Azagegn, Tilahun (PhD)Adimaw, Melkamu2019-11-252023-11-092019-11-252023-11-092019-06-05http://10.90.10.223:4000/handle/123456789/20251The present study was conducted in the Eastern Upper Jemma River catchment, which is found in the Northwestern Ethiopian plateau, Blue Nile Basin and has an area of 1255 Km2. The main objective of the study was to characterize the groundwater flow dynamics and the major aquifer systems of the area. By analyzing the available meteorological data, potential evapotranspiration was calculated using penman combined method and the result is 1376.64mm/year respectively. The actual evapotranspiration of the catchment is calculated using Thornthwait and Mather soil water balance model. Thus; annual AET is 799.76 mm/year. The groundwater recharge of the catchment was evaluated by using Water Balance Method (WBM), Baseflow Separation (BFS) method and Chloride Mass Balance (CMB) methods and the results are 100.47 mm/year, 211.84 mm/year, and 559.1mm/year respectively. The area is dominantly covered by fractured, weathered and faulted volcanic rocks with some Mesozoic sandstone and quaternary deposits. Depending on the analysis of pumping test data and qualitative descriptions made, the area is classified into aquifer types of; fissured aquifer developed on basalts on the plateau (moderate to low groundwater potential), mixed aquifer (high permeability and very high productivity), fissured aquifer developed on basalts in deep valleys (high permeability and low to moderate storage), Porous and fissured Sandstone aquifer in deep valleys, and localized aquifer with intergranular porosity and permeability(High permeability and high productivity). From the analysis of water level measurements of 40 boreholes, 26 hand-dug wells, 111 springs, and Physicochemical measurements’ (pH, TDS, EC & T ), the groundwater flow dynamics is controlled by surface morphology and structures and flows from the southeastern, southern and south-southwestern corner towards north and northwestern corner of the catchment.enAquiferBaseflow SeparationChloride Mass BalanceGroundwater Flow DynamicsUpper JemmaWater BalanceThesis