U.S. and Ethiopian Experts Share Best Practices to Improve Water Resource Management

ETHIOPIA - For the last two weeks a team of American water resource experts have taught 15 engineers, hydrogeologists and hydrologists from various Ethiopian government agencies a course on advanced hydrologic modeling.  This course, the first of three, will help prepare the participants to be Ethiopia’s key water experts and is part of a larger U.S-Ethiopian partnership to assess the country’s water resources for future development.

   The United States and Ethiopian Governments recently agreed to lay the groundwork for a watershed management study of the Ogaden region in southern Ethiopia. In January 2009, the two governments signed a Letter of Implementation for the “Groundwater Exploration, Assessment and Mapping” of the watersheds within the Ogaden. The study will run through 2012 and is a cooperative effort by U.S. Military’s Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Ethiopian Ministry of Water Resources, Geological Survey of Ethiopia and the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

   CJTF-HOA scientists are partnering with Ethiopian scientists to gain a better understanding of groundwater potential for the greater Ogaden basin through the use of hydrological modeling and remote sensing. This is being accomplished through advanced workshops put on by the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey. 

   This multi-year project will provide the Ethiopian Ministries with data and tools to characterize the aquifers within the Ogaden.  Surface water modeling will be used to understand the physical setting and movement of water during the rainy and dry seasons.  Groundwater modeling will provide an elementary view of how water moves in the subsurface once it infiltrates the soil.  Satellite remote sensed data will provide the team with valuable information to support the modeling efforts.  The collaborative study will provide critical baseline data and information which can be used to generate an effective watershed management plan and also develop feasible best management practices to ensure safe drinking water for the future. 
 
   CJTF-HOA has been performing hydrological surveys in various parts of Ethiopia since late 2006, and has done similar surveys in Djibouti and Kenya. CJTF-HOA’s capacity building projects contribute to U.S. Government efforts to promote a better tomorrow for Ethiopian citizens by supporting clean water, functional schools, better roadways and improved medical facilities.