Securing dry season flow in the Blue Nile, Northern Ethiopia: : How much can forest management help as the climate changes?

Abstract

Extensive deforestation in the northwestern highlands of Ethiopia has made increasing forest area an attractive component of plans for integrated water management to improve water security. It is difficult, however, to predict the effect that forests will have on the critical dry season flows without region-specific information. We will use long-term data to quantify the effect forest area has on sustaining dry season flows under different climate change scenarios by: 1) Assembling flow, climate, and land use data for a dozen catchments in the region between 1960 and 2005 2) Modeling the influence of forests on the water regime both statistically, and with the conceptual HBV model 3) Downscaling climate change scenarios to the region 4) Predicting the hydrological impact of different forest management strategies under different climate scenarios

Keywords

climate change; water scarity; Ethiopia; Blue Nile Basin

Published in

Title: SIDA-conference ’Meeting Global Challenges in Research Cooperation’ Abstract Proceedings
Publisher: SIDA

Conference

SIDA-conference ’Meeting Global Challenges in Research Cooperation’

SLU Authors

• Bishop, Kevin

  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Gärdenäs, Annemieke

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Ilstedt, Ulrik

  • Department of Forest Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science
Fish and Aquacultural Science
Environmental Sciences and Nature Conservation

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/23458