Evaluation of Existing Environmental Protection Policies and Practices vis-à-vis Sustainable Water Resources Development in Didessa Sub-basin, West Ethiopia

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental impact assessment (EIA) practices against the country's existing environmental protection and water resources management legislations, with an emphasis on Arjo-Didessa Dam and Reservoir Project. Documents on environmental protection and water resources management legislations, EIA report of the project and data on land use/cover and soils of the dam and reservoir area were considered for the study. Besides, the role the community played in the project planning and EIA study was found to be inadequate. Although water withdrawal due to Arjo-Didessa Irrigation Project is within the desired range of sustainable water resources development; and the mean annual instream flow requirements of 0.9 billion cubic meters (BCM) is fully delivered, the study has shown that some of the important decision making parameters of EIA like environmental flows assessment, dam-break analysis, environmental costs, and economic analysis, were bypassed, as observed from the EIA report of Arjo-Didessa Dam and Reservoir Project, although these are demanded by the environmental protection legislations.