FLOOD RISK AREA MAPPING AND FARMERS‘ PERCEPTION ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF FLOOD IN SEGEN WATERSHED, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Flood is a natural disaster and has a global challenge in the face of a changing climatic pattern. Typically, floods are outcome of extreme weather events and affect the livelihoods of households. The study area is in a low lying severely flood prone area. This area faces flooding after heavy rains. Thus, this study was aimed at mapping the flood risk area and socio-economic impacts in prioritized kebeles of Segen watershed Burji special woreda. For this study hydrologic model (HEC-RAS) was used for flood risk area mapping and prioritization, the model was selected because of its less complexity and its accuracy with least input data requirement and socio economic data were used for assessing the associated impacts of flooding in the study area. For the model input data like geometric, plan, DEM, hydrological, meteorological data were collected from Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Ministry of Agriculture and National Meteorological Agency. The quantitative data was collected through household survey, Focus Group Discussion, Key informants Interview and researcher’s field observation. SPSS software was used to analyze the data collected through survey, interview and FGD. As per the analysis, flood risk maps for 50 year,100 year,150 year return periods indicated that, 74.89ha, 98.51ha and 111.5ha of land respectively was damaged because of flooding inYebeno, Daledo,Gamoyo and Kilicho kebeles. Accordingly, those Kebeles are regarded as flood risk areas. The socio economic survey result showed that flooding has negative impacts on household’s livelihood conditions such as agriculture, health, water, sanitation, livestock, property, transport, market, income and infrastructures in the prioritized kebeles. The result of this study would help the concerned bodies to properly develop strategies according to the available flood area mapping and hazard to the area. Therefore, proper land management through soil and water conservation measures would have a significant role to reduce the adverse effects of flooding on the livelihood of the communities particularly in the prioritized flood prone areas.