Assessing groundwater potential and suitable land zones for irrigation using spatial information technology in the Keleta Watershed, Ethiopia

• Published in: Sustainable water resources management 2022-10, Vol.8 (5), Article 138
• Main Authors: Meskele, Dawit Yohannes, Tolera, Mesfin Benti
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analytic hierarchy process; Canals; Development Economics; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Farmers; Groundwater; Groundwater irrigation; Groundwater potential; Hydrogeology; Hydrology/Water Resources; Information technology; Irrigation; Irrigation canals; Irrigation water; Mathematical analysis; Original Article; Parameter sensitivity; Rainfall; Sensitivity analysis; Spatial data; Surface irrigation; Sustainable Development; Thematic mapping; Water Policy/Water Governance/Water Management; Water shortages; Watersheds
• ISSN: 2363-5037; 2363-5045
• DOI: 10.1007/s40899-022-00724-y

In Ethiopia, most irrigation projects get water from river diversions, which benefits only the farmers below the irrigation canal, while other farmers depend on seasonal rainfall. Thus, encouraging the exploration, development, and use of groundwater for irrigation to improve the agricultural yield of farmers waiting for seasonal rains could be a viable option. The fuzzy-analytic hierarchy process was integrated with geospatial tools in this work to evaluate groundwater potential (GWP) and identify potential land suitability (PLS) to meet the challenge of water shortages in the Keleta Watershed for irrigation. Subsequently, all the reclassified thematic maps were integrated separately for both studies and categorized into three different zones: low (marginal), moderate, and high potential, and suitable areas. The analysis shows that most of the areas were moderate GWP (61.51%) and PLS (68.94%), followed by high zones for both studies. The identified GWP zones were then further verified with existing water inventory data, from which 88% of the total was matched with their corresponding zones. Finally, the sensitivity analysis for both maps was done, and hence, slope was the most sensitive parameter, with a mean variation index of 1.89% for GWP and 1.58% for PLS. In the northeast and northwest parts of the area, high GWP and PLS were observed in the same area. Therefore, on-land surface irrigation development can be done in this area with a minimum investment cost, and the rest of the area can be irrigated from a high groundwater potential area by providing the necessary conveyance system.