The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA Abbay Basin Authority ABBAY BASIN AUTHORITY The Great Ethiopian Rennaisance Dam T h e M a g n i fi c e n t D e d e s a R i v e r The Breathtaking Tisisat Fall L a k e T a n a June 2016 1 MISSION To contribute for overall sustainable development in the basin by ensur- ing integrated, participatory, equitable and sustainable water resource management, by Creating favorable conditions for the better protection & conservation of the ecosystem, and through knowledge building & being the center of information. VISSION To see the socio-economic welfare of the people as a result of the inte- grated development & sustainable management of the water, land and other related resources of the Basin. VALUES ü Cooperation and Integration ü Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development ü Effectiveness ü Detest Corruption ü Continuous learning ü Balanced and equitable approach ü Customer satisfaction ü Enhancing the Role of Women The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Abbay Basin Authority 1. Introduction Ethiopia is endowed with ample natural resources, and water appears to be second to none in abundance among the resources available in the country. In fact, it is not uncommon to hear that the country is repeatedly being referred as the ‘water roof of East Africa’. Being blessed with this resource, Ethiopia is exerting an enormous effort in exploiting the huge water resources which can be geared towards injecting the fast paced economic growth that is being registered in the country these days. The framework for exploiting the water resources has been set up by formulating a water policy that lays the foundation for implementing Integrated Water Resource Management. Indeed, it has been a while since the country’s water policy was formulated and become effective to enable the country exploit and manage efficiently the surface and ground water resources at large. The water policy deems basins as fundamental planning units and water resource management domains. The country is hydrologically divided into 12 major river basins. 8 are river basins, 1 lakes basin, and the remaining 3 are dry basins. Among these river basins, Abay, Baro-akobo, Omo and Tekeze encompass 80-90% of the country’s total surface water resource. Abay river basin is the most significant and the second largest basin in the country. This booklet is meant for providing information about the entire feature of Abay River Basin. It gives a good account of the overall aspects of the river basin. It provides stakeholders and partners with information about topography and land cover, climate, Irrigation and hydropower potential and other relevant aspects of the river basin and the organization. 1 The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Abbay Basin Authority Annual Name of the Catchment No. Runoff (per Terminus Basin Area (km²) BM3) .1 Abay 199,812 54.5 Mediterranean 2 Wabi- shebele 202,220 3.4 Indian Ocean 3 Genale-dawa 172,259 6 Indian Ocean Within the 4 Awash 110,000 4.9 Country 5 Tekeze 82,350 8.2 Mediterranean 6 Baro-Akobo 75,912 23.23 Mediterranean 7 Omo-gibe 79,000 16.6 Lake Turkana 8 Ogaden 77,120 0 - Within the 9 Denkele 64,380 0.86 Country 10 Rift Valley Lakes 52,000 5.3 Chew Bahir 11 Mereb 5,900 0.72 Sudanese wetland 12 Ayisha 2,223 0 - Source: Basin Master Plan & Survey Studies 2 The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Abbay Basin Authority Figure 1: Map of Ethiopia’s 12 River Basins 2. Overview of Abay River Basin A River basin is the portion of land drained by a river and its tributaries. It encompasses all area of the land surface dissected and drained by many streams and creeks that flow downhill into one another, and eventually into one river. The Abbay river basin which is of a strategic importance to Ethiopia is located in the north western part of Ethiopia between 70 40’ N and 120 51’ N latitude, and 340 25’ E and 390 49’ E longitude. The river basin is the second largest in 3 The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Abbay Basin Authority area coverage (199,812 km2) and the largest in annual runoff (54.5 BM3). The basin occupies 20% of the country’s total surface area and it covers an area of 60% of Amhara, 40% of Oromiya and 95% of Benishangul-Gumuz regional states. The basin is subdivided into 16 sub basins based on the major rivers in the basin. The Abbay river is also of a crucial importance to the lower riparian countries, Sudan and Egypt since it contributes about 62% of the total flow in the Nile river. The river’s annual discharge at the Sudanese border is 49 billion m3. It reaches 54.5 billion m3 annual discharge after crossing the Sudanese border when it is joined by Dinder, Gelego and Rihad, its tributaries from the north-western part of Ethiopia. These tributaries join Abay River in Sudan. Abay river basin accounts for half of the total annual discharge of the country and 62% of the total discharge that drains into Aswan dam in Egypt. Here, one can perceive the national as well as the international prominence of the river basin. About 28% of the entire population of the country dwell in the basin. Since 91% of the population in the basin resides in the countryside, their economy is entirely dependent on agriculture. 