety of aquatic floodplain grasses and floating and submerged aquatics. Lake Abe, where the Awash River terminates, has wetland vegetation, including Phragmites mauritianus, Cyperus papyrus, and Typha domingensis.206 In the southwest, in Gambela regional state, vast areas, from the town of Jikawo in the north to Gog in the southeast to Gambela in the east, are wetlands. Flood plains and permanent wetlands also occur on the Akobo River along the Ethiopian-South Sudan border. There is an extensive swamp on the convergence of the Akobo town and Pibor River. There are also other permanent wetlands along the Gilo River.207 The wetlands have diverse vegetation: tall grasses including asendabo (Echinochloa spp.) and sar (Panicum maximum), shrubs, and woody herbs. Dense small trees, acacia bushes, shenbeko (Arundodonex), shenkorageda (Saccharum officinalis), and temba (Pennisetum petiolare) cover the bank of the rivers, including the Baro.208 Most of these wetlands are part of the Gambela National Park, but the recent introduction of commercial farming activities and resettlement programs are threatening the integrity of these wetlands. 176 Freshwater Ethiopia is not a signatory of the Ramsar Convention (an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands). It has no policy specifically for wetlands, so none has been designated for protection. The only formal government policies that mention wetlands are the Conservation Strategy of Ethiopia and the Water Resources Management Policy. Even these two policies only address wetlands indirectly. In the Conservation Strategy of Ethiopia, wetlands are addressed as regulators of water and water quality. In the Water Resources Management Policies, they are addressed for their biodiversity and role in reducing pollution. Wetlands are not part of the government policy at the national level. Despite the fact that they were not designed in reference to wetlands, there are a number of policies with a direct impact on them. Food security strategy is an example. In an effort to increase food security, the use of supposedly under-utilized resources is encouraged. Diversion irrigation is encouraged in some parts of the country. In other cases, draining wetlands for agricultural lands is promoted. The latter option is attractive because it can provide crop harvests during food shortages before the main harvest. Another policy that impacts wetlands is resettlement. In the past, people have been relocated from areas prone to drought to the wetter southwest. This has caused a local increase in the demand for land. Where resettled populations were integrated with the local community, a dilemma emerged of where to place the settlers. Wetlands were often seen as the least desirable lands and thus given to the settlers. Another policy that has an impact on wetlands is the policy of poverty eradication, which led to the expansion of agricultural land and deforestation. The loss of vegetation cover has changed the hydrological cycle of many areas. One effect is that variation in stream flow increase, which can cause wetlands to dry up. They can then become a grazing land for cattle, leading to soil compaction, destruction of wetland vegetation, and loss of water storage capacity.209 Therefore, the impact of all these threats is likely to result in the decline and ultimate loss of food production, loss of resources that will be collected from the wetlands, lowering of the groundwater table, and drying up of water springs. Alteration in water quantity and quality, loss of biodiversity, loss of dry season grazing resources, and the loss of the ecosystem as a whole are possible results as well.210 Conclusion Development activities have varying degrees of negative environmental impacts, particularly on water resources and related ecosystems. Ethiopia has no systematic water quality assessment program. Reports and studies on the topic are few; however, there are indications that water pollution is an increasing problem in some parts of the country. The population is growing along with industrialization, urbanization, and intensified agricultural and development activities. As a result, liquid, solid, and atmospheric pollutants are increasing. This will cause the quality of unprotected surface and groundwater to decline. Increased fertilizer, pesticide, and organic chemical use will contaminate water sources. Industrial pollution attracts little attention in Ethiopia. Many manufacturing industries in the country use water in processing and thus locate along rivers and streams. These industries often discharge their wastewater back into the rivers and streams without any prior treatment. There are no restrictions or regulations on wastewater discharge. Many industries lack wastewater treatment facilities. A few industries in Addis Ababa do possess wastewater treatment facilities. 