By Solomon Yimer (ETHIOPIA)
On a foggy morning, Ethiopia’s Lake Hawassa looks hidden and gloomy. Once clear and beautiful, the water is now murky and filled with trash. Plastic bags, bottles, and even shoes float around, along with some tangled weeds. The shoreline is messy with branches, cut wood, and garbage from the city.
As a result, traditional fishermen desperately navigate small wooden boats, struggling to balance while fishing. The lake’s poor condition makes their work increasingly difficult each day.
“I remember when the water was crystal clear and abundant with fish,” recalls Daniel Bula, who has lived near Lake Hawassa for 20 years.
“Now, it’s full of trash and silt. It’s painful to see how much it has changed over the years,” he adds.
Over the years, Bula has watched the lake deteriorate, but he feels nothing has been done, and all stakeholders have forgotten the lake. “Nobody seems to care for the lake. It’s our everything—our beauty and our survival,” he explains, adding, “All the waste from the town and industries, plus soil washed from the highlands, ends up here,”
This is not Bula’s concern alone. Many residents worry about the condition of the lake.
Lake Hawassa, situated in the Ethiopian Rift Valley, is renowned for its rich biodiversity and vital role in the region’s economic development. It supports numerous livelihoods through farming, fishing, tourism, and industry.
However, in recent years, the lake has faced significant challenges. Rapid economic and population growth and climate change substantially hinder Lake Hawassa’s natural resources and watershed. Soil erosion, upstream siltation, and pollution are significant issues impacting the lake and the communities in the catchment area.
In response to these growing concerns, a promising initiative has emerged. Formed in 2018, the “Protecting Lake Hawassa Partnership” brings together private, public, and civil society groups. With support from GIZ’s Natural Resources Stewardship Programme (NatuReS), this partnership is working to reduce risks, protect the lake’s ecosystem, and promote sustainable development.
The partnership created three teams to tackle key issues: one focused on planting trees and controlling soil erosion, another on managing solid and liquid waste, and a third on involving local communities in the restoration efforts. Their various interventions have yielded positive results, highlighting the importance of collaborative efforts.
Lake Hawassa, the only fresh water in the Ethiopian Rift Valley, boasts remarkable biodiversity, including various fish, birds, and mammals such as hippopotamuses and monkeys. It is a vital bird sanctuary for local and migratory species, like the Marabou storks.
The lake supports local fisheries, with the native African Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) being the dominant species, making up over 85% of the catch. However, siltation, waste pollution, and plastic contamination threaten this delicate balance, disrupting water flow, damaging habitats, and jeopardizing the livelihoods of local fishers.
According to Lucas Ganche, the chairman of the Lake Hawassa Fishing Association, which supports 500 members, “The destruction of fish habitats due to silting and waste from towns and industries is causing a severe decline in fish populations year after year,” and a result, “Many fishermen are struggling to catch enough to meet their daily needs.”
He believes that overfishing and unregulated fishing seasons are worsening the problem. “Immediate action is crucial to address these challenges and restore the lake’s fish population.”
Fighting pollution and silt
Lake Hawassa is located in the rapidly growing city of Hawassa. It captures everything that flows into it. Untreated stormwater, industrial waste, and household runoff from the city end up in the lake, with no natural outlet for the pollutants.
A Flourish chartPollution resulting from poor solid and liquid waste management is a major threat to Lake Hawassa’s water quality and biodiversity. In recent years, urban and industrial park development, population growth, land degradation, and improper waste management have significantly damaged the ecosystem and water quality of the lake and its sub-catchment area.
A Flourish chartDeforestation for fuelwood, agriculture, and grazing activities in the uplands causes soil erosion. The sediment is carried into the lake, filling it up. Sand and gravel mining around the lake, too, causes sediments to flow into the lake when it rains. The lake’s boundaries are changing.
Dr. Mulugeta Dadi Belete, an Assistant Professor at Hawassa University Technology Institute, has spent 17 years researching Lake Hawassa. He is part of the Afforestation and Soil Erosion Task Force under the Protecting Lake Hawassa Partnership (PLH) project. Dr. Mulugeta and his team used ecohydrological methods to prevent sedimentation from entering the lake.
