CASE STUDY OF WADI LABA AND

WADI MAI ULE (ELWDP – ERITREA)

Lesson 5

ianmcanderson@aol.com
Wadi Laba

 Initial Areas for examination/concern:

– Sediment Basin/Gravel Trap
– She’eb Khethin Culvert
– Breaching Bund
– Capacity of Main Intake
– Supply to She’eb Khethin Area
– Supply to Id Abay
Wadi Labi Gravel Trap
 Gravel Trap
 Planned to clean after every big flood and about
10 times per year
 Floods in 2004 = 15; 2005 = 39
 Cleaned 3 times since 2003
 Cost this year Nfa 600,000 or Nfa 170/ SFA
member for one cleaning
 Farmers want no cleaning & silt to field
 Prepared for extra canal cleaning and farm
levelling
She’eb Kethin Culvert - Both Barrels blocked at outlet after cleaning of
d/s canal
 She’eb Kethin Culvert
 Designed for 7.5 cumecs
 Only works for medium floods and above
 Farmers not getting enough water – max 4 cumecs & for
less period
 Downstream weir levels too high – only 0.3 m below
culvert invert compared with design of 1.03 m = 0.7 m
too high
 Silted up due as velocity drops
 One barrel completely blocked; other seasonally blocked
 Farmers built temporary Agim to get enough water
 Slope of She'eb Khethin Canal before cleaning

252.00
End of 4m Gabion Cross
251.00
wide section Regulator
250.00
249.00
Elevation of

248.00
247.00
246.00
245.00
244.00
243.00

242.00
241.00
0 25 78 190 237 279 322 342 355 392 406 437 494 537 572 587 607 647 677 707
Distance from outlet

Actual Design Planned Water Level - Design

Temporary Agim for She’eb Khethin
 Main Intake

 Designed for 35 cumecs

 Takes full flow with zero flow over weir
 Flood flow to be restricted to 50 cumecs
 In practice no gate operation so Q rises to 83
cumecs
 Thus can get enough water into intake for
command area
Breaching Bund Breaks about once a year
 Impact of Breaching of Bund
 Reduced surcharge on intake
 Force of impact breaks She’eb Khethin
temporary Agim
 Water available to Ide Abay downstream
 Increased O & M cost
 Greatest impact on She’eb Khethin
What do farmers Want

 Solution to temporary Agim

 Reliable supply for She’eb Khethin
– New intake for She’eb Khethin on right bank by
breaching bund (will replace culvert)
– Will overcome lack of capacity of intake as
supplies large area separately
– Do not clean sediment basin
Proposals - Immediate

 Sediment Basin/Gravel Trap

 Check Weir Structure in sedimentation basin
 She’eb Khethin Culvert
 Breaching Bund
 Flow Recording
 Proposals – Next 12 Months
 Re-examine Supply to She’eb Khethin
Command area with FULL farmer involvement.
 New Right bank intake
 Monitor Gravel Trap and Check Weir Structure
 Record flow data and monitor against flood
occurrences
Layout in Staff Appraisal Report 1995
WADI LABA

Farmers Discuss way forward and options in the

immediate and longer term
Wadi Mai Ule

 Areas for examination/concern:

– New Right Bank intake of Farmers
– Breaching Bund
– Capacity of Main Intake
– Supply to Tiluk Area
– Flood diversion canals and embankments
– Current design and capacity to contain flood
peaks
– Liability and risk associated with the design
Floods Experienced

 2004 = 6 (small: 2; Medium: 1; High; 3)

 2005 = 13 (small: 4; Medium: 6; High; 3)
 Small – not over weir
 Medium – over weir before breaching
 High – Leads to breaching
 Duration medium & large : 3 hrs
 Problems

 Floods of short duration and reach peak quickly

 Flows passing through breaching bund, scour
sluice or over weir lost to all system
 Capacity of gates not sufficient for short peak
before breach about 1 hour
 Gibathr area 300 ha – largest and not getting
water
 Farmers built own offtake d/stream of weir
Farmers new Intake
Concerns with new intake

 Cannot take design flood flow

 Approach flow encouraged to go to left and
right bank
 New channel completely blocked
 Left bank of intake will not withstand large
flood
Inadequate left
bank protection –
liable to overturn
and scour
 What Farmers Want

 Reliable supply to all areas to use excess flow

over weir and through bund
 Increased opening downstream to 100 metres
 Not to use new flood channel
 Proposals – Short term

 Improvement of New Right Bank Farmers

Offtake to withstand floods
 Allow extra flood to pass down new flood
channel
 Flow Recording
 Proposals – Next 12 Months

 Re-examine Supply to all Command area with

FULL farmer involvement.
 Monitor performance of improved Farmers
offtake this flood season
 Second Right bank offtake similar to farmers
 Record flow data and monitor against flood
occurrences
WADI MAI ULE

Farmers Discuss way forward and options in the

immediate and longer term
Next Steps - Immediate

 Prepare programme for immediate works

 Prepare cost estimates for works
 MOA to mobilise resources to complete in
one month
– Force account
– Hire extra machinery
 Involve SFA where possible
Next Steps – next 12 months

 Complete design modifications with full

farmer involvement
 Request funding
 Start construction next season
 END RESULT

 Farmers content with final result

 Can irrigate more area in good years
 Suffering stream bank erosion and damage
 Content to accept this
 Process made Farmers Association more cohesive
 Solution not ideal from Investors or Engineers viewpoint
 Many lessons learnt…………