Genet Mathewos

Aquifer characterization is indispensable for active development and management of ground and surface water resources. The important characteristic of groundwater rectification is the capability to determine accurate estimation of aquifer hydraulic characteristics. It is important to deliver a common intelligences for exchange of ideas. Yet, groundwater potential study and aquifer characterization is rarely conducted in Lower Gidabo catchment. Topographically, the catchment is undulated ranging from 1170 m of low flat lands near Lake Abaya to 3200 m AMSL. In this study, groundwater prospective of the catchment was assessed in terms of aquifer characteristics with hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity and storativity. The study targeted to contribute detailed aspect of aquifer hydraulic properties and hydrogeological features in the catchment. Arc GIS 9.3 and Aquifer test programs were used for the study. Hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer ranges from 3.5*10-4 to 2.91*10-3 m/day. Likewise, the transmissivity and storativity are ranged from 1*10-3 to 1.05*10-1 m 2 /min and 8.29*10-5 to 4.11*10-3 respectively. The major aquifer units of the area are weathered and fractured basalts. These types of aquifer formation are recognized to be good groundwater formations. As per the result perceived, hydraulic properties and lithological formation of an aquifer are variable throughout the catchment.

Farmer's perspectives and assessments of irrigation scheme performance are critically inherent for irrigation system management. Hare irrigation scheme is indeed expected to play a vital role to realize food security and enhance farm incomes in the rural households. Yet, insufficient farm returns and social factors corresponding to water distribution problems are transpired. The objective of this study was to assess the level of user's satisfaction with irrigation services provided by the scheme in terms of adequacy of water supply, dependability, equity of water distribution, timelines of water delivery, user's contribution in operation and maintenance activities; operation and maintenance requirements of the system. It was analyzed using Binary Logit model. The study was conducted in the irrigation season from September to December, 2014. The results indicate that, the probability of user's satisfaction in adequacy and equity of water distribution are highly significant at 0.1significance level. Besides, the dependability of water distribution, timelines of water delivery, operation and maintenance requirements of the system are significant at 0.5 significance level. About 35.6 per cent of the beneficiaries have been satisfied with irrigation services. Generally, it was found that, the irrigation service provide to the user is unsatisfactory; the beneficiaries didn't acquire the intended benefits of the scheme. Therefore, capacities building of users, improving water delivery scheduling, reorganizing WAUs, proper operation and maintenances of the system are needed to improve the irrigation scheme efficiencies.