Hydrogeological and hydrochemical maps of the Ethiopian territory at a scale of 1:250 000

Cooperation between Czech and Ethiopian hydrogeologists began 40 years ago. It was interrupted by political changes in both countries and restarted in 2001. Combining the methods used in Ethiopia and in the Czech Republic with the International Legend to the Hydrogeological Maps (Wilhelm F. Struckmeier and Jean Margat, 1995), opened the possibility to cover the entire Ethiopian territory by maps with their explanatory notes. Participation of the Czech experts was financed by the Czech Development Agency in the framework of the Czech Development Assistance Program, and participation of the Ethiopian professionals from the Geological Survey of Ethiopia (GSE) was financed by the Ethiopian Government.

The work comprised the compilation of hydrogeological and hydrochemical maps, including explanatory notes to all map sheets at the scale of 1 : 250 000. Finally, 60 map sheets with explanatory notes covering the Ethiopian territory of 1,104,300 km2 were compiled. The maps and their explanatory notes have been published on the GSE website and their hard copies are available in the Library of the GSE and have been disseminated to regions and other potential users.

Explanatory notes and maps in the *.pdf format can be found at the library of the Ministry of Water and Energy

Amora Gedel Constructed Wetland Rehabilitation Project

The project for redesign of the Amora Gedel constructed wetland is prepared for the German Development Cooperation giz in framework of the Natural Resources Stewardship Program (NatuRes) by AquaCon in association with Ahadu Consulting Engineers plc.

As Lake Hawassa is situated on the periphery of Hawassa city, almost all of the runoff and storm water from the city is directed to the lake. Also, as a result of urbanization, the quantity of storm water flowing to the lake is increasing significantly. According to recent studies performed around the lake, the quality of the water in the lake is deteriorating over time because of the storm water pollutants entering the lake during the rainy season. To tackle these problems, several measures have been taken by the governmental and non-governmental organizations. Treating storm water and releasing it to the recipient is one of the measures to minimize the pollution entering into Lake Hawassa. The Amora Gedel wetland was constructed in 2013 as part of the treatment measures for the polluted storm water entering into the lake. During the early stages of operation, the wetland was operating effectively; however, as a result of a number of reasons the wetland slowly began to lose its effectiveness over time from 2014. The main reason for the non-functionality of the wetland is the lack of regular operation and maintenance of the system.

Hydrogeological mapping of underground water using remote sensing and GIS; and geophysical survey in Ethiopia

The Joint Venture (JV) of Aquacon Engineering PLC - Ethiopia (leading company) of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Acacia Water from the Netherlands was established for the project performance. It comprises a seasoned and experienced team of groundwater, geologic, hydrogeological, geophysics, GIS, modeling, groundwater management and groundwater quality professionals with extensive experience in the exploration, development, and management of groundwater resources in volcanic, sedimentary and alluvial rock settings.

The project area is located within the northern Amhara National Regional State (ANRS) of Ethiopia. It covers a total of 15 woredas throughout the Amhara Region. The main objective of this project is to increase access to safe and sustainable water for the drought-affected people in the target woredas. The project will locate high potential groundwater zones in drought prone areas. The produced maps should serve as a basis for national stakeholders for successful groundwater development and improved success rate of borehole drilling.

Project performance is divided into several phases including drilling of test wells. The first phase was particularly concentrated in collection of existing data and compilation of basic hydrogeological maps and hydrogeological conceptual models.

Next phases of the project will be concentrated mainly in
• Remote-sensing and Overlay analysis to develop groundwater potential map
• Detailed site-specific investigations
• Drilling supervision of the test wells
• Development of top-level costing for developing a multi village water supply scheme
• Knowledge management and Capacity building

The main work of Aquacon is to manage the project and coordinate the national team in field work and organizing workshops.