Hydroelectric power dam-induced land use land cover change in Ethiopia, the case of AMerti-Nashe dams Horo Guduru Wollega Zone

ABSTRACT

We examined dam-induced land use and land cover change (LULCC) detection in the Amerti-Nashe hydroelectric power reservoirs. These dams were constructed for a variety of purposes, primarily for irrigation in the lower reaches and hydropower generation in the upper reaches. The main objective of the study was to investigate dam-induced LULCC in the study area over the last 41 years. Satellite images were downloaded from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The data from remote sensing satellite images were used to reflect the spatial variation in LULCC, and land surface temperature (LST) in the study areas near hydropower plants in the years 1985, 2003, and 2021. The supervised classification method is adopted, and the maximum likelihood rule is used as the parameter rule for image classification. The land use classification results show that grazing land, woody grassland, and cultivated land gradually decreased, which could be associated with the establishment of dams. But commercial farming, waterbodies, and built-up areas increased during these study periods. LST variations based on its relationship with Land Use Land Cover (LULC) in the area decreased after the dam was constructed, particularly in the irrigated lowland and places inundated by water from the reservoir in the upper stream. Generally, the construction of the Amerti-Nashe hydroelectric dam projects in the study area has changed land use type and LST both at a lower and upper stream. Therefore, hydropower development in the area needs strategic planning on how to minimize land use land cover change impacts on the environment and the local community.

KEYWORDS:

• Hydroelectric power dams
• Amerti-Nashe
• land use
• land cover change
• LST
• Horo Gudru

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. kebele is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia similar to a ward, a neighborhood, or a localized and delimited group of people.

2. Districts of Ethiopia, also called woreda, are the third-level of the administrative division of Ethiopia – after zones and the regional states.

3. Land Surface Temperature (LST); is the radiative skin temperature of the land surface, as measured in the direction of the remote sensor.

4. Spectral radiance is the radiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength.

5. A square kilometer (km²) is based on the SI unit of measurement of area, the square meter. It is the area inside a square that has each side equal to 1 kilometer (1000 meters).

6. Green Desert; is refers to vast monoculture tree plantations which were designed for producing cellulose.

7. Degrees Celsius (C) is considered to be the base unit of temperature for the entire analysis land surface temperature.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Addis Ababa University and Wollega University [Addis Ababa University and Wollega University prov].

Notes on contributors

Temesgen Soressa

Temesgen Soressa is an assistant professor at Wollega University and, at the time, a Ph.D. scholar at Addis Ababa University. Temesgen’s research mainly focuses on the areas of Regional and Urban development, local projects and their implications on the environment and on the livelihood systems of the local community in rural Ethiopia, urbanization and related problems and regional development issues. He has served as continuous education coordinator, student dean, and department head of geography and environmental studies at the College of Social Sciences, at Wollega University. E-mail: [email protected]

Tegegne Gebre-Egziabher

Tegegne Gebre-Egziabher is a professor of urban and regional planning and development at Addis Ababa University. He received a PhD in city and regional planning from Ohio State University. His teaching and research interests lie in the fields of urban and regional development and policy, decentralization and development, urban and rural linkages, micro and small enterprises, local economic development, and cluster development. E-mail: [email protected]/[email protected]