School of Civil Engineering and

Architectural
Department of Water Resource
Engineering

WATER RESUORCE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

Assignment- I

NAME ID NO.
1. NATNAEL TRSHOME A/UR15155/10
2. ALI UMER A/UR15175/10
3. ABDI belay A/UR4281/09

Submitted to: MR. SISAY DEHASA

 TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE NUMBER
1. The omo basin introduction ------------------------------------------1
2. Hydrological data-----------------------------------------------------------------2
3. Climate study of the area-------------------------------------------------------3
4. Water potential of the country -----------------------------------------------5

5. Future planned water resource activities--------------------------9

6. Issues at the basin scale---------------------------------------------------------12

7. Reference----------------------------------------------------------------------------13
 The Omo-Gibe basin
The Omo-Gibe basin is one of the major river basins in Ethiopia and is situated in the south
western part of the country covering parts of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples
Region (SNNPR) and Oromia region. The basin covers an area of 79,000 km2 with a length of
550 km and an average width of 140 km. The basin lies between 40 00‘N & 90 22‘N latitude and
between 340 44‘E & 380 24‘E longitude. It is an enclosed river basin that flows in to the Lake
Turkana which forms its southern boundary. The total mean annual flow from the river basin is
estimated about 16.6 BMC
Omo Gibe watershed is selected as case study for this research because large scale and medium
scale irrigation potential are identified in the basin, with an estimated irrigable area of 57,900
and 10,028 hectares respectively, and a total irrigable area of 67,928 hectares. However, this
figure could be much higher given the vast land area of lower Omo. In terms of hydropower
development potential, it is the second largest next to Abbay (Blue Nile), and it is a basin in
which most of the current hydropower development is taking place (See table 2.1). In addition,
it can be considered as representative watershed where there is high landscape and climatic
zone difference within short distances. The population growth and land use systems together
with considerable human interventions in the upper part of Omo watershed makes it feasible
for climate change impact analysis on hydrological regime.
Hydrological data

River discharge is an important property to know the timing of flow within and between
seasons. Moreover, this data is the right hand of this research, because water resource
potential of the basin can be determined from this data set for reference time period,
additionally the future water condition of the basin due to climate change will be quantified by
comparing with the current water potential of the basin. Runoff unfortunately not as many
gauging stations as rainfall ones are present in the basin under investigation, but few of them
are located at key sites, like Abelti which has particular importance for this research. Daily
discharge data of Omo River, for the period of 1970-2000, was acquired from Ministry of water
resources and energy of Ethiopia that monitors the rivers discharges in the country. Table 5.2
and figure 5.2 presents list of flow measuring stations and stream network of Omo River. Most
of the flow measuring stations except Shebe, Megecha and Wolkite are found upstream of
Ablett flow measuring stations and they record flow relatively from small catchment areas.
Abelti station is the only flow measuring station which measures flow from 15,690km2 area.
Mean areal rainfall rate in mm/year for catchments of hydrometric stations

Climate of the study area

The climate of Omo-Gibe River basin varies from a hot arid climate in the southern part of the
floodplain to a tropical humid one in the highlands that include the extreme north and
northwestern part of the Basin. Intermediate between these extremes and for the greatest part
of the basin the climate is tropical sub-humid.

Rainfall

Rainfall in Omo-Gibe basin varies from over 1900 mm per annum in the north central areas to
less than 300mm per annum in the south. The amount of rainfall decreases throughout the
Omo-Gibe catchments with a decrease in elevation. Moreover, the rainfall regime is unimodal
for the northern and central parts of the basin and bimodal for south.

Meteorological stations

in Omo-Gibe River basin there are 86 rainfall stations in and near by the basin. However, most
of the stations have established recently. Many of the stations have few years recorded value
(less than fifteen years). Since climate change study needs at least thirty years recorded data,
stations which have relatively long recorded value have been used for further analysis. In
general, 21 rainfall and 14 temperature gauging stations have been used for this research.
Besides the distribution of the gauged stations are not well organized. Most of the stations are
concentrated in the northern part of the basin

Temperature
The mean annual temperature in Omo-Gibe basin varies from 160C in the highlands of the
north to over 300C in the lowlands of the south. The maximum temperature is higher at the
southern part of the basin especially at Moroka mean annual maximum temperature reaches
up to 30.6 0C. There is a little variation in minimum temperature which varies from 9.20C in
northern part of the basin example in Gedo to 160C in southern part of the basin at Jinka.

