PROJECT REPORT ON

FEASIBILITY SITE SELECTION FOR BARRAGE CONSTRUCTION LAKE

ZEWAY OUTFLOW REGULATION
BY

NAME ID NO

MOLLA ABERA RAMIT/1153/09

ABDULKADIR HARUN RAMIT/032/09

BIRHANU FELEKE RAMIT/390/09

MINTESINOT MULUGETA RAMIT/1975/09

MESKEREM AYALEW RAMIT/1073/09

NIGIST CHANALEW RAMIT/1260/09

GOJJAM AMANU RAMIT/749/09

SECTION: C,

SUBMMITED TO

Mr. YOSEPH

FACULTY OF HYDRULIC AND WATER RESOURECES ENGINEERING

ARBA MINCH WATER TECHNOLOGY INSTIUTE

ARBA MINCH UNIVERSTIY

DATE: 22/10/2021

ARBA MINCH, ETHIOPIA

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, we would like to thank almighty God and his mother SAINT VIRGIN MARY for being
here with us from the start to end. We would like to acknowledge our Lecture Mr. Yoseph to give
us this chance to do this project on FEASIBILITY SITE SELECTION FOR BARRAGE

CONSTRUCTION LAKE ZEWAY OUTFLOW REGULATIO N program in this mega Lake

zeway project. We would like to thank all our members (groups) due to sharing idea to do this
project. And also we would like to acknowledge all our friends of AMU students who gives us
invaluable advice and continuous supports of all kind throughout works our project and their
motivation, encouragement, guidance and helping us by answering questions and giving detail
data of the project that is necessary for us.

Finally, we would like thank to forward our respect and heartfelt love to our family their
continuous support and unconditional love. and Then numerously thankful for Arbaminch
university water institute of technology
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Lake Ziway is a vital source of water for irrigation, domestic use, livestock, and fishing to the
community. Furthermore, the lake and its basin are the focus of the Ethiopian government to
develop large-scale export-oriented irrigated floriculture and to construct irrigation schemes.
However, intensive
Water abstraction mainly for irrigation activities from the lake and its feeding rivers has already
caused heavy pressure on the lake water As a result; the Lake Ziway volume and water level are
significantly declining, though the newly constructed barrage is expected to regulate the storage
and the outflow. The general objective of the project is to assess the impact of irrigation water
use on lake Ziway water level for the betterment of water resources development and
management on the study area.
Lake Ziway is found in the Great East African Rift Valley lakes of Ethiopia. It has an open water
area of 434 km2, average depth of 4 m, and an elevation of 1636 m.a.s.l. and expressing site
selection selection for barrage construction lake zeway outflow regulation.
LIST OF TABLE CONTENT
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF TABLE
LIST OF ABBRIVATION
 1. Introduction

1.1 Background
Water is the greatest resource of humanity. It is not only helps in survival but also in making life
comfortable and luxurious. Besides various uses of water, the largest uses of water in the world
is made for irrigating lands. Irrigation, in fact, is nothing but "a continuous and a reliable water
supply to the different crops in accordance with their different needs". when sufficient and timely
water does not become available to the crops, the crop fade away, resulting in lesser yield,
consequently creating famines and disasters. Irrigation can, thus, save us from such disasters.
Lake Ziway is a vital source of water for irrigation, domestic use, livestock, and fishing to the
community. Furthermore, the lake and its basin are the focus of the Ethiopian government to
develop large-scale export-oriented irrigated floriculture and to construct irrigation schemes.
However, intensive
Water abstraction mainly for irrigation activities from the lake and its feeding rivers has already
caused heavy pressure on the lake water As a result; the Lake Ziway volume and water level are
significantly declining, though the newly constructed barrage is expected to regulate the storage
and the outflow. This negative effect can be further exacerbated by the possible warming and
reduction in rainfall amount by climate change, sedimentation and land cover change such
pressures will ultimately damage the hydrological and ecological integrity of the lake and its
surroundings unless mitigation measures are taken timely. Significant partial or complete loss of
lake storage has been already reported in Ethiopia because of both natural and human factors.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Water resources development is widely recognized as crucial for sustainable economic growth
and poverty reduction in developing countries. However, such development incurs positive
impact as well as negative impact to the existing condition. Before any planning activity for
water resources development works in a certain river basin it is essential first to identify and
evaluate water resources development and its sustainability. Lake Ziway is a fresh water lake
that uses as a source of water for irrigation and water supply. It is also a place of fish farm, the
site for five islands, the location of recreation and tourism, and it is generally the life of the
population living around and at downstream of the lake, but this precious resource is facing the
following main problems.
 The lake water level is reducing due to over abstraction of irrigation water.

