Aqushela

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

Aqushela
The reservoir never gets full with water, as evidenced by the trees growing on its bottom
Aqushela
Coordinates	13.38695882°N 38.83006536°E / 13.38695882; 38.83006536
Type	Freshwater artificial lake
Basin countries	Ethiopia
Surface area	0.2 km2 (0.077 sq mi)
Water volume	0.81×10^6 m3 (660 acre⋅ft) (designed volume)
Settlements	Hidmo

Dam characteristics

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

Capacity

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

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

Irrigation

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

Environment

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

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

See also: Soil in Tanqwa Abergele