177 However, these industries often divert their wastewater into the storm drain system or watercourses without properly treating it.211 Pollution from agricultural activities includes chemical fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, and organic matter. Both large-scale and smallholder farms use chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers include those that are nitrogen and phosphorus based. Pesticides and herbicides are mainly used on large farms. Pesticides include chlorinated hydrocarbons, organo-phosphorus compounds, carbonate compounds, DDT, and lindane. These pollutants enter watercourses as runoff or irrigation return flows. These pesticides are toxic, and their residues persist for some time, and they are banned in many countries.212 Algae bloom in many of the country’s lakes is becoming a growing problem. This is caused by nutrients washed from point and non-point sources in nearby towns and defecation by people who do not have access to sanitation services. When nutrient-rich effluents enter a lake, it overloads the ability of the lake to provide oxygen to aquatic lives in it. This is a eutrophication process in which there is an upsurge of algae growth in the lake, which then results in the depletion of oxygen and fouling up of the lake water. Inefficient uses of water are prevalent, especially on irrigated farms due to poor irrigation techniques. Improving irrigation management is crucial. Doing so will increase water availability and, thus, contributes to the climate change adaptation because saving or reducing wastage of water will be critical in a changing climate, especially in the arid and semi-arid of the country. Clearly, Ethiopia must protect its surface and ground waters from being fouled. There is also a need for conservation and efficient use of water resources in the country before they become scarce resources. As environmental economist Ganesamurthy put it, “Watershed management through extensive soil conservation, catchment-area treatment, preservation of forests and increasing forest cover and the construction of check-dams should be promoted.”213 It is also imperative that freshwater sources be protected from contaminants. Freshwater should be priced in relation to its value to health and production as well. Notes 1 John Waterbury. 2002. The Nile Basin: National Determinants of Collective Action, New Haven: Yale University Press, p. 16. 2 Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR). 1998a. Water Supply Development and Rehabilitation: Tariff and Asset Valuation Study. Main Report, Addis Ababa: MoWR, p. 43. 3 Alan B. Dixon. 2003. Indigenous Management of Wetlands: Experiences in Ethiopia, London: Ashgate Publishing, p. 53. 4 British Geological Survey (BGS). 2001. Groundwater Quality: Ethiopia, British Geological Survey. http://www.wateraid.org/documents/plugin_documents/ethiopiagw.pdf. Accessed 29 November 2010. 5 MoWR. 2002b. Water Sector Development Program. Final Report, Volume II, Addis Ababa: MoWR. 6 R. Johnston, M. McCartney. 2010. Inventory of water storage types in the Blue Nile and Volta River Basins. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute, IWMI Working Paper 140, p. 7. 7 BGS, p. 2. 178 Freshwater 8 Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE). 1994. A Review of the Water Resources of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, p. 79. 9 Ibid., p. 84. 10 MoWR. 1998c. Federal Water Policy and Strategy: Comprehensive and Integrated Water Resources Management, Report, Vol. 1. Addis Ababa: MoWR, p. 15. 11 TGE, p. 87. 12 MoWR. 1998c, p. 15. 13 Tamiru Alemayehu. 2006. Ground Water Occurrence in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa: UNESCO, p. 75. http://www.eah.org.et/docs/Ethiopian%20groundwater-Tamiru.pdf. Accessed 29 November 2010. 14 TGE, p. 89. 15 BGE, p. 5. 16 Ibid., p. 4; The ground waters in the Rift Valley are saline and high in fluoride content. Fluoride is ubiquitous in the Earth's crust and thus gets into groundwater through natural processes. Consumption of water with excessive fluoride is dangerous to human health. Most Ethiopians drink water with fluoride concentration of over 1.5 mg/l, a concentration high enough to cause dental fluorosis. A concentration of less than 1.5 mg/l, on the other hand, provides a protection against dental caries (Tamiru Alemayehu, p. 81). 17 BGS, p. 5. 18 G. M. Di Paola and Getahun Demissie. 1979. Geothermal Energy: An inexhaustible resource of great economic importance for Ethiopia. SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science 2, 2: 87-110. 19 Tamiru Alemayehu, pp. 69-70. 20 H.P. Huffnagel. 1961. Agriculture in Ethiopia, Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization, 1961, p. 53. 21 A. Swain. 1997. Ethiopia, the Sudan and Egypt: The Nile River Dispute. The Journal of Modern African Studies 35, 4: 675-94. 22 Bo Appelgren, Wulf Klohn, and UndalaAlam.2000. Water and Agriculture in the Nile Basin, Nile Basin. Initiative Report to ICCCON, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, p. 3. 23 MoWR. 1997d. Abbay River Basin Integrated Development Master Plan Project, Volume V: Environment, Addis Ababa: MoWR, p. 41. 24 Ethiopian Valleys Development Studies Authority (EVDSA). 1992a. A Review of Water Resources of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa: EVDSA, p. 38. 