 The lake water quality is being polluted due to irrigation practice.

This project tries to address the impact of irrigation water use on the lake water level

1.3 PROJECT QUESTIONS

What is the irrigation water requirements for the existing and the potential irrigation
development area?

What percentage of lake Ziway volume is abstracted?

How much the level of the lake is reduced due to abstraction annually?

How long it takes to abstract total initial volume of the lake with obtained annual abstraction
rate?

How long it takes to cease downstream flow to Bulbula river with obtained annual abstraction
rate?
1.4 PROJECT OBJECTIVES
1.4.1 Main Objective
The general objective of the project is to assess the impact of irrigation water use on lake Ziway
water level for the betterment of water resources development and management on the study
area.
1.4.2 Specific Objective
The specific objectives are the following:
1. To determine irrigation water requirements of the study area.

2. To assess the impact of irrigation water use on lake Ziway water level.

3. To determine length of time that takes to abstract total initial volume of the lake and to cease
the downstream flow with obtained annual abstraction rate.
 2. Materials and Methods
2.1 Study Area Description
2.1.1 Location and Topography
Lake Ziway is found in the Great East African Rift Valley lakes of Ethiopia. It has an open water
area of 434 km2, average depth of 4 m, and an elevation of 1636 m.a.s.l. The Ziway Watershed
falls in between 7°15‟N to 8°30‟N latitude and 38°E to 39°30‟E longitude covering a total area
of about 7300 km2 (Figure 3-1). It is composed of two main rivers flowing into the lake, Meki
and Katar, and one river flowing out of the lake, Bulbula. The climate is characterized by semi-
arid to sub-humid with mean annual precipitation and temperature of 650mm and 25°C,
respectively.

Figure 2-1 Location map of the study area

2.1.2 Geology
Most of the CRL region is covered by volcanic rocks that mainly consist of ignimbrites, basalts
and rhyolites. On the rift floor, lacustrine sediments derived from the rift escarpments are found
around the lakes. The rift formation is associated with extensive volcanism where various
volcanic products such as fissured basaltic lava flows alternating with volcano-clastic deposits
are found in many places. With the exception of some patchy Precambrian outcrops to the south
and north edge, the geological and morphological features of the CRL are the results of Cenozoic
volcano-tectonic and sedimentation process.
2.1.3 Soil
Soil in the study area is closely related to parent material and degree of weathering. The main
parent materials are basalt, ignimbrite, volcanic ash, pumice, riverine and lacustrine alluvium.
Weathering varies from deeply weathered basalt in humid highland areas to unweathered recent
alluvial deposits in the drier central part of the rift valley. Generally, there are four soil types in
the area:
Type I: covers predominantly the rift floor and western escarpment on flat to undulating plains
with some hills formed on pyroclastic deposits (Figure 2.2). Generally, the soils are dark grayish
free draining friable silty loom to sandy loam with moderate structure and good moisture storing
properties.
Type II: is found on steep faulted undulating and rolling low plateau escarpments of the rift
zone. The soil is well drained, moderately deep to deep dark gray or brown, friable silty loam to
sandy loam with moderate structure and good moisture storing properties.
Type III: is well drained deep reddish brown to red friable clays to clay loams with strong
structure. This soil type is found on flat to undulating plateau of western margin and dominantly
in eastern plain.
Type IV: is very thin and shallow soil covering the eastern margin of the study area. The soil is
well drained and limited moisture storing property, stony and has no diagnostic horizon
(Rigosols/Lithosols according to FAO /UNESCO soil classification).
Figure 2-2 Generalized soil map of Lake Ziway catchment (from Makin et al, 1976)

