Land Degradation Assessment in Lake Awassa Catchment Using Gis and Modeling
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Date
2005-06
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
In countries like Ethiopia where agriculture sector has the basic contribution for grosseconomy,
land resource plays a major role in the level of production. One form of
land degradation is soil degradation and it is often a very slow process
and may be almost invisible. Rate and magnitude of erosion at any location is
determined by the interaction of the natural and human induced parameters. Identifying the
existing natural and human induced parameters control the land degradation level through
GIS and Modeling enable to put on remedies that reduce the level of degradation at least to
its natural level. At present, Lake Awassa catchment is exposed for land degradation
problems that mainly caused from water erosion. The surface water flow in the catchment
either directly end up to L. Awassa or to L. Cheleleka and its swamp vicinity. In 2004, the
potential soil loss from up land of the catchment towards L. Awassa is estimated to cover
63.6% (950122.3 ton/year) and towards L. Cheleleleka is 36.4 % (544646.8 ton/year). The
land cover change and inapplicability of soil conservation are responsible for intensifying
the level of potential annual soil loss from uplands.
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Keywords
Gis and Modeling