25 Y. Arsano and I. Tamrat.2005. Ethiopia and the Eastern Nile Basin. Aquatic Sciences 67: 15-27. 26 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2005. Ethiopia: Irrigation in Africa in figures – Aquastat Survey 2005, Rome: FAO. 27 D. Jovanovic. 1985. Ethiopian Interests in the Division of the Nile River Waters. Water International 10, p. 84; pp. 82-85. 28 MoWR. 1997d, pp. 1.5-1.7. 29 Dale Whittington and Elizabeth M. McClelland. 1992. Opportunities for Regional and International Cooperation in the Nile Basin. Water International 17: 144-154. 179 30 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 2004. National Water Development Report for Ethiopia, Addis Ababa: World Water Assessment Program, p. 227. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001459/145926e.pdf. Accessed 2 December 2010. 31 Georgi Galperin. 1978. Ethiopia: Population, Resources, Economy, Moscow: Progress Publishers, p. 35-36. 32 Huffnagel, p. 52. 33 MoWR. 1996e. Tekeze River Basin Integrated Development Master Plan Project: Volume I, Main Report, Addis Ababa: MoWR. 34 EVDSA. 1989b. Master Plan for the Development of Surface Water Resources in the Awash Basin, Volume 4, Annex A: Climate and Hydrology, Addis Ababa: EVDSA, p. 1-3. 35 Michele L. Thiene, Robin Abell, Melanie L.J. Stiassny and Paul Skelton. 2005. Freshwater Ecoregions in Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment, Washington, D.C. World Wildlife Fund, p. 353. 36 EVDSA (1992a), p. 64a; FAO. 1997.Irrigation Potential in Africa: A basin Approach, Rome: FAO, p. 67. 37 FAO/Land and Water Development Division. 1997. Irrigation Potential in Africa: A Basin Approach, Rome: FAO, p. 67 38 EVDSA. 1992a, p. 61. 39 Thiene et al., p. 353. 40 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. 2000. Trans-boundary River/Lake Basin Water Development in Africa: Prospects, Problems, and Achievements, Addis Ababa: UNECA. p. 28. 41 EVDSA. 1992a, p. 57. The Omo is navigable in its last 100 kilometers. 42 Silas Mnyiri Mutia. 2009. Kenya’s Experience in Managing Climate Change and Water Resource Conflicts. In: Climate Change and Trans-boundary Water Resources in Africa, Workshop Report, 29-30 September, Mombasa, Kenya, p. 28. 43 Peter Greste. 2009. The dam that divides Ethiopians. BBC News, 26 March 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7959444.stm. Accessed 2 December 2010. 44 Terri Hathaway. 2008. What Cost Ethiopia’s Dam Boom? International Rivers(February), p. 4-26, p. 17. 45 Indigenous peoples in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley include: Bodi, Daasanach, Kara (Karo), Muguji (Kwegu), Mursi, Nyangatom, Bashada, Bodi, Hamar, and Nyangatom, Arbore, Ari, Atse, Banna, Basketo, Birale (Ongota), Bodi, Daasanach (Galeb), Dime, Hamar, Kara (Karo), Maale, Muguji (Kwegu), Murile, Mursi, Nyangatom (Bume), Tsamai, Tsemako. International Rivers, Ethiopia’s Gibe III Dam: Sowing Hunger and Conflict, Berkley, CA, 2009. 46 African Resource Working Group. 2008. Environmental and Social Impacts of the Proposed Gibe III Hydroelectric Project in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo River Basin. http://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/fpp/files/publication/2010/08/ethiopiahydroelecimpactsmay08eng.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2012. 47 G. W. Coulter, B. R. Allanson, et al. 1986. Unique qualities and special problems of the African Great Lakes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 17, 3: 161-183. 48 L. C. Beadle. 1981. The inland waters of tropical Africa, London: Longman Group Limited. Cited in Emily Peck, Lake Turkana Conservation Science Program-WWF-US. http://www.feow.org/ecoregion_details.php?eco=530. Accessed 7 December 2010. 180 Freshwater 49 J.D. Halfman and T.C. Johnson. 1988. High resolution record of cyclic climate change during the past 4 ka from Lake Turkana, Kenya, Geology, 16, 496–500; Cited in N.M. Velpuri and G.B. Senay. 2012. Assessing the potential Hydrological Impact of the Gibe III Dam on Lake Turkana Water Level Using Multi-Source Satellite Data. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 9: 2987-3027. 50 Thomas C. Johnson and John O. Malala. 2009. Lake Turkana and its Link to the Nile. Monographiae Biologicae 89, 111: 287-304, p. 1. 51 Thieme et al., p. 152. 52 Emily Peck, Lake Turkana Conservation Science Program-WWF-US. http://www.feow.org/ecoregion_details.php?eco=530. Accessed 7 December 2010. 53 M. Fitzgerald. 1981. Sibiloi: The remotest park in Kenya. Africana 8, 4: 22; Kenya Wildlife Service. 2001. Nomination Form for the Great Rift Valley Ecosystems Sites. Extension of Lake Turkana: South Island National Park, Nairobi. http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/pdf/Lake%20Turkana.pdf. Accessed 7 December 2010. 54 L. C. Beadle. 1981. The inland waters of tropical Africa, London: Longman Group Limited; A. J. Hopson. 1982. Lake Turkana. A report on the findings of the Lake Turkana project 1972-1975, Volumes 1-6, London, UK: Overseas Development Administration; C. Leveque. 