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The Drivers for the Collapse of Lake Haramaya and Proposed Integrated
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 International Journal of River Basin Management

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The drivers for the collapse of Lake Haramaya and

proposed integrated rehabilitation strategies

Sitotaw Haile Erena, R. Uttama Reddy & Awol Akmel Yesuf

To cite this article: Sitotaw Haile Erena, R. Uttama Reddy & Awol Akmel Yesuf (2022): The drivers
for the collapse of Lake Haramaya and proposed integrated rehabilitation strategies, International
Journal of River Basin Management, DOI: 10.1080/15715124.2022.2047709

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INTL. J. RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT
https://doi.org/10.1080/15715124.2022.2047709

RESEARCH PAPER

The drivers for the collapse of Lake Haramaya and proposed integrated
rehabilitation strategies
Sitotaw Haile Erenaa, R. Uttama Reddyb and Awol Akmel Yesufa
a
School of Geography and Environmental Studies, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia; bDepartment of Geography, Jigjiga University,
Jigjiga, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Lake ecosystem is facing a threat of shrink in many parts of the world and the same in Ethiopia. Lake Received 29 May 2021
Haramaya, one of the highland lakes in Ethiopia, has been dried a decade ago in 2004. This study was Accepted 30 January 2022
conducted in Lake Haramaya watershed, Eastern Hararge, Ethiopia, with the objectives of identifying
KEYWORDS
drivers of dried Lake Haramaya and proposing rehabilitation strategies. Various methodologies were Drivers; Lake Haramaya;
employed to meet the intended objectives. Drivers are identified by the study of triangulated data protection zone;
from landsat images of five decades, trend of climate change, focus group discussions, and review rehabilitation strategies
of previous research results. To see the effect of land use dynamics on the lake environment,
major LULC types were detected and the change analysis of the watershed was executed. To
investigate association between climate change and lake environment, the rainfall index method
was employed to evaluate 30 years annual rainfall distribution of Haramaya meteorological
stations. The results of this method reveal that land use for settlement, climate change, and
overexploitation of the lake within and out of the watershed were primary drivers. To propose
lake rehabilitation strategies, the study employed the United Nation man and biosphere
protection zones. The study classified the watershed into three classes as core, buffer, and
transition zones. The size of the lake in 1985 was decided as the core area and 100 metre
surrounding the core area as the buffer zone. The result of the study proposed protection of the
core area and introduction of apple fruits replacing chat in the buffer zone with prohibition of
human settlement. In addition, this study suggests that all activities that take place in the
transition zone should comply with sustainable development goal strategies. Therefore, it is highly
recommended to adopt the output and proposed strategies of this study in future rehabilitation
strategies of Lake Haramaya and its watershed.

1. Introduction
Our world is living under the threat to natural resource
depletion and water resource. Various factors have been
associated with water resource deterioration mainly with
dried lakes. Among the multi-faceted reasons, the major
ones are anthropogenic activities due to the population
growth (Gebere et al., 2015; Warra et al., 2013), land use
and land cover changes (Angessa et al., 2019; Elias et al.,
2019; Erena & Worku, 2019; Getachew & Melesse, 2012), cli-
mate change and variability (Bressers & Kuks, 2005; Erena
et al., 2018; Mooij et al., 2005; Singh & Singh, 2019), urban
growth and urbanization (Erena & Worku, 2019; Singh &
Singh, 2019), and lack of appropriate water and wetland pol-
icies (Elias et al., 2019; Teka et al., 2013).
Numerous case studies on the lake environment show
that deterioration of the lake is a recent phenomenon that
is happening all over the globe. Ramachandraiah and Prasad
(2004) revealed that many water bodies were lost in Hyder-
abad, India. Simultaneously, Rao et al. (2004) also affirmed
the drying up of Kolleru Lake in Andhra Pradesh, India. In
Bangladesh, Islam et al. (2012) revealed that the filling up
of the lake bed is causing lake degradation in Dhaka. Accord-
ing to Srinivasan et al. (2015), urban exploitation is the pre-
dominant factor, resulting in a decline of groundwater table.
Similarly, Wu and Xie (2011) also showed that urbanization
is prominently degrading the urban lakes in Wuhan, China.
Mooij et al. (2007) revealed that the climate change
significantly affects shallow lakes all over Europe, particularly
the Netherlands.
Several studies also reveal that expansion of farming land
in inaccessible areas, deforestation, and the day-to-day
demand-driven routine activities of humankind resulted in
temporal and spatial changes in the land use land cover con-
ditions that in turn affects hydrological regulation and soil
erosion losses (Elias et al., 2019; Rawat & Kumar, 2015).
Since 1900, more than half of the world water bodies have
disappeared (vas Jeyeh, 2008). According to the same author
in Asia, about 50,000 ha of wetland and lake is degraded
every year. Although there are few lakes such as ‘Basaka
Lake’ in Ethiopia, which is exceptionally expanding, many
lakes including Chad, which is one of the largest lakes in
Africa, and other smaller lakes of Africa are shrinking and
some of them are near to dry. Ethiopia is also facing the
same scenario regarding the degradation of water bodies.
Ethiopia is one of the East African countries endowed
with abundant freshwater resources that dubbed the country
as the Water Tower of East Africa. Despite the ample surface
and groundwater that amounts to 123 and 2.6 billion cubic
metres, respectively, per annum, Ethiopia is also facing var-
ious challenges from diminishing and disappearances of its
water bodies, especially lakes and rivers. Since 2000, many
Ethiopian lakes have shrunken in size, and some of them
have already disappeared. To mention few among many,
most of the rift valley lakes such as Lake Shalla, Abjata,

