Ethiopia Water Crisis

Introduction

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Ethiopia is located in the horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. Ethiopia is in a tropical zone laying between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer. Ethiopia has a population of 93,877,025. 30% of the population lives in poverty.

Ethiopia's Water and Land Area

Ethiopia's land area is 1 million sq km of land. Witch is 91% of the total area of Ethiopia.13.19% of Ethiopia's total land area is arable land. Witch is 1,319 sq km. 2,896 sq km of the total land area is irrigated land. The rest of the area is water. About 104,300 sq km is water. So 9% of the total area of Ethiopia is water. The total renewable water resources is 122 cu km. 5.56 cu km is the fresh water withdrawal.

Ethiopia's Climate

There are three different climate zones in Ethiopia. They are Kolla(Tropical zone), Woina dega (Subtropical zone), and Dega(Cool zone).

Kolla

(Tropical zone) - is below 1830 meters in elevation and has an average annual temperature of about 27 degree Celsius with annual rainfall about 510 millimeters. The Danakil Depression (Danakil Desert) is about 125 meters below sea level and the hottest region in Ethiopia where the temperature climbs up to 50 degree Celsius.

Woina dega

(Subtropical zone) - includes the highlands areas of 1830 - 2440 meters in elevation has an average annual temperature of about 22 degree Celsius with annual rainfall between 510 and 1530 millimeters.
Dega

(Cool zone) - is above 2440 meters in elevation with an average annual temperature of about 16 degree Celsius with annual rainfall between 1270 and 1280 millimeters.

Ethiopia's Terrain

Ethiopia's terrain is a high central plateau. The elevation varies from 1,290 to 3,000 m.The highest mountain in Ethiopia is reaching to 4,533 m (14,872 ft). Elevation is generally highest just before the point of descent to the Great Rift Valley, which splits the plateau diagonally. A number of rivers cross the plateau; notably the Blue Nile rising from Lake Tuna. The plateau gradually slopes to the lowlands of the Sudan on the west and the Somali-inhabited plains to the east. On nearly every side, the walls of the plateaus rise abruptly from the plain, constituting outer mountain chains.

Drinking Water Source

About 61% of Ethiopia's rural population does not have a good drinking water source. Then about 3% of the urban population does not have a good drinking source. So About 51% of Ethiopia's population does not have a good drinking water source.

Sanitation Facility Access

About 27.3% of Ethiopia's urban population has sanitation access. About 19.4% of the rural population has sanitation access \. About 79% of the total population has access to sanitation.

Waterborne or Water Contact Disease

Some waterborne or water contact diseases are, bacteria, protozoa, diarrhea, hepatitis A, and a typical fever.

Water scarcity in Ethiopia

Water scarcity occurs when the demand for water is high and there is not enough water to fill the needs of the people. There are two different types of water scarcity they are physical water scarcity and economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is when there is not enough drinkable water to meet the needs. Economic water scarcity is a capital limit access to water for financial reasons. The primary causes of water scarcity in Ethiopia is climate change and deforestation. Climate change affects the water change of Ethiopia because it is causing drought. The worst drought in Ethiopia was in 2011. Deforestation in Ethiopia is affecting because as loggers are cutting down trees, more people are moving there and they are using more water. This rapidly growing population is making it so there is not enough water. So Ethiopia has a physical water scarcity.Some things that are being done are people in Ethiopia are placing wells so people don't have to walk 6 hours just to get water. Another thing is water aid has founded more then 50 water and sanitation projects transforming the lives of 1.2 million people with clean water.



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