Estimating the Environmental Water Requirement of Lake Abijata As A Basis for Ecosystem Development
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Date
2019-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Quantification of Environmental Water Requirement based on random percentage of
annual mean flow do not address the actual needs of the water dependent ecosystems, it
possibly overestimates or underestimate the requirements. Scientific communities
worldwide are working to design an appropriate approach for the quantification of the
environmental water requirements for an interest area. Among their efforts," habitat
based approach" is a popular method in estimating environmental water needs. The
environmental water requirement of Lake Abjiata is computed based on this approach by
estimating the water requirement of Lesser Flamingos, which are dominant birds that
feed on the lake but significantly reducing in number. Their water requirement was
computed indirectly based on their food and energy requirement and on the water
requirements of their main food, the microalgae known as Arthrospira Spirullina. In
addition the estimation considers the direct evaporation from the lake and drinking water
requirement of the birds, Therefore, this study estimated the environmental water
requirement of Lake Abijata to support 108,275 Lesser Flamingos within 132 km
lake
area as 221.8MCM. In addition the study evaluates the water balance of the lake to
support, this environmental water requirement and confirmed that the environmental
water requirement accounts for 50.6% of the mean annual inflow to the Lake, which
includes the direct rainfall over the lake and river inflow from the lake catchment.
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Keywords
Environmental Water Requirement, Arthrospira Spirulina, Lesser Flamingos