Multi Reservoir Operation and Challenges of the Omo River Basin:

Part II: Potential Assessment of Flood-based Farming on lower Omo

Ghibe Basin

By: Eyasu Yazew (PhD)

Atinkut Mezgebu (PhD)

Tesfa-alem Gebreegziabher Embaye

Daniel Teka (PhD) and

Ermias Alemu

March, 2015

Mekelle, Ethiopia
 Potential Assessment of Flood-based Farming on lower Omo Ghibe Basin

Contents
1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Background............................................................................................................................ 1

1.2 Problem Statement ............................................................................................................... 2

1.3 Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 3

1.4 Research Objectives .............................................................................................................. 4

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Overview of Flood-based Farming Systems .......................................................................... 5

2.2 Flood-based Farming Systems of Ethiopia and Kenya .......................................................... 6

2.3 Flood-based Farming Systems Practice in Omo Ghibe Basin ................................................ 8

2.4 The Role of GIS and Remote Sensing in FBFS Potential Determination ............................... 9

3. METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................ 12

3.1 Project Area Description ................................................................................................ 12

3.1.1 Location and Size .................................................................................................... 12

3.1.2 Population and Farming Practices .......................................................................... 14

3.1.3 Physiographic Conditions........................................................................................ 17

3.1.4 Hydrology and Climatology ..................................................................................... 20

3.1.5 Soils ......................................................................................................................... 21

3.2 Methods ......................................................................................................................... 22

3.3 Materials ........................................................................................................................ 24

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................ 26

4.1 Impact of Flooding ......................................................................................................... 26

4.2 Flood-Risk Mitigation Measures .................................................................................... 27

4.3 Flood-based Farming Potential ...................................................................................... 30

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4.4 Water Resources Potential for Flood-based Farming .................................................... 31

5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION ...................................................................... 33

6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................... 34

7. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 35

ANNEX ................................................................................................................................ 39

Curve Number Map of the lower part of the Omo Gibe Basin ................................................. 39

Annual rainfall Map of the lower part of the Omo Gibe Basin ................................................. 40

Potential FBF Assessment using Rational Formula ................................................................... 41

Potential FBF Assessment using SCN CN Method ..................................................................... 42

Crop Water Requirement Calculation for Maize ...................................................................... 43

FBF Irrigation Potential Determination ..................................................................................... 43

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List of Figures
Figure 1.Omo Ghibe River basin ................................................................................................... 14
Figure 2. Zones of the Omo Ghibe basin ...................................................................................... 16
Figure 3. Flooded area near Omo Rate, September 2014 ............................................................ 17
Figure 4. Flood Inundation in Gnangatom wereda near Kangaten town, September 2014 ........ 18
Figure 5. Bench terracing based agriculture in Konso, September 2014 ..................................... 19
Figure 6: Slope class at the Omo River Basin ................................................................................ 19
Figure 7. Major Soils of Lower Omo Ghibe basin extracted by Endalemaw, 2015 ...................... 22
Figure 8.Methodology flow chart ................................................................................................. 24
Figure 9: Mean monthly discharge of Omo before and after Gilgel Ghibe III dam (Source: EEPCO,
Agriconsulting et al., 2009) ........................................................................................................... 28
Figure 10: Traditional recession farming along the strip of the river bank (Source: Environmental
and Social Impact Assessment of the GGIII report, 2009). ........................................................... 29
Figure 11: Suitable area for spate irrigation in Omo basin ........................................................... 31
Figure 12: Land use (a) and Hydrologic Soil Group (B) downstream of the Gibe III dam ............. 32

List of Tables
Table 1 Population of the Omo Ghibe basin ................................................................................. 15
Table 2. Aerial rainfall distribution over the lower Omo basin .................................................... 21

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background
Flood-based farming is a unique form of water resource development and management that uses
often unpredictable and occasionally destructive water supply from ephemeral streams for
various farming activities. It is climate smart agriculture that can be widely applied for crop
production, agro-forest and rangeland management, domestic and livestock water supply,
recharging groundwater. Flood-based farming can be expressed through:
• Mainly Spate irrigation – direct diversion of flashy foods in to the downstream command
area
• Flood inundation and recession- rivers overflow their embankment and flood adjacent
areas
• Flood spreading weirs – direct diversion/storage of flashy foods in to/at the upstream side
command area
• Road water harvest – harvesting flood from road culverts to supplement nearby
cultivated land.

Flood-based farming systems accounts for over 30 and 15 million hectares across the world and
Sub-Saharan Africa respectively. It also supports around 75 million most vulnerable segments of
society across the world. Furthermore it covers over one and half million hectares in Ethiopia and
Kenya and the potential could even be higher. In Ethiopia, it is widely practiced in areas like the
Omo Ghibe River, Raya Valley, Kobo, Fogera/Lake Tana, Baro Akobo, Wabishebele, Upper
Awash/Becho Plains, Kokalake, Konso etc. The arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya make up to 80
% of the country’s territory and approximately 30 % of the Kenyan population lives in this region.
Muthigani 2011, reports that the spate irrigation potential of Kenya could reach as much as
800,000 ha.

Flood-based farming systems represent a unique option for the management of scarce water
resources in support of agricultural production and livelihoods of marginalized populations in

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many arid and semi-arid parts of the country. Spate irrigation is one of the traditional practices
employed by farmers/agro-pastoralists to either as one means of irrigation or to supplement rain
fed agriculture. It mainly occurs in areas where flat lands are bordered by mountainous or high
land catchments where short duration and peak floods are generated from the catchments in
ephemeral streams. These ephemeral streams are also sources of fertile sediments which are
characterized by deep and fertile soil suitable for agriculture as a result of ages old alluvial
deposition. Spate irrigation is found in the Middle East, North Africa, West Asia, East Africa and
parts of Latin America. In some countries it has a long history – more than 5000 years in Yemen,
Pakistan and Iran (Van Steenbergen et al., 2011). In Ethiopia, it is practiced in many parts of which
the lowland of Omo Ghibe basin is one.