CONTACT Sitotaw Haile Erena sitotahaile@yahoo.com

© 2022 International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research
2 S. H. ERENA ET AL.
Ziway, and Abaya are under the threat of survival as a result
of coupled population pressure and climatic change. Besides
the attempt of ongoing protection by UNESCO, Man and
Biosphere programme, Lake Tana, the biggest highland
lake in the country, is also shrinking in size and losing its
quality. Among highland lakes located in the eastern part
of the country, Lake Haramaya and Adelle were totally disap-
peared and changed to the ephemeral lake, and Lake Tinike
is also in the way. The report of Ministry of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change (MEFCC) shows that the dimin-
ishing water bodies and their water balance become a huge
threat to the country nowadays (NIWRMP, 2018).
Many researches have been conducted with regard to
Lake Haramaya (Abdulaziz 2006; Lemma, 2011; Gebre
et al., 2015; Wakgari & Getu, 2016). Wakgari and Getu
(2016) found out that Lake Haromaya and Adele were
dried up because of environmental degradation and clearing
of land for farming that increased the rate of siltation and
dramatically decreases the lakes’ volume. The other research-
ers revealed that land cover changes especially the increase of
chat cultivation have affected the water balance of the water-
shed by changing the groundwater level. In addition, Abdu-
laziz (2006) reported that the domestic consumption by
Haramaya town, Haramya University, Awasay town, and
Harar city is found as a prominent factor behind the dried
Lake Haramaya. All these researchers tried to discover the
drivers of the dried lake from population increase and land
use perspectives. Even though a set of different factors may
be generally attributable to demise Lake Haramya, still
further factors may be complementing these drivers, for
example, climate change and others need further investi-
gation. The reason why Lake Haramaya was dried cannot
be answered simply by studying site-specific kebeles in
which the lake was located. Therefore, considering the
whole watershed that drains the lake is very important.
Although the derivers of demise Lake Haramaya have been
the subject for various researchers, the majority of them
intensively tried to list out the drivers and little attention
has been vested on the way how the lake can be rehabilitated
again. Considering these gaps, this study aims (1) to identify
the drivers of dried Lake Haramaya from the climate change
perspective and (2) to propose the watershed level appropri-
ate for lake rehabilitation planning strategies that could help
to design appropriate solutions for communities and govern-
ment structures that want to restore the lake in practice and
to recommend various types of structural and biological
strategies for lake rehabilitation activities that should take
place in different conservation zones.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Description of the study area
The study area map of Lake Haramaya was demarcated with
the principle of watershed-based delineation. The watershed
of Lake Haramaya is located in Haramaya Woreda and partly
in Kombolcha districts, eastern Hararghe zone, Oromia
region. The watershed approximately lies between 9° 22’
30’’ and 9° 30’ 00’’ north latitude and 41° 58’ 30’’ to 42° 6’
30’’ east longitude, with an altitude range of 1965–2433
metre above the sea level.
The watershed covers an area of 14,010 ha and comprises
about 18 peasant associations. These are Ifa Bate, Damota,
Tinike, Tuji Gabissa, Gobeselama, Ifa Haromaya, Kerensa
Dereba, Finkille, Amuma, Adele weltaha, Haqa Becheka,
and Kuro in Haramaya district, Kerensa Borte, Egu, Tula,
sibilu, and Bilisuma in Kombolcha district (Figure 1). More-
over, the three kebeles of Haramaya town and the Haramaya
University campus in Haramaya districts are also parts of the
watershed.
Lake Haramaya watershed is one of the densely populated
watersheds supporting about 127,645 people with a density
of 929 persons per square kilometre (CSA, 2013). This num-
ber includes the residents of three kebeles of Haramaya town
excluding Haramaya University communities. Regarding
agricultural practices, the majority of the population in the
watershed are small-scale farmers engaged in crop cultiva-
tion, irrigation agriculture, livestock, and mixed farming.
The farmlands are intensively cultivated with horticultural
crops (fruit and vegetables) and a perennial plant locally
known as ‘Chat’ (Catha edulis) in areas where there is access
to the water resource.
The watershed contains no perennial river. The only
source of water available to recharge the groundwater is rain-
fall. Ethiopia experiences a bimodal distribution of rainfall,
with peaks in April and August. On the contrary, January
is the driest month followed by December, November, and
February.
With regards to soil resources, Hararghe zone is generally
overlain by limestone and sandstone deposits, which began
during the Triassicperiod of the Mesozoic era and during
the Jurassic and Cretaceious Period of the same era. According
to Muleta (2002), the Highlands, including Lake Haramaya
Watershed, lie over the crystalline bedrock of prehistoric
Gondwana continent. Hence, Lake Haramaya watershed is
rich with different types of soils such as leptosols, Haplic xer-
osols, chromic cambisols, dystric gleysols, chromic vertisols,
and dystric nitisols. According to the USDA soil texture
classification system, two soil texture classes were observed
in the study area. These texture classes were sandy clay loam
and sandy loam (Mohammed et al., 2018).
In the case of land use, Lake Haramaya watershed is cov-
ered mainly by bushes of various species of shrubs such as
Khat (Catha edulis), acacia, Junipers, and large trees like
Eucalyptus, which are scattered around homesteads. The
farming system is a mixture of crop and livestock pro-
duction. Khat (Catha edulis), which is the main cash crop,
is dominantly grown in the study area with the irrigation sys-
tem of agriculture. The irrigation water source is dominantly
traditional hand-dug, which are developed by the farmers
themselves.
2.2. Data type and data sources
To achieve the intended objectives, the study demanded var-
ious types of data from various sources. These include both
primary and secondary data. To identify drivers that lead
to the collapse of lake, spatial and climate data such as rain-
fall, temperature, satellite image, and digital elevation model
(DEM) were collected from different sources. Regarding cli-
mate data 40 years (1960–2013), rainfall and temperature
data were collected from Ethiopian Meteorological Agencies
(EMA). The satellite image of different years 1985, 1995,
2000, 2006, 2014, and 2021 with 54/166 path and rows
were downloaded freely from USGS earth explorer. January1
was the acquisition date for all satellite images except for the
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT 3

Figure 1. Location map of the study area.