1997, Biodiversity dynamics and conservation: The freshwater fish of tropical Africa, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 55 Turkana mud turtle and three species of frogs that are endemic to the lake, including Bufo chappuisi, B. turkanae and Phrynobatrachus zavattarii (R. H. Hughes and J. S. Hughes. 1992. A directory of African wetlands, Gland, Switzerland, Nairobi, Kenya, and Cambridge, UK: IUCN and UNEP. 56 Peter Greste. 2009. The dam that divides Ethiopians. BBC News, 26 March. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7959444.stm. Accessed 2 December 2010. 57 Fitsum Merid. 2008. National Nile Basin Water Quality Monitoring Baseline Report for Ethiopia, Nile Basin Initiative, Trans-boundary Environmental Action Project, Addis Ababa, p. 15.http://nilerak.hatfieldgroup.com/English/NRAK/Resources/Document_centre/WQ_Baseline_report_Ethiopia.pdf. Accessed 24 March 2011. 58 Galperin, p. 36. 59 Huffnagel, p. 53; EVDSA (1992a), p. 67. 60 World Meteorological Organization. 2003.The Associated Program on Flood Management Integrated Flood Management: Case of Ethiopia. Integrated Flood Management (by Kefyalew Achamyeleh).Technical Support Unit (ed.).http://www.apfm.info/pdf/case_studies/cs_ethiopia.pdf. Accessed 11 March 2011. 61 Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society (EWNHS). 1996. Important Bird Areas of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa: EWNHS and Birdlife International, p.111. 62 UNESCO, p. 144. 63 Fitsum Merid, p. 15. 64 Water Resources Development Authority, Transitional Government of Ethiopia. 1995. Survey and Analysis of the Upper Baro-Akobo Basin. Final Report, Volume I-Main Report, Addis Ababa: Addis Resources DevelopmentGEOSERV (ARDCO-GEOSERV),p. 24 & p. 31. 65 Ethiopia’s Rush to Build Mega Dams Sparks Protests. The Guardian (UK), 25 March 2010. 66 Tony Binns, Alan Dixon and Etienne Nel. 2012. Africa: Diversity and Development, New York, Routledge, p. 94. 67 UNESCO, pp. 55-59. 181 68 MoWR. 2002b, p. 61. 69 World Bank. 2006. Managing Water Resources to Maximize Sustainable Growth, Ethiopia, Report 36000-ET, World Bank: Washington, p. 28. 70 National Research Council. 2009. Emerging Technologies to Benefit Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, p. 212. 71 Ethiopia Electric Power Corporation. 2009. www.eepco.gov.et. Accessed 20 December 2009; UNESCO, p. 59.. 72 Katrina Manson. 2014. Ethiopia uses electricity exports to drive ambition as an African power hub. The Financial Times, 16 February 2014.http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/14d2026a-902d-11e3-a77600144feab7de.html#axzz2thZTaKqA. Accessed 18 February 2014. 73 Ethiopia Electric Power Corporation. 2009. www.eepco.gov.et. Accessed 20 December 2009; World Bank, p. 2930. 74 Xan Rice. 2010. Green Concerns over Ethiopia’s dam plans. The Sydney Morning Star, 12 April. 75 Ethiopia’s Rush to Build Mega Dams Sparks Protests. The Guardian (UK), 25 March 2010. 76 UNESCO, p. 65. 77 Ibid., p. 65. 78 Ibid., pp. 77-78. 79 A. E. Cascao.2008. Ethiopia - Challenges to Egyptian hegemony in the Nile Basin. Water Policy 10: 13-28; Yacob Arsano and I. Tamrat. 2005.Ethiopia and the Eastern Nile Basin. Aquatic Sciences 67: 15-27; P. Kagwanja. 2007. Calming the Waters: The East African Community and the Conflict over the Nile Resources. Journal of Eastern African Studies 1, 3: 321-337; Whittington, D., X. Wu, et al. 2005. Water resources management in the Nile basin. The economic value of cooperation. Water Policy 7: 227-252; D. R. Karyabwite.2000. Water Sharing in the Nile River Valley, UNEP; A. F. Metawie, 2004. History of Co-operation in the Nile Basin. Water Resources Development 20, 1: 47-63. 80 Ibid., pp. 78-79. 81 Africa Report, Ethiopia raises US$350 million for mega dam, Africa Report, 13 September 2011. http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2011/09/13/ethiopia-raises-us-350-million-for-mega-dam. Accessed 13 September. 82 Zemenawi Gibrnachen, vol. 3, No. 1, Yekatit 2006 E.C. (The Ministry of Agriculture Bulletin), p. 14. 83 ERATA News, 2 April 2011. Ethiopia lays foundation for Africa’s largest dam. http://www.ertagov.com/erta/ertanews-archive/38-erta-tv-hot-news-addis-ababa-ethiopia/574-ethiopia-lays-foundation-for-africas-biggest-dam.html. Accessed 1 September 2012. 84 Full text of ‘Declaration of Principles’ signed by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2015/03/30/full-text-of-declaration-of. Accessed 5 April 2015. 85 N. Stern. 2007. Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, London: Cambridge University Press. www.hmtreasurey.gov.uk/independent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/stern_review_report.cfm. 86 Theodore Panayotou. 1993. Green Markets: the Economics of Sustainable Development, San Francisco: Institute for Contemporary Studies, p. 80. 87 Fresh water lakes include: Abaya, Abijata, Ashange, Hawassa, Chamo, Hayik, Langano, Shalla, Tana, Ziway. Saline Lakes are: Abe, Afambo, Afrera, Assela, Beseka, Chew Bahir, Gamari, Gargori, and Turkana. Crater Lakes 182 Freshwater are Bishoftu, Hora, Wonchi, and Zequala. Swamps are several, including: Chomen Dabus, Fogera Shallo, Dillu, Borkena, and Gedebassa. There also are Swamps along rivers, including: Abbay, Alwero, Akobo, Awash, Baro, Gilo, and Wabi Shebelle. MoWR (1998c), pp. 11-13. 