Enset-based land use land cover change detection and its impact on soil erosion in Meki river watershed, Western Lake Ziway Sub-Basin, Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Water erosion, upland degradation and deforestation are key environmental problems in the Meki river watershed. The study assessed the land use land cover change (LULCC) for 30 years and it examined the contribution of indigenous Enset-based land use system (EBLUS) to reduce soil erosion and prevent water bodies including Lake Ziway from sedimentation which was not considered in the former studies. GPS based data collected and satellite based LULC analysis using ERDAS Imagine 2014 performed to investigate existing farm management practices and land cover respectively. HEC-GEOHMS, Geo-statistical interpolation and RUSLE were applied to model watershed characteristics, spatial climate parameters and soil loss respectively. Result Meki river watershed (2110.4 km2 of area) is dominantly covered by cultivated LUS (41.5%), EBLUS (10.65%), Bush and Chat LUS (25.6%), Forest and plantations LUS (14.14%), built-up (7.4%) and water bodies (0.75%). Soil loss is increasing from 1987 to 2017 and a larger part of the watershed suffers a moderately severe to very severe risk (18 t ha−1 year−1 to > 80 t ha−1 year−1) in all sub-watersheds irrespective of the land use systems which shows the watershed is facing sever degradation problem. The mean soil loss of 30.5 t ha−1 year−13 and 31.905 t ha−1 year−1 are verified from Enset growing zones and non-Enset growing zones of the watershed respectively. Conclusion EBLUS saves significant amount of soil despite the steepness of the slopes of the Enset growing zones of the watershed. Hence, expansion of EBLUS can contribute in sustaining water bodies, including Lake Ziway by reducing soil loss rate and sedimentation problem for the ecological sustainability of the watershed. Therefore, separate land use policy and awareness creation are mandatory for such EBLUS expansion, sustainable watershed management interventions and conservation of the natural environment in the watershed based on its suitability and severity of erosion risk mapping.

Multicriteria evaluation to identify potential areas for level Fanya juu terrace in Central Ethiopia

“…Teff, maize, wheat, and enset are subsistence crops and the latter is mostly used by the growers (Tadesse and Tefera 2020; Woldesenbet et al 2020). The main sources of domestic water in the area include handdug wells and ponds, seasonal streams and rarely availing groundwater wells (Fentaw and Manaye 2019b; Tadesse and Tefera 2020).…”

“…Soil erosion, worsen by land use/ land cover (LU/LC) change is the most common form of land degradation that covers 23% of Ethiopia (Gebreselassie et al 2016). A gradual change in LU/LC features was observed sourced from demographic changes, poverty, topography, and land policy those are contributing to environmental changes such as biodiversity loss, soil erosion, local climate, and hydrological regime (Desta and Fetene 2020; Musie et al 2020;Woldesenbet et al 2020).…”

“…The share of cropland over the total estimated soil loss accounted for 86% in the northwest (Alemu and Melesse 2020), 42.6% in Beshillo catchment, Blue Nile basin (Yesuph and Dagnew 2019), and 11% in the Meki river sub-basin, central rift valley lake basin (Woldesenbet et al 2020). However, the rate of soil loss from cultivated land varies between 42 and 300 tons/ha/yr (Gebreselassie et al 2016).…”

“…However, the rate of soil loss from cultivated land varies between 42 and 300 tons/ha/yr (Gebreselassie et al 2016). Similarly, the upper catchments of the Meki River sub-basin are facing severe degradation irrespective of the land-use systems (Woldesenbet et al 2020). The risk of soil erosion in the north-eastern watershed is reported very high to severe levels (Woldesenbet et al 2020).…”

“…Similarly, the upper catchments of the Meki River sub-basin are facing severe degradation irrespective of the land-use systems (Woldesenbet et al 2020). The risk of soil erosion in the north-eastern watershed is reported very high to severe levels (Woldesenbet et al 2020). Besides, 9% and 6.5% of the study area stated high to very high soil loss severity levels, respectively (Tadesse and Tefera 2020).…”