Tafese (Ph.D), TesfayeFithawok, Eyerusalem2022-03-252023-11-042022-03-252023-11-042009http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/30879Ethiopia is known for being a water tower in the continent. It has a considerab le potential of i i 0-i 20 billion cubic meters of surface water and 2.6 bill ion cubic meters of ground water. inspite of such potentials, it is one of the countries with mall proportion of water tapped for domestic as well as productive activities. Recently different interventions against this challenge in the water sector started /0 emerge. MUS approach is one of them. it is a new concept introduced in the water sector. MUS is understood as "a participatOlY, integrated and povertyreduction focused approach in poor rural and peri-urban areas, which takes people 's multiple water needs as a starting point for providing integrated services, moving beyond the conventional sectoral barriers of the domestic and producti ve sectors" (Moriarty et aI, 2004). Various interventions were there by societies and other organizations to actualize the MUS concept on the ground Application of de facto MUS and upgraded and planned MUS are some of the interventions. The study focuses on upgraded and planned MU . The main objective of the study is to assess the challenges and opportunities of multljJle use water systems (MUS) in Goro Gutu and Meta woredas of East Hararghe zone. Samples were selectedfrom two kebeles Fom the two woredas. Both primary and secondary data were collected using various techniques like survey questionnaire, key in/ormants interview, focus group discussion and other instruments like visits of sites and informal interviews. Secondmy data were collected from review a/ published and unpublished materials ji-om concerned organizations. The cullected data were coded in SPSS. Descriptive statistics, inc/uding tables of percentage distrihutiol1, frequency distribution and others were usedjor the analysis of the coded data. FiKlIres (charts) were also used for more illustrations. The findings of the analysis showed that the MUS fac ilities existing in the selected kebeles provide services for households who are accessing water for both domestic and productive activities. The result of the data analysis also showed that altitude of households to MUS is positive as majority of them are appreciative of the benefits others and themselves captured in their lives as a result of the establishment of the MUS faci lities. More over, there is great aspiration of non user households to get chance to use the MUS fac ilities as beneficiaries in order to bring about monumental changes. However, there are some challenging situations to these MUS systems in the target woredas. These include reduction in the amount of water of the developed springs, unsafe water f rom the springs, simple damage of some parts and others. Solutions were suggested Fom the point of view of re,spondents, differe nt stakeholders and researcher. These and other information were used to make concluding remarks. Basing the facts obtainedFom the data analysis, some recommendations were made.enThe Challenges and Opportunities of Multiple-Use Water Systems (MUS):Thesis