1985, which is March 1. The selection of each satellite image
was done with various objectives. 1985 was selected to trace
back the status of the lake in the 1980s following the intro-
duction of satellite image technologies. In the same way,
1995 was used to see the trend of the lake in 1900s. On the
other way, satellite images of 2000 and 2006 were selected
to show the effect of global climate change on Lake Hara-
maya. Finally, 2014 and 2021 were selected to see the impact
of soil and water conservation strategies and the current sta-
tus of the lake, respectively. Each satellite image is presented
in detail in Table 1.
As the acquisition date of each satellite image was done
during the dry season, the weather condition of the study
area was cloud free with less canopy cover. The digital
elevation model (DEM; with a grid size of 30 × 30 m) was
downloaded from US Geological Survey (USGS). On the
other way to recommend appropriate structural and biologi-
cal activities at different protection zones, soil, slope, and
geology data are needed. The soil map used for soil type
identification of the watershed was obtained from the Soil
and Land Use Survey of Ethiopia. The percentage of slope
rise and the geologic nature of the watershed were extracted
from DEM.
Land use land cover analysis was carried out to observe
the trend of various land uses that affect the well-being of
the lake. Before the classification work was done, geometric
and spectral correction of the images was done with the
help of 1:50,000 topo sheets to select the proper band combi-
nation. Then, the unsupervised classification of LULC analy-
sis was done by considering indices for water, vegetation,
agriculture, grassland, bush, forest, and bare lands. Later,
the supervised classification was made for the year 2014
and 2021 by taking six signature editors of historical GPS
data from respective land uses. Furthermore, the supervised
classification for the rest of the years was done by using Goo-
gle earth image and other aerial photographs. To supplement
the result of the spatial analysis of the watershed, primary
data were collected through interviews and focus group dis-
cussions. The focus group discussion was conducted with the
selected eight elders who have been living in the study area
for more than 30 years. The main reason behind the selection
of the elders is they can recall their past 30–40 years of land
use and land cover and the history of the dried Lake Hara-
maya and the surrounding districts.
2.3. Data analysis

Table 1. Presentation of satellite image data type, source, and collection

Land use and land cover classification was made using EDR-
technique. DAS imagine classic interface and Arc GIS 9.3. Finally, the
Data classification was done by using the supervised and unsuper-
Sensor source Method of data collection vised classification. The supervised classification was done by
Landsat TM, (1985, 1995) USGS Download with path and row of 54/ taking control point using the global positioning system
online 166
Landsat ETM + , (2000, USGS Download with path and row of 54/
(GPS) from the field survey for different land uses except
2006) online 166 vegetation cover. The unsupervised classification was done
Landsat OLI, (2014, 2021) USGS Download with path and row of 54/ using normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) =
online 166
(NIR – VIS)/(NIR + VIS), which is automatically computed
4 S. H. ERENA ET AL.
by ERDAS imagine software so as to ease the classification
for vegetation cover. The land use of the watershed was
classified under seven classes as water body, settlement,
bare land, cultivated land, grasses, bush/sparse trees, and for-
est/aquatic vegetation using supervised image classification
technique of the maximum likelihood method.
The effect of climate was assessed by employing the stan-
dardized rainfall anomaly. The frequency distribution of
annual rainfall was assessed for the year 1960–2013. The
annual rainfall distribution of each year and standardized
annual rainfall index was computed and examined for Har-
amaya stations (FAO, 1998) using Equation (1):

watershed were extracted from DEM with the help of Global
Z = (xi − x)/ d. (1)
If Z < −1, it would be below normal.
If −1 ≤Z ≤ 1, it would be normal.
Z > 1, it would be above normal.
where Z = Standardized minimum rainfall anomaly, ∑d is
the standard deviation,
x is the mean annual rainfall records,
and xi is the observed annual rainfall.
To classify the protection zones, United Nations (UN)
man and biosphere guideline were employed. The guideline
suggests the protection of the most important resource at
risk should have three classification zones termed as core,
buffer, and transitional zones.
Core area: Core area is a conservation area surrounded by
buffer zones. According to the UNESCO definition of man
and biosphere, core area is defined as a lake, national parks,
wildlife sanctuary, forests, and other resources, which have a
wide range of advantages, where conservation and protection
are the priority of management option (Bunnara & van Tuyll,
2000). According to this definition, the core area is the area
that is totally free of human interference neither for settlement
nor for agricultural practices except off farm activities. To
decide the size of Lake Haramaya core area, the review of
different literature, past satellite image detection of lake size,
UN man and biosphere guideline, and focus group discussions
were employed. Since the objective of this study was to reha-
bilitate the lake, knowing the past size of the lake is very impor-
tant. Hence, the analysis of 1985 satellite image was used to
obtain the size of the core area. The arc GIS 9.3 software
was used to work on the core area and buffer zone delineation.
Buffer zone: The buffer zone is defined as ‘a zone, periph-
eral to a national park or equivalent reserve, where restrictions
are placed upon resource use or special development measures
are undertaken to enhance the conservation value of the area’
(Sayer, 1991). In the literature, there is no standard blueprint
model for the demarcation of the buffer zone (Ebregt & Greve,
2000). The size of the buffer is determined based on the
resource value, the intensity of adjacent land use, buffer
characteristics (slope, soil type), and special buffer functions
(Tewksbury conservation commission, 2013). At any con-
ditions, as the size and the width of a buffer increase, the effec-
tiveness of conservation increases. In most literature, the
minimum width of any buffer is decided not to be less than
50 feet (Ebregt & Greve, 2000; Tewksbury conservation com-
mission, 2013). The literature review and UN man and bio-
sphere guideline were used to decide the size of the buffer
zone. Focus group discussion was also used to decide the
buffer size of the lake.
Transitional zone: Transition zone is the agricultural belt
surrounding the buffer of a lake, where the settlement and
variety of farming is practiced (Bunnara & van Tuyll,
2000). To recommend appropriate structural and biological
activities that should take place in different zones of conser-
vation areas, recommendation of appropriate structural and
biological lake rehabilitation mechanisms has done based on
the geographic feature analysis of the area. This includes
rainfall, temperature, soil type, elevation, slope, and econ-
omic and environmental advantage. The slope of the study
area affects the type and nature of structural and biological
method of lake rehabilitation strategies. Slope data of the
mapper, ERDAS classic imagine, and Arc GIS 9.3 software.
Finally, the slope class was categorized based on the inter-
national slope classification standards of WOCAT (2010).
The standard classifies 0–2% as flat, 2–5% as gentle, 5–8%
as moderate, 8–16% as rolling, 16–30% as hilly, and 30–
60% as steep. Slope classification was used to decide the
type of the structural method of soil and water conservations
techniques suitable for the specific slope category. This was
done to enhance the rehabilitation of the area through redu-
cing soil erosion and degradation. Similarly, biological rec-
ommendation was also done on the basis of the slope classes.
The other equally important method employed to address
this objective was the analysis of the soil map of the study
area. Information of soil was used to decide the agricultural
activities and types of plants and vegetation suitable for the
specific soil type. Accordingly, the characteristics of each
soil type were described from FAO soil description of
1968. ArcGIS 9.3 software was used to delineate and calculate
the area and soil type of the study area watershed.
With regard climatic information, the climate data
obtained from Haramaya meteorological station was used
to see the effect climate change on dried Lake Haramaya.
Accordingly, the 35 years of rainfall and temperature data
of the station were analyzed for the year 1979–2013. Excel
software was fundamental software used to schematically
present the temperature ad rainfall data of the study area.
The elevation data obtained from GPS reading are also con-
sidered as input for the suitability analysis.
Finally, the 1985 year satellite image analysis result of the
Lake Haramaya size (400 ha) is considered as the core area.
Areas with 100 m radius from the 1985 Lake size are
proposed to be the buffer zone. Accordingly, 135 ha of
land surrounding the core area is proposed as a buffer
zone. These two zones were identified and mapped using
GIS software.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Drivers for collapse of the Lake
Various factors were identified as drivers for the collapsed
Lake Haramaya. The major ones are land use and land
cover change, climate change effect, and over extraction of
the lake water. Likewise, the review of previous scholars
study also associated the collapse of Lake Haramaya with
human and climate factors (Lemma, 2011).
3.1.1. Land use and land cover change of the watershed
In case of land use and land cover change, the 1985, 1995,
2000, 2006, 2014, and 2021 satellite image analysis result

