Quantitative evaluation of watershed attributes for water resources management in the Rift Valley Lakes Basin, Ethiopia: a case from Tikur Wuha river watershed

• Main Authors: Rediet Girma, Tesfalem Abraham, Alemayehu Muluneh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2020-07-01
• Series: Applied Water Science
• Subjects: Water resource; Hydrology; Morphometric analysis; Tikur Wuha
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13201-020-01281-5
• ISSN: 2190-5487; 2190-5495

Abstract Characterization of watershed hydrological process is vital for sustainable water resource management. The principal goal of this study was to investigate the inference of drainage attributes on basic hydrological processes using spatial-based morphometric analysis on Tikur Wuha river watershed. The result obtained indicated that the area was characterized with fifth-order stream. Drainage area with higher stream order has lower infiltration capacity, and the shorter stream lengths were associated with the steepness of the area which affects water flow. Based on N u value, sub-watersheds were categorized in the active erosion stage (SW7) and matured topography development (SW6). The interpretation from watershed geometry identified circular areas most susceptible to rapid hydrological response (SW11). Hydrological process and underlying materials are mainly correlated with the drainage texture parameter, and the lower the values indicated less rocky terrain and very high infiltration capacity which contributes toward less erosion (SW11). Relief parameters such as Rr value indicate the rate of stream flow and are well used in sediment yield estimation. The findings of this investigation will provide core information for water resource planning and further studies like identification of groundwater potential zones; flood risk assessment; erosion-prone area prioritization; and to select suitable sites for the construction of water harvesting structures.