PLH is a collaborative effort to mitigate the environmental and social risks affecting Lake Hawassa, work on various promising interventions to protect the ecosystem, diversify community livelihoods, and raise awareness about resource use to restore the lake and improve local living conditions.
Dr. Mulugeta and his team work to maintain the lake’s health by controlling soil erosion in the upper catchment, improving soil fertility, and preventing downstream siltation and flooding. Throughout the project, they have implemented conservation measures in Hawassa Zuria Woreda (SNNP) and Shalla Woreda (Oromia), key erosion sources.
Nature-based innovations
“We attempted to control erosion with various conventional soil and water conservation methods, but none were effective,” says Dr. Mulugeta further stressing that, “The gully nature of the soil was a major challenge, as even small amounts of rain washed away all our structures.”
After extensive studies on soil and water runoff in the highlands surrounding Lake Hawassa, Dr. Mulugeta and his team at Hawassa University have developed “an innovative nature-based and low-cost erosion control technique.”
They use wood, bamboo, and plastic to build barriers that manage water flow and prevent soil erosion. This method not only controls runoff but also integrates reforestation efforts to strengthen the soil and restore the landscape, effectively addressing gully erosion.
“We’ve successfully restored 200 hectares of land and planted over half a million seedlings,” explains Dr. Mulugeta. “Our approach has halted erosion; we retained 350,000 cubic meters of soil in just 18 months. The once-barren gully now thrives with new vegetation, demonstrating the effectiveness of our method,” he notes.
According to Dr. Mulugeta, the community played a crucial role in the success of this intervention, and their high level of engagement has been vital in protecting and restoring the area.
He also explains that through a stewardship approach, the community has benefited from the project through the provided ecosystem services.
Additionally, the partnership promotes eco-friendly livelihood options, such as fruit trees and beekeeping, to enhance community resilience to climate change and reduce reliance on traditional farming. This is also key to the sustainability of the intervention.
Despite the positive progress made, Dr. Mulugeta says much work remains. “Funding constraints limit our ability to expand solutions across all catchment areas,” he notes, adding, “Despite these challenges, we have achieved significant progress with the resources at hand.”
Turning trash into treasure
Another initiative supported by the project- the Hawassa Wubet Plastic Collection and Recycling Association, is also making a significant impact on reducing plastic waste around Lake Hawassa. This initiative operates in 11 towns, including Hawassa, where 5.2 tons of plastic are collected daily and sent to Addis Ababa for recycling.
“The lake is the pride of our city, but plastic pollution threatens its beauty and vitality. We are committed to cleaning up and raising community awareness to protect our lake from plastic and other pollutants,” says Henock Dangoto, chairman of the association.
The program has also created valuable economic opportunities. The initiative has encouraged many youth and women to join the effort by providing payments for plastic collectors.
Established in 2014, the association supports nearly 1500 youths in their daily collection activities and has created over 85 permanent jobs. This success has spurred plans to expand operations further, including acquiring recycling machines and producing items for resale within the community.
“We are committed to protecting the lake and raising awareness about plastic pollution. Our work demonstrates how local actions can effectively manage waste, create jobs, and safeguard natural resources,” Dangoto explains.
Recently, the association has been widely praised for its effectiveness in cleaning up the lake’s shores and surrounding areas.
Hope amid challenges
In Boricha Village, Sidama region, 56-year-old Nigussie Dongato recalls a time when lush forests and fertile soil yielded bountiful crops. But as the population grew and deforestation spread, the land’s productivity dwindled, giving way to soil erosion and diminished harvests.
He, however, observes that the community eagerly embraced the restoration effort, actively participating in tree planting and conservation practices. This enthusiastic involvement now leads to visible land recovery and lake health improvements. “Now, the methods are working. We can see the land changing, with grass and shrubs growing,” he says.
With these combined efforts to restore the lake and the land, the community is happy to see positive changes. The return of vegetation and healthier fields has brought hope. However, the community also raises important questions about long-term sustainability and whether these restoration practices can keep up with the lake’s growing challenges.
This EverydayNile story was supported by InfoNile, MICT and FOTEA with funding from the IHE-Delft Water and Development Partnership Programme, JRS Biodiversity Foundation and GIZ, on behalf of the German Federal Government.