shows that the watershed has been experiencing dynamics of
land use that aggravate the collapse of the lake (Figure 2).
Agriculture is the primary land use within the study area
where the crop production is the main agricultural activity.
Most land is used for crops and permanent plants, which
include sorghum, maize, chat, and vegetables. Most of the
farmland, which is located in the gentle slope of alluvial
cover, is used for crops and vegetables, while the hilly side
of weathered basement is covered by chat.
According to Wakgari and Getu (2016), the land use prac-
tice of the study area had brought negative impact on soil
conservation and management. He stated that high popu-
lation increase over the limited land area in the northern
high land of the study area resulted in the indiscriminate for-
est clearing, overgrazing, absence of soil conservation, and
poor soil management. Similarly, Angessa et al. (2019) also
confirmed that the land use condition of the watershed has
greatly contributed to siltation (sedimentation) on Lake Har-
amaya and its surrounding area. This unwise land use prac-
tice and poor land tillage lead to the siltation process and
have caused much amount of soil erosion to be carried and
deposited on the lake floor. In addition, the energy consump-
tion of the watershed is another factor. Except for Haramaya
University and Haramaya town, other communities of the
watershed depend on traditional energy sources. As pre-
sented in Table 2, the classified land use land cover of the
study area shows that a lot of changes took place in different
years from 1985 to 2016.
Table 2 shows that the area of water body, forest, and
grass land were decreasing throughout since 1985–2021.
On the contrary, the size of settlement, cultivated land, and
shrub/bush land were dramatically increasing throughout
the study period (Figure 3). The increment in shrub land is
mainly associated with the increment of chat cultivation.
The overall accuracy assessment using the confusion
matrix of the LULC was made for each classified image.
The results of overall accuracy show that 0.85 for 1985,
0.84 for 1995, 0.86 for 2000, 0.88 for 2006, 0.88 for 2014,
and 0.85 for 2021. In the same way, the overall kappa stat-
istics for each classified image shows 0.82 for 1985, 0.81 for
1995, 0.83 for 2000, 0.86 for 2006, 0.86 for 2014, and 0.83
for 2021. The details of each accuracy assessment are pre-
sented in Table 3.
From this increase and decrease conditions of different
land use, we can deduce that there is a direct association
between the size of the lake and different land uses such as
forest, settlement, bare land, and cultivation land. Whenever
the forest cover, bush land, and grass cover decrease, the size
of the water body decreases. This shows that good vegetation
cover increases soil infiltration capacity, which in turn
increases the groundwater of the watershed, which can
increase the size of the lake through the underground flow.
3.1.2. Overexploitation of the lake water
Culturally, societies of Haramaya woreda in general and
communities near the lake in particular were relied on irriga-
tion agriculture using the lake water. From the past to pre-
sent, the different types of vegetation such as potato,
onion, cabbage, and chat have been the dominant types of
crops cultivated near the lake areas. Through time, in
addition to fruit and vegetation cultivation, the community
started to cultivate maize and other cereal crops that con-
sume a high amount of water and take a long harvesting
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT 5
time. However, following the increase of economic reward
and export value, chat, which is the most water-consuming
crop, becomes the dominant crop in the watershed. Even
after the collapse of the lake, the situation continues, and
many deep boreholes are present to pump chat irrigations.
As a result, the lake has gone beyond revival. Hence, Yesuf
et al. (2013) concluded that the pumped abstraction from
the ephemeral lake bed, which is 71.2. l/s, is higher than
abstraction that had been used for domestic supply, which
was 60 l/s. This unwise use of water resources for irrigation
complemented with other factors contributed to the gradual
shrink and then collapse of the lake.
In addition to irrigation purpose, the lake was exploited
for domestic and municipal purposes by residents both
within the watershed and out of the watershed (Brook,
2006). Within the boundary of the watershed, the lake
water has been used by residents of Haramaya town and Har-
amaya University. Moreover, the lake water had been serving
the residents of Harar town who were out of the lake water-
shed. According to Abdulaziz (2006), following the inade-
quacy of Sofi spring water to fully cover the water demand
of the city, Harar city turns its face to Lake Haramaya to
satisfy the overpopulated water demands of the city dweller.
The findings of Yesuf et al. (2013) showed that before its col-
lapse in 2004, the Haramaya lake has been serving 70,000
population of Harar and 150,000 dwellers of Aweday and
Haramaya town. Further reports indicate that even after
the collapse of the lake and treatment plant was completely
shut, Harari Water Supply and Sewerage Service Authority
(HWSSSA) went in an all-out campaign of digging boreholes
into the ephemeral lake beds and drilled seven (2009/10)
deep boreholes in the basin to provide domestic water supply
for Harar. Beside for domestic purpose, Hararar brewery fac-
tory also had been using the water from the lake. Currently,
the brewery uses water from Finqille and kereensa kebeles
located very close to Lake Tinike, which is a seasonal tribu-
tary of Lake Haramaya. This shows that unless rehabilitation
and appropriate watershed management strategies and plan-
ning are applied, the current ongoing use of water resources
in those villages will be a threat for Lkae Tinke as well.
3.1.3. Impact of climate change on Haramaya Lake
during (1985–2021)
The dry of Lake Haramya was not an overnight process. The
lake has been showing a continuous size decrease since 1985
as shown in Figure 4. Many factors can be associated with the
demise lake. However, the year at which the lake totally dried
and become the ephemeral lake shows that climate change
has been boldly affecting the Lake Haramya. The result of
the satellite image analysis shows that the lake was dried
and become ephemeral lake in 2004.
Currently, in 2021, the lake has shown a good progress of
restoration for possible various reasons. In the first place, the
extreme rainfall that take place over the eastern Africa and
the Horn of Africa in 2020 made the major dried springs
to restore in many parts of Ethiopia, including the eastern
part of the country, where Lake Haramaya is located. In
addition, the termination of Harer brewery exploitation
coupled with the soil and water conservation activities that
the Haramaya woreda and Haramaya university are under-
taking is believed to be enhancing the restoration of the
lake. Moreover, even though the activity is lately started,
the ongoing national wide green legacy campaign can be
6 S. H. ERENA ET AL.

