Hydrologic response to land use land cover change in the Upper Gidabo Watershed, Rift Valley Lakes Basin, Ethiopia

The purpose of the study was to assess land use and land cover changes (LULCC) effects on stream flow of the upper Gidabo Watershed, Ethiopia. The data subjected to analyses were satellite imageries of 1985, 2000, and 2018, Digital Elevation Model, climate and streamflow records. Syntheses of SWAT and SWAT-CUP algorithms have been done using ArcSWAT. Accordingly, seven types of land uses are identified and agroforestry is the dominant land use (64%). LULCC depicted that agricultural land and urban settlement increased by 59.8% and 28.7% respectively at the expense of forest and grassland. The impact of land dynamics on the hydrological response depicted that an increase in surface runoff and evapotranspiration by 9.2% and 1.7% respectively. The wet season flow increased by 5.6% while the dry season decreased by 12.7%. Surface flow variation particularly in the dry season demand close intervention in land use management and utilization of water resources.