WALDEBA MONASTRY AND WOLKAYITE IRREGATION PROJECT

INVESTIGATIVE SUMMARY OF BROADCASTS.
INTRODUCTION
A lot have been and is being broadcasted about this topic through the different medias recently. For majority of us, it still is a conundrum that we longed for the real picture and the truth. I am dragged in, to lend my hand for innocent victims of cyber war who indeed are toasted between the realist and the opportunist. A map can explain more than thousands of words. This summary will unveil the demagogue, buried inside the words and phrases that have been disseminated through the different medias.
VIDEOS USED IN THE SUMMARY (all uploaded on YouTube)
click on the hyperlinks or copy and paste the URL

• Ethiopian News in Amharic : Tuesday, March 20,2012 - Clip 2 of 3 (uploader ethiopiantv); here in after refereed as video1; (URL:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVTKmafcvoE)
•  WelQayit Sugar Factory.mp4 (uploader EthioMekalihh); here in after referred as video 2; (URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QnqXD0c3Tg&list=UUPkn62cRupXGcZ1Gl7_agVAindex=40&feature=plpp_video)
• Waldiba 3rd Reportage by VOA Radio (uploader Deje Selam); here in after referred as video 3; (URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jczc7gV-qyM&feature=relmfu)
• The Monastry of Waldba (uploader TTEOTV); here in after referred as video 4; (URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=jmuXs0qQycw)
• waldeba part one (uploader misnappy1); here in after referred as video 5; (URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJzgh6ehRiQ)

 Fig 1. map of Woredas of Tigray National Regional State with marked area in focus

 Fig 2. closer view of the area in focus with details.

1. ZARIMA RIVER

please note that to view the location of a given coordinate, follow the steps below.

a. copy & past the coordinates in Google web site search box

b. click search command next to the search box or press the enter key.

c. click the map link on top left of the website.
Or 
If hyperlinked, just click it.
Zarima river is one of the west/south bank tributary of Tekeze river which is found in the Tekeze Basin. Starting on the north side of Siemen Mountains (Debark vicinity ~ 3200 meters above sea level; m.a.s.l), the river flows north to confluence with Tekeze river at coordinates ( 13.860081,37.76825 ) & elevation/altitude 780 m.a.s.l. The river streches over 115 kilometers. Zarima river has significant tributaries which one of the west bank tributary is a land mark demarcating regional line between Amhara National Regional State and Tigray National Regional State ( 13.638271,37.780738 coordinates of the confluence of Zarima river and the said river). From its source up to this point, Zarima river flows in the Amhara National Regional State, while the later demarcates the limits of two Woredas namely Tselemti Woreda & Wolqayt woreda in western Tigray National Regional State. Other significant land mark along Zarima's river course include Zarima town (coordinates 13.340017,37.882576) located on the  north bank of Zarima river where the main highway running between Gondar and Shire (highway 3 per Google map) crosses Zarima river.
2. WOLKAYITE IRRIGATION PROJECT
2.1. THE DAM 

 Fig 3. statics of the dam from the film footage of video 2
The main aspect of this project includes building a dam on Zarima river. On video 2 (fast forward to 0:10 here in after referred as FF 0:10), the foundation of the dam is said to be laid on altitude/elevation 810 m.a.s.l. Cascading down from ~3200 MASL to ~780 m.a.s.l, Zarima's river course intercepts the elevation/altitude 810 m.a.s.l around 8 kilometers upstream from its confluence with Tekeze river (coordinates 13.816536,37.79696), which is going to be the dam site.  The dam height mentioned on this video is 143 meters, which defines the elevation of the crest of the dam to be 953 m.a.s.l. The dam defines all aspects of the lake created.
2.2 THE LAKE
By definition, full capacity of a dam doesn't indicate the lake surface elevation to be equal to the elevation of the crest of the dam. If so, there will be uncontrolled overflow of water which otherwise can be called emergency situation (a rare to none to happen). To consider the optimistic size of the created lake, this worst case scenario is considered on this summary. This assumption defines the surface elevation of the lake to be 953 m.a.s.l. The map produced, based on Google map shown above considered contour line 960 instead of 953. This means that the perimeter of the lake is the 960 contour line traced on Google map. Three facts led for this consideration.

