Kalqoray dam: volume raised from 1.1 million m3, agency says

Hargeisa Water Agency reported on 27 October 2025 that the general manager of the agency said the Kalqoray dam's volume had increased significantly during the current president's time in office, from an initial 1.1 million cubic metres to 1.4 million and finally to 1.8 million cubic metres. The report describes an inauguration ceremony held on 4 September.

What the source records

The agency states that the dam was funded primarily by Hargeisa Water Agency itself, which provided $4.3 million of the $5 million total, with the remainder from donations by a local business leader who requested anonymity (as stated by the Hargeisa Water Agency). General Manager Mohamed Ali Daarood is reported as describing infrastructure installed to release water when it becomes counterproductive and to prevent sand from entering the dam, both named in the report as failing points of earlier dam attempts in the country.

What it means on site

For anyone designing or maintaining storage in Somaliland's dry inland conditions, the mechanism worth noting is sediment and overflow management. A reservoir loses capacity when sand and silt settle at the inlet and when high inflows cannot be passed safely. Ask the agency which records it holds for the Kalqoray inlet works, the sand trap and the release structure, and read them against the drawings. The report gives volumes; it does not give the survey sections behind them, so treat 1.8 million cubic metres as the agency's own figure rather than a rule for other sites.

What the source does not establish

The report is the agency's account of its own inauguration, so the framing and the cost split are as the agency states them. Storage volume as reported is not the same as water available for supply: yield depends on catchment inflows, evaporation and how the outlet is operated, none of which the report gives. The second phase of the Hargeisa Water Expansion, with six new boreholes, a 20 km wellfield collector, reservoirs, a 15 m elevated tank and kiosks, is described as in its closing stages and not yet fully operational, so those components should be read as reported progress, not commissioned plant. A commissioning record, an as-built survey or a current operating log would confirm the present state.

What to do next

Ask Hargeisa Water Agency's office for the as-built drawing set and the operating records for the Kalqoray outlet, sand trap and spillway, and ask which engineer signed the volume figures. If you are planning storage elsewhere, request the catchment and sediment survey for your own site.