Aqushela

Aqushela is a typical over-dimensioned reservoir located in the Tanqwa-Abergele woreda of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia. The earthen dam that holds the reservoir was built in 1999 by the Relief Society of Tigray.

Dam characteristics

 * Dam height: 11.5 metres
 * Dam crest length: 456 metres
 * Spillway width: 16 metres

Capacity
These are the design values. In practice, the runoff from the catchment is largely insufficient to fill the reservoir, which serves only as shallow drinking pond for livestock.
 * Original capacity: 810 000 m³
 * Dead storage: 121 500 m³
 * Reservoir area: 20.5 ha

Irrigation

 * Designed irrigated area: 50 ha
 * Actual irrigated area in 2002: 0 ha

Environment
The catchment of the reservoir is 13.5 km² large. The lithology of the catchment is Precambrian metamorphic rock. Land use is strongly dependent on lithology: soils on metamorphic black limestone are used for cropping, while those on the schist and slate formations are under savannah woodland. Lands on the green-reddish-gray metamorphic banded marl formation are used for settlements. Most common soil types are:
 * in the metamorphic black limestone formation: Endoleptic Calcisol at the upper slope (plateau); Endoleptic Cambisol and Vertic Leptosol at the middle slope; Hypercalcic Calcisol at the footslopes and Grumic Vertisol at the lower slopes
 * in the schist and slate formations: Leptosol both at the upper slope and at the foot slope positions; Regosol (Calcaric) over Hypercalcic Calcisol at the mid slope position and Fluvisol at the valley bottom
 * in the green-reddish-gray metamorphosed banded marl: Leptic Calcisol at the upper slope, Haplic Calcisol at the foot slope, and Fluvisol at the valley bottom