A tributary of the Abay river (better known as the Blue Nile), the Beles rises in Dangur woreda to flow in a south-west direction to its confluence.

[1] The source is located 15 km west of Lake Tana at an elevation of 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) above sea level.

[3] The social impacts of the Tana-Beles water transfer have been studied and results published in the high-profile Journal of Hydrology: the dangerously high increases in discharge of Beles river have led to the drowning of 250 people between 2010 and 2018.

The negative impacts on rural livelihoods are however overshadowed by national development goals (electricity production).

The external costs (coping with damage) are borne by local people, who have low bargaining power.