Water Resources Evaluation and Allocation for Multiple-Use in Dabena Watershed, Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia
| dc.contributor.advisor | Taye Alemayehu | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Tena Alamirew (Co - Supervisor) | |
| dc.contributor.author | Obse Gudeta Mekonnen | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-08-26T14:53:50Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-08-26T14:53:50Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026-06 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This study was carried out in the Dabena watershed, a sub-watershed of the Didessa River in the Blue Nile Basin, located in Western Ethiopia. The area faces numerous challenges related to water security and allocation of the available water resources. As a result, there was an emerging conflict between different water uses. The general objective of this study was to evaluate and allocate the available water resources for multiple uses in the Dabena watershed. The study employed an integrated modelling framework, combining the SWAT hydrological model to assess surface water availability, the WetSpass-M model to estimate groundwater recharge and WEAP for water allocation for different uses like domestic, irrigation, industrial and environmental flow requirements. The SWAT model was successfully calibrated and validated against observed streamflow, confirming its high performance in modelling surface hydrology of the watershed. The result from SWAT model reveals that the mean annual surface runoff of Dabena watershed is 465.81mm. The spatial and temporal average monthly, seasonal and yearly groundwater recharge was estimated using WetSpass-M model. The result shows the long-term water balance components of the Dabena watershed consist of a mean annual groundwater recharge of 478.12mm (1,542,418,352m3/year) representing 24%, surface runoff of 532.8mm which accounts 27% and actual Evapotranspiration of 961.6 mm represents 49% of total rainfall. The output from the SWAT model was used as input data for the WEAP model. Six alternative scenarios were created to assess the impact of population increase, irrigation expansion, groundwater use, irrigation priority, environmental flow requirement priority and the combined impact on supply delivered and unmet demands for different water demand sites. The finding reveals irrigation water unmet demand in the irrigation expansion, and irrigation priority is the highest compared to other scenarios. To mitigate emerging conflicts between different water uses, the study recommended the conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water and rainwater harvesting as additional water sources to meet the unmet demands, particularly that of irrigation. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/8908 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | |
| dc.subject | Dabena watershed | |
| dc.subject | SWAT model | |
| dc.subject | WetSpass-M | |
| dc.subject | Conjunctive use | |
| dc.subject | Water allocation | |
| dc.subject | WEAP model | |
| dc.title | Water Resources Evaluation and Allocation for Multiple-Use in Dabena Watershed, Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia | |
| dc.type | Thesis |