60% of the total land of the basin which is about 119,887 km2 is suitable for agriculture, and 2.5 million hectare of this arable land can be developed through medium and large scale irrigation schemes. Feasibility study has been completed for about 526,000 hectare of land out of the aforementioned arable land. According to the master plan, only less than 2% of the potential of the river has been exploited. 4 The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Abbay Basin Authority Three basic strategies have been designed that enable the country to exploit and use the natural resources, particularly water resources of the river basin, and in turn, ensure the improvement of the people’s living standard. The basic long term strategies are: 1. Expansion of agriculture in the lowland where fertile soils are still “available”. However, several constraints need to be overcome: diseases, lack of social and physical infrastructure, problems related to trans-regional migration, etc. This strategy will not increase the revenue of small holders, not contribute to the overall economic development in the basin or improve the food security situation. It will only provide a “breathing space”. 2. Agricultural intensification - This strategy is based on an improvement of the productivity of land in rain fed agriculture (improved supply of inputs, integrated pest management, modern farming techniques, accessibility to credit, animal health services, etc…). This strategy faces a number of constraints, primarily the lack of market outlets: the basin has no competitive advantage for grain exports and the urban population, although increasing, will not be high enough to absorb the rural food surplus. 3. Economic diversification and urbanisation – This is the main strategy proposed to create alternative employment and livelihoods in order to absorb the fast growing population and to relieve the pressure on the land. It implies an active urban policy and requires huge investments in social services and infrastructure as well as in industrialization. Cheap available labour is a key advantage. Diversification is thus closely linked to the strategy of agricultural intensification and commercialisation. 5 The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Abbay Basin Authority Figure 2: Map of the 16 sub – basins of Abay River Basin 3. Climate The climate of Abbay varies from cool highland to tropical type climates. The climate in the basin is dominated by two main factors: the near-equatorial location, and the altitude, from about 470 m to more than 4,260m above sea level. The influence of these factors determine a rich variety of local climates, ranging from hot and nearly desert along the Sudan border to temperate on the high plateau or even cold on the mountain peaks. 6 The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Abbay Basin Authority Generally rainfall ranges between about 787 mm and 2200 mm per year; the lowest rainfall recorded less than 1000 mm per annum in the Beshelo, Welaka, Jemma, Muger, Guder, and parts of Dinder and Rahad. The highest temperature is observed in the north western part of the basin, in parts of Rihad, Dinder, Beles and Dabus, the maximum temperature being 280C - 380C and minimum temperature 150C - 200C. Lower temperature observed in the highlands of Ethiopia in the central and eastern part of the basin. The maximum and minimum temperature ranges from 120C - 200C and -1oC to 8oC respectively. Figure 3: Rainfall amount distribution in the basin 7 The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Abbay Basin Authority 4. Topography and Land Cover The topography of the Abbay basin signifies two distinct features; the highlands, rugged mountainous areas in the center and eastern part of the basin and the lowlands in the western part of the basin. The topography of the basin ranges from about the lowest 470 amsl to the highest elevation about 4260 amsl. 60% of the topography of the basin which ranges from 1500 to 4000 on average is highland. The remaining 40% is lowland. 64% of the total land of the basin has a slope of 0-15% while the remaining 36% has greater than 15%. It is obvious that much of the land in the basin is arable. The following chart shows percentage of the land coverage.