In the valley of the Omo River, the practice of Flood-based farming is limited to flood recession
agriculture (Adams, 1992). In a water resources study of the Omo Ghibe River Basin, flood
recession is categorized as a land use class associated with the delta of the river, and is also
mentioned to occur in narrow bands along the banks of the lower Omo Valley (Woodroofe and
associates, 1996). With the developmental interventions along the Omo Ghibe basin, Ghibe I, II
and III hydropower development dam projects, the flood recession agriculture might be affected.
As a result the agro-pastoralists should cope-up with the change to the flooding duration and
events. Downstream of the Ghibe III dam, however, there is a significant area that can generate
floods that can be used for flood recession agriculture at the lower Omo Valley. The purpose of
this research was, therefore, to find out the effects of the dams on the Flood-based farming
systems at the lower Omo Valley.

1.2 Problem Statement

The perception of many people is that floods will continue to cause serious economic and
environmental losses. It is reported that flood disasters account for about one third of all natural
disasters in terms of their number and the economic losses. Flood and droughts are the world’s

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costliest natural disasters, causing an average $6–$8 billion in global damages annually and
collectively affecting more people than any other form of natural disaster (Lampros V., 2009).
An example is the flood that had been caused in 2006 in the Omo basin which inundated the
Dasenech and Nyangatom Weredas killing 364 people and displacing between 6000 and
10000 in Kuraz District, South Omo. Nearly 3000 livestock are also reported to have perished
due to the flooding (OCHA, 2006).

However, if floods are well managed, they can serve as a source of livelihood. In many parts of
the lowlands of the Blue Nile countries, flood is the only opportunity where sources (agriculture,
hydropower, agro forestry, etc.) of livelihood can be improved. One of the ways of managing
floods is building dams. The Omo Ghibe basin, the research study area, is characterized by
extensive utilization of flood recession agriculture (one form of Flood-based farming) at its
lowlands and delta where the river joins Lake Turkana. The majority of the source of the flood is
from the Ethiopian highlands where The Lake is sustained by the inflows of Ethiopia’s Omo River,
which alone provides 90 % of the lake inflow (S. Avery, 2010).With the upstream interventions of
the Ghibe I, II and III already built and under construction; the downstream Flood-based farming
could be affected. This research was, therefore, targeting at assessing the impact of upstream
developmental interventions on the downstream flood utilization and management of the Omo
Ghibe basin.

1.3 Research Questions

The main research questions of this study were:

 What are the existing situations of Flood-based farming in Omo Ghibe basin?
 What are the impacts of upstream water resource development (hydropower
dams) on downstream flood utilization?
 What are the future conditions of the Flood-based farming system in the Omo
Ghibe basin?

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 What is the runoff contribution of the catchment area located downstream of the
Omo Ghibe III hydropower dam?

1.4 Research Objectives

The general objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of the upstream interventions
on the downstream Flood-based farming practices.

The specific objectives were:

 To identify and document the existing situations of the Flood-based farming

system in the Lower Omo Ghibe basin and
 To estimate mean annual flood and Potential spate Irrigable area of lower Omo
Ghibe basin.

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2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Overview of Flood-based Farming Systems

The perception of many people is that, flooding is a natural process, which may lead to catastrophic
results if it coincides with the presence of a vulnerable object (Embaye and Hiben, 2013). However,
flood is the source of livelihood, through flood recession agriculture, spate irrigation, dambo
irrigation etc in many parts of the world, especially East Africa and some parts of Asia. It is manly
practiced in the Middle East, North Africa, West Asia, East Africa and Latin America. The occurrence
of flood related farming systems is often linked to areas that are prone to annual flooding (S.C.
Nederveen, 2012). Though the flooding could be catastrophic, it sometimes is the only source of
livelihood especially in many lowlands where there is no other source of water for irrigation and or
agricultural purposes.

Flood-based farming systems use either the direct diversion of floods from nearby mountains or
the residual moisture of seasonally flooded lands when the floods recede. The area that could be
irrigated by such kinds of practices varies from year to year depending on the availability of
rainfall or flood. They however can be characterized by:
 The floods are unpredictable in timing, frequency and magnitude (Mehari et al., 2005) as
a result there is higher uncertainty with respect to determining the area that can be
irrigated by flooding. Consequently, farmers around these areas have rich experience in
agronomic practices where they plant different crops and varieties that have different
tolerance for both excessive and small magnitudes of floods.
 There is excessive sedimentation into the canals and or the command area as the flood
coming during rainy seasons carries fertile sediment from the upper catchment that will
be dropped in the command area. Furthermore, there is a frequent change of bed level
in these areas.

Flood-based farming is the oldest form of agriculture practiced in arid and semi-arid regions for so
many years. The best known Flood-based farming systems are found in the Arabian Peninsula,
notably in Yemen, where it dates back to 2000 years (UNDP/ FAO, 1987), and the Negev Desert

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region, which were built during the Israeli, Nabataean and Roman-Byzantian periods going back to
1,300 to 2,900 years (Evenari et al., 1971). According to survey made by Aqua stat (FAO, 2010),
there are few countries where Flood-based farming is practiced. No exact estimation is available
on the magnitude of Flood-based farming, but the area where it is performed in Africa may exceed
20 M ha (S. C. Nederveen, 2012). But it is believed that, Flood-based farming systems account for
over 30 and 15 million hectares across the world and Sub-Saharan Africa respectively. Van
Steenbergen et al. (2010) roughly estimate that, global spate irrigation (one form of Flood-based
farming) coverage extends up to 3.3 million hectares even though uncertainty and seasonal
variability of irrigated land is there and Pakistan has about 1.4 million ha area under spate
irrigation, (FAO, 2003). Although spate irrigation is uncertain type of investment economically it is
very important practice in countries such as Yemen, Pakistan, Eritrea and Ethiopia where
agriculture is a vital component of their economy (Ratsey, 2011).