2.1.4 Climate
Lake Ziway and Lake Abiyata are both located in mid-altitude regions of the sub-tropical
(monsoon) agro-climatic zone. The rainfall pattern is largely influenced by the annual oscillation
of the inter-tropical convergence zone, which results in warm, wet summers (with most of the
rainfall occurring from June to September) and dry, cold and windy winters. Mean annual
rainfall varies in the valley from approximately 500 mm (weather station at Lake Langano) and
650 mm (weather station Lake Ziway) to 1150 mm on the plateau. there is no clear trend
(increase or decrease) in rainfall characteristics in the region during the last 40 years. The mean
annual temperature in the highlands is approximately 150C and 250C close to the lakes. Actual
evapotranspiration depends on the land use and availability of water and varies between 700 and
900 mm per year.

2.1.5 Population
The Human population in the CRL is estimated to be 1.5 Million with an average family size of
5.3 persons and growth rate of + 3% (Hengsdijk et al, 2007). Although there is uncertainty in the
size of livestock density due to the seasonality of availability of fodder while the livestock
population approaches 85 thousand Tropical Livestock Units (Scholten, 2007).
2.1.6 Agriculture
The Rift Valley Lakes Basin (RVLB) is primarily an agricultural basin and agriculture will
continue to be an important part of the economy. Related sectors of livestock and industry based
on processing of agricultural and livestock products will also be of importance. Most of the
agriculture in the RVLB is subsistence and rain fed farming. There is some potential to increase
the area under irrigation, but all new irrigations must be developed with caution as all water
abstractions will impact the sensitive lakes of the RVLB and may not be sustainable. (MoWR,
1999).

2.1.7 Hydrology
The Ziway-Abiyata catchment basin covering some 5610 km2 (Dagnachew Legesse et al.,
2004), is a closed basin that includes Lake Ziway which contains fresh water and Lake Abiyata
saline and a terminal lake of the catchment. The major incoming rivers in this basin are the Ketar
River and Meki River. The former discharges the water from the eastern and south-eastern
plateaus while the later discharges the runoff from the plateau west of Lake Ziway. Both lakes
are hydrologically connected, the major part of the water inflow of Lake Abiyata originated from
Lake Ziway through the Bulbula River. However, considerably less water is discharged from
Lake Langano to Lake Abiyata through the HoraKelo River (Dagnachew Legesse, 2002; Tamiru
Alemayehu et al., 2006). This has made Lake Abiyata relatively shallow in depth which
consequently made it susceptible to changes in climate and input from precipitation and
discharge (Tenalem Ayenew, 2003). However, Lake Shalla and its catchment do not have a
surface water connection with the other lakes in the CRL. As a closed lake, as Tenalem Ayenew,
(1998) explained, the only significant water loss from Lake Abiyata is through evaporation
(Tenalem Ayenew, 1998). Thus, a fluctuation in lake level and volume depicts the changes in
inputs from rainfall and rivers discharges. The level of Lake Abiyata is influenced strongly by
the input into Lake Ziway, which transfers water through Bulbula River. This explains why the
level of Lake Abiyata falls consistently over a number of dry years and recovers during wet
years. Hence, changes in Lake Abiyata should be perceived jointly with the abstraction of water
for irrigation around Lake Ziway (Tenalem Ayenew, 2002a).

Rivers
Meki River
Meki River originates in the highlands of Guraghe and travels a distance of about 100 km from
the highlands at altitude of 3600 m to 1636 m before draining into the Lake Ziway. The total
catchment area of the river near Meki town is 2433 km2 . It feeds 180,177,098 m3 average water
to lake Ziway every year (Halcrow, 2008).The high discharge occurs during the months of
August and September, while low discharge generally occurs during the dry season from
December to February.
Katar River
The catchment of the Katar River ascends to over 4000 m on the summits of Mounts Badda and
Cacca. Because of the steep configuration of the Katar valley, areas suitable for irrigation are
few in number and very limited in extent (Makin et al., 1976). The prime importance of the
Katar River is the contribution it makes to the Lake Ziway. The total catchment area of the river
near Abura is 3350 km2 . It feeds lake Ziway 302,357,895 m3(Halcrow, 2008) average volume
of water annually.

