reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...
in 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 ...
. It was created by the construction of the Koka Dam across the
Awash River
The Awash (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo: ''Awaash'', Amharic: አዋሽ, Afar: ''We'ayot'', Somali: ''Webiga Dir'') is a major river of Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia and empties into a chain of i ...
. The reservoir has an area of 180 square kilometers.
Oromia Region
Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa.
It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the ...
, close to the capital and largest city of Ethiopia,
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
, the Koka Reservoir is popular with tourists and city-dwellers. There is a variety of wildlife and birds around the lake. The reservoir supports a
fishing industry
The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...
; according to the Ethiopian Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, 625
tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s of fish are landed each year, which the department estimates is either 52% or 89% of its sustainable amount. Both the reservoir and the dam are threatened by increasing
sedimentation
Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...
caused by
environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defin ...
as well as the invasive
water hyacinth
''Pontederia crassipes'' (formerly ''Eichhornia crassipes''), commonly known as common water hyacinth is an aquatic plant native to South America, naturalized throughout the world, and often invasive outside its native range.Imprese Italiane all'Estero. The subcontractor who provided the equipment was
Gruppo Industriale Elettro Meccaniche per Impiante all'Estero Gruppo may refer to:
* groupset, a bicycle component manufacturer's organized collection of mechanical parts
* Leonard Gruppo (born 1942), a politician in Pennsylvania
See also
*'
{{disambig ...
, and subcontractor for mounting the equipment and the erection of the transmission lines was
Società Anonima Elettrificazione
''Società'' (Italian: ''Society'') was an Italian communist cultural magazine published in Italy between 1945 and 1961.
History and profile
''Società'' was founded as a quarterly magazine in Florence in 1945. The founders were Ranuccio Bianch ...
. Construction started in December 1957 and was formally dedicated on 4 May 1960; the budget was Eth$ 30,641,000. The power plant began full operation on 28 August 1960. Addis Ababa is the primary benefactor. The total potential electric output is 110 GWh/year.Water Analysis for Ethiopia, THE WATER OF THE AWASH RIVER BASIN A FUTURE CHALLENGE TO ETHIOPIA http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/assessment/files/pdf/publications/WorkingPapers/WaterofAwasBasin.pdf