Though the reservoir was not intended for irrigation, its seepage water is used in the downstream valley for irrigation. The lithology of the catchment is Antalo Limestone. Part of the water is lost through seepage; the positive side-effect is that this contributes to groundwater recharge, and it allows irrigation by the downstream communities.
Homonymous places
There is a (much smaller) reservoir with the same name, some 20 km to the southeast: Gereb Segen (Hintalo).
^De Wit, Joke (2003). Stuwmeren in Tigray (Noord-Ethiopië): kenmerken, sedimentatie en sediment-bronnen. Unpub. M.Sc. thesis. Department of Geography, K.U.Leuven.
^Nigussie Haregeweyn, and colleagues (2008). "Sediment yield variability in Northern Ethiopia: A quantitative analysis of its controlling factors". Catena. 75 (1): 65–76. Bibcode:2008Caten..75...65H. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2008.04.011.