2.2 Flood-based Farming Systems of Ethiopia and Kenya

Ethiopia is endowed with huge potential of Flood-based farming systems especially for spate
irrigation and for flood recession agriculture. Spate Irrigation is practiced in many parts of
Ethiopia where the area served by spate irrigation currently is estimated at around 140,000 ha
(Alemehayu T., 2008) and is growing by 20,000 to 40,000 ha/yr (Embaye et al, 2012). The
dominant regions in Ethiopia where spate irrigation is practised include the southern part of
Tigray (the Raya Valley, there is a potential of 80,000 ha of land to be irrigated by flood- farming
by the total runoff of about 170 Mm3/yr/annum generated from the highland catchments (Eyasu,
et al., 2013), Afar, Eastern Hararghe, Nazareth, Konso and the area north of Lake Stephanie (near
Jinka) (Embaye et al, 2009).

Furthermore, according to S. C. Nederveen (2012) flood recession agriculture in Ethiopia is

practiced around Lake Tana, Baro-Akoba, Omo Valley, Wabi Shebelle, Upper Awash. Seasonal
swamps and wetlands are also available within Gelana, Denakil and Tekeze River Basins. The land
use inventory made by the Woody Biomass Inventory and Strategic Planning Project (WBISPP,

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2002), also indicated that, the location and occurrence of different types of wetlands in Ethiopia,
estimate suggesting the total extent of wetlands in Ethiopia to be around 1.5%. According to the
inventory, flood recession areas are often classified as wetland areas and the spread of the
wetland area gives an indication where flood recession farming occurs. According to S. C.
Nederveen et.al, 2011, Flood-based farming (flood recession agriculture) practice in Ethiopia is
associated with wetland areas where the total area in Ethiopia is estimated to be more than 1.65
Million ha where Amhara and Oromia are endowed with 0.43 Million and 0.4 Million hectares of
land respectively.

Teka D. et al. (2014) have estimated the Flood-based farming potential of Afar, Amhara, Oromia,
Benshangul Gumuz and SNNP regions of Ethiopia. Accordingly,

 Afar region has a total area that can be irrigated through Flood-based farming is close to
108,000 ha.
 In Amhara, around 1,079,588 ha is considered as suitable for Flood-based farming
 In the Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State there is a potential of 99,300 ha of Potential.
 In Oromia region, close to 2,557,172 ha is considered as suitable for Flood-based farming.
 SNNP region, close to 773,000 ha is considered as suitable for Flood-based farming
practices.

Another study undertaken by Hiben et al. (2014) shows that the Flood-based farming potential
of the Tigray region is estimated to be 661,854 ha where 80,000 ha is located in the Raya valley.

According to Muthigani, 2011, the spate irrigation potential of Kenya could reach as much as
800,000 ha. Some of the spate irrigation systems in Kenya include, the PokOmo and Marakote
people along the Tana River, over flow from Daua River along the Kenya Ethiopia boarder is used
in areas of Rhamu, Rhamu Dimtu, Malka-Mari, Harere. Over flow from the Tana within the

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immediate flood plains that extends about 2 to 5 Km provide adequate moisture for crops grown
after the flood event and the Marakwet in Northern Rift Valley in Kenya.

Another study undertaken by Eyasu et al., (2014) in Marsabit and Turkana counties indicates that,
there is a Flood-based farming potential,

 ChafaBalal, Garba, Loglogo, Ariya and Kargi is 107,698, 6424, 2895, 2815 and 815 ha
respectively in Marsabit county and
 Nakatwan, Kobuine, Kalapata, Kaapu and Natira/Lokipoto 518, 95, 90, 84 and 71 ha of
land in respectively in Turkana county.

2.3 Flood-based Farming Systems Practice in Omo Ghibe Basin

The Omo Ghibe basin is endowed with an annual water resource potential where, the average
annual outflow from the basin into Lake Turkana is about 16.6 Mm3 and a total ground water
potential that may be developed is estimated to be 1 Bm3/year (MWIE, 2014). It is also endowed
with a suitable land potential of 3 M ha, 2.3 M ha, 0.35 M ha and 3.8 M ha of land that suits for
rainfed small holder cultivation, mechanized rainfed farming, Irrigation and forestry respectively
(MWIE, 2014). The same author describes that, the potential for irrigation by harmonizing both
land and water resources is estimated to be only 90,000 ha but this estimate does not include
the Flood-based farming potential of the basin, it only estimates the potential of the
conventional irrigation systems.

The type of Flood-based farming which is extensively utilized along the narrow strips of the Omo
River is, flood recession agriculture where these areas are irrigated by over flooding of the banks
and river deltas. According to S. C. Nederveen, 2011, the total area under flood recession is set
at 11,037 ha, but this includes riverine woodlands, open bush land and bare soil as well. In a
water resources study on the Omo Ghibe River Basin, flood recession is as a land use class
associated with the delta of the river, and is also mentioned to occur in narrow bands along the

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banks of the Lower Omo Valley (Woodroofe and associates, 1996). The fluctuation of the flood
size over the years makes it difficult to precisely quantify the flood recession area, but it is
estimated that 100,000 people depend on the system (Woodroofe and associates, 1996).

Farming practices in the highlands significantly vary from those in the lowlands where mixed
system with cereal crop domination and cultivation using oxen is practiced in the highlands and
Maize, sorghum and millet are the main crops grown in the lowlands which are planted on the
river banks of the Omo River as the annual flood recedes (S.C. Nederveen, 2011). Other cereals,
pulses, enset, and faba beans are also grown using a traditional hoe-cultivation. In the lowlands
particularly, in the lower Omo, agro-pastoral groups practice cropping on the river banks using
traditional hoe for cultivation after the flood is receded.

