Lake Basaka (;
Amharic
Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...
: በሰቃ ሐይቅ) is a shallow,
saline lake in the
Oromia Region
Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...
of central
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. It is located in the
Great Rift Valley about south east of the capital
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
. The lake is at an elevation of .
Growth
The salt lake has grown significantly in the past 50 years, growing from in 1957 to in 2008. The lake is growing to the east and northeast due to the local topography.
Impact
Agriculture
Due to the growth of the lake, there is an increasing concern that it will permanently damage the nearby
Awash River
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The Awash River (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo language, Oromo: ''Awaash OR Hawaas'', Amharic: ዐዋሽ, Afar language, Afar: ''Hawaash We'ayot'', Somali language, Somali: ''Webiga Dir'', Italian language, Italian: ''Auasc'') is a major river ...
, which is a major water source for nearby
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
and
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
plantations. These crops have significant economic importance to the region and the whole of Ethiopia.
The
salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...
of the lake is 10.7 dS/m. The water salinity is also affecting the area groundwater as the salinity levels have increased in most plantation sections,
and local sugar refineries have reduced production rates due to the loss of growing area.
Population
In 2011, a school succumbed to the growing level of the lake.
Highway number 4, the main route between Addis Ababa and
Djibouti
Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...
has a permanent detour that has been constructed since the old highway is submerged. Homes have also been lost due to the expansion.
It has been predicted that in 20–30 years, the town of Metehara will be displaced along with 21,000 citizens.
See also
*
Rift Valley lakes
References
Basaka
Basaka
Ethiopian Highlands
Geography of Oromia
{{Oromia-geo-stub