Figure 2. Land use land cover change of Lake Haramaya watershed (1985, 1995, 2000, 2006, 2014, and 2021).

the notable reasons that can be associated with the restor-
ation progress of Lake Haramaya. The size of the lake at
each year of image analysis is presented in Table 4.
Similar to the satellite image analysis, the meteorological
data of Haramaya station shows that the record of annual
rainfall data in the station is significantly decreasing between
the year 2000 and 2005 (Figure 5). The complement of these
results shows that climate change has been affecting the size
and well-being of the lake and aggravated the collapse of
Lake Haramaya.
The collapse of the lake in 2004 shows that the global cli-
mate change that took place between 2003 and 2005 has
imposed a significant impact in eliminating the survival
struggle of Lake Haramaya. In line with this, Yesuf et al.
(2013) indicated that the trend of warmer temperatures
that had happened since the mid-1980s has increased the
rate of evaporation from the lake. The shrinking of this
already small lake had been the concern of many previous
researchers (Hawando, 1980, 1981; Heluf & Yohannes,
1997; Yesuf et al., 2013) in the past few decades. However,
as no tangible attempts were been made to save it, the lake
dried up completely showing a gradual decrease that could
allow the possibility of intervention. Based on erosion and
sedimentation analysis, Solomon (2002) predicted that lake
would dry up in 15 years. However, the lake did not live
that long time and completely vanished in 2004–2005.
Although other factors are complementing the drivers of
demise lake such as (Shimelis, 2003) the increasing water
abstraction for irrigation, the year at which the lake collapsed
confirms that the climate change is a major cause behind the
dried Lake Haramaya. In supplementing this, the trend of the
annual rainfall data of Haramaya meteorological station
shows that precipitation had been significantly decreasing
through 2000–2007.
The trend analysis of rainfall distribution shows that high
rainfall was recorded in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1983, and 2013,
while the least rainfalls were recorded in 1969 and 2002 at
Haramaya meteorological station. From the least rainfall
records, the 2002 rainfall condition has a strong association
with the year at which the Haramaya Lake was dried. For this
justification, it is also good to compare the rainfall distri-
butions of the years following 2002. With similar conditions,
the result of the year 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 shows that
the consecutive decrease of rainfall in these years was below
the standardized anomaly of rainfall and confirms that the
climate change took place between 2002 and 2006 at Hara-
maya meteorological station had aggravated the collapse of
the lake that dried up in 2004.

3.2. Zoning protection area

Table 2. Land use class with respective to area coverage.
LULC Type 1985 1995 2000 2006 2014 2021
The selection of the lake restoration principle may vary from
Water body 4.2 4.0 2.9 2.6 2.8 3.3
lake to lake depending on the results obtained from the feasi-
Settlement 2.6 2.9 5.0 5.8 7.9 9.8 bility study of the lake. Lake restoration is a mechanism of
Bare land 39.7 40.1 47.9 58.3 48.6 44.3 restoring a lake to its previous conditions and presumably
Cultivated land 36.6 39.0 35.9 28.2 36.5 40.3
Grass 33.8 32.8 26.9 24.8 24.3 20.6
to the better state. In other words, it is the action to be
Shrub/bush vegetation 12.3 12.3 12.9 13.9 12.8 14.2 taken to correct to the possible extent, the abstraction hap-
Forest/aquatic veg 7.6 5.7 5.3 3.1 3.9 4.1 pened (vas Jeyeh, 2008). Based on the analysis made so far,
Total 136.8 136.8 136.8 136.8 136.8 136.6
the main driver factor for the collapse of Lake Haramaya