2.4 The Role of GIS and Remote Sensing in FBFS Potential Determination
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making
physical contact with the object and thus in contrast to on site observation (Levin, 1999). It states
to the use of satellites to detect and classify objects on earth. Hence, it plays a vital role in rainfall-
runoff modeling, especially in acquisition of data in the different aspects of topography, land use,
soil cover, slope and which are essential parameters in the field of runoff estimation of a given
watershed (Dhawale, 2013). Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is computer-based
software, which is used for capturing, storing, querying, preparing, managing, manipulating,
analyzing and presenting geographically referenced data (Huisman and Rolf, 2009). GIS integrates
the use of hardware, software, data and GPS to unveil geographically referenced information. It
also provides efficient tool for data input into data base, retrieval of selected data items for
further processing and software modules which can analyze/manipulate the retrieved data in
order to generate desired information on specific form (Kumar et al., 2010).

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GIS in rainfall-runoff modeling comprises two steps. The first step is to determine hydrologic
parameters/ inputs such as
 Slope, flow direction flow accumulation streams and catchment area using a digital
elevation model (DEM) and
 Land use, land cover, soil, etc. through digital analysis of satellite image data and
observations.
The second step is therefore to undertake hydrologic modeling within GIS environment which is
using the SCS model. In the absence or limitations of the stream flow data, which is common in
arid and semi-arid areas, the runoff volume estimations should be undertaken using rainfall-
runoff relationship developed by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) soil
conservation service (SCS method). This model is basically developed, after several experimental
results, for undertaking runoff estimates in un-gauged catchments. This model depends on Curve
Numbers.

The curve number method is the most commonly used method for estimating the volume of
runoff generated for every rainfall drop. The CN for each soil type and land use/cover dictates
the expected maximum storage of the soil, S. In the SCS-CN method runoff starts after initial
abstraction Ia (interception, depression storage and evaporation) has been satisfied. This
abstraction comprises principally the interception, surface storage, and infiltration. The ratio of
amount of actual retention to the maximum storage is assumed to be equal to the ratio of actual
direct runoff to the effective rainfall (total rainfall minus initial abstraction).

Equation (1) shows the assumed relationship in the following mathematical equation.
𝐏−𝐈𝐚 −𝐐 𝐐
= 𝐏−𝐈 ………… (Equation 1)
𝐒 𝐚

Where: P is total rainfall (mm);

Ia is initial abstraction (mm);
Q is actual direct runoff (mm); and
S is watershed storage (mm).

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In the above equation, both parameters (Ia and S) need to be estimated. To eliminate the
necessity of estimating both parameters, the relation between Ia and S was developed by
analyzing rainfall-runoff data for many small watersheds (CSC, 1972). Generally, Ia is considered
to be 20 % of the maximum soil storage, S (Equation 2).
𝐈𝐚 = 𝟎. 𝟐 𝐒 ………… (Equation 2)

Substituting Equation (2) in Equation (1) gives:

(𝐏−𝟎.𝟐𝐒)𝟐
𝐐= ………… (Equation 3)
𝐏+𝟎.𝟖𝐒

Equation (3) is the rainfall-runoff equation used by the SCS method for estimating depth of direct
runoff from storm rainfall. The parameter S in Equation (3) is related to CN by:
𝟐𝟓𝟒𝟎
𝐒= − 𝟐𝟓. 𝟒 ………… (Equation 4)
𝑪𝑵

The storage parameter (S) varies spatially, due to changes in soils, land use/cover and slopes and
temporally due to changes in soil water content. As such, the CN method is able to reflect the
effect of changes in land use/cover on runoff.

After computing the depth of direct runoff, the weighted runoff depth will be estimated for the
watershed for selected daily rainfall events, using Equation (5).
∑ 𝑸𝒊 𝑨𝒊
𝑸𝒂𝒗 = ………… (Equation 5)
𝑨

Where: Qav is weighted runoff depth,

Qi is runoff depth for each polygon (mm);
Ai is polygon area (km2) and
A is watershed area (km2).

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3. METHODOLOGY
This section clearly presents the materials and methodology which are used in this study. It starts
with the description of the study area such as its location and size, population and farming
practices, climate, physiographic conditions and soils. It will then follow to describe the
development of the methodology. The methodology is comprised of three main phases of which:
Phase I is Pre-field work data collection, Phase II is primary and secondary data collection,
organization and analysis and Phase III is post field work model build up and analysis. Finally, the
section also discusses about the materials used to undertake the study. The detail of each section
is discussed hereafter.

3.1 Project Area Description

3.1.1 Location and Size

The Omo-Ghibe River Basin is located in South-West part of Ethiopia, between 4°00’ N and 9°22’
N latitude, and between 34°44’ E and 38°24’ E longitude. It is the second largest basin of the
country, covering an area of approximately 79,000 km2. It is drained by two major rivers, the
Ghibe River flowing southwards and Gojeb River flowing eastwards. It is an enclosed river
basin that drains into Lake Turkana, Kenya (located 3°35’N 36°7’E), which is its southern
boundary. It is bounded by the Baro-Akobo Basin in the west, the Blue-Nile Basin in the north
and northwest and small area in the northeast bordered by the Awash Basin and the whole
of the eastern side borders is the Rift Valley Lakes Basin (Woodroofe and associates, 1996).

Within the basin, there are three large scale hydropower plants namely Gilgel Ghibe I dam
(located at 7°49’53’’N 37°19’18’’E) Gilgel Ghibe II diversion tunnel (located at 7°45’25’’N
37°33’44’’E) and Gilgel Ghibe III dam (located at 6°50’50’’N 37°18’5’’E). The three hydropower
stations have the capacity of generating 184 MW, 420 MW and 1870 MW respectively. The
catchment area of the Gilgel Ghibe III hydropower dam project is 34,150 km2 representing 43 %
of the total catchment area and contributes 80 % of the basin flow. The long term mean flow at

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Ghibe III site is estimated to be 435 m3/s or 13.5 Billion m3/yr. Seasonal variations are extreme,
mean monthly flow ranges between 60m3/s in March and 1,500 m3/s in August (WWDSE and
SDCSE, 2013).

Furthermore Kuraz, large scale sugar cane development project, (located 06°17' 03" N and 36°
02' 35"E) is also located within the basin. After Ghibe III dam major tributaries of Omo like Guma,
Zigna, Mensa and Denchiya join at the right side, while Deme, Zage and Irgene joins to the system
at the left side (WWDSE and SDCSE, 2013). This project will irrigate a net area of 150,000 ha on
both left and right banks of the Omo River for sugar cane plantation purposes with seven sugar
cane processing factories proposed to be established.

