Abstract:
ABSTRACT
Hydro-meteorological data is a major input for appropriate water resource management and development, but data scarcity and accuracy remain the main gap. There is evidence that citizen science can be an effective and efficient data collection method. However, existing empirical evidence on citizen science is not adequate for water resource management. In this study, a hydrological monitoring network was established and the hydrology of a micro-watershed was investigated with a particular focus on water resource of Gedam micro-watershed, which is situated in the upland of Ribb catchment in Upper Blue Nile basin. Sustainable land management activities are introduced in the micro-watershed but their hydrological impact is not quantified yet. Rainfall, groundwater level and stream water level were collected by citizen scientists. Soil texture analyses was also conducted in the laboratory. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with woreda experts up to the local community was organized to understand the hydrological behavior of the Gedam micro watershed and ensure the continuity of the citizen science. The collected citizen science data were used to estimate groundwater recharge and water balance component with integration of modeling and laboratory analysis. About 22.88% and 50.17% of the annual rainfall amount contributes to groundwater recharge based on Water Table Fluctuation method and Chloride Mass Balance methods respectively. The result shows that the groundwater resource in this area has high recharging rate but the estimates have a wide range of uncertainty. And also, modeling using citizen science data shows 2.76% of the annual rainfall is lost through evapotranspiration and 4.42% of the annual rainfall is lost through runoff. This study shows that there is a potential to continue citizen science for hydro-meteorological data collection in Gedam micro-watershed but it requires good coordination between the community, the woreda experts and the relevant stakeholders or researchers