88 Ib Friis, Sebsebe Demissew, and Paulo van Breugel. 2011. Atlas of the Potential Vegetation of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press, p.14. 89 Huffnagel, p. 52; Galperin, p. 40. 90 EWNHS, p.86. 91 Fitsum Merid, p. 12. 92 Galperin, p. 40. 93 Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa (CEEPA). 2006. Climate Change and African Agriculture: Assessing the impact of climate change on the water resources of the Lake Tana sub-basin using the Watbal model, Policy Note No.30, CEEPA: University of Pretoria, South Africa, p. 2. http://www.ceepa.co.za/docs/POLICY%20NOTE%2030.pdf. Accessed 8 December 2010. 94 MoWR. 1997d, p. 61. 95 EWNHS, pp.89-90. 96 Amare Haileslassie, Fitsum Hagos, Everisto Mapedza, Claudia Sadoff, Seleshi Bekele Awulachew, Solomon Gebreselassie and Don Peden. 2008. Institutional Settings and Livelihood Strategies in the Blue Nile Basin: Implications for Upstream/Downstream Linkages, Working Paper 132, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and International Water Management Institute, p. 8. http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/WOR132.pdf. Accessed 29 November 2010. 97 Berhanu Teshale, Ralph Lee & Girma Zawdie.2002. Development initiatives and challenges for sustainable resource management and livelihood in the Lake Tana region of Northern Ethiopia. International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development 1, 2: 111-124, p. 15-16. 98 Thieme, et al., p. 150. 99 Eshete Dejen. 2005. Biodiversity of Lake Tana and Threats for Sustainability. In: Proceedings of the Second Awareness Creation Workshop on Wetlands in the Amhara Region, Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Association (EWNRA), Addis Ababa. 100 Foundation for Environmental Security and Sustainability. 2004.Environmental Security Assessment: Lake Tana Watershed, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. http://www.fess-global.org/Lake_Tana.cfm. Accessed 8 December 2010; Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Information on Fishery Management. http://www.fao.org/fi/oldsite/FCP/en/ETH/body.htm. Accessed 8 December 2010. 101 CSA. 2010. Statistical Abstract 2009, Addis Ababa: CSA, p. 5. 102 K. Elizabeth, T. Getatchew, W.D. Taylor, and G.M. Zinabu. 1992. Eutrophication of Lake Hayq in the Ethiopian Highlands. Journal of Plankton Research14, 10: 1473-1482. 103 Institute of Biodiversity Conservation. 2008. Ecosystems of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa: IBC. 104 Iain Darbyshire, Henry Lamb and Mohammed Umer. 2003. Forest clearance and regrowth in northern Ethiopia during the last 3000 years. The Holocene 13,4: 537–546; pp.537- 538. 105 BirdLife International. 2010. Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lakes Alemaya and Adele. http://www.birdlife.org. Accessed 20 December 2010. 183 106 Philip Briggs and Brian Blatt. 2009. Ethiopia, London: Bradt Publications, p. 533; EWNHS, p. 425. 107 Fekadu Yohannes. 2005. Soil Erosion and Sedimentation: The Case of Lake Alemaya. In: Proceedings of the Second Awareness Creation Workshop on Wetlands in the Amhara Region, Addis Ababa: Ethio Wetlands and Natural Resources Association (EWNRA), pp. 26-36; p. 34. 108 United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). 2008. Lake Alemaya, Ethiopia, Atlas of Our Changing Environment, Global Resource Information Database - Sioux Falls. http://unepatlas.blogspot.com/2008/06/lakealemaya.html. Accessed 19 December 2010;Brook Lemma, 2004. Human intervention in two lakes: lessons from lakes Alemaya and Hora-Kilole. In: Proceedings of the National Consultative workshop on the Ramsar Convention and Ethiopia, March 18-19, 2004, Addis Ababa Ethiopia. 109 S. Muleta, F. Yohannes, and S.M. Rashid. 2006. Soil erosion assessment of Lake Alemaya catchment, Ethiopia. Land Degradation and Development 17, 3 (May/June): 333-341. 110 Michael Wines, West’s Drought and Growth Intensify Conflict over Water Rights, The New York Times, March 16, 2014: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/us/wests-drought-and-growth-intensify-conflict-over-waterrights.html?hp. Accessed 17 March 2014. 111 EWNHS, p. 164. 112 Ibid., p. 165. 113 Girma Kebbede. 2004. Living with Urban Environmental Health Risks: The Case of Ethiopia, London: Ashgate Publications, p. 156-157. 114 Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission. 2004. Proposal for Organizing a National Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production in Akaki River Basin, Addis Ababa. http://www.gadaa.com/AkakiRiverRoundtable.pdf. Accessed 22 December 2010. 115 Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, State of California. 2009. Microcystis: Toxic Blue-Green Algae. http://oehha.ca.gov/ecotox/pdf/microfactsheet122408.pdf. Accessed 23 December 2010. 