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Figure 1.Omo Ghibe River basin

3.1.2 Population and Farming Practices

The population of the basin was 6.4 million in 1994 and about 50.3 % of it was female and about
5 % and 2.9 % of the total population live in the lowlands and in urban areas respectively (MWIE,
2014). Currently, the population of the basin is more than 14 million (CSA, 2007). The basin's

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labour force of the economically active population is about 2.8 million, representing 43.6 % of
the total population (MWIE, 2014).

Table 1 Population of the Omo Ghibe basin

S.no Zone/Wereda Region Urban Rural Total

Population Population
1 Bench Maji SNNPR 75241 577290 652531

2 South Omo SNNPR 43203 530232 573435

3 Hadiya SNNPR 134041 1097155 1231196

4 Keficho Shekicho SNNPR 99263 974767 1074030

5 Kembata Alaba Tembaro SNNPR 97797 583040 680837

6 Semen Omo (Dawuro) SNNPR 35044 454533 489577

7 Welaita SNNPR 172514 1328598 1501112

8 Gurage SNNPR 119822 1159824 1279646

9 Yem Special Wereda SNNPR 7952 72735 80687

10 East Welega Oromia 189201 1123995 1313196

11 Jimma Oromia 371945 2564686 2936631

12 West Shoa Oromia 293820 1958291 2252111

Total 1,639,842 12,425,146 14,064,988

Source: Extracted from CSA 2007

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Figure 2. Zones of the Omo Ghibe basin

Smallholder, State Farms, private commercial ventures and NGO-sponsored agriculture

development practices are found in the basin where smallholder farms cover over 98% of the
total cultivated land (MWIE, 2014) and most of the agricultural production is rain fed. The farmers
in the project area (mainly on the high land) produce small quantities of a wide range of crops
(as many as 15-20 different crops), including cereals such as maize, sorghum and barley, roots,
tubers, pulses, spices, coffee and fruits (EEPCO, 2009) and Livestock are complimentary to crop
production system. In the lowlands particularly, in the lower Omo, agro-pastoral groups practice
flood-recession farming, where the land is cultivated using traditional hoe.

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3.1.3 Physiographic Conditions

The Omo Ghibe River Basin is drained by two major rivers from the highlands, the Ghibe
River flowing southwards and Gojeb River flowing eastwards (WWDSE and SDCSE, 2013). The
Ghibe River is called the Omo River in its lower valley south and south westwards from its
confluence with the Gojeb River. The northern part of the basin has a number of tributaries from
the northeast of which the largest are the Walga and Wabe Rivers. The Tuljo and Gilgel Ghibe
Rivers are important rivers that drain to the Ghibe.

Many of the rivers rise in plateau areas at an elevation above 2000 m.a.s.l. and parts of the
watershed are higher than 3000 m.a.s.l.. To the west of the river basin the watershed reaches an
elevation of 3000 m.a.s.l.. between the Gojeb and the Gilgel Ghibe River. The width of the river
in the lower reach during flood time may vary from 800 m to 3 Km and the river depth is around
4 - 30 m (WWDSE and SDCSE, 2013). Thick densely grown brushwood and bushes dominate the
over-flooded area.

Figure 3. Flooded area near Omo Rate, September 2014

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Figure 4. Flood Inundation in Gnangatom wereda near Kangaten town, September 2014

Source Mr. Tenaw Endalamaw

As can be seen from the figure below, the majority of the basin area has a slope range of greater
than 15 % and the Omo River has an average slope of 3 m/km. Bench terracing based agriculture
is also practiced in the basin near Konso. Furthermore, Neykeya Village Spate Irrigation Scheme
is also under design phase by the IGAD-INWRM program.

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Figure 5. Bench terracing based agriculture in Konso, September 2014

Figure 6: Slope class at the Omo River Basin

Soil erosion is also serious problem in Gilgel Ghibe watershed. The total soil loss into the Omo
river from landslide is estimated as 11 t / ha/ yr for the last 20years, therefore, landslides need
to be point out as an important sediment source for rivers in the Gilgel Ghibe catchment (PHE
Ethiopia Consortium and Jimma University, 2010). As sited by the same author, direct
measurements of sediment transport on the Gilgel Ghibe carried out by ENEL/ELC association in
May 1996 in correspondence to the dam section with a flow of 25 m3/s. There is high variation

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among catchments in specific sediment yield (SSY) due to the variation in the catchments
characteristics in the Gilgel Ghibe catchment and it has the low SSY (0.43 t/ha/yr) (PHE Ethiopia
Consortium and Jimma University, 2010)

3.1.4 Hydrology and Climatology

The basin divides sharply and almost exactly into highlands in the northern half which are
characterized by steep slopes and altitudes reaching up to 4200 m.a.s.l. and lowlands in the
southern half which are characterized by relatively gentle and undulating slopes and altitudes as
low as 500 m.a.s.l.. The northern highlands are deeply separated and drained by the Ghibe and
Gojeb river systems merging to form the Omo in a deeply entrenched gorge (MWIE, 2014).

The climate of Omo river valley varies from tropical humid in the highlands that includes its
northern part to the hot arid climate in its southern parts of the flood plain. Intermediate
between these extremes and for greater part of the basin the climate is tropical sub-humid. As
climate in the country, is associated with altitude, the highlands have colder temperature (around
17 0C) and sufficient rainfall reaching up to 1900 mm/yr in the northern and western part of the
basin, the lowlands however, have high temperature (around 29 0C) and low to medium rainfall
which does not exceed 300 mm/yr near Lake Turkana (WWSDE and SDCSE, 2013).

The average rainfall over the lower Omo (especially downstream of Ghibe III) is as presented in
Table 2, and the average rainfall on this part of the basin is 1081.5 mm.

