The drivers for the collapse of Lake Haramaya and proposed integrated rehabilitation strategies

ABSTRACT Lake ecosystem is facing a threat of shrink in many parts of the world and the same in Ethiopia. Lake Haramaya, one of the highland lakes in Ethiopia, has been dried a decade ago in 2004. This study was conducted in Lake Haramaya watershed, Eastern Hararge, Ethiopia, with the objectives of identifying drivers of dried Lake Haramaya and proposing rehabilitation strategies. Various methodologies were employed to meet the intended objectives. Drivers are identified by the study of triangulated data from landsat images of five decades, trend of climate change, focus group discussions, and review 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.