The Koka Reservoir is a reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

) in south-central Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. It was created by the construction of the Koka Dam across the Awash River

Awash River

The Awash is a major river of Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia, and empties into a chain of interconnected lakes that begin with Lake Gargori and end with Lake Abbe on the border with Djibouti, some 100 kilometers from the head of the Gulf of Tadjoura...

. The reservoir has an area of 180 square kilometers.

Located in the Misraq Shewa Zone

Misraq Shewa Zone

Misraq Shewa is one of the 12 Zones of the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. This zone takes its name from the kingdom or former province of Shewa. Misraq Shewa is located in the middle of Oromia, connecting the western regions to the eastern ones...

 of the Oromia Region

Oromia Region

Oromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...

, close to the capital and largest city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

, the Koka Reservoir is popular with tourists and city-dwellers. There is a variety of wildlife and birds around the lake. The reservoir supports a fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 industry; according to the Ethiopian Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, 625 tonne

Tonne

The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...

s of fish are landed each year, which the department estimates is either 52% or 89% of its sustainable amount.

The Koka dam consists of concrete with a length of 458 meters and a maximum height of 47 meters. The head utilized is 32-42 meters. The transmission lines have voltage 132 kV. The primary contractor was Imprese Italiane all'Estero. The subcontractor who provided the equipment was Gruppo Industriale Elettro Meccaniche per Impiante all'Estero, and subcontractor for mounting the equipment and the erection of the transmission lines was Società Anonima Elettrificazione. Construction started in December 1957 and formally dedicated 3 May 1960; the budget was Eth$

Ethiopian birr

The birr is the unit of currency in Ethiopia. Before 1976, dollar was the official English translation of birr. Today, it is officially birr in English as well....

 30,641,000.

Both the reservoir and the dam are threatened by increasing sedimentation

Sedimentation

Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the forces acting on them: these forces can be due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration...

caused by environmental degradation.