ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACTS OF SHALLOW GROUNDWATER AND DRAINAGE PROBLEMS ON SOIL QUALITY AT HARE IRRIGATION SCHEME IN SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The Hare plain is the agricultural area in Arbaminch. It is characterized by fertile soils and the availability of water either from surface or groundwater which allowed intensive agriculture. The aim of this research work is to study the impact of this land management on the quality of water and soil. The study was done for the irrigated of Hare small scale irrigation province of Arbaminch. Sampling of 10 water wells and 15 soil samples, from three different zones, was done between June 2021 – Dec 2022.The groundwater and soil salinity were directly determined from EC and TDS. The sodicity was determined by calculating SAR. The results were analyzed in two ways ANOVA using Statistix 10 software. The result of the values of various constants of the models were calculated by method of averages and by graphical approach. Groundwater EC was a maximum of 1.068ms/cm during the dry season and a minimum of 0.47ms/cm during the wet season and TDS was a maximum of 0.527g/l in the dry season and a minimum of 0.57g/l in the wet season. The SAR of groundwater showed a maximum of 2.0645 during the dry season and a minimum of 0.6095 during the wet season. It was observed that the groundwater table varies from 0.2m to 5.85m below ground level in the wet season and it varies from 0.24m to 6.2m below ground level in the dry season. The upper part of the Hare farm has low groundwater and soil salinity and sodicity, but higher at the lower part i.e. near Lake Abaya because of shallow groundwater level. During wet and dry seasons the groundwater condition, its salinity, and sodicity were highly affected by the irrigable agriculture area and infiltration rate of Hare Farm