Figure 3. Schematic presentation of LULC change of the watershed (1985–
2021).
was emanated from the mismanagements of natural
resources within the watershed.
Lake is fed by its watershed. Therefore, it is very impor-
tant that restoration efforts also address the surrounding
watershed area. The watershed management can be
addressed through on-site and off-site management
techniques.
On-site strategies are rehabilitation activities that take
place at the site where the lake is located. To practice this
on-site watershed management, it is important to categorize
the whole watershed into different zones. Zoning is a wisely
used technique to divide areas of land within the given area
into distinct areas based on the suitability of the zones for
different effective activities. For easy category, the watershed
is classified as core, buffer, and transitional zone (Figure 7).
The core area is delineated based on 1985 satellite image
analysis and cover an area of 400 ha. Likewise, 135 ha of
land/wet land located subsequent to the lake was identified
as buffer zone (Figure 7). Areas located surrounding the
buffer areas are considered as transitional zones (Figure 7).
The activities that took place in the two inner zones of
core area and buffer zones are termed as on-site activities.
They are termed as on-site for the fact that whatever action
takes place in these areas can exert a direct impact on the
lake under rehabilitation.
Core area: A core area represents a legally protected site
for the conservation of biodiversity and limits activities
beyond conservation to research and education only (Lour-
ival et al., 2011). The core area of Lake Haramaya was not
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT 7
demarcated, and consensus agreements were not yet estab-
lished. Currently, most of the lands that have been under
the lake territory were converted to farm lands by individuals
and institutions bordering the lake. So the plan of lake restor-
ation and rehabilitation starts with the demarcation of core
areas, which should be left for only conservation purposes.
Applying the egg model (Hedden-Dunkhorst & Schmitt,
2020) to the study area, watershed helps to facilitate the
lake rehabilitation planning strategies of Lake Haramaya.
The 1985 territory of the lake that covers around 400 ha
should be protected as a core area. This zone should be
free of settlement, agricultural practices, and digging of bore-
holes into the ephemeral lake beds. Various activities can be
planned to supplement the household who have been relying
on the core area to generate their income . This includes the
introduction of fishery products in the core area that can be
managed by the surrounding community and committees
composed of professionals in a sustainable manner, introdu-
cing traditional and modern recreational activities using
boats in which the youth can establish small micro enter-
prises to generate incomes that can discourage abusing
core area protection. Moreover, the government NGO and
other institutions should enhance the livelihood of house-
holds that depend on exploiting the lake core areas. This
includes the provision of school materials and free schooling
for their children that can be handled in collaboration with
Haramya University and different levels education offices
of the Oromia Regional States.
The buffer zone is used for ecological friendly practices
such as farming or tourism. Lakes, wetlands, rivers, streams,
and ponds do not thrive in isolation. Therefore, their health
existence depends on their surrounding environment and
upper catchments that drain into them. Currently, buffer
zones are widely used in natural resource conservation pro-
cesses (Sayer, 1991). Buffer zone is ‘ any area, often periph-
eral to a protected area in which activities are implemented
or the area managed with the aim of enhancing the positive
and reducing the negative impacts of conservation’ (Ebregt &
Greve, 2000). Therefore, the whole idea of buffering is to pro-
tect a periphery of a protected area to reduce the negative
impacts from human beings on the protected area. Like the
core area, buffer zone conservations have some restrictions
that include prohibition of human settlements in the zone.
Buffer functions are most effective when adjacent develop-
ment is of low intensity, greater than 50 feet wide, and land-
owners understand the rationale for establishing buffers
(Tewksbury conservation commission, 2013). A buffer
zone width of 50–645 feet is recommended for areas where
the groundwater is lowered as a result of development activi-
ties (Tewksbury conservation commission, 2013). Accord-
ingly, the consensus was reached to recommend 100 m of
buffer to rehabilitate Lake Haramaya.
The land use in the buffer zone should not plane purely
from the economic point of view. Rather, it should recognize
the multi-dimensional aspects such as environment of the
area, safety of the lake, and socioeconomic conditions of
communities within the buffer zone. Therefore, the manage-
ment of the buffer zone should be done based on the rec-
ommendations of activities that benefit both the society
and the lake, which is under the rehabilitation process.
The practice of any activities in the buffer zone is
imposed by certain restrictions in line with the objectives
of lake rehabilitation. Accordingly, the buffer zone should
8 S. H. ERENA ET AL.

Table 3. Accuracy assessment using confusion matrix: produces accuracy, user accuracy, over all accuracy, and kappa coefficients.
1985 1995 2000 2006 2014 2021
LULC Type PA UA PA UA PA UA PA UA PA UA PA UA
Water 91.43 88.89 85.71 88.24 85.71 88.24 91.43 96.97 94.29 97.06 94.29 89.19
Settlement 85.71 85.71 88.57 88.57 91.43 94.12 94.29 89.19 97.14 79.07 88.57 88.57
Bare land 81.43 85.07 82.86 86.57 85.71 85.71 87.14 85.92 87.14 92.42 87.14 85.92
Cultivated land 84.29 84.29 81.43 83.82 84.29 81.94 88.57 87.32 81.43 87.69 80.00 83.58
Grass land 87.14 82.43 85.71 80.00 85.71 85.71 82.86 86.57 87.14 85.92 82.86 85.29
Bush 82.86 86.57 82.86 81.69 82.86 84.06 85.71 89.55 88.57 88.57 84.29 86.76
Forest 82.86 80.56 85.71 85.71 88.57 86.11 91.43 82.05 91.43 88.89 88.57 79.49
Overall accuracy 0.85 0.84 0.86 0.88 0.88 0.85
Overall kappa statistics 0.82 0.81 0.83 0.86 0.86 0.83