116 BBC Video, The Destruction of Ethiopia’s Once Beautiful Lake Koka, 21 February 2009. http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?title=the_destruction_of_ethiopia_s_once_beaut_1&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1. Accessed 21 December 2009. 117 Kiran Khalid, Akaki River. http://www.gadaa.com/AkakiRiver.html. Accessed 21 December 2010. 118 P.C. Prabu. 2009. Impact of Heavy Metal Contamination of Akaki River of Ethiopia on Soil and Metal Toxicity on Cultivated Vegetable Crops. Electronic Journal of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Chemistry 8, 9: 818827. http://ejeafche.uvigo.es/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_view/gid,534/. Accessed 21 December 2010. 119 Solomon Kibret, Matthew McCartney, Jonathan Lautze, and Gayathree Jayasinghe. 2009. Malaria Transmission in the Vicinity of Impounded Water: Evidence from the Koka Reservoir, Ethiopia, IWMI Research Report 132, Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute, 2009. http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/PUB132/RR132.pdf. Accessed 22 December 2010. 120 UNESCO, p. 66. 121 EWNHS, p. 164; MoWR. 2002b, p. 85. 122 Tenalem Ayenew. 2007. Some Improper Water Resources Utilization Practices and Environmental Problems in the Ethiopian Rift. African Water Journal 1, 1 (March): 81-100. 184 Freshwater 123 Eleni Ayalew Belay. 2009. Growing lake with growing problems: integrated hydro-geological investigation on Lake Beseka, Ethiopia. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Bonn. http://deposit.ddb.de/cgibin/dokserv?idn=993930662&dok_var=d1&dok_ext=pdf&filename=993930662.pdf. Accessed 29 December 2010. 124 Hayal Alemayehu. 2010. Ethiopia: Overflowing Beseka Lake endangers surrounding areas. Bini, 13 June. http://www.newsdire.com/news/904-ethiopia-overflowing-beseka-lake-endangers-surrounding-areas.html. Accessed 29 December 2010. 125 B. Mezgebu. 2002.Ethiopia: Tampering with Lake Beseka: Some pros and cons. Daily Monitor, 23 January. http://allafrica.com/stories/200201230346.html. Accessed 29 December 2010. 126 Including: Long-crested Eagle, Egyptian Vulture, Swallow-tailed Kite, Superb and Ruppell's Starling, Eastern Chanting Goshawk, White-browed Scrub Robin, Fork-tailed Drongo, Yellow-breasted Barbet, White-bellied GoAway Bird, Eastern Grey Plantain Eater, Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike, Crested Francolin, Gillett's Lark, Redwinged Lark, White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver, Abyssinian Scimitar bill, African Orangebellied Parrot, Buff-crested Bustard, Hartlaub's and Kori Bustards, among others (Steve Smith, Birdingpaltours around the world. http://www.birdingpal.org/tours/EthiopiaItinerary.htm#tour1. Accessed 1 December 2010. 127 EWNHS, p.154. 128 Tenalem Ayenew.2002a. Some Improper Water Resources Utilization Practices and Environmental Problems in the Ethiopian Rift. African Water Journal 1: 80-105. 82. 129 MoWR. 1998c, p. 30. 130 Caroline Le Turdu et al. 1999. The Ziway–Shala lake basin system, Main Ethiopian Rift: Influence of volcanism, tectonics, and climatic forcing on basin formation and sedimentation,Palaeogeography. Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 150: 135–177; p. 138. 131 Christine Vallet-Coulomb, Dagnachew Legesse, et al. 2001. Lake Evaporation Estimates in Tropical Africa (Lake Ziway, Ethiopia). Journal of Hydrology 245: 1-18, p. 3. 132 CSA. 2010. Statistical Abstract 2009, Addis Ababa: CS, p. 5. 133 E. Gilbert, Y. Travi, M. Massault, T. Chernet, F. Barbecot and F. Laggoun-Defarge, 1999. Comparing Carbonate and Organic AMS-14C Ages in Lake Abiyata Sediments (Ethiopia). Hydrochemistry and Paleoenvironmental Implications Radiocarbon41: 271; Cited in HuibHengsdijk and Herco Jansen. 2006. Agricultural development in the Central Ethiopian Rift valley: A desk-study on water-related issues and knowledge to support a policy dialogue, Plant Research International B.V., Wageningen. 134 M. Bolton. 1969. Rift Valley Ecological Survey, UNESCO, p. 14; Emil K. Urban. 1970. Ecology of Water Birds of Four Rift Valley Lakes in Ethiopia. Ostrich Sup., 8: 315-321. p. 318. 135 Herco Jansen, Huib Hengsdijk, Dagnachew Legesse, Tenalem Ayenew, Petra Hellegers, and Petra Spliethoff. 2007. Land and Water Resources Assessment in the Ethiopian Central Rift Valley: Project: Ecosystems for Water, Food and Economic Development in the Ethiopian Central Rift Valley, Alterra-rapport. Wageningen, Alterra, p.10. 136 Dagnachew Legesse, and Tenalem Ayenew. 2006. Effect of improper water and land resource utilization on the central Main Ethiopian Rift lakes. Quaternary International148, 1: 8-18; p. 14. 137 Thieme et al., p. 182. 138 Tenalem Ayenew. 2002a, p. 98. 139 Ibid., p. 98. 140 Dagnachew Legesse and Tenalem Ayenew, p. 14. 185 141 EVDSA. 1992. Institutional Support Project: A Review of the Water Resources of Ethiopia, Report No. M2/C5/512/1. Addis Ababa: Richard Woodroofe and Associates, p. 21. 142 CSA. 2010. Statistical Abstract 2009, Addis Ababa: CSA, p. 5. 143 M. Bolton. 1969. Rift Valley Ecological Survey, UNESCO, p. 2. 144 Tenalem Ayenew (2002a), p. 87. 145 Geological Survey of Ethiopia, Current Exploration and Mining.http://www.telecom.net.et/~walta/profile/html/current_status.html. Accessed 13 December 2010. 