Effects on Groundwater Composition by the Koga Irrigation Scheme

Sammanfattning: Access to clean drinking water is one of the most important resources for any society and its citizens. Without access to clean drinking water, health and living quality will be affected when pathogens will make people ill.In arid countries such as Ethiopia with seasonal drought, efforts to manage the water resources to last longer can be made by constructing dams and artificial irrigation systems. One example of this is the Koga dam in the Merawi region where a dam has been constructed to provide water for artificial irrigation. By irrigating an area one changes the hydrological conditions which might change the chemical composition of groundwater.This report aims to try and collect data that support the theory of the hydrological conductivity between irrigation water and groundwater in the area. Samples of groundwater and surface water was collected and compared to see if any conclu-sions supporting this theory could be made. Also general drinking water parameters were included such as presence of biological pathogens. The number of samples collected is on its own not enough to draw conclusions from but when combined with previous field work in the area and studying literature it supports the assumption of irrigation affecting the groundwater composition.