Bulbulla River
Bulbula River descends some 58 m over a distance of 30 km between Lake Ziway and Abiyata.
The level of this river for the first 6 km of its length is virtually the same as that of Lake Ziway
due to a lava rock sill which effectively controls the level of the lake which is 1635.5 m a.s.l.
Except periodically during the wet season the flow in Bulbula River usually derives entirely from
Lake Ziway. Whenever the level of Lake Ziway falls below that of the controlling sill, the
Bulbulla River dries up (WWDSE, 2008). Average annual outflow volume from lake Ziway to
Bulbula river is 116,383,645 m3 (Halcrow, 2008).
Lake Ziway
The main water source for the lake is the flows of Katar and Meki Rivers. The total catchment
area of Ziway lake is about 7380 km2 . Apart from the Meki and the Katar, Lake Ziway has its
own catchment covering about 1700 km2. Although the lake catchment has no perennial rivers
as such, there are several mineralised springs around the lakeshore and there may be a significant
groundwater flow towards the lake. The lake level record shows marked variations. These
variations have had a striking impact on flows in Bulbula River; consequently, there is a close
correlation between level of the lake and that of the Bulbula River.
3. SITE SELECTION FOR BARRAGE CONSTRUCTION LAKE
ZEWAY OUTFLOW REGULATION
3.1 Site selection for barrage construction
A barrage is a type of low head, diversion dam that consists of a number of large gates that can
be opened or closed to control the amount of water passing through. This allows the structure to
regulate and stabilize river water elevation upstream for use in irrigation and other systems.
Consideration for site of barrage:

1. For Good command along long feeder channels

2. Width of river at site should preferably be minimum
3. Good land approach
4. Foundation consideration
5. Existence of inundation canals - choice is limited if want to convert them into permanent
canal
6. Easy diversion of river after construction
7. Existence of central approach of river to barrage after diversion.

Barrage width:

River in alluvial plains while in flood spread over miles in width and in dry weather flow in
channels.

For optimum width Lacey's Equation, related to wetted perimeter to discharge wetted perimeter
in case of shallow channel is almost equal to the bed width of the channel.

The barrage width must be sufficient to pass the design the flood safety. The present trend is to
design barrage for a 100-150 years frequency flood. The minimum stable width of an alluvial
channel is given by Regime Eq.

Regime or Scour Depth

Due to high flow, the river bed is scoured both on the upstream and downstream sides of the
weir, large scour holes develop progressively adjacent to the concrete aprons, the weir
foundations may slip into these scour holes, thus undermining the weir structure. The regime
scour depth Rs may be estimated by following formula.

If actual waterway provided is greater or equal to the regime width and

If waterway provided is less than regime width and f = 1.75 under root d
d is mean diameter of bed material in mm.

3.2 Steps for planning, layout, design, construction and operation of barrages
It is essential for the successful working of a barrage, or any hydraulic structure for that matter,
depends on a proper selection of the location, alignment, layout, design and operation of the
structure. Hence, the following aspects have to be carefully looked in to, which have been
discussed in detail in the subsequent sections of this lesson:
•Site investigation and data collection
•Location and alignment selection of the barrage axis
•Planning, layout of the barrage and its appurtenant structures
•Hydraulic designs
•Structural designs
•River training works associated with barrages
•Head regulator for canal intake
•Instrumentation
•Construction
•Maintenance and operation
3.3 HOW TO DESIGN BARRAGE
There are two aspects of the design of a barrage i.e.
1. Surface flow/Over flow consideration
2. Safety against sub soil flow i.e. (by Bligh’s creep theory, Lanes weighted creep theory and
khoslas theory)
1. SURFACE FLOW/OVERFLOW CONSIDERATION:
Following items have to be estimated/ designed in case of overflow consideration:
I. Estimation of Design flood.
II. Length of barrage i.e.(width between abutments)
III. .Retrogression
IV. Barrage profile i.e. upstream floor level, D/S floor level, crest level

Structures for Flow Diversion – Investigation Planning and

Layout
In order to harness the water potential of a river optimally, it is necessary to construct two types
of hydraulic structures, as shown in Figure 1. These are:
1. Storage structure, usually a dam, which acts like a reservoir for storing excess runoff of
a river during periods of high flows (as during the monsoons) and releasing it according
to a regulated schedule.

