Lake Awasa

Lake Awasa (Hawassa) is an endorheic basin in Sidama Region of Ethiopia, located in the Main Ethiopian Rift south of Addis Ababa. According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68, the lake is 16 km long and 9 km wide, with a surface area of 129 square kilometers. It has a maximum depth of 10 meters and is located at an elevation of 1,708 meters.

Lake Hawassa
Lake Hawassa
Lake Awasa is the small lake near the bottom of the map, just west of the city of Awasa.
Coordinates	7°03′N 38°26′E
Primary outflows	subterranean (?)
Basin countries	Ethiopia
Max. length	16 km (9.9 mi)
Max. width	9 km (5.6 mi)
Surface area	129 km^2 (50 sq mi)
Max. depth	10 m (33 ft)
Surface elevation	1,708 m (5,604 ft)

Sunset

Fish from Lake Awasa

Because it is relatively accessible to scientists, Lake Hawassa is the most studied of the Rift Valley lakes in Ethiopia. According to William Taylor, a member of the African Lakes and Rivers Research Group at the University of Waterloo, Lake Hawassa is, despite its lack of an outflow, "essentially a freshwater lake (conductivity is variable, but less than 1,000) indicating that it must have a subterranean outlet."[1]

See also

• Rift Valley lakes
• Endorheic basin

Notes

1. Lake Awassa Archived 2007-08-07 at Archive.today, University of Waterloo website (accessed 1 October 2006)

External links

• "Lake Hawassa". International Lake Environment Committee Foundation. 1999.