Alem Maya well field

Today we headed south of Dire Dawa (pronounced "dee-ray da-wa", although
I like the alternate nomenclature bestowed by a friend [you know who you
are]: Dire Straits) and after about 30 minutes arrived in the town of
Alem Maya. There used to be a 14 meter deep lake located in the town,
where 7 boreholes were drilled for water wells. Today, these wells still
serve the surrounding area, as well as providing water to the town of
Harar further south. However, due to mis-management (on a number of
fronts, like the boreholes being drilled too close together, overuse by
local farmers, erosion and other environmental degradation, etc.),
within some 10 years, the lake went dry. We arrived at a field with 7
well stations scattered around it, and a dozen children watching their
families cows and sheep graze--this field used to be the lake.
As I walked out to one of the well stations, closely watching my step to
avoid the cowpies, I talked with one of our students--a hydrogeologist
working up north in western Tigray. I was impressed with his excellent
knowledge of the issues at hand, some of which I mentioned above. He
figures the water source will be completely gone in the next 4 or 5
years. Even now, the town of Harar can only supply water to specific
parts of the city each day, meaning residents are supplied with water
only once a week; as a rule, they must fill their reservoirs to use over
the next 7 to 14 days. There is now a massive 400 million Birr project
(nearly $31 million US dollars) to supply Harar with water through a 72
kilometer pipeline running from Hassaliso well field north of Dire Dawa.
However, because Harar is located in the highlands, they had to install
some 5 pumping stations along the way, and it is predicted that there
will be plenty of problems from leaks and whatnot. Three of four months
til completion, one can only hope this will be managed sustainably, but
it will require use of better anti-erosion agriculture techniques,
increased afforestation, and controlled water supply.