Your search found 4 records
1 Nyssen, J.; Poesen, J.; Descheemaeker, Katrien; Haregeweyn, N.; Haile, M.; Moeyersons, J.; Frankl, A.; Govers, G.; Munro, N.; Deckers, J. 2008. Effects of region-wide soil and water conservation in semi-arid areas: the case of northern Ethiopia. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, 52(3):291-315.
Soil conservation ; Water conservation ; Highlands ; Erosion ; Bunds ; Reservoirs ; Sedimentation / Ethiopia / Tigray
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H041844)
(0.94 MB)
Studies on the impacts of environmental rehabilitation in semi-arid areas are often conducted over limited space and time scales, and do typically not include detailed biophysical components. This study makes a multi-scale assessment over a time span of 30 years of environmental rehabilitation in one of the world's most degraded areas: the Tigray highlands of Northern Ethiopia. The study shows that in Tigray sheet and rill erosion rates have decreased by approximately 68%, infiltration and spring discharge are enhanced and vegetation cover has improved. These impacts are evidenced and quantified by a comprehensive comparison of the current landscape with a coverage of 30-year old photographs and substantiated by field investigations. The positive changes in ecosystem service supply that result from these conservation activities in the Tigray highlands are an issue of global concern.
2 Nyssen, J.; Clymans, W.; Descheemaeker, Katrien; Poesen, J.; Vandecasteele, I.; Vanmaercke, M.; Zenebe, A.; Van Camp, M.; Haile, M.; Haregeweyn, N.; Moeyersons, J.; Martens, K.; Gebreyohannes, T.; Deckers, J.; Walraevens, K. 2010. Impact of soil and water conservation measures on catchment hydrological response: a case in north Ethiopia. Hydrological Processes, 24(13):1880-1895. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7628]
Catchment areas ; Water conservation ; Soil conservation ; Hydrology ; Runoff ; Water table ; Measurement ; Water balance / Ethiopia
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H042876)
(0.59 MB)
Impact studies of catchment management in the developing world rarely include detailed hydrological components. Here, changes in the hydrological response of a 200-ha catchment in north Ethiopia are investigated. The management included various soil and water conservation measures such as the construction of dry masonry stone bunds and check dams, the abandonment of post-harvest grazing, and the establishment of woody vegetation. Measurements at the catchment outlet indicated a runoff depth of 5 mm or a runoff coefficient (RC) of 1Ð6% in the rainy season of 2006. Combined with runoff measurements at plot scale, this allowed calculating the runoff curve number (CN) for various land uses and land management techniques. The pre-implementation runoff depth was then predicted using the CN values and a ponding adjustment factor, representing the abstraction of runoff induced by the 242 check dams in gullies. Using the 2006 rainfall depths, the runoff depth for the 2000 land management situation was predicted to be 26Ð5 mm (RC D 8%), in line with current RCs of nearby catchments. Monitoring of the ground water level indicated a rise after catchment management. The yearly rise in water table after the onset of the rains ( T) relative to the water surplus (WS) over the same period increased between 2002–2003 ( T/WS D 3Ð4) and 2006 ( T/WS >11Ð1). Emerging wells and irrigation are other indicators for improved water supply in the managed catchment. Cropped fields in the gullies indicate that farmers are less frightened for the destructive effects of flash floods. Due to increased soil water content, the crop growing period is prolonged. It can be concluded that this catchment management has resulted in a higher infiltration rate and a reduction of direct runoff volume by 81% which has had a positive influence on the catchment water balance.
3 Nigussie, Z.; Tsunekawa, A.; Haregeweyn, N.; Adgo, E.; Nohmi, M.; Tsubo, M.; Aklog, D.; Meshesha, D. T.; Abele, S. 2017. Factors influencing small-scale farmers’ adoption of sustainable land management technologies in north-western Ethiopia. Land Use Policy, 67:57-64. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.05.024]
Small scale farming ; Farmer participation ; Sustainable land management ; Technology ; Water conservation ; Soil conservation ; Land degradation ; Watersheds ; Drought ; Socioeconomic environment ; Multivariate analysis ; Models / Ethiopia / Upper Blue Nile Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048585)
(0.54 MB)
Land degradation is a serious global problem because it leads to losses in food production and thus jeopardizes food security worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Despite numerous efforts to introduce sustainable land management (SLM) strategies and practices, their adoption by the primary target group, small-scale farmers in developing countries, has been [s]low. This study assesses the problem for the case of Ethiopia. The aim was to analyze the underlying factors that affect the adoption of SLM technologies in the Upper Blue Nile Basin. A detailed survey of 300 households and 1010 farm plots was conducted. Data were analyzed by using both descriptive and econometric analyses. Results show that farmers’ adoption of interrelated SLM measures depended on a number of socio-economic and farm-related factors in combination with the characteristics of the technologies themselves. For example, plot size and the availability of labor, as well as the gender of the household head, affected which SLM technologies were adopted by certain types of households. The adoption of SLM measures depended on the adaptive economic capacity of the farmers, which can be quite diverse even within a small region and can differ from the adoption potential in other regions. Our results suggest that SLM policies and programs have to be individually designed for specific target groups within specific regions, which in turn means that “one size fits all” and “across the board” strategies – which are quite common in the field of SLM – should be abandoned by development agencies and policymakers.