Climate variation and change within the Omo Basin, Ethiopia

The climate of the Omo Basin varies from a tropical sub-humid climate in the uppermost
northern catchment in the highlands of Ethiopia, to a hot arid climate in the southern-most
parts of the Basin (which includes the semi-desert of Lake Turkana in Kenya). The intermediate
catchment, which comprises the bulk of the Omo Basin, falls within the tropical sub-humid zone
(Woodroof & Associates).
Annual rainfall varies from 1,900 mm/annum in the north / central areas of the Omo Basin, to
less than 300 mm/annum in the south (Woodroof & Associates).
The annual rainfall generally diminishes through the Basin as the river drains from the highlands
in the north to Lake Turkana in the south. Updated rainfall data was obtained from Ethiopia’s
National Meteorological Services Agency (NMSA), for three selected rainfall stations within the
Omo Basin, for the period 1956-date.
The annual rainfall fluctuation over time for the three selected stations is presented in Figure
42 together with 5-year moving averages. There is no apparent change in mean annual rainfall
average evident from the graphs over the record period.
The monthly rainfall variation over the Basin has been analyzed in Figure 43. In the north of the
Omo Basin, the rainfall seasonality is uni-modal, but it becomes increasingly bi-modal towards
the Equator, as reported by others (Studio Pietrangeli, Agri consulting etc.).
Interesting studies have been done on long-term rainfall trends in Ethiopia. Data from 1960 to
2008 was analyzed, for instance, with the findings below reported (Cheung et al, 2008):
• “…Overall…there are no significant changes or trends in annual rainfall at the national or
watershed level in Ethiopia...”
• “…Many of the contradictions in previous findings on trends and climatic extremes in
Ethiopia may be explained by the arbitrary division of the study area as well as the quality of
the data...” Lake Turkana Hydrology Dr Sean Avery – Nov. 2010 2-70
 • “…It is unclear whether climate change is driving any systematic trends in Ethiopia’s
rainfall…”
• “…In the Omo Basin as a whole, the “Keremt” rainfall was the majority at 48.1% of the annual
total, with the “Belg” rainfall accounting for 31.4% of the annual rainfall…”
• “…In the Omo Basin, a small decline in “Keremt” rainfall was reported over the period
analyzed, with this decline being offset by a small increase in the “Belg” rainfall…(ibid)”
The main change apparent in the Omo Basin is the increasing runoff proportion resulting from
catchment change, as reported previously (Woodroof et al, 1996, Salini & Studio Pietrangelo,
2009). This increasing trend dates from 1987, the consequence of catchment degradation,
which increases flood magnitudes and diminishes low flows.
The impacts of climate change were evaluated for various scenarios of population growth,
temperature change, and precipitation change up to the year 2070 (Salini & Studio Pietrangelo
500 HYD RSP 001A, Jan 2009). That report noted that rainfall data only up to 2002 was used,
and should be updated. Two climate models were applied, and the runoff was shown to vary in
the range -10% to +6%. As there is an increasing runoff trend due to catchment change, no
long-term detrimental change was anticipated in the conclusion.
As a general trend, global warming increases evaporation, which in turn reduces runoff
(provided rainfall does not increase). There is no evidence of precipitation change in the Basin
(Cheung et al, 2008), and the decline in runoff with increasing temperature is likely to be offset
by the ongoing increase in runoff percentage associated with catchment development

Water resources potential of the country

The country has abundant water resources and hydropower potential, second next to the
Democratic Republic of Congo in all of Africa, yet only few percentages of this potential has
been developed. The country‘s annual renewable fresh water resources amount to some 124
BCM/yr. in the twelve river basins. However, only 3% remains in the country. The rest, 97% is
lost as runoff to the lowlands of neighboring countries. At this stage of water development,
where the country withdraws less than 5% of its fresh water resources for consumptive uses
(MoWE, 2007). It is estimated that up to 3.7 million hectares and 155,102Gwh/yr. of power
respectively can be developed using the available potential and clean water supply to all its
people. However, only less than 300,000 hectares of the irrigation and 3 to 5 % of hydropower
potentials respectively have been developed (MoWE, 2007). To gain an insight into the spatial
distribution of the fresh water resources one can note that 83% of the surface water potential
is generated in the four basins (Tekeze, Abbay, Baro Akobo and Omo-Gibe) located on the
western portion of the country representing only 40% of the total land area of the country. This
clearly demonstrates the uneven spatial distribution of water resources in the country (UN-
WATER/WWAP/2006/7).