• ease of tracing the contour line introducing less error since the available detailed contour on Google map is every 20 meters
• exaggerating the already worst case scenario by additional 7 meters of piled water
• since most of the reservoir is in deep gorges, the 7 meter altitude difference wouldn't bring big change on the surface area coverage. Please note it makes tremendous difference on the volume of the water stored which is not a big worry/wow for the topic under discussion.

3.WALDEBA MONASTRY

As it is rich in history and age, a lot can be said around the different aspects of Waldeba Monastery. Leaving aside all, this summary will be tuned on the where about of it and its interference, if any, with Wolkayite Irrigation Project.
3.1 Location
Any potential resource leading to the specific location of the monastery is investigated below.

• As per video 1 (FF 1:22), his excellency Abay Tsehaye (on minster level, CEO of Ethiopian sugar corporation) pointed the bordering rivers to the monastery as Tekeze river, Zarima river,  & Enseya river. video 4 (FF 3:41), and Video 5 (FF 8:26) documented that, four rivers surround the monastery; although the rivers name is not mentioned.
• As per video 3 (FF 1:00), his excellency Ato Sisay Meresa, Head of Tselemti Woreda, briefed quite the most information about the monastery location.

1. It is found in Tselemti Woreda of Tigray National Regional State.
2. The neighbouring woredas are Tselemti Woreda in the east, Asigede Tsimbela Woreda in the north, Wolqayt Woreda in the west, and Addi Arkay Woreda in the south.
3. It is bordered by Tekeze river, Zarima river and Ensaya river.

• As per video 2 (FF 8:15), his excellency Engineer Araya Girmay, project engineer of Wolkayt Irrigation Project, pointed the direction of the monastry in reference to Zarima river as East. 

So, where exactly is the Monastry located at?
Under the slogan "Let's describe the whole world," wikimapia.org has opened doors for any body interested on locating what so ever on a map. Under the key word "waldiba monastery" (click it), some one had tried to point the monastery. The pointed location does not represent Waldeba Monastery for the following reasons.

Fig 4. the located place on Wikimapia under the key word "waldiba"

• The place is completly west of Zarima river which is in Wolqayt Woreda while Waldeba is east of Zarima river in Tselemti Woreda..
• The altitude/elevation of Waldeba Monastery is 1118 m.a.s.l; but this location is 920 m.a.s.l. Read the contour for yourself  by clicking Map type on the top left corner of "waldiba" on wikimapia.org website  and then click the link Google terrain from the drop down window.
• From the film footage of video 5; FF 6:17 ( partly shown below on Fig. 5), one can see that the facilities/buildings are well below the plains closer to the top of a gorge/valley. But as one can see above in Fig. 4 that, most of the facilities/buildings are atop the hill on Wolqayt plains.

Fig 5. north view of Waldeba Monastry (captured from the film footage of video 5; FF 6:17)

Fig 6. Waldeba Monastery as seen on Google map.
The exact location of Waldiba Monastery is  at the coordinates 13.632182,37.964072. It is now described on wikimapia.org under the key word WALDEBA MONASTERY. It will be lame to end the investigative summary at this point. There is one unanswered question! Does the Irrigation project interfere with the monastery? The dam itself is out of question which is 28 kilometers away (air distance) in the north west direction from Waldeba Monastery. The far most eastern edge and the closest part of the lake to the monastery (coordinates 13.62163,37.817388) will be ~15 kilometers away from Waldeba Monastery; hence there will be no interference of the two!
4. CONCLUSION

This summary will put the opportunist on a cul-de-sac, liberating the innocent victims of lie in a cyber war, and bringing the drama to an end. The absolute opportunist (some countries and global organizations), who never want to see a prospered Ethiopia, will never alter their strategy. It is proven on a number of macro and micro dam projects that Ethiopia is/was engaged. As to the local opportunist, let it be clear that development driven Ethiopians will stand united in the fight against poverty without compromising development projects with politics.  The wrong ball (politics), on the  wrong field (development projects), obviously scored "ፎሪ" (in soccer language). Truth will always prevail. If you may, listen your uneasy stomach that is telling you how Ethiopia deeply needs these development projects.

