The Tana-Beles

interbasin water transfer Interbasin transfer or transbasin diversion are (often hyphenated) terms used to describe man-made conveyance schemes which move water from one river basin where it is available, to another basin where water is less available or could be utilized ...

takes water from

Lake Tana Lake Tana ( am, ጣና ሐይቅ, T’ana ḥāyik’i; previously Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wid ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and delivers it to the

Beles River Beles River (''Kusa'' in Gumuz language) is a river of western Ethiopia. A tributary of the Abay river (better known as the Blue Nile), the Beles rises in Dangur woreda to flow in a south-west direction to its confluence. Its catchment area amounts ...

via the Tana Beles hydroelectric power plant. The water downstream is also used for irrigation.

Technical characteristics

It was constructed between 2005 and 2010, specifically as a multi-purpose project, but with a major part of construction involving the hydropower plant, 11.8 km headrace tunnel from Lake Tana, and 7.2 km tailrace tunnel to the Jehana river (minor tributary of the Beles River). While Lake Tana and the Beles River are both in the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...

/Abbay basin, water would not usually flow from the lake through this river. The interbasin transfer project therefore provides substantial additional water within the Beles River region (on average 77 m³/s ), enabling irrigation development, notably of sugarcane.

Social and environmental impacts

The

Environmental Impact Assessment Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...

of the Tana-Beles interbasin water transfer is not available. The social impacts of the Tana-Beles water transfer have been studied and results published in the high-profile

Journal of Hydrology ''Journal of Hydrology'' () is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Elsevier about hydrological sciences including water based management Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly col ...

: the dangerously high increases in discharge of Beles river have led to the drowning of 250 people between 2010 and 2018. The negative impacts on rural livelihoods are however overshadowed by national development goals (electricity production). The external costs (coping with damage) are borne by local people, who have low bargaining power.

References

Interbasin transfer {{Watersupply-stub