2. Diversion structure, which may be a weir or a barrage that raises the water level of the
river slightly, not for creating storage, but for allowing the water to get diverted through a
canal situated at one or either of its banks. Since a diversion structure does not have
enough storage, it is called a run-of-the river scheme. The diverted water passed through
the canal may be used for irrigation, industry, domestic water needs or power generation.
3.4 Components of a Barrage
Definition
The only difference between a weir and a barrage is of gates that is the flow in barrage is
regulated by gates and that in weirs, by its crest height.
Barrages are costlier than weirs.
Weirs and barrages are constructed mostly in plain areas. The heading up of water is affected by
gates put across the river. The crest level in the barrage (top of solid obstruction) is kept at low
level.
During flood, gates are raised to clear of the high flood level. As a result there is less silting and
provide better regulation and control than the weir.
Components of barrage
Main barrage portion:
1. Main body of the barrage, normal RCC slab which supports the steel gate. In the X-Section it
consists of:
2. Upstream concrete floor, to lengthen the path of seepage and to project the middle portion
where the pier, gates and bridge are located.
3. A crest at the required height above the floor on which the gates rest in their closed position.
4. Upstream glacis of suitable slope and shape. This joins the crest to the downstream floor level.
The hydraulic jump forms on the glacis since it is more stable than on the horizontal floor, this
reduces length of concrete work on downstream side.
5. Downstream floor is built of concrete and is constructed so as to contain the hydraulic jump.
Thus it takes care of turbulence which would otherwise cause erosion. It is also provided with
friction blocks of suitable shape and at a distance determined through the hydraulic model
experiment in order to increase friction and destroy the residual kinetic energy.

Divide Wall

 A wall constructed at right angle to the axis of the weir separating the weir proper from
the under sluices (to keep heavy turbulence at the nose of the wall, well away from
upstream protection of the sluices)
 It extends upstream beyond the beginning of canal HR. Downstream it extends up to the
end of loose protection of under sluices launching apron)
 This is to cover the hydraulic jump and the resulting turbulence.
The fish ladder:
 For movement of fish (negotiate the artificial barrier in either direction)
 Difference of level on the upstream and downstream sides on the weir is split up into
water steps by means of baffle walls constructed across the inclined chute of fish ladder.
 Velocity in chute must not be more than 3m/s
 Grooved gate at upstream and downstream – for effective control.
 Optimum velocity 6-8 ft./s

Sheet piles:
Made of mild steel, each portion being 1/2′ to 2′ in width and 1/2″ thick and of the required
length, having groove to link with other sheet piles.
Upstream piles:
Situated at the upstream end of the upstream concrete floor driven into the soil beyond the
maximum possible scour that may occur.
Functions:
1. Protect barrage structure from scour
2. Reduce uplift pressure on barrage
3. To hold the sand compacted and densified between two sheet piles in order to increase the
bearing capacity when barrage floor is designed as raft.

Intermediate sheet piles:

 Situated at the end of upstream and downstream glacis. Protection to the main structure
of barrage (pier carrying the gates, road bridge and the service bridge) in the event of the
upstream and downstream sheet piles collapsing due to advancing scour or undermining.
They also help lengthen the seepage path and reduce uplift pressure.
 Downstream sheet piles: Placed at the end of downstream concrete floor. Their main
function is to check the exit gradient. Their depth should be greater than the possible
scour.

Inverted filter:
 Provided between the downstream sheet piles and the flexible protection. Typically 6″
sand, 9″ coarse sand and 9″ gravel. Filter may vary with size of particles forming the
river bed. It is protected by placing over it concrete blocks of sufficient weight and size.
Slits are left between the blocks to allow the water to escape.
 Length should be 2 x downstream depth of sheet.

Functions:
 Check the escape of fine soil particles in the seepage water.