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Table 2. Aerial rainfall distribution over the lower Omo basin

Segment of the basin Slope class (%) Mean annual rainfall (mm) Area (km2)
Lower <5 720.6 15918.09
Middle 5-15 1,192.0 9135.56
Upper >15 1,401.0 14796.35
Total 39850

The average annual outflow from the basin into Lake Turkana is about 16.6 Bm3 (Woodroofe
and associates, 1996) although it is reported as 19 Bm3 on GIWA 47 Regional assessment report
(UNEP, 2004). Downstream of the confluence of Tuljo and Gilgel Ghibe Rivers only minor
tributaries join, as the river continues southwards and enters the deep gorge where the Ghibe
III dam site is located. At the dam site, the catchment area is around 34,200 km2 that
represents 43 % of the total catchment area and contributes 80.5 % of the flow. According to
WWDSE and SDCSE (2013), the long term mean flow at Ghibe III site is estimated to be 435 m3/s
or 13.5 Billion m3 per annum, where seasonal variations are extreme, with monthly mean flow
ranging around from 60m3/s in March to more than 1,500 m3/s in August.

3.1.5 Soils
Soils in the basin are deep and having high variability in both ways: laterally and vertically. The
soils in the highland areas are dominated by deep to very deep red, and reddish brown clay loam
overlaying clays and are well drained (MWIE, 2014). The soils are dominantly clay, often vertic
but with pockets of sand soils and sandy layers characterized by poor drainage and salinity
problems (Endalemaw, 2015). The higher areas to the east are dominated by shallow to deep
sandy and infertile soils (Woodroofe and associates, 1996). All these soils have moderate fertility
and are dominantly cultivated (MWIE, 2014). Many areas in the basin are not suitable for
irrigation because of their steep slope. However, the lower Omo area is flat and moderately
suitable soils with frequent flooding from the Omo River (Woodroofe and associates, 1996).The
lowland soils are shallow; coarse textured (Eutric Leptosols and Regosols) with moderate to high
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fertility status (MWIE, 2014). According to FAO, 1998 the soil and Terrain Data base for North
Eastern Africa soils, the Omo basin is classified as follows.

Figure 7. Major Soils of Lower Omo Ghibe basin extracted by Endalemaw, 2015

3.2 Methods
The methodology followed for the research work encompasses three main phases to come up
with the required result. These are pre-field work, field work and post field work as stated below.

Pre-field work- the following different tasks had been executed during this phase

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 Literature review of documents including previous works

 Extraction of the surface water divide and preparation of drainage map of the study area
from DEM using Arc GIS
 Extraction of soil data and land use land cover from satellite images
 Collection and preliminary analysis of data related to existing water resource
developments (for hydropower generation and irrigation development purposes) such as
Ghibe I, II, III and Kuraz Sugar cane Irrigation Development scheme.

Field work- this is the main phase of the research work and it includes verifying and up grading
of the secondary data through cross checking with the field conditions and conducting detail field
investigation in the basin. During this phase, the following activities had been done:

 All necessary data such as rainfall, evaporation, basin size, land use type, available flow in
the river course, etc had been collected and/or analyzed.
 Different kinds of consultation like interviewing using questionnaires had been conducted
with communities, governmental and non- governmental bodies.
 Physical observation of the basin in different location like upstream and downstream
areas and collection of coordinates using GPS to be analyzed during the office work.

Post-field work - the activities carried out during this stage include:

 Processing and analyzing of the primary and secondary data collected during the pre-
field stage and fieldwork period in order to fit the data input requirement of the ARC GIS
model. For data processing purposes, GIS tools were used to prepare input data.
 Building up of the Arc GIS Model to determine the water and land resources potential
suitable for Flood-based farming of the basin.
 Analyzing the model results and verification of the results with ground truth. In the
analysis relevant information had been taken from the review of previous works in the

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area and literature review from similar documents had been compared with the findings
in the field work.
 Organizing and compilation of the field data and writing and describing to prepare a
report.

A summary of the research approach is as indicated in figure 8.

Figure 8.Methodology flow chart

3.3 Materials
Materials which were used to undertake the research are:

• DEM (30 m resolution)

• Topographic maps of the basin
• Satellite images (Land Sat 8)
• Hydro-metreological data (rainfall and river flow discharge)
• GPS to select representative ground observation and sampling points

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• ARCGIS software
• Digital Camera
• Field cars
• Google Earth

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4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Impact of Flooding

The Omo Ghibe Basin is one of the most important water resource basins in Ethiopia as it carries
close to 13 % of the annual surface water resource of the country, next to Abay and Baro-Akobo.
Moreover, the basin is one of the largest hydropower potential next to Abay. Despite these huge
resource potentials, the Ethiopian people in general and the people at the basin in particular so
far benefited little. The people around the Omo Gibe in general and downstream of the Omo
River in particular still continue to practice traditional recession flood agriculture for crop
production. Furthermore, the Omo river basin suffers frequent flooding that will affect crop
production for significant period of time during the year. According to Endalamaw (2015) a
maximum of 19,000 ha in the lower Omo valley will be inundated for a depth of 2.5 m during the
maximum peak flow. Moreover, the people are exposed to Malaria, different waterborne
diseases, and benefited little from the economic development the country recorded in the last
few years. There are, however, important question one has to raise: “how long they continue to
survive sawing handful of seeds along the bank of the rivers?” Still they need to change and they
also should change their life to a better way of living. Moreover, the country should benefit more
from the immense natural resources of the basin at economic scale.

Several studies indicated that the lower Omo valley has experienced repeated flood hazardous
(EEPCO, 2009; Endalamaw, 2015). In the eye of these treats and the need to make benefit of the
huge water resource of the basin, the Government of Ethiopia has embarked on the basin level
master plan studies. As one of the top solutions, construction of dams is implemented. However,
according to some, it seems as if the construction of the dam will affect the indigenous people
and disrupt the ecology of the basin. Avery (2010) indicated that those dams in the Omo river
valley will have simply significant negative effect on the livelihood of the lower Omo valley.

