Wabe River (also Wabi River, Uabi River) is a west-southwest flowing river of south-central
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 ...
, entirely confined within the reaches of
Gurage Zone
Gurage is a zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. The region is home to the Gurage people. Gurage is bordered on the southeast by Hadiya and Yem special woreda, on the west, north and east by the Oromia Re ...
of the
.
This river is a
perennial river
A perennial stream is a stream that has continuous flow of surface water throughout the year in at least parts of its catchment during seasons of normal rainfall, Water Supply Paper 494. as opposed to one whose flow is intermittent. In the abs ...
. A principal tributary of the
Omo River
The Omo River (also called Omo-Bottego) in southern Ethiopia is the largest Ethiopian river outside the Nile Basin. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia, and it empties into Lake Turkana on the border with Kenya. The ...
on the left side, it joins the much larger
Gibe River
The Gibe River (also Great Gibe River) is by far the largest tributary of the Omo River in Ethiopia and typically flowing south-southeast. The confluence of the large Gibe River at with the smaller Wabe River forms the even larger Omo River. Cons ...
at from where the joint river continues as the Omo River. The river rises at an elevation of 2,850 m in the
Shewa
Shewa ( am, ሸዋ; , om, Shawaa), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa (''Scioà'' in Italian language, Italian), is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous monarchy, kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The ...
n highlands and discharges into the Omo river at an elevation of 1060 m.
Due to its steep gradient, it is a quickly flowing river with many falls. In particular to mention are the
Acho Falls
Acho is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Emmanuel Acho (born 1990), American football player
*James Acho, American sportswriter
*Sam Acho (born 1988), American football player
as first name:
*Acho (vice-chancellor), 13th-cent ...
near
Welkite
Welkite (also transliterated Wolkite) () is a town and separate woreda in south-western Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Gurage Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), this town has a latitude and longi ...
with a height of 60 meters. Southwest of Welkite and several kilometers short of its confluence with the Omo River the river shows a very steep series of rapids with an elevation drop of ~400 m in just four kilometers. Due to its special characteristics, the river is (in 2018) under investigation for
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
electricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For electric utility, utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its Electricity delivery, delivery (Electric power transmi ...
by using the
hydropower
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...
of the river.
See also
*
List of rivers of Ethiopia
This is a list of streams and rivers in Ethiopia, arranged geographically by drainage basin. There is an alphabetic list at the end of this article.
Flowing into the Mediterranean
*''Nile (Egypt, Sudan)''
Atbarah River
*Mareb River (or G ...
References
Omo River (Ethiopia)
Rivers of Ethiopia
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