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Over the past 14 years, the government has unsuccessfully installed pumps and built canals to try to keep Beseka at bay.
Irrigation projects are increasing the flow of water into the lake through the hot springs that feed it, said Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering Megersa Olumana Dinka from Haramaya University in Ethiopia, who wrote papers on the phenomenon in 2009 and last year. Seismic activity may also be a factor, Megersa said in an e-mail.
Authorities have attributed Beseka’s growth to irrigation runoff in the Metahara area. That includes the Upper Awash Agro Industry Enterprise company bought this year from the government by Horizon Plantations, a venture majority owned by Mohamed al- Amoudi, the largest single investor in Ethiopia.
Studies haven’t proven Upper Awash Agro to be a source of the lake’s growth, Horizon General Manager Jemal Ahmed said in a phone interview. If it has any environmental impact, “we will investigate and cooperate with the government,†he said
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