Ankerkeha River Sub Basin-based Restoration of Lake Hayq through Ecohydrology
Description
Location
Sketch
Information about lithology/geochemistry:
Soil texture is primarily clay and clay loam. pH ranges from slightly acidic to moderately alkaline (6.5-8.1), with low salinity and low to medium organic carbon and nutrient content.
Main Description
- The project operates at the catchment scale of the Ankerkeha River Sub-basin to address the root causes of the lake's degradation, such as soil erosion and land use.
- The Ankerkeha River is the main feeder to Lake Hayq, and interventions like riverbank restoration with bamboo are implemented to reduce sediment load.
- The core site is Lake Hayq, a highland freshwater lake suffering from sedimentation and habitat loss, targeted for restoration using Ecohydrology principles.
- The project enhances erosion prevention and habitats for species through landscape restoration. It maintains food (fishery, horticulture) and fresh water provision, alongside cultural and tourism services.
Enhance ecohydrological processes in novel ecosystem
YES
Apply complementary Ecohydrological processes in high impacted system
YES
This table presents the different categories of ecosystem services that ecosystem can provide, divided in:
Provisioning Services are ecosystem services that describe the material or energy outputs from ecosystems. They include food, water and other resources.
Food: Ecosystems provide the conditions for growing food. Food comes principally from managed agro-ecosystems but marine and freshwater systems or forests also provide food for human consumption. Wild foods from forests are often underestimated.
Fresh water: Ecosystems play a vital role in the global hydrological cycle, as they regulate the flow and purification of water. Vegetation and forests influence the quantity of water available locally.
Regulating Services are the services that ecosystems provide by acting as regulators eg. regulating the quality of air and soil or by providing flood and disease control.
Waste-water treatment: Ecosystems such as wetlands filter both human and animal waste and act as a natural buffer to the surrounding environment. Through the biological activity of microorganisms in the soil, most waste is broken down. Thereby pathogens (disease causing microbes) are eliminated, and the level of nutrients and pollution is reduced.
Erosion prevention and maintenance of soil fertility: Soil erosion is a key factor in the process of land degradation and desertification. Vegetation cover provides a vital regulating service by preventing soil erosion. Soil fertility is essential for plant growth and agriculture and well functioning ecosystems supply the soil with nutrients required to support plant growth.
Ecosystem services "that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services". These include services such as nutrient recycling, primary production and soil formation.
Habitats for species: Habitats provide everything that an individual plant or animal needs to survive: food; water; and shelter. Each ecosystem provides different habitats that can be essential for a species’ lifecycle. Migratory species including birds, fish, mammals and insects all depend upon different ecosystems during their movements.
Maintenance of genetic diversity: Genetic diversity is the variety of genes between and within species populations. Genetic diversity distinguishes different breeds or races from each other thus providing the basis for locally well-adapted cultivars and a gene pool for further developing commercial crops and livestock. Some habitats have an exceptionally high number of species which makes them more genetically diverse than others and are known as ‘biodiversity hotspots’.
Cultural Services corresponds nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences.
Tourism: Ecosystems and biodiversity play an important role for many kinds of tourism which in turn provides considerable economic benefits and is a vital source of income for many countries. In 2008 global earnings from tourism summed up to US$ 944 billion. Cultural and eco-tourism can also educate people about the importance of biological diversity.
Aesthetic appreciation and inspiration for culture, art and design: Language, knowledge and the natural environment have been intimately related throughout human history. Biodiversity, ecosystems and natural landscapes have been the source of inspiration for much of our art, culture and increasingly for science.
EH Principles
Quantification of the hydrological processes at catchment scale and mapping the impacts
Distribution of ecosystems and their relevant processes (ex: metabolism=water and nutrient uptake and retention; biomass production)
Ecological engineering (integration, dual regulation and biotechnologies in catchment scale for enhancement of ecological potential)
ECOHYDROLOGY ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
we are establishing fish ponds, and geotextile to improve soil fertility and support the growth of plants along the selected sites of Ankerkeha River bank
Ecohydrological Infrastructure
Bamboo plant species is used as technology to restore the degraded and landslide areas since it has high capacity to improve soil and water capacity of the soil
Phytotechnology
Major Issues
Which: overfishing is one challenge in the area
Expected Outcomes
The main expected outcomes are reduced siltation and pollution in Lake Hayq, increased biodiversity and ecosystem services, improved local livelihoods through sustainable income sources, and enhanced resilience to climate change and land use pressures.
Latest Results
- A key landslide hotspot, a major sediment source, has been restored and now supports wildlife. Farmers report increased income from horticulture. A water quality study has been accepted for publication, and sedimentation rates have been quantitatively modeled at 28.1 tons ha⁻¹y⁻¹.
Contacts
Assefa Tessema Tecklie
- atecklie2018@gmail.com
- Wollo University
Social ecohydrological system
EH Objectives
EH Methodology
Catchment Ecohydrological sub-system
Objectives
Stakeholders
Catchment Sociological sub-system
Activities