ABSTRACT
This note summarises the historical evidence for fluctuations in the level of the closed lakes Abiyata and Shala during the 20th century. Published staffgauge data exist only for the period 1967–1974, but can be supplemented by historical reports and photographs dating back to 1926. Low water levels were encountered in (1926), 1933, 1956, 1967 and 1978, and high levels in 1938 and 1970–72. The observed maxima and minima are closely related to rainfall variations in Addis Ababa, but show no correlation with rainfall or lake-level fluctuations in Southwestern Ethiopia.