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4.2 Flood-Risk Mitigation Measures

The Ethiopian government’s policy is to efficiently utilize the Omo River in order to support
national development. Realizing this huge untapped potential and the challenges the River Omo
pauses on the local people, the government of Ethiopia has embarked on the construction of
several series of hydropower projects. These dams are multi-purpose; primarily for hydro-power
generation and also for flood protection of the lower Omo valley. However, such an approach
has raised concern from some environmental advocates, especially because of the trans-
boundary nature of the river Omo. As indicated by EEPCO (2009) the construction of the
hydropower dams along the Omo river basin will have less significant impact on the traditional
recession farming practice.

Avery (2010) noted that whilst the annual volume is reported to be much the same, about 67 %
of the annual runoff volume reaching Lake Turkana will be controlled by Gibe III. The graph
(Figure 9) however, indicates that the dam will have insignificant impact on the downstream side,
as the total volume runoff generated with and without the project are very comparable. It is only
shifting the periods of filling and releasing. Even the mean peak runoff reduction, which can occur
in July, though is close to 30 %, will not affect the volume of inflow towards the lake as it is
counter balanced by the mean peak increments in the months of January to May. Avery (2010)
has also reported that, the annual influx required to sustain Lake Turkana is 19 km3/yr. This
magnitude should be further investigated through water balance calculations of the lake as this
study could not look into it.

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Figure 9: Mean monthly discharge of Omo before and after Gilgel Ghibe III dam (Source: EEPCO, Agriconsulting et
al., 2009)

As indicated by the EEPCo (2009), the existing traditional recession farming practice is mostly
practiced along the stripe of the river bank (Figure 10). Endalamaw (2015) indicated that flood
recession farming is practiced in the lower Omo Ghibe along the river bank to cultivate Maize
and Sorghum. He also noted that all the land is not used for crop production as the local people
are pastoralist and agro-pastoralists. Taking into account the size of the existing traditional
recession farming and the fact that dam construction won’t have an impact on the river flow (as
indicated above), regulated flow from the Omo River will have significant positive impact on the
livelihood of the local people.

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Figure 10: Traditional recession farming along the strip of the river bank (Source: Environmental and Social Impact
Assessment of the GGIII report, 2009).

According to Arsano (2007) building on what already exists, such as through creating community
of interest and establishing and expanding many more areas of interaction will provide a
significant contribution towards making the riparian countries’ permanent partners rather than
misguided adversaries. World Bank (2006) indicated that in order to strengthen the water
resource development in Ethiopia, it is important to invest in the infrastructure development to
provide storage and regulate river flows and runoff. To mitigate against the economic impacts of
water shocks in Ethiopia, greater water storage capacity, both natural and manmade, large scale
and small scale, will be needed.

From the above discussions, it can be seen that, the construction of dams can boost the Flood-
based farming in the basin.

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4.3 Flood-based Farming Potential

The basin has one of the largest potential irrigable areas next to Abay. The potential Flood-based
farming system command area is estimated as 1.5 million ha (Figure 11). It is important to change
the dependency alone on the traditional recession flood farming to other forms of farming
practices especially that of modern spate irrigation farming practices to maximize the virtual
water available for agricultural development. This could be achieved, among others, if the runoff
is regulated. It is believed that the ongoing construction of the hydropower will provide regulated
flow sufficient to meet Flood-based farming more than the traditional farming area.

Endalamaw (2015) indicated that flood recession farming is site specific and based on only the
experience of the farmers. Though there are a variety of techniques that the farmers adopt to
cultivate flood prone area, the farmers are subject to frequent flooding. Moreover, this flood
recession farming is practiced along the river banks. He indicated that under the maximum flow
period (i.e. 2006), the inundation area is close to 19,000 ha and under regulated flow from the
hydropower dams the area that can be inundated is close to 11,000 ha. However, this extent of
inundation is estimated taking into account bank breach and with the provision of proper heads,
through river diversion or pressurized irrigation system, the area that can be irrigated through
flood-based farming can be substantially high.

According to Teka et al (2014) the total potential of spate irrigation in the Southern Nations,
Nationalities and Peoples’ region of Ethiopia, is close to 772,419 ha. Towards this end, the
construction of dams will provide regulated flow throughout the year with the peak runoff able
to sustain recession Flood-based farming. Awulachew (2007) indicated that based on the Ministry
of Water Resource data the total irrigable area of the basin is close to 68,000 ha. On the other
hand Sogreah (2010) categorized the total potential irrigable area as 5,000 ha is “highly suitable”,
60,000 ha is “moderately suitable”, and 14,000 ha is “marginally suitable”.

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Figure 11: Suitable area for spate irrigation in Omo basin

4.4 Water Resources Potential for Flood-based Farming

The annual runoff potential of the lower Omo valley (i.e below the Gibe III dam) is estimated as
8.19 km3 using the Rational Method. It is also computed to be 3.1 km3 based on the SCS-CN
method (equation 3) indicating an annual runoff depth equivalent to 77.08 mm. The major land
use of the lower Omo valley is Silvo-pastoral and the major hydrologic soil group (HSG) is D (Figure
12).

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(a) (b)

Figure 12: Land use (a) and Hydrologic Soil Group (B) downstream of the Gibe III dam

The dry season evapotranspiration requirement of the potential flood-based farming area is
estimated as 25200m3/ha. On the other hand the release from the live storage of Gibe III
(considering evaporation loss) is close to 11.0 km3 and the runoff yield from the catchment
downstream of Gibe III based on the runoff coefficient is estimated at 8.19 km3. There is a
difference in the results of the SCS-CN and runoff coefficient method of estimating the annual
runoff. According to Teka et al. (2013), the SCS-CN method of estimating annual runoff based on
individual events provide a reliable result than the Rational method. But, if an annual based
estimations are considered, the Rational method gives reliable result. In general, 8.19 km3
magnitude of runoff cannot meet the water demand of the potential flood-based farming in the
basin. Moreover, according to EEPCo (2009), the recorded natural minimum mean monthly flows
is in the month of March (about 25 m3/s) and as a priority this value has been recommended as
absolute minimum monthly average compensation flow which must be sustained the under
whole operation of the scheme. As a result, based on the amount of runoff sufficient to meet the
flood-based farming, close to 0.75 million ha can be irrigated.