4 Setargie, T. A.; Tilahun, S. A.; Schmitter, Petra; Moges, M. A.; Gurmessa, S. K.; Tsunekawa, A.; Tsubo, M.; Berihun, M. L.; Fenta, A. A.; Haregeweyn, N.. 2021. Characterizing shallow groundwater in hillslope aquifers using isotopic signatures: a case study in the Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 37:100901. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100901]
Groundwater ; Watersheds ; Shallow wells ; Rain ; Stream flow ; Aquifers ; Runoff ; Dry season ; Irrigation ; Hydrographs ; Stable isotopes ; Case studies / Ethiopia / Upper Blue Nile Basin / Robit-Bata Watershed
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050667)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581821001300/pdfft?md5=82c851f6dd4a1f7669a9017af2d7bf8c&pid=1-s2.0-S2214581821001300-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050667.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050667.pdf
(4.32 MB) (4.32 MB)
Study region: Robit-Bata watershed, Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia.
Study focus: Stable isotopes of water (Oxygen-18 and Deuterium) were used as tracers to estimate the contribution of groundwater in shallow hillslope aquifers to streamflow in the Robit-Bata watershed. To assess the spatiotemporal variability of shallow groundwater and develop a hydrograph separation technique, we collected rainfall, shallow groundwater, and streamflow samples and analyzed their d18O and d2 H isotopic compositions. The local meteoric water line (LMWL) and local evaporative line (LEL) of the study area were determined and compared with the global meteoric water line (GMWL). A standard unweighted two-component isotope-based hydrograph separation model was used to determine the percentage contribution of shallow groundwater to streamflow.
New hydrological insights for the region: The LMWL (d2 H = 8.63·d18O + 18.2) mostly showed heavy isotopic enrichment relative to GMWL, and the LEL (d2 H = 5.45·d18O + 6.96) indicated isotopic enrichment compared to Ethiopian lakes. Shallow groundwater responded rapidly to rainfall, with good spatial correlation depending on topographic positions of wells. Pre-event water contributed 90% when the watershed reached maximum storage. This finding gives insight towards the predominant runoff generation process and has significant implications for sustainable dry season irrigation expansion in the area as the sub-surface flow drains out of the watershed from October onwards reducing water tables in the shallow wells.
Study focus: Stable isotopes of water (Oxygen-18 and Deuterium) were used as tracers to estimate the contribution of groundwater in shallow hillslope aquifers to streamflow in the Robit-Bata watershed. To assess the spatiotemporal variability of shallow groundwater and develop a hydrograph separation technique, we collected rainfall, shallow groundwater, and streamflow samples and analyzed their d18O and d2 H isotopic compositions. The local meteoric water line (LMWL) and local evaporative line (LEL) of the study area were determined and compared with the global meteoric water line (GMWL). A standard unweighted two-component isotope-based hydrograph separation model was used to determine the percentage contribution of shallow groundwater to streamflow.
New hydrological insights for the region: The LMWL (d2 H = 8.63·d18O + 18.2) mostly showed heavy isotopic enrichment relative to GMWL, and the LEL (d2 H = 5.45·d18O + 6.96) indicated isotopic enrichment compared to Ethiopian lakes. Shallow groundwater responded rapidly to rainfall, with good spatial correlation depending on topographic positions of wells. Pre-event water contributed 90% when the watershed reached maximum storage. This finding gives insight towards the predominant runoff generation process and has significant implications for sustainable dry season irrigation expansion in the area as the sub-surface flow drains out of the watershed from October onwards reducing water tables in the shallow wells.
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