By Tedla Asfaw
I followed the interview Meles Zenawi gave to an Ethiopian audience this past week. For the question of making Ethiopia an exporter of power while there is domestic power shortage including in the capital Addis Ababa, the answer he gave and caught my ear was the completed Tekeze Dam a year ago which is still not operational.
The completed Tekeze Dam reservoir is too low to generate power accodring to Meles. If we build the dam based on hydrological study of the area dry seasons will force a lower capacity. The other reason might also be a grander structure for political reason and if that is the case we will never have enough discharge to fill the dam to its capacity. The truth will be known on the coming year or years.
Unaccountable regime like Meles Zenawi do not take responsibility for the cost of such huge projects. If this huge dam never to be operational because of lack of water the cost will be for poor Ethiopians since it was built with foreign loan. If the catchment area of the dam is deforested as many believe it is not only we will have shortage of water but we will have unavoidable silt problem.
We have silt problems affecting dams in Ethiopia and the Awash Dam which was built more than fifty years ago is at the end of its life mainly because of silt problem but Tekeze is the first dam in Ethiopia not to be operational for lower reservoir capacity on its first anniversary.
8 thoughts on “Tekeze Dam runs out of water on its 1st anniversary”
Tekeze dam was not built because it made economic sense, it was built because Woyanne wanted a power supply for their future Abay Tigray, nothing more, nothing less, the sad part is that the dam was entirely built by foreign money and know how, no techonology transfer for the benefit of Ethiopia or for that matter Tigray. This narrow minded junta built a dam for the glory of their narrow minded abay Tigray, a dam they can’t operate without foreigners, these Woyanne leaders never cease to amaze me with their stupidity. Once an inferiority complex ridden creatures always inferiority complex ridden creatures. The sad part is the people of Ethiopia will be saddled with the bill when it is all said and done. The bank of Ethiopia is now empty because it is being looted repeatedly by Woyanne cadres in broad day light. They could care less if the people of Ethiopia don’t have a day’s worth of foreign currency reserve, Woyannes have already accumulated enough money to last them and their families many generations.
The problem of Tekeze for a dam was known earlier. The dam was built against all advises from professionals. In the following link, I found a paper on the issue of hydropower written 1n 2002 before many of the works on Tekezze dam started.
http://www.mediaethiopia.com/Engineering/Lulseged_on_hydroelectric.htm
The paper says, it is possible to dam the river, but appropriate measures should be taken first. This includes watershade management and others. The people with power in Ethiopia know to treat a foreigner not to treat nature. They only listen to a foreign expert, and locals are ususally ignored and pushed to work for other countries. We know only one Manager at EEPCO (Ato Mihret) since the early 1990s. Ato Mihret and his appointees have no knowledge of Hydropower or even other renewables. This is an unfortunate case, but it is the truth.
Tekeze Dam is built because of Political leaders like melse who do not have any knowldge about dam construction and prerequsites for that.
If Politics invovles in Engineering activities like Tekeze dam, it is expcted that this will be a failure.
NormallyBefore designing a dam, other things should be studied like catchement area and other hydrological parameters,
What Melse and others are duing and dsigning dams only for politics and the dams will be lost or be failures
No problem! The water can be imported from South at any cost. Nile, Wabe Shaballe, Gannalee, Baaroo, Awas, Gibe etc will be forced to contribute 50 % of their water for the development of Tigray!
I am struck with awe! Poor Ethiopia, always victimized by its alleged leaders. O’ my God, how long will you let your people suffer? How long Lord? You certainly have the power to stop this nonesense that is bringing havoc to your people. We are in constant pain, Lord! My you clean these Idolators and adulterers.
Mezgebe Berhe
Ethiopia is being ruled by the monkey minded canibal of Meles Zenawi. He has deep hate to Ethiopian people. He is working day and night to impose the rule of Tigray on the entire Ethiopia. This so-called dam, is nothing but to satisfy the evil spirit of Trigry ruling regime. Sooner or later the Tirgary ruling regime, will be eliminated and everything they stole will be returned to the legitimate owners. Long live Ethiopia!!! Down with Meles Zenawi the thief and the moron!
It’s obvious and nothing new to what this government has been doing throught the time since they came to power. Also I feel so sad to hear that Koka dam, one of the biggest water reservoir and power supplier to addis Ababa and surrounding didn’t get any attention to maintain it. Meles and his thugs are all interesetd is about modernizing Tigray rather than considering the pros and cons. For example, they build a power grid from Gilgel gibe, which is located in northern wolega region and took it all the way to mekele was amazing to me. Because mekele is far from the source
– power will diffuse to air on transmission line the farther the power line the lesser will be the output
– Need to build power pumping stations( Current is driven by voltage just like water is driven by a pump)every 75 km or so, so that the power reaches to it’s destination, the farther the location is the lesser will be the output
etc etc
By the time the electric reaches mekele, it probably give about lower 40% efficency, which won’t pay it’s building and transmission line cost back.
Tekeze dam is one example of their damn self centered project aimed to only building tigray but nowhere else.
what a damn idea these poor cadres brought, they were talking many times with their window, ETV, about the dam day in day out to impress their people, what a stupid gov we the unlucky Ethiopians have!! The dictator Meles always defends in every issue including this huge investment by foreign currency. he is by far worse than Mugabe. Let the day will come for the poor Ethiopians!!
Shalom