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5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

Omo River basin is one of the potentials for flood-based farming in Ethiopia. The traditional flood-
recession farming is concentrated at only few spots along a strip of the river bank. The potential
flood-based command area in the basin is estimated at 1.5 million ha. However, based on the
availability of surface water potential and ecological demands downstream, close to 0.75 million
ha of land can be covered under flood-based farming at Omo River basin. On the contrary, the
maximum river flow (i.e. recoded in 2006) could inundate an area close to 19,000 ha. This
indicates that the existing traditional flood-recession farming utilizes a very small portion of the
potential that can be irrigated using flood-based farming. The existing traditional recession based
farming brought several challenges to the local people. Improving the traditional recession
farming becomes important. The challenges related to the traditional recession farming can be
resolved through many mechanisms, among which is provision of dams that provides regulated
outflow. This regulated outflow reduces the risk of flooding in the lower Omo valley and can be
easily utilized for both traditional and modern flood-based farming to meet the ever increasing
demand of the local and national agricultural crop production. However, the impact of such
development endeavors could be understood well if there is a comprehensive water resource
planning study is conducted at a basin level. This study helps to verify the influx needed to sustain
Lake Turkana which is reported by Avery (2010).

Although the assessment of the potential flood-based farming conducted in this study is a useful
contribution to greater understanding of the potential of the basin, the results do not enable
policy formulation on their own. The study on the potential assessment of Flood-based farming
system should be evaluated based on some hydrological and water resource modeling.
Moreover, crop water requirement for at least the common crop and cropping calendar should
be estimated.

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6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development
(IGAD) Inland Water Resources Management Programme (INWRM) and the European Union (EU)
for the support provided to undertake this research. The Institute of Water and Environment,
and the College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources (CoDANR) at Mekelle University
has provided material and technical support to successfully complete the research.

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Geleta, 2011. Status and Potential of Spate Irrigation in Ethiopia, Water Resources
Management, DOI 10.1007/s11269-011-9780-7.
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irrigation. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 65, ISBN 978-92-5-106608-09, FAO, Rome, Italy.
43. Van Steenbergen F., A. M. Haile, Alemehayu, T., Alamirew, T., & Geleta, Y. (2011). Status and
potential of spate irrigation in Ethiopia. Water resources management, 25(7), 1899-1913.
44. Water Works Design Supervision Enterprise in Association with SDCSE, 2013. Kuraz Sugar
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World Bank Water Resources Assistance Strategy, Washington DC, USA.

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 Potential Assessment of Flood-based Farming on lower Omo Ghibe Basin

ANNEX
Curve Number Map of the lower part of the Omo Gibe Basin

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 Potential Assessment of Flood-based Farming on lower Omo Ghibe Basin

Annual rainfall Map of the lower part of the Omo Gibe Basin

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 Potential Assessment of Flood-based Farming on lower Omo Ghibe Basin

Potential FBF Assessment using Rational Formula

S. no Name Result Unit Remark
1 Basin Catch area 74,000 km2 Basin Catchment Area
2 Gibe III catch 34,150 km2 Gibe III Catchment Area
3 Catch: d/s of Gibe III 39,850 km2 Catchment Area D/s of Gibe III
4 Gibe III Live Storage 11.75 km3 Gibe III
5 Dam height 223 m Gibe III
6 Max surface area 211 km2 Gibe III
7 Average surface area 105.5 km2 Gibe III
8 Annual ETo 2190 mm Annual Eto
9 Evapo loss 0.23 km3 Evaporation Loss
10 Ecological discharge 25 m3/s Environmental release
11 Design flow, turbine 950 m3/s Design flow, turbine
12 Yield of Gibe III 0.79 km3 Environmental release
13 MAR: D/s of Gibe III 1081.35 mm Mean Annual Rainfall
14 Annual Yield d/s of Gibe III 8.19 km3 Annual D/s Yield
15 Total D/s release 19.71 km3 Gibe III Release + D/s Annual Yield

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 Potential Assessment of Flood-based Farming on lower Omo Ghibe Basin

Potential FBF Assessment using SCN CN Method

Average CN 87
S 38.0 mm
Ia 7.6 mm
Catchment
Area 39,850,000,000 m2

Month RF (mm) Q (SCS_CN) mm Q (SCS_CN) km3

Oct 23.20 4.55 0.18
Nov 21.40 3.68 0.15
Dec 2.50 0.79 0.03
Jan 0.50 1.63 0.06
Feb 9.90 0.13 0.01
Mar 24.90 5.42 0.22
Apr 65.20 34.73 1.38
May 46.60 19.77 0.79
Jun 10.90 0.27 0.01
Jul 13.60 0.82 0.03
Aug 22.30 4.11 0.16
Sept 14.90 1.18 0.05
Annual 255.90 77.08 3.1

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 Potential Assessment of Flood-based Farming on lower Omo Ghibe Basin

Crop Water Requirement Calculation for Maize

Kc Stage of Development
Crop Total
Maize Initial Development Mid-season Late
Days 30 50 60 40 180
Kc 0.3 0.5 1.2 0.5 0.7
k 0.7 Average Crop Coefficient, Maize
ETo 8 mm/day Potential Evapotranspiration
Growing
180 days
period (Maize)
Etc 1008 mm Crop Evapotranspiration for Maize
Overall
40 %
Efficiency
Duty 25200 m3/ha CWR

FBF Irrigation Potential Determination

S.no Scenario I- Considering Releases from Gibe III
1 Water available 19.71 km3
2 Duty 25200 m3/ha
3 Ecological discharge 0.79 km3
4 Irrigable area 750715 ha
Scenario II- Without Considering Releases from Gibe III
5 Water available 8.19 km3
6 Duty 25200 m3/ha
7 Ecological discharge 0.7884 km3
8 Irrigable area 293614 ha

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