LAKE MEKELLE INITIATIVE (ተበግሶ ንኵዉንነት ቓላይ መቐለ)

Objective: This initiative is intended to inspire citizens longing to see Mekelle's advancement towards becoming a world class city. Implementation of this proposal is one addition that would excel the development and growth of Mekelle city. 
ሽቶ:
ቀንዲ ሽቶ ናዚ ተበግሶ እዚ ምስቲ ኣብ ሃገርና ዘሎ ዘይቀሃመ ሃይሃይታ ልምዓት ሓዱሽ ሓስብ ብምምንጫው ኩሎም ግዱሳት ዘጋታትና ሙሁራትናን ከምኡዉን መራሕትናን ብዝሓየለ ንልምዓት ንምጉስጓስን ዘለና ፀጋታት ኣብ ጥቅሚ ንከዉዕልዎ ንምልዕዓል እዩ። አንሆ ድማ ክምቲ ኣብ መእተዊ ዝተጠቐሰ ኣብ ዉሽጢን ኣብ ወፃእን ዝርከቡ ብዙሓት ኣሕዋትናን ዓሓትናን ርእሰ ከተማ ክልልና ዝኾነት ዉቅብቲ መቐለ ንምርኣይ ሃረር ኢሎም ይረኣዪ ኣለዉ። እዚ ሰናይ ተበግሶ ናብ ኵዉንነት ንምላዋጥ ግን ሃረርታ ጥራሕ እኹል ኣይኮነን:: ካብ መራሕቲ ክልልና ጀሚሩ ዉቅብትን በልፅትን መቐለ ንምራይ ዝሕልን ኩሉ ክረባለበሉ ይግባእ ብምባል ይላቦ።

Fig1. Image from Google satellite map and map with terrain including proposed lake (taken on 06/21/2011)(click on image to see enlarged view)

Lake Mekelle/Geba Reservoir statistics ( ኣገደስቲ ሓበረታታት )

· Location (ዝርከበሉ ቦታ): Northern Ethiopia, Tigray Region (ሰሜን እትዮጵያ, ከልል ትግራይ)

· Coordinates(ኩርንዓት ኣብ ምድሪ): 13°38’N 39°25’E Coordinates

Fig.2 coordinates; longitude and latitude of the proposed lake (click on image to see enlarged view)

· Lake type(ዓይነት ቃላይ): Reservoir (ሰብ ስራሕ ሓፅቢ/ ዲጋ/ግድብ)

· Basin country(ዋሕዚ /መገብቲ ሩባታት ዝርከበሉ ሃገር): Ethiopia (ኢትዮጵያ)

· Surface area(ስፍሓት ዝሽፍኖ መሬት): 106km²/10600hectares

- This is over 5X the size of lake Hashenge.

- Quite a few number of locals will be displaced. 

- Mekelle-AbiyAdi road will be realigned preferably over the crest of the dam which potentially  avoids dropping and picking altitude over the road course around the Geba gorge.

 Fig. 3.  Outlet of Geba River and inlets of the five Geba tributaries. For relative  visualization, the origin (0,0 ) is set at the roundabout in front of Mekelle city municipality. The dam site is some 14km west of the origin. (click on image to see enlarged view)

· Surface elevation (ብራኸ ከብዲ ቓላይ): 1900 meters 

It is possible to shrink or enlarge the size of the lake by decreasing or increasing the surface elevation. Remember the dam height will decrease or increase respectively. @ 1900 meters of surface elevation, with the exception of  Mekelle-AbiyAdi road, the lake will not be in conflict with other existing infrastructures. Messebo Cement Factory will not be affected at all, which will be roughly 3.048km east from the water. Water yield of the 5 tributaries permitting, the achieved lake will not be too big nor too small to build. It is just about right, at least to my sense. Size of the lake is not something that can be upgraded later. So sensible decision should be done at the start.

Fig. 4.  Geba River as seen north just south of the proposed dam site. The green arrow shows altitude of 1900meters. (image taken from Google earth on 06/28/11) (click on image to see enlarged view)

· Perimeter(ስፍሓት ከብዲ ቓላይ): 226km

            A 226km of waterfront line can be developed to waterfront properties with and without private access to the water, in addition to numerous view properties. This will attract real estate investors, builders, and buyers which will stir the local economy in creating jobs and encourage businesses. It will definitely generate humongous revenue to the city for generations to come. A master plan developed should be adhered at all cost. In order to avoid contamination of the lake, sewage system should be adopted and septic shouldn't be permitted to developments within a few distance to the lake. The waterfront line should compromise the following.