be free of the pest side and fertilizer use so as to minimize
the threat to water quality and aquatic animals. Therefore,
the land inside the buffer zone should not expose to agricul-
tural production processes, which demand the use of these
chemicals. Moreover, the planning of the buffer zone
advises other alternative land use systems that also support
lake rehabilitation.
Currently, the land that was under the lake territory was
converted to agricultural land, mainly chat crops (Catha edu-
lis). However, since chat crops needs high consumption of
water, it has been exerting high pressure on the lake under
rehabilitation. Therefore, to undertake activities that can fit
the lake rehabilitation and economic benefits of the society,
it is important to look at alternatives for farm activities
and the introduction of new variety crops.
The transition zones are allowed for various activities
such as subsistence crop and livestock farming to commer-
cial agriculture, trade, industry, and tourism. Examples
across the world show that transitional zones are fostering
local economic development by generating additional
income and employment opportunities associated with
different economic sectors (Carius, 2016; Makenzi, 2013;
Nautiyal et al., 2001). However, these activities need to com-
ply with the sustainability development goals and subjected
to some haphazard and non-environmental friendly activity
restrictions. This restriction includes the backward use of the
agricultural system, open grazing, adoption of new
technologies related to the sustainable use of land and
water resources, and the use of renewable energy to provide
stimulate employment (Coetzer et al., 2014; Makenzi, 2013).
3.3. Proposed rehabilitation strategies in different
conservation zones
To introduce new variety crops that replace water-intensive
crops and simultaneously contributing equivalent economic
rewards, the analysis of geographic features of the buffer
zone (soil, slope, rainfall, altitude, and temperature) is help-
ful. If these conditions allow, it is possible to introduce valu-
able fruits, which have high economic reward and at the
same time enhances the lake rehabilitation activities.
Rainfall: The observation of 35 years rainfall data record
of the Haramaya metrological station shows that in most of
the years the area receives rainfall within the range of 800–
1000 mm per year with Figure 5-6.
Temperature: Regarding temperature, the same metrolo-
gical station record tells that the area is receiving an average
yearly temperature within the range of 15–16°C with mini-
mum and maximum annual range of −4°C to 20°C,
respectively.
Altitude: In terms of altitude, the reading from GPS
shows that the watershed is located within the altitudinal
range of 1965–2433 m above the sea level. A specific area
of the lake is 2060 m above the sea level.

Figure 4. Size of Lake Haramaya in different years (1965–2016).


Table 4. Size of the lake at each respective study years.
Year Lake size in hectare
1985
1995
2000
2006
2014
2021
Soil type: The watershed is rich in different soil types.
Among these soil types, the buffer zone lies within two of
the soil type chromic vertisols and dystric gleysols. Both
soils have a pH value less than 6.5. Gleysols are wetland
soils with bluish subsoil located in the areas with shallow
groundwater. The vertisols are better fertile soils composed
of 30–95% of clay.
Slope: The topography of the watershed varies from the flat
to steep slope. Accordingly, rolling and moderate are the
dominant slopes flowed by gentle slope with an area coverage
of 30, 22, and 15%, respectively. Conversely, the steep and flat
slope followed by hilly slope is the least from the bottom hav-
ing area coverage of 3%, 11%, and 13%, respectively, and see
Figure 8. The slope of the area also determines the topography,
soil, and water conservation activity of the watershed.
3.3. Conservation strategies inside the buffer zone
The objectives of planning inside the buffer zone have two
missions. The first is to control erosion and pollutions that
enter into the core area. The second one is to provide income
generation opportunities for the person whose lands fall
inside the buffer zone territory. When crop selection is
made, the roles of crops on the livelihood of concerned com-
munity, suitability of soil, and agro-climatic conditions of the
study watershed should be evaluated (FAO, 1918). There-
fore, the management and rehabilitation of buffer zone plan-
ning should focus on the rainfall, soil type, altitude,
temperature, and agro-ecology of the area.
The geographic features of the buffer zone displayed ear-
lier show high suitability for the introduction of apple fruit
(Anna). According to the manual prepared by Ministry of
agriculture, apple fruit requires rainfall of 800–1000 mm,
well-drained and sandy loom soil, elevation of 1900–2700
m above the sea level, pH value of 5.5–6.5 with a good pos-
ition to sunshine, and free of big tree shade (MOA, temper-
ate fruit manual, 2013).
Figure 5. Rainfall distribution of Haramaya Metrological station 1979–2013.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT 9
As displayed earlier, all the areas in the buffer zone meet
the requirements. For example, the altitude is about 2060
223.49 m.a.s.l, the rainfall is 800–1000 mm, the area is free of forests
105.52 that avoid penetration of sunlight and gentle slope, and the
31.23
100.29 two soil types also fulfil the requirement to be recommended
288.09 for apple fruit cultivation.
366.70 Based on this analysis, apple fruit is recommended to be
planted inside the buffer zone for various reasons. In the
first place, it helps to rehabilitate the area. Secondly, it boosts
the economy of the community. From the economic point of
view, the apple fruit is a fruit of high market value. One kilo-
gram of apple costs 120 birr. At one harvest time, a single
apple tree can yield about 30–40 kg, which can generate an
income of 3600–4800 birr annually. In addition, the apple
fruit is important for health and become the symbol of
wholesomeness. Traditionally, it has been said that, ‘an
apple a day keeps away from the doctor’. This shows that
the fruits have a lot of nutritional elements, anti-oxidants,
vitamin C, and dietary fibres, which inhibit cancer-inducing
substances.
From the environment and lake rehabilitation point of
view, the fruit helps to avoid soil erosion. This is done by
planting a fruit in rows parallel to contour intercropped
with annual and perennial crops. The profit of apple is to
protect soil erosion and to increase the income. According
to the estimate done by the Ministry of agriculture, about
250–310 quintals of fruits are harvested from a hectare of
land (MoA, 2013).
On top of the field between different lines of apple tree,
grasses can be grown to protect the field from splash erosion.
Based on the altitude of the area, elephant grasses are rec-
ommended to be grown inside the rows of the apple tree.
The grasses have also two advantages. Primarily, it protects
splash erosion. Secondly, it could be a potential source of
income for the farmers and at the same time enhances the
cultural and modern way of cattle fattening activities prac-
ticed in the area.
3.3.1. Conservation strategies inside the transition zone
Transition zone is the agricultural belt surrounding the
buffer of a lake, where settlement and variety of farming
activities are practiced. Inside the transitional zone, except
mechanized farming especially owned by investors, others
types of farming are also possible. However, all activities
should go in line with the objectives of lake rehabilitation.
10 S. H. ERENA ET AL.
Figure 6. Standardized daily extreme rainfall anomalies of Haramaya station (1960–2014).
Figure 7. Core and buffer zones of Lake Haramaya.
Rapid population growth and expansion of agriculture on
the expense of forest land had increased the use of pesticides
and fertilizer in the transition zone, which posed a negative
impact and aggravated the collapse of lake. Therefore, con-
servational planning of transitional zones is also important
to sustain the rehabilitation of the lake. To eradicate threats
from the transition zone, different conservation mechanisms
are proposed as follows.
Figure 8. Basic configuration of a biosphere reserve, based on the egg model for core, buffer, and transition zones (red, yellow, and green), respectively, adopted
from (Lourival et al., 2011)).
For areas with steep slope: The pressure on the lake has
increased in response to the population growth of the water-
shed. As a result, people used the land with slope that do
not deserve for cultivation. From the slope distribution of
watershed shown in Figure 8, the steep slope occupies 130
ha. In these areas, the construction of terraces lined with the
planting of natural forest could be the appropriate soil and
water conservation planning. This strategy is helpful for
areas with high altitude and steep slopes. This type of rehabi-
litation strategy can be done in various ways. The first one is
through the planting of quick growing popular plantations to
stabilize slopes and prevent wind and water erosion. The
second is to plant highland fruits that can provide high econ-
omic returns concomitant to soil and water protection.
Thirdly, as these steep areas are not appropriate for agricul-
tural activities, it should be reserved as communal land or
lands under the government institution and free of farm
activities (Figures 9–11).
The soil maps of the area in which the steep slopes are
located are dystric Nitosols, which are well-drained, deep,
and red tropical soils. In terms of elevation, these areas were
located at about 2300 m a. s. l and getting better rainfall than
lake sites. In this case, recommendation of apple fruit is feasible
for economy and rehabilitation of the watershed as well.

