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Landscape Dynamics, Soils and Hydrological Processes in Varied Climates pp 261–277Cite as

Watershed Storage Dynamics in the Upper Blue Nile Basin: The Anjeni Experimental Watershed, Ethiopia

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Abstract

Understanding functions of a watershed is important for implementing appropriate soil and water conservation measures and for planning and development of sustainable water resources use. Watershed storage is a significant part of a catchment water budget and its quantification provides a clue to understand the fundamental catchment hydrological processes. This study is aimed to investigate the dynamics of watershed storage of the Anjeni experimental watershed in the Upper Blue Nile basin for which a long series of rainfall and runoff data is available for this study. A daily water balance equation was used to quantify the watershed storage over the distinct rainy season. On average, 86 % of the annual rainfall occurs during distinct rainy season. The study showed that the watershed storage increases with the increase of cumulative rainfall till the watershed stores its maximum capacity. After this maximum capacity, the watershed storage remains constant, even if rainfall continuous. The Anjeni watershed stores an average of 380 mm of water after a cumulative effective rainfall of 625 mm. Before the maximum storage was reached, about 60 % of the effective rainfall is used to wet up the watershed. Then, the remainder becomes surface runoff and interflow, during which about 40 % of the flow appeared at the outlet.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Amhara Region Agriculture Research Institute for providing the data free of charge, and the Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources for providing transport facilities to visit the watershed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Civil and Water Resources Engineering, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Temesgen Enku, Essayas K. Ayana, Seifu A. Tilahun & Tammo S. Steenhuis

  2. Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Modesto A. Maidique Campus, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Assefa M. Melesse

  3. Water and Land Resource Center, Centre for Development and Environment of University of Bern, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Gete Zeleke

  4. Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA

    Tammo S. Steenhuis

Authors
  1. Temesgen Enku
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  2. Assefa M. Melesse
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  3. Essayas K. Ayana
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  4. Seifu A. Tilahun
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  5. Gete Zeleke
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  6. Tammo S. Steenhuis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Temesgen Enku .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth & Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Assefa M. Melesse

  2. South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA

    Wossenu Abtew

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Enku, T., Melesse, A.M., Ayana, E.K., Tilahun, S.A., Zeleke, G., Steenhuis, T.S. (2016). Watershed Storage Dynamics in the Upper Blue Nile Basin: The Anjeni Experimental Watershed, Ethiopia. In: Melesse, A., Abtew, W. (eds) Landscape Dynamics, Soils and Hydrological Processes in Varied Climates. Springer Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18787-7_13

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