Assessment of water scarcity and its impacts on sustainable development in Awash basin, Ethiopia

Abstract

Equitable access and rational use of water resources is important to cope with water scarcity. The optimal allocation of limited water resources for various purposes is required for sustainable development. Awash river basin is one of the most utilized river basins in Ethiopia. There is increasing demand for water due to recent population growth in the basin because of Urbanization. Excessive water abstraction without properly assessing the available water resources in the basin contributes to water scarcity. The basin exhibits two extreme hydrological events, flooding and drought at different seasons of the year. This paper mainly focuses on surface water resources assessment of the Awash basin, and the temporal gap between water supply and demand. The paper also discusses the impacts of these gaps on sustainable development and suggested few recommendations to minimize it. Using SWAT model, the annual average surface water available is estimated around 4.64 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) as compared to the estimated demand of about 4.67 BCM in the basin for 1980-2012. This shows that on an average, the demand exceeds the availability by 0.03 BCM during the study period. Seasonal water deficit is even serious. A detailed seasonal analysis for the last 2 years (2011)(2012) shows that the demand exceeds supply by 1.27 and 2.82 BCM during December-April of 2011 and 2012, respectively. However, there is a surplus supply of 1.67 and 3.16 BCM during June-September months of the same year.

Climate change projections in the Awash River Basin of Ethiopia using Global and Regional Climate Models

“…Moreover, the increase in precipitation from September to November could be an indicator of the incident of seasonality shift in future climate. Previous studies showed a higher rainfall variability in ARB and vulnerability of the basin to frequent flood especially in Lower Awash (Yibeltal et al ., ; Adeba et al ., ; Getahun and Gebre, ; MEFCC, ; Tadese et al ., ). The peak rainfall occurring across the basin during August creates a heavy runoff during this month (MEFCC, ).…”

Assessing the Impacts of Large-Scale Agro-Industrial Sugarcane Production on Biodiversity: A Case Study of Wonji Shoa Sugar Estate, Ethiopia

“…The water scarcity in the area and the blockage of corridors to water sources and dry-season riverside grazing areas may contribute to declining wild mammal populations. This acute water scarcity in the Awash basin was detailed in a previous study [54]. The sugarcane expansion reduced the total amount of grazing area, which increased mammal crop raids and human-wildlife conflicts.…”

Evaluating the Impacts of IWRM Policy Actions on Demand Satisfaction and Downstream Water Availability in the Upper Awash Basin, Ethiopia

“…The map of the Awash River Basin in indicated in Figure 2. According to a water resources assessment done based on the 2012 cropping pattern in the basin, total agricultural water demand was estimated to be 2.52 × 10 9 m 3 [19]. Irrigation efficiency within the basin is generally low in the order of 30-40% [19].…”

“…According to a water resources assessment done based on the 2012 cropping pattern in the basin, total agricultural water demand was estimated to be 2.52 × 10 9 m 3 [19]. Irrigation efficiency within the basin is generally low in the order of 30-40% [19]. Surface irrigation by flooding and furrows being the common practice, this efficiency value is as low as approximately 50% of the theoretically suggested values for surface irrigation [30].…”

“…Surface irrigation by flooding and furrows being the common practice, this efficiency value is as low as approximately 50% of the theoretically suggested values for surface irrigation [30]. The total domestic water requirement of the basin is estimated to be 0.326 × 10 9 m 3 /year taking into account a minimum per capita water availability of 145 L/day for urban population and 45 L/day for rural population [19]. …”