Figure 9. Protection zone division of the study area.
Figure 10. Soil distribution of Lake Haramaya watershed.
For areas with hilly slopes: Hilly slopes are areas within
the slope of 16–30%. This category of land in the watershed
accounts about 1910 ha. The effect from the vast areas of hilly
land scape in the study area, imposed a siltation problem that
has caused the lake to lose its depth rapidly. To curve these
problem, areas under this landscape should be rehabilitated
by structural and non- structural method.
Figure 11. Slope of Lake Haramaya watershed.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT 11
The proposed non-structural methods to control soil ero-
sion of these places can be agro forestry techniques of culti-
vation systems. Agro forestry is the combined cultivation of
annual or perennial crops with trees in the field. Agro for-
estry has multi-dimensional advantages in that it can be
used to increase crop diversity, stabilize slopes, moderate cli-
mate, produce pleasant smells, and rehabilitate both soil and
water bodies. To implement the strategies, it needs identify-
ing of tree stocks appropriate to the climate and geographic
condition of the area. Therefore, establishing of fruit trees
intercropped with perennial trees and foliage grasses can
be advantageous.
Structurally, stone terraces and walls can control the pro-
blem in areas where stones are available. In areas where there
is no stone, soil bund can replace terracing. Terrace helps to
bring sloping land into different level strips to enable the cul-
tivation of various crops in these landscapes.
For rolling and moderate slope: Among possible alterna-
tives of soil and water conservation techniques, soil bund
that is throwing soil to dawn slope is recommended in
areas of rolling slope category. It is suitable mostly in med-
ium and high rainfall areas with well-drained soils. The
bund reduces and stops the velocity of runoff and conse-
quently reduces soil erosion. In the same way, among mod-
erate slope categories, Fanya juu construction, which is a
throwing of soil up slopes, also helps to retain the maximum
possible rainwater that can cause runoff. Both methods can
be applied on cultivated lands with slopes above 3% and
below 15% gradient.
4. Conclusion
Lake ecosystem is facing a threat of shrink all over the world.
In the similar manner, many lakes in Ethiopia are getting
shrink and some have already disappeared. Of the dried
lakes of Ethiopia, Lake Haramaya, which is found in eastern
Hrarghe, has collapsed a decade ago. According to the
studies conducted by different scholars, drying of the lake
was associated with human and natural factors.
The human factors were emanated from excessive extrac-
tion of lake water for irrigation agriculture and domestic
purpose of communities inside and outside the watershed.
In addition to these conditions, the change of land use sys-
tems in response to population pressure and impact from
12 S. H. ERENA ET AL.
global climatic changes that had affected the country in the
2005 exacerbated the dry of the lake. As a result, the lake
that had been under shrinking condition totally disappeared
in 2005.
This study proposed Lake Haramaya rehabilitation strat-
egy in line with UN man and biosphere protection area
guideline and classified the lake watershed into three conser-
vation areas as core, buffer, and transitional zones. Combin-
ing the literature review, geographic feature analysis of the
watershed, UN man, and biosphere guideline and in consul-
tation with surrounding communities different strategies of
lake rehabilitation strategies were recommended at different
zones of the lake watershed. Accordingly, the core area was
proposed to be free of any human interference, while the
buffer zone was proposed not to be used for residential
and intensive farming agricultures. The buffer zone was
also proposed to be 100 m, and the introduction of apple
fruit and elephant grasses was recommended to be the
income-generating activities inside the buffer zone. Similarly
based on the analysis of slope, elevation, soil type, and econ-
omic and environmental conditions, different activities were
proposed for areas in the transition zone. Finally, creating
awareness to the surrounding communities to take care of
the resource has got priority for the rehabilitation of the
watershed in general and the lake ecosystem in particular.
Further studies with the underground water analysis are rec-
ommended to enhance the rehabilitation of the lake to the
expected level.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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