Abstract:
Determination of
hydraulic conductivity of a soil is very crucial for doing appropriate land management
interventions and to assess the recharging potential of wells, movement of pesticides and nutrients through the
soil profile. The aim of this work was to evaluate satura
ted hydraulic conductivity under different land uses of
disturbed and undisturbed soil. This experimental study
was
carried out Gumara watershed under Tana sub
-
Basin.
Soil saturated hydraulic conductivity measurement was performed on both disturbed and un
disturbed soil