146 Ibid. 147 Tenalem Ayenew. 2002b. Recent changes in the level of Lake Abijata, Central Main Ethiopian Rift. Hydrological Science Journal 47, 3: 493-503; p. 496. http://itia.ntua.gr/hsj/47/hysj_47_03_0493.pdf. Accessed 10 December 2010. 148 Tenalem Ayenew. 2002a, p. 98. 149 CSA. 2010. Statistical Abstract 2009, Addis Ababa: CSA, p. 5. 150 Galperin, p. 39. 151 Bolton, p. 5. 152 TGE, p. 21. 153 Thieme et a., p. 183; Emil K Urban.1970. Urban, Ecology of Water Birds of Four Rift Valley Lakes in Ethiopia. Ostrich Sup., 8: 315-321. p. 320. 154 Lemlem Sissay. 2003. Biodiversity potentials and threats to the Southern Rift Valley Lakes of Ethiopia. In: Wetland of Ethiopia: Proceeding of a seminar on the resources and status of Ethiopia’s wetlands, Yilma Dellelegn and Geheb, K. (Eds.), IUCN, Gland, p. 116. 155 EVDSA. 1992a, p.39. 156 CS. 2010. Statistical Abstract 2009, Addis Ababa: CSA, p. 5. 157 Dagnachew Legesse and Tenalem Ayenew, p. 8; R. B. Wood, M.V. Prosser, and F.M. Baxter, 1978. Optical Characteristics of the Rift Valley Lakes, Ethiopia. SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science 1, 2: 73-85, p. 73. 158 Urban, p. 318; EWNHS, p.167. 159 Including: White-breasted Cormorant, Great White Pelicans, Kittlit’s Sandplover, Spur-winged Plover, Whitewinged Black Tern, and Lesser Flamingo. The area also attracts Little Rock Thrush and White-winged Cliff-chat. Scrub lures Singing Cisticola, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Ruppell's Weaver, Lesser Masked Weavers, Grey-headed Gull, Common Black-headed Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Whiskered and White-winged Gull, Stout Cisticola and Thrush Nightingale. EVDSA. 1992a, p. 40. 160 Ibid. 161 The section on Hawassa Lake benefits from the work of Zerihun Desta. 2000. Challenges and Opportunities of Ethiopian Wetlands: The Case of Lake Awassa and its Feeders. In: Proceedings of a Seminar on the Resources and Status of Ethiopia’s Wetlands, Yilma D. Abebe and Kim Geheb (eds.), The World Conservation Union (IUCN), pp.67-74. 162 CSA. 2010. Statistical Abstract 2009, Addis Ababa: CSA, p. 5. 186 Freshwater 163 Bolton, p. 11. 164 World Meteorological Organization. 2003. The Associated Program on Flood Management Integrated Flood Management: Case of Ethiopia: Integrated Flood Management, Technical Support Unit, Kefyalew Achamyeleh(ed.). http://www.apfm.info/pdf/case_studies/cs_ethiopia.pdf. Accessed 11 March 2011. 165 The most notable of these include the African pygmy goose, white-backed duck, marabou stork, silvery-cheek hornbill, grey kestrel, African fish eagle, red-billed teal, black crake, yellow-billed egret, yellow-fronted parrot, blue-headed coucal, Bruce’s green pigeon, white-rumped babbler, storks, terns, plovers, hooded vulture, woodland kingfisher, red-headed weaver, and the endemic black-winged lovebird (Philip Briggs and Brian Platt. 2009. Ethiopia: The Bradt Travel Guide, Guilford, CT: The Globe Pequot Press, p. 465). 166 Zerihun Desta, pp.67-74. 167 Ibid. 168 Francis L. Gordon. 2000. Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti, London: Lonely Planet Publications, p. 229. 169 Friis et al., p. 136. 170 Galperin, p.39. 171 Andrew S. Goudie. 1975. Former Lake Levels and Climatic Change in the Rift Valley of Southern Ethiopia. Geographical Journal 141: 177-194. The lake has many islands, including Aruro, Gidicho, Galmaka, Alkali, and Welege. 172 CSA. 2010. Statistical Abstract 2009, Addis Ababa: CSA, p. 5. 173 Briggs and Blatt, pp. 514-515. 174 EWNHS, p. 209. 175 Galperin, p.39. 176 Briggs and Blatt, p. 533; EWNHS, p. 209. 177 EWNHS, 1996, p. 210. 178 Including: near threatened Lesser Flamingos, Storks, Waterfowl and Palaearctic Waders, Gull-billed Tern, Whitefaced Whistling Duck, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Pink-breasted Lark, Scaly Chatterer, Sparrow Weaver, Shelley’s Starling Parrot-billed Sparrow, and Grey-headed Silverbill (EWNHS, 1996, p. 210; Briggs and Blatt, p. 534). 179 Institute of Biodiversity. 2008.Conservation, Ecosystems of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. http://www.ibc-et.org/. Accessed 6 January 2011. 180 UNESCO, p. 120. 181 Institute of Biodiversity. 2008. Conservation, Ecosystems of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. http://www.ibc-et.org/. Accessed 6 January 2011. 182 R. Johnston, and M. McCartney. 2010. Inventory of water storage types in the Blue Nile and Volta river basins. Colombo, Sri Lanka, International Water Management Institute, IWMI Working Paper 140. 183 Shewaye Deribe. 2008. Wetland Management Aspects in Ethiopia: Situation Analysis. In: The Proceedings of the National Stakeholders’ Workshop on Creating National Commitment for Wetland Policy and Strategy Development in Ethiopia, 7 - 8 August, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pp. 14-27. http://www.ewnra.org.et/files/Proceedings%20of%20the%20national%20stakeholders%27%20workshop.pdf. Accessed 1 December 2010. 187 184 Jonathan McKee. 