Flexible apron:
 Placed downstream of the filter
 Consists of boulder large enough not to be washed away by the highest likely velocity
 The protection provided is enough as to cover the slope of scour of 1 1/2 x depth of
scour as the upstream side of 2 x depth of scour on the downstream side at the slope of 3.
 The under sluices: scouring sluices
Maintaining a deep channel in front of the Head regulator on the downstream side.
Functions:
1. As the bed of under sluice is not lower level than rest of the weir, most of the day, whether
flow unit will flow toward this pocket => easy diversion to channel through Head regulator
2. Control sill entry into channel
3. Scour the silt (silt excavated and removed)
4. High velocity currents due to high differential head.
5. Pass the low floods without dropping

Table 3.1 Site selection for barrage construction

Sr .No. Sites
Description of the UTM Coordinates
location
1
Site 1 Close to the lake E 471025 N 868829
outlet

2
Site 3 Gerbi Irrigation E 470477 N 872139
3
Site 2 Adami tulu Bridge E 470225 N 868829
 Figure 3.1 Site selection Lake zeway

 Indicate where the rock sill, preventing the desired outflow, is
 Look for a site with not more than 60 meter river X-sectional width
 In the sixth criterion, first look for the main road in the surrounding and see if the
site is near enough to the road.
 Bulbula channel need to be dredged to 1633.3 m (a.s.l.) at the rock sill
 Dredging requirement is to make sure there is sufficient slope in the channel after
the removal of the rock sill so that the desired flow can happen (you are not
expected to get into detail hydraulic calculations but provide a mild slope as the
channel will dredge itself eventually).
 Table 3.2 Criteria for site selection barrage construction
Ser. No. Criteria
Site 1 Site 2 Site 3

1. Availability of sound foundation

Less inundation of the flood plain

2.

3. Proximity to the lake outlet

Width of the river cross-section

4.

Difficulty in construction
6.

Dredging requirement along the channel (for river training works)

7.

Where, 3 is for poor & 1 is for good in this example (different groups can do this on different
scale)
The information needed for comparing site 1 & 2 has been discussed thoroughly in the document
“prospect for irrigation development around Lake Ziway - 1976”. Stick with the first two sites
proposed in this document but also consider one more additional site ( site 3) on your preference
and compare them all together (Note that location of site 3 is different for each groups, the
location of site 3 in the above figure is presented here only for illustrative purpose).
Refer to the document mentioned above but you may also assume all the missing information
and data for your selection process (while considering site 3).
 Two possible sites have been considered for the sluice:
Site 1, close to the point where the Bulbula River leaves Lake Zwai; and
Site 2, at the rock sill near Adamitulu, 6 km downstream from the lake. Both sites have been
surveyed and are shown on Map 7. The upper control site (Site 1 ) has the advantage of being
close to the point of outflow from the lake, so eliminating the need to dredge the 6 km of channel
to the rock sill; assuming the rock sill were lowered about 2.5 m the channel could scour to its
natural gradient Dredging would then be confined to construction of a deeper entrance channel in
the lake. This consideration apart, the upper site is inferior to the lower Site 2 due to
(a) the need for a wider structure at the upper site (though the number and size of gate openings
would be similar)
(b) difficulties in construction, since it would be necessary to bypass normal flows into the
Bulbula and the site would have to be continuously de-watered, and
(c) difficult foundation conditions. The underlying soil is a fairly uniform medium to fine sand
(the grading curves are in Appendix 9; Figure 29),
which would require a cut-off, by means of a large concrete sill or vertical sheet-pile walls, to
prevent the foundation being washed out.
Unless considerable deepening of the Bulbula channel is necessary, the balance of
advantage rests with Site 2 (Plates 12 and 13).
(d) Dredging Requirement
In order to assess the dredging requirement in the Bulbula channel, a survey was made of the
Bulbula from Lake Zwai to the rock sill, the results of which are presented on Separate Map 6. In
general, cross-sections were measured at 100 m intervals, with extra sections where the channel
appeared to be constricted. Soundings were also made of the
the natural state there is no overall bed slope between the Bulbula outlet and the rock sill (a
distance of 6 km). Since the channel section is large in relation to the flow, the outflow is

