*Review of Hydrological Drought Analysis Status in Ethiopia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102763*


*Source: River Basin Master Plan; Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, Ethiopia.*

## **Table 1.**

*Characteristics of Ethiopian major river basins.*

**Figure 1.** *Drought study information of Ethiopian river basins.*

irrigation, water supply, and hydropower projects. Different types of drought studies were also relatively studied in these river basins. In the Wabishebele river basin, one hydrological drought analysis was studied by Awas [26]. Abbay and Awash basins have good hydrometeorological data and are highly invested when compared to other river basins. This review is focused on the assessment of hydrological drought analysis and the drought mitigation approach of previous research in Ethiopia, related to drought.

Spatially, the Abbay river basin is the largest and it covers 43.1% of the surface runoff of the country. The general characteristics of each river basin in the country are given in **Table 1**. In Ethiopia, there is a high seasonal flow and rainfall variation. As shown in **Figures 2** and **3**, Abbay and Omo gibe river basins have a high flow when compare to other river basins and overall the maximum flow is obtained during the summer season from June to August (JJA).

Ethiopia has 12 major river basins, most of which are transboundary rivers except the Awash river. The total surface water is estimated at 124 BM3 and the groundwater potential is estimated near 30 BM3 [28]. Up to 70% of the surface water is originated from the central and western highlands on the western sides of the Great Rift Valley flow to the west into the Nile river basin system that covers 39% of the landmass and the remaining 30% of surface water originated from eastern highlands flow into east that covers 61% of the landmass.
