Spatiotemporal response of water balance components under projected land use/land cover change in the Upper Omo-Gibe River Basin, Ethiopia
Article
Lukas, P, Melesse, AM, Kenea, TT. (2025). Spatiotemporal response of water balance components under projected land use/land cover change in the Upper Omo-Gibe River Basin, Ethiopia
. 10.1016/j.ecohyd.2025.100689
Lukas, P, Melesse, AM, Kenea, TT. (2025). Spatiotemporal response of water balance components under projected land use/land cover change in the Upper Omo-Gibe River Basin, Ethiopia
. 10.1016/j.ecohyd.2025.100689
The evaluation of a river basin's water balance and related hydrological processes is crucial for managing, monitoring, and predicting water resources as well as using them sustainably. The main objective of this study is to model and evaluate the response of hydrological components to land use/land cover dynamics via hydrological and remote sensing techniques in the Upper Omo-Gibe River Basin, Ethiopia. The sensitive parameters for the model simulation were thoroughly examined and selected. The findings provide significant information on the response of water balance components to LULC change. Between 1997 and 2004, it was observed that the primary factors accelerating the transformation were a rapid increase in agricultural land (46.89 %) and a significant loss of forest cover. Surface runoff (Surf_Q) increased a (4.7 %); increase whereas groundwater recharge (Gw_Q) and lateral flow (Lat_Q) decreased (17.63 %) and (9.54 %), respectively. The model simulation results revealed that surface runoff, evapotranspiration, lateral flow, and groundwater recharge accounted for 22.07 %, 43.95 %, 0.83 %, and 28.88 %, respectively, of the total flow in the present study. The increase in impervious surfaces due to intensified land competition among various sectors contributes to the reduction in the infiltration of water into the ground and accelerates Surf_Q in the catchment. Therefore, local, regional, and national policy interventions are needed to ensure efficient planning for water resource management in the Gibe-III catchment of the Omo-Gibe River Basin.
