DREAM PILOT PROJECT: ANALYSIS OF GROUNDWATER DEVELOPMENT AT SIX RURAL VILLAGES IN ETHIOPIA

Six rural villages in western and southwestern Ethiopia, Andega, Chefe Kora, Dalle, Huluku, Murch, and Telifa, have been selected by the Distributed Renewable Energy Agricultural Modalities (DREAM) initiative to develop groundwater for irrigation by installing ~100 wells that incorporate solar mini-grids to supply electricity for the pumps. The DREAM initiative was launched in 2022 to address energy and water challenges in rural Ethiopian agricultural villages.

Four of the villages are situated in the main Ethiopian rift (MER), with geology characterized by volcanic rocks and Quaternary sediments. Andega and Telifa villages are located on the Ethiopian Plateau to the north, which is composed of volcanic and sedimentary rocks, as well as Quaternary sediments. The climate of Ethiopia has dramatic dry and monsoonal seasons, creating unique annual periods of water scarcity.

One initial test well was drilled in each village. Based on the test well results, nineteen more permanent production wells have been drilled near two of the villages; fourteen near Murche and five near Dalle. These wells are expected to operate for eight hours per day. The depths of the new Murche wells range from 76 to 100 meters. The new Dalle wells range from 150 to 154 m deep. Discharges for the Murche wells range from 3 to 20 L/sec, and from 7 to 27 L/sec for the Dalle wells. Both constant-discharge and step-drawdown pumping tests have been conducted on the new wells, with transmissivities ranging from 10 to 100 m²/day for the Murche wells, and from 5 to 80 m²/day for the Dalle wells.