1.      Few waterfront properties with private access for business such as a resort hotel, boatyard, boat launching etc…

2.       Substantial waterfront properties with private access for residence (north side of the lake on the banks of the three narrow branched extensions of the lake)

3.      The public shouldn’t be denied majority of water front access. With the development of parks and hiking trails around most part of the lake, waterfront should be for the enjoyment of the public.

4.     A limited number of floating house community should be allowed with strict rules and regulations.

· Crest  of dam (ዉርዲ ግድብ): 1250 meters

Fig. 5. The red line shows the possible crest line (image taken from Google map on 06/29/11) (click on image to see enlarged view)

· Dam height (ቁመት ግድብ): 250 meters

Lake Mekelle/Geba reservoir can be created by constructing a dam across the Geba River. Surplus/flood water during the rainy season will be collected to create the lake. At air distance of some 14km west from the roundabout in front of Mekelle City Municipality, the dam can be earth dam with water discharging structure (cheaper?). The twisting nature of the river course at the proposed dam site and the fact that the river flows in a deep gorge is advantageous to build an earth dam even if it will score a height of up to 250 meters measured from the river bed. Quarry of fill material (if suitable) can be developed atop the hill on both side of the gorge at the dam site. The fill material can be lowered to the gorge using hauling technologies such as conveyor belts that potentially reduces the use of dump trucks that would cut cost. 

POSITIVE IMPACTS OF THE LAKE (ኣውንታዊ ፅልዋ/ረብሓታት)
1.EASE OF SEDIMENTATION PROBLEM.

Both the reservoir and dam at Tekeze are threatened by increasing sedimentation caused by environmental degradation upstream. Even though Geba River is not one that contribute its share towards this problem for now, it will be for future developments.

“Geba (drainage area: 5180 km²), is a tributary of the Tekeze river. The catchments had drainage areas between 120 km² and 4330 km² (mean: 1068 km²) and represented a range of environments. Annual rainfall ranges from 700 mm to more than 1200 mm. The estimated area-specific sediment yields (SY) varied between 400 and 2500 ton/km²/yr (average: 1404 ton/km²/yr).”

The table below is an “Overview of the Total Runoff and Sediment Export during the measuring period (12/07/2006-10/09/2006) and their uncertainties. ‘Error’ refers to the relative error on the calculations and was assed by Monte Carlo simulations. ‘% predicted’ refers to the share of the total runoff/SY that was predicted, based on rainfall data. These predictions could not be validated. Values for Middle Geba are probably over predicted.”

Catchment Name (Abbreviation)	Catchment Area, km²	Total Runoff, m³	Error and % predicted of Total Runoff)	Suspended Sediment Export, ton	Error and % predicted of Total SY	SY(sediment yield), ton/km²
Suluh (S)	942.6	1.06E+07	6,3% / 0%	6.65E+05	13,5% / 0%	705
Genfel (G)	660.2	3.30E+07	5,4% / 0%	1.64E+05	31,0% / 0%	248
Agula (A)	667.2	5.12E+07	7,2% / 27,7%	9.01E+05	? / 29,2%	1350
Ilala (I)	270.9	3.85E+07	6,5% / 0%	2.42E+05	9,3% / 0%	893
Upper Geba (OB)	2763.3	1.50E+08	7% / 2,9%	1.73E+06	47.7% / 1,4%	626
May Gabat (M)	584.7	5.74E+07	8,6% / 0%	4.24E+05	? / 0%	725
Endaselassie ( E)	121	6.73E+06	26,3% / 24,0%	5.79E+04	13,3% / 20,4%	479
Upper Tankwa (UT)	127.5	1.35E+07	5,9% / 41,8%	1.72E+05	6,2% / 36,2%	1349
Lower Tankwa (LT)	213.5	2.18E+07	13,3% / 25,3%	1.93E+05	12,1% / 28.2%	904
Middle Geba (MG)	4330.9	4.20E+08	9,7% / 70,2%	1.10E+07	13,1% / 79,4%	2540

The image above followed by thoughts are taken from study conducted by Physical and Regional Geography Research Group, Catholic University of Leuven in collaboration with Mekelle University. To learn more follow the link

 http://tucson.ars.ag.gov/isco/isco15/pdf/Vanmaercke%20M_Magnitude%20and%20dynamics.pdf

The first five catchment listed on the table drain to the proposed Geba river dam; hence fractionally avoiding sedimentation problem downstream at Tekeze.

