Sustaining reservoir use through sediment trapping in NW Ethiopia

Summary

To increase crop production and improve food self-sufficiency, rain-fed agriculture need to be supplemented with irrigated agriculture. To this end, a large number of reservoirs had been constructed in Ethiopia. However, reservoirs are suffering from sedimentation. This study was conducted in Minizr catchment, NW Ethiopia to (1) quantify the sediment entering Koga reservoir, (2) to assess the functioning and effectiveness of the existing man-made sediment trapping (ST) measures and natural sediment sinks, and (3) to design a possible solution to tackle the problem. Results of three years (2013-2015) field data show that 38% of the transported sediment was trapped within the Minizr catchment. Although considerable efforts were made to trap the sediment within the catchment through implementing various ST measures, lack of an integrated ST approach causes the remaining 62% of the sediment load still entering Koga reservoir.