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

Ethiopia faces unique challenges related to water for drinking, irrigation, and sanitation, particularly in its rural areas. This report focuses on six rural villages in western and southwestern Ethiopia: Andega, Chefe Kora, Dalle, Huluku, Murche, and Telifa. Four of these villages are situated in the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), characterized by volcanic rocks and Quaternary sediments, while Andega and Telifa are located on the Ethiopian Plateau, shaped by tectonic uplift and composed of volcanic and sedimentary rocks, as well as Quaternary sediments.

The country’s dramatic monsoonal and drought seasons create distinct scenarios of water scarcity, exacerbating the challenges of water access. In response, the Distributed Renewable Energy Agriculture Modalities (DREAM) initiative, launched in 2022, seeks to alleviate the energy and water burdens in these rural agricultural communities by developing groundwater infrastructure for irrigation. The initiative plans to install approximately 100 wells across the villages, incorporating solar mini-grid solutions to power the pumps.

To date, one test well has been drilled in each of the six villages. Based on these test results, nineteen additional production wells have been completed near two villages: fourteen near Murche and five near Dalle. The Murche wells range from 76 to 100 meters in depth, with discharges from 3 to 20 L/sec, while the Dalle wells range from 150 to 154 meters deep, with discharges from 7 to 27 L/sec. Both constant-discharge and step-drawdown pumping tests have been conducted, showing transmissivities ranging from 10 to 100 m²/day for the Murche wells and from 5 to 80 m²/day for the Dalle wells. These wells are expected to operate for eight hours a day, with data indicating adequate aquifer recovery.

This report aims to summarize and highlight data from the test and production wells, analyze and discuss the pumping test data, and provide suggestions and educational materials on the technical procedures, use, and importance of the DREAM initiative for stakeholders and the general public.