2.ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION 

2.1. Tourism industry

Located close to the Regional capital Mekelle, Lake Mekelle will attract tourists and city-dwellers creating a new form of industry that can engage locals in business such as resorts, fishing, boatyard, boat launching, marina, diving sports etc... There will be a variety of marine life and birds around the lake.

2.2. Appreciated value of properties 

The presence of water body near the city will boost dwelling preference that would drive up the supply of properties. This will generate substantial revenue for the city through lease income and property tax.

3.RAISED WATER TABLE AND PORTABLE WATER SUPPLY

The water table around the lake will rise which has a positive impact on the environment. Mekelle city water supply depends mostly on deep water wells. Rising water table might improve the yield of water wells. This all depends on the geological aspect of the Geba basin around the proposed lake. The degree of water seepage and other geological factors will also determine the realization of the lake.  In addition to a feed to the water wells, water from the dam can be diverted to a water treatment plant for Mekelle city water supply. Below is a helpful link of studies conducted on the geology of Geba basin available on the World Wide Web.

http://www.mu.edu.et/iuc/TLP/TLP_9_Geological%20Map.pdf

4. POWER GENERATION 

Parallel to the benefits harvested  above, the situation will create a hydro power generation potential that can run side by side to the existing benefits. Since the lake is not intended primarily for power generation, in order to utilize it for power, the overflow/surplus water should only be used for such purposes. This will keep the lake at the said elevation (1900) through out the year. If the elevation is volatile because of the use of excessive water for power generation, the primary reason of creating the lake would be impossible. 

COST

Based on my limited understanding, I feel that the very basic portion of the proposed initiative includes cost of relocating people, cost of constructing the earth dam (if cheaper?) that includes some sort of water discharging structure, and cost of realigning Mekelle-AbiyAdi road. Then follows the rest gadgets such as dealing with the pollution coming via May-Illala since it drains to the lake.Two kinds of major pollution threats which are industrial and biological are anticipated. Industrial being the worst, biological threats are some how dealt by the environment itself to some extent. I had no doubt that if there exists any industrial pollution, it can be solved by enforcing codes with out incurring additional cost whether or not this initiative is implemented. Any other pollutions such as biological waste(if any) would cost Mekelle City Adminstration as two major works has to be done. The first is to assure that storm drains of the city are free from any possible contamination of biological waste. The second thing is a whole big story that there should be waste/sewer line that collects biological waste and convey it to waste treatment plant where the waste is processed. Lets anxiously wait until pro's give us some insight. 

WHO CAN BE A STEAK HOLDER ON THIS PROJECT?

Different departments of the city that include Works and Urban Development Bureau, Water Supply and Sewer services, Parks Administration and others which benefit primarily from this project should be steak holders. EEPCO (Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation) which benefits from the side project of power generation in addition to ease of sedimentation on future Tekeze River projects should be a steak holder. Mekelle University should potentially use the lake for existing faculties and new faculties that will be created tuned around marine life. This will put the university to be part of the steak holders. The ultimate beneficiary who is the general public should also play an important role for the implementation of this project.
LETS BREAK THE SILENCE! 
It has been months since this initiative is posted. Thousands of people have viewed it from different parts of the world. As far as I know, there is none official response from local authorities. One thing that concern any citizen should not be why it is not done right away. Rather, it will be a great failure if action, that paves the way to develop this initiative, is not taken today. Any lucky generation (today's generation had a great opportunity) will do it any time. Authorities and citizens should strive at least to accomplish the necessary detail studies on the possibility of the lake. If the feasibility of the lake is positive, even if it is not constructed right away, it can be included in the master plan so that the area will be preserved with out any developments. Not all cities and towns are blessed with such opportunity. Mekelle city's great opportunity should not be ruined.

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*Please come back and visit. As I learn more, posting is edited with improved thoughts.

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