Existing water resource activities

Construction of a cascade hydropower schemes commenced in the Omo River with Gibe I
hydropower scheme commissioned in 2004. The Gibe II hydropower project followed, and was
commissioned in 2010, with Gibe III construction having commenced in 2006.

Gilgel Gibe I
The single plant adopted scheme is a purely hydroelectric project, aimed to increase energy and power
supply to the National Grid. It is located on the Gilgel Gibe River, some 260 km SouthWest of Addis
Ababa and 70 km North East of Jimma in the Oromia Region. The general feature of this project is
explained in the following table

Gibe II
The Gilgel Gibe II Power station is the second hydroelectric power station on the Omo River.
The power station receives water from a tunnel entrance 7°55′27″N 37°23′16″E on the Gilgel
Gibe River. It has an installed capacity of 420 MW and was inaugurated on January 14, 2010.
Almost two weeks after inauguration, a portion of the head race tunnel collapsed causing the
station to shut down; repairs were complete on December 26, 2010. The Gilgel Gibe II consists
of a power station on the Omo River that is fed with water from a headrace tunnel and sluice
gate on the Gilgel Gibe River. The headrace tunnel runs 25.8 km (16 mi) under the Fofa
Mountain and converts into a penstock with a 500 m (1,600 ft) drop. When the water reaches
the power station, it powers four Pelton turbines that operate four 107 MW generators18. The
Gibe II plant uses the waters discharged by Gilgel Gibe I and has a gross head of 505 m used by
an open-air power station of 420 MW installed capacity. This new head is created by a
waterway that bypasses about 10 Km of the two rivers (Gilgel Gibe and Omo). The intake is
located on the Gilgel Gibe River about 200 m downstream of the Gilgle Gibe I outlet. The
waterway crosses the ridge between the Gilgel Gibe valley and the Omo valley by means of 25.8
km of tunnel and 1.2 km of penstocks. The flow discharged by the turbines of Gibe I plant and
diverted into the Gibe II intake (EEPCo, 2004). The following table shows the basic features of
this hydropower station.

Gibe III
The Gibe III hydroelectric is located within the Omo Gibe River basin in the middle reach of the
Omo River around 450km by road South of Addis Ababa. The dam for Gibe III is on the Omo
River and the reservoir stretches to its tributaries the Gibe and Gojeb Rivers. The scheme, from
the end of the reservoir to its tailrace out fall, extends over a corridor 150 km long (EEPCo,
2009). It is under construction which has 243 m high roller-compacted concrete dam with an
associated hydroelectric power plant on the Omo River. Once completed it would be the largest
hydroelectric plant in Africa with a power output of about 1870MW. The Gibe III dam would be
part of the Gibe cascade, a series of dams including the existing Gibe I dam (184 MW) and Gibe
II power station (420 MW) as well as the planned Gibe IV (1472 MW) and Gibe V (560 MW)
dams.

Future planned water resource activities

The koyesa hydro power plant station is planned in the future to produce electricity next to
gibe3.
The land uses
Land use pattern of northern catchment is characterized by extensive cultivation with increased
land pressure. According to the field visit that has been made in 2011 and mid of 2012 forest
areas are now confined to areas too steep and inaccessible to farm.
Generally central western part of the basin boundary area has extensive tracts of high forest.
The Gibe, Gojeb and Omo gorges are relatively unpopulated and support a cover of open
woodland and bush land through inaccessible area, such as where the Addis Ababa to Jimma
road crosses the Gibe Gorge, woodlands are being cleared for charcoal. Eastern catchment
boundary has some of the most densely populated and intensively farmed areas in the basin.
The south of the basin is more sparsely populated with a greater population of natural
vegetation. Figure 4-11 present land use distribution of the Omo river basin. Large proportion
of the basin ‘s land use dominated by four land use categories namely Woodland, Agricultural,
forest and bush land
issues at the basin scale
The forced resettlement of thousands of people from their home because the the Gibe3
hydropower plant reservoir and there are reports by the humans’ rights watch there is
misconduct or mistreat of the indigenous people by the government and the decrease of the
lake turkana found the the border between Ethiopia and Kenya.
REFERENCE
-The Effect of Climate Change on Water Resources Potential of Omo Gibe Basin, Ethiopia
(13.12.2013)
-Exploring the water-energy nexus in the Omo river basin (STOCKHOLM SVERIGE 2017)
CAROLINE SUNDIN