Analysis of natural water resources formation and distribution conditions in Central Ethiopia

Water is the most important natural resource that ensures Earth’s ecological system operation. The variability of the resource potential of the hydrosphere has a significant, if not decisive, impact on the socio-economic development of the world including Ethiopia in general and its central regions in particular where surface water is the main source of water supply. Growing urbanization, industrialization and agricultural development have increased the demand for multipurpose water supply in the agricultural, industrial and energy sectors of Ethiopia. Due to the increased water demand during the dry seasons of the year the country faces severe water shortages, while the amount of surface water during the rainy sea sons quite accommodates modern demands. The purpose of this study is to analyze the natural formation and distribution conditions of surface and groundwater resource potential in Central Ethiopia as well as to identify the most promising sites for groundwater prospecting and exploration. Having processed and analyzed the materials using Google Earth Engine cloud technologies and a number of software packages, it was determined that the structural and tectonic development of the territory caused by the region’s confinement to the East African Rift Zone, plays a decisive role in the formation of natural conditions both in Ethiopia as a whole and in its central part in the distribution of natural water resources. The relief, climatic features, and main geomorphological and geological structures are the result of past and ongoing tectonic pro cesses. Understanding of surface and groundwater formation and distribution conditions in the region, significant volume of source material, and the use of modern processing means create the basis for a quantitative assessment of surface water resources and the delineation of the most water-abundant areas of the subsoil.