2007. Ethiopia: Country Environmental Profile, p. 33. http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/Ethiopia-ENVIRONMENTAL-PROFILE-08-2007_en.pdf. Accessed 10 April 2011. 185 Institute of Biodiversity. 2008. Conservation, Ecosystems of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. http://www.ibc-et.org/. Accessed 6 January 2011. Important wetlands within the country include Lake Tana and its associated wetlands (the Fogera floodplains); the Dembia floodplains; the Ashange and Hayk lakes; the wetlands of the Bale Mountains including alpine lakes such as Garba Guracha and swamps and floodplains; the wetlands of the western highlands such as Ghibe and Gojeb in Kaffa and Illu Ababor; the lakes of Bishoftu including the crater Lakes Hora, Bishoftu, Guda, and Zukuala and the Green, Babugaya, and Bishoftu lakes; the lakes and wetlands in the southwest Great Rift Valley such as Lakes Ziway, Langano, Abijata, Shala, Awassa, Chelekelaka, Abaya, Chamo, Chew-Bahir, and Turkana; the lakes and wetlands of the Awash River basin such as Dillu Meda and Aba Samuel in the upper Awash; the Lake Beda sector which includes the Gewane lakes and swamps, the Dubiti, Afambo, and Gemari lakes and swamps, and Lake Abe and the delta; the Lakes of the Afar Depression, which are Lakes Afrera, Asale, and the Dallol Depression itself; the western river floodplains such as the Alwero, Baro, Akobo, Gillo, Chomen, Fincha’a swamp, Dabus swamp, and the Beles floodplain; and the artificial wetlands and dams such as the Koka, Fincha, Melka-Wakana, Gilgel Gibe and other hydropower dams and municipal and other reservoirs such as dams, aquifers, and wells. UNESCO, p. 122-23. 186 Ibid., p. 125. 187 Ibid., pp. 126-127. 188 Ibid., p. 127. 189 Dixon, p. 63. 190 Alan Dixon and Dr. Adrian Wood. 2001. Sustainable Wetland Management for Food Security and Rural Livelihoods in South-west Ethiopia: the interaction of local knowledge and institutions, government policies and globalization. Paper Prepared for Presentation at the SeminairesurL’amenagement des zones marecageuses du Rwanda, 5-8th June, National University of Rwanda and the University of Huddersfield and Wetland Action. 191 Ibid. 192 Adrian Wood. 2000. Wetlands, gender, and poverty: some elements in the development of sustainable and equitable wetland management. In: Proceedings of a Seminar on the Resources and Status of Ethiopia’s Wetlands, Yilma D. Abebe and Kim Geheb (eds.), The World Conservation Union (IUCN). 193 EWNHS, pp. 163-164. 194 Thieme et al., p. 180. 195 E. J. Mwendera, M. A. Mohamed Saleem, and A. Dibabe. 1997. The effect of livestock grazing on surface runoff and soil erosion from sloping pasture lands in the Ethiopian highlands. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 37: 421-430. 196 Messele Fisseha. 2003. Water Resources Policy and River Basin Development as Related to Wetlands, In: Wetlands of Ethiopia. In: Proceedings of a seminar on the resources and status of Ethiopia’s wetlands, Yilma D. Abebe and Kim Geheb (eds.), Nairobi, IUCN Eastern Africa Regional Office, p. 9. 78. 197 Briggs and Platt, p. 338. 198 Messele Fisseha. 2003. Water Resources Policy and River Basin Development as Related to Wetlands, In: Wetlands of Ethiopia: Proceedings of a seminar on the resources and status of Ethiopia’s wetlands, Yilma D. Abebe and Kim Geheb (eds.), Nairobi, IUCN Eastern Africa Regional Office, p. 9; Sir William Halcrow et al. 1989. Master Plan for the Development of Surface water Resources in the Awash Basin, Ethiopian Valleys Development Authority, Vol. 8, Annex J: Irrigation and Drainage. 188 Freshwater 199 Degefa Tolossa and Axel Baudouin. 2004. Access to natural resources and conflicts between farmers and agropastoralists in Borkena Wetland, Northeastern Ethiopia. Norwegian Journal of Geography 58, 3: 97-112. 200 Ibid., p. 376. 201 Zerihun Desta. 2000. Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian wetlands: the case of Lake Awassa and its feeders. In: Proceedings of a Seminar on the Resources and Status of Ethiopia’s Wetlands, Yilma D. Abebe and Kim Geheb (eds.), The World Conservation Union (IUCN). 202 Irit Eguavoen. 2009. The Acquisition of Water Storage Facilities in the Abbay River Basin, Ethiopia, Working Paper Series 38, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn. 203 Bezuayehu Tefera and Geert Sterk. 2008. Hydropower-Induced Land Use Change in Fincha'a Watershed, Western Ethiopia: Analysis and Impacts. Mountain Research and Development 28, 1: 72-80. 204 Watershed, Ethiopia: Land Use Changes, Erosion Problems, and Soil and Water Conservation Adoption, Wageningen: Wageningen University, The Netherlands. No date. http://www.mekonginfo.org/mrc_en/doclib.nsf/0/e1dfbbefb9263e6b4725724a00123f75/$file/07_abstr_sterk_tefera. pdf. Accessed 5 January 2011. 205 EWNHS, pp. 159-61. 206 R. H. Hughes and J. S. Hughes. 1992. A directory of African wetlands, Nairobi: UNEP and IUCN, pp. 165-66. 207 Ibid., p. 169. 208 EWNHS, p. 111. 209 UNESCO, p. 128. 210 McKee, p. 36. 211 UNESCO, p. 133. 212 Ibid., pp. 134. 213 V. S. Ganesamurthy. 2011. Environmental Status and Policy in India, New Delhi: New Century Publications, p. xxv.