dependent on a very slight slope in water surface towards the rock sill (Plate 11). For example,
3
at a discharge of 12 m /s, the drawdown along the 6 km channel is only about 0.2 m. Once the
sluice is constructed and the average lake level lowered however, the effective cross-sectional
area of the Bulbula channel will be reduced. In order to discharge at low lake levels therefore, it
will be necessary to create a slope on the channel bed.
It has been assumed in the calculations that, at the lowest lake level (about 1 634.8 m), the
channel would continue to discharge a minimum of 1 m/s in order to serve domestic needs
along the Bulbula. Further,assuming a minimum channel cross-sectional area of 6.4 m*
(trapezoidal section with base width of 20 m and side slopes under water of 1 in 4) upstream of
the sluice, and a maximum bed level of 1 634.5 m at the lake outlet sloping down to 1 634.0 m
at the rock sill, the minimum depth of water in the Bulbula channel would be 0.3 m.
With only minor exceptions, the Bulbula channel from the lake to the rock sill already has a bed
level below 1 634.0 m (Separate Map 6). Consequently, very little dredging is required in
association with construction of a control sluice at Site 2 (Map 7). The estimated volume of
3
dredging (excluding rock close to the lava sill) is 3 000 m , limited to those parts of the channel
between cross-sections 0-5, 28-36, 42-6 and 52-9 (see Separate Map 6); the remainder of the
channel is of adequate depth. Apart from the section of channel in immediate proximity to the
rock sill, dredging will be in medium to fine sand or only slightly compacted pumice, and it is
envisaged that the work could be carried out manually during periods of low lake level. This
work will not be necessary until a major part of the Phase 2 developments has been completed.
At the lower lake levels then prevailing, it will be possible to excavate as necessary so as to
maintain the Bulbula flow; the work could be spread over several years. Labour demand would
be quite low and restricted to only a few weeks in the year. Dredging using a bank-operated
excavator is impracticable due to thick riparian vegetation along most of the channel. It should
not be necessary to construct revetments to protect the channel from scour or subsidence, since
the velocity at maximum discharge should not exceed 0.6 m/s. Some slumping of the sides may
occur however, as the water level is lowered; this would increase slightly the volume of dredging
required. Furthermore, during construction of the outlet sluice, it will be necessary to remove by
blasting about 2 700 m^ of lava rock.
The bed of Lake Zwai will itself require considerable dredging to form a channel into the
Bulbula River (Figure 21). Assuming a channel of base width 40 m at a level of 1 634.5 m and
with side slopes of 1 in 5, it is estimated (from Separate Map 5) that the dredging requirement
would be about 10 500 m^. Selection of a suitable technique for carrying out this work will
depend on the resources available. Ideally, in view of the nature of the lake bed material
(medium to fine uncompacted sand), a suction dredger and floating pipeline would be used. Such
equipment is not yet available in Ethiopia; nor are pontoons on which dredging equipment could
be floated. It is therefore tentatively suggested that the channel be dredged using a suitably sized
dragline working out from shore on either side of the channel. The excavated material could then
be used to form causeways along which the machine would travel as work proceeded. Some
additional material might however be needed for the causeways as they advanced, since the
volume of excavation would be reduced in the deeper water.
 Site 3 Indicate where the rock sill, preventing the desired outflow, is
 Downstream of site 3 barrage, to prevent scouring of flow stream/erosion
 Look for a site with not more than 60 meter river X-sectional width
Cross section site 1 width=14.6m
Cross section site 3 width=24.7m
Cross section site 2 width=26.5m
For Good command along long feeder channels
Width of river at site should preferably be minimum and good land approach
Foundation consideration Existence of inundation canals - choice is limited if want to convert
them into permanent canal and Easy diversion.
Existence of central approach of river to barrage after diversion also good.
 CONCLUSION
Water is the greatest resource of humanity. It is not only helps in survival but also in making life
comfortable and luxurious. Besides various uses of water, the largest uses of water in the world
is made for irrigating lands. Irrigation, in fact, is nothing but "a continuous and a reliable water
supply to the different crops in accordance with their different needs". Lake Ziway is a fresh
water lake that uses as a source of water for irrigation and water supply. It is also a place of fish
farm, the site for five islands, the location of recreation and tourism, and it is generally the life of
the population living around and at downstream of the lake, but this precious resource is facing
the following main problems.
 The lake water level is reducing due to over abstraction of irrigation water.

 The lake water quality is being polluted due to irrigation practice.

The main water source for the lake is the flows of Katar and Meki Rivers. The total catchment
area of Ziway lake is about 7380 km2 . Apart from the Meki and the Katar, Lake Ziway has its
own catchment covering about 1700 km2.and express site selection for barrage lake zeway
outflow regulation.