Little Beles Dam, Ethiopia

A reservoir of 3.5 million cubic meters of water, ensuring water supply to the communities in the area. This is the purpose for which the dam on the Little Beles River in Ethiopia was built. Located at an elevation of 1243 meters above sea level, it is part of the larger "Tana Beles" project implemented in the African country between 1986 and 1991.

The dam is a gravity type concrete structure with movable spillway gates. It has a crest length of 125 meters, a maximum height of 35 meters, and a concrete volume of 30,000 m3. The artificial reservoir has a capacity of 3.5 million m3 and ensures a water reserve distributed throughout the Beles Valley.

The water treatment plant for the Little Beles reservoir is located 600 meters downstream from the dam site. The daily water treatment volume is approximately 4,500 m³, equivalent to 50 liters per second. The plant uses slow filtration and chlorination methods to minimize the need for mechanical equipment, relying primarily on manual maintenance activities.

Additionally, a retention dam was constructed on the Beles River to store water for neighboring irrigation facilities. The retention dam is a gravity-type concrete structure with a surface spillway along its 116-meter crest length, reaching a maximum height of 21.5 meters, and a total concrete volume of 22,000 cubic meters.