{{Short description|Lake in Southern Ethiopia}} {{For|the Muslim garment|Abaya}} {{Infobox body of water | name = Lake Abaya | image =Lake Abaya, Arba Minch (6194081486).jpg | caption = | image_bathymetry = Chamomap.jpg | caption_bathymetry = | location = | coords = {{coord|6|26|N|37|53|E|region:ET_type:waterbody|display=inline,title}} | type = | inflow = [[Bilate River]]<br />[[Gidabo River]]<br />[[Gelana River]] | outflow = | catchment = | basin_countries = Ethiopia | length = {{convert|60|km|abbr=on}} | width = {{convert|20|km|abbr=on}} | area = {{convert|1162|km2|abbr=on}} | depth = {{convert|7.1|m|abbr=on}} | max-depth = {{convert|13.1|m|abbr=on}} | volume = {{convert|8.2|km3|cumi|abbr=on}} | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = {{convert|1175|m|abbr=on}} | islands = | cities = [[Arba Minch]] <!-- Map --> | pushpin_map = Ethiopia | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = Location of Lake Abaya in Ethiopia. | pushpin_map_caption = <!-- Below --> | website = | reference = }} [[File:Lake Abaya.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Lake Abaya as seen from a Dorze village. On the far right [[Arba Minch]] and [[Lake Chamo]] can be seen. Between the two lakes is the [[Nechisar National Park]].]] '''Lake Abaya''' ([[Amharic]]: አባያ ሐይቅ) is a lake in the [[South Ethiopia Regional State]] of [[Ethiopia]]. It is located in the [[Main Ethiopian Rift]], east of the [[Guge (mountain)|Guge Mountain]].
The town of [[Arba Minch]] lies on its southwestern shore, and the southern shores are part of the [[Nechisar National Park]]. Just to the south is [[Lake Chamo]]. [[Savanna]], known for its [[wildlife]] and [[birdlife]], surrounds the lake, which is also fished by local people. According to the Ethiopian Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, 412 [[tonne]]s of fish are landed each year, which the department estimates is 69% of its sustainable amount.<ref>[http://www.fao.org/fi/fcp/en/ETH/body.htm "Information on Fisheries Management in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228033847/http://www.fao.org/fi/fcp/en/ETH/body.htm |date=2008-02-28 }} (report dated January, 2003)</ref>
Lake Abaya is 60 kilometers long and 20 wide,<ref>''Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68''</ref> with a surface area of 1162 square kilometers.<ref name="baxter">Baxter, R. M. ''Lake Morphology and Chemistry.'' in Taylor, W.D. and Tudorancea, C., eds. '''Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes.''' Leiden: Backhuys Publishers, 2002.</ref> There are a number of islands in this lake, the largest being [[Aruro Island|Aruro]];<ref>[http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/A/ORTARG.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927023043/http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/A/ORTARG.pdf |date=2007-09-27 }} The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 5 November 2007)</ref> others include Gidicho, Welege, Galmaka, and Alkali. The lake is reddish-brown due to a high load of suspended sediments.<ref>A. T. Grove; F. A. Street; A. S. Goudie, 1975: "Former Lake Levels and Climatic Change in the Rift Valley of Southern Ethiopia," ''Geographical Journal'' 141, 177–194</ref>
The lake is fed by three medium-sized rivers. First there is the [[Bilate River|Bilate]] which rises on the southern slopes of [[Mount Gurage]], then runs mostly southward to drain into Lake Abaya at its northern shore. Second is the [[Gidabo River|Gidabo]], which rises on the western slopes of the [[Bale Mountains]], then also runs mostly southwards to drain into Lake Abaya at its northeastern tip after having passed the Gidabo flood plains. The third river is the [[Gelana River|Gelana]], which rises at the western escarpment of the Rift Valley northwest of [[Bule Hora Town]]. Tributary streams also rise on the eastern and northern slopes of the [[Amaro Mountains]]. The Gelana then flows northwards through the ''Gelana Graben'' in the middle between both mountain ranges before it enters the Bore swamps and finally drains on the eastern side into the lake.
The only outflow of the lake is through the lower reaches of [[Kulfo River]] directly below an [[alluvial fan]] at an elevation of 1,190 m (at {{coord|6.0109|N|37.5854|E|region:ET-SN|display=inline}}). The riverbed acts as an spillway in the case of high lake levels and discharges the excess water into [[Lake Chamo]]. Usually, the lake level oscillates somewhat, in 2017 it was at 1,175 m, 15 m below the overflow level.<ref>Google Earth</ref> In the last 50 years, the lake level has oscillated only ±1.5 m around a mean value which is well below the overflow level.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uni-siegen.de/zew/publikationen/volume0405/teklemariam.pdf|title=Water Quality monitoring within the Abaya-Chamo Drainage Basin|author=Ababu Teklemariam, Bernd Wenclawia|date=2004|access-date=2018-02-06|archive-date=2018-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207063107/https://www.uni-siegen.de/zew/publikationen/volume0405/teklemariam.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Consequently, the maximum depth of the lake changes only slightly from year to year, in the year 2002 the lake had a maximum depth of 13.1 meters.<ref name="baxter"/>
In 1896 Lake Abaya was renamed "Lake Margherita" after the Queen [[Margherita of Savoy]], wife of King [[Humbert I of Italy]] by the Italian explorer [[Vittorio Bottego]] who first explored the region. The name "Lake Margherita" (Lago Margherita) is still used in Italy.<ref>Mack Smith, Denis. Mussolini’s Roman Empire. New York: Viking, 1976.</ref>
==See also== *[[Rift Valley lakes]]
== Notes == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070714183220/http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/afr/dsafr001.html ILEC database entry for Lake Abaya]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Lakes of Ethiopia|Abaya]] [[Category:Lakes of the Great Rift Valley|Abaya]] [[Category:Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region]] [[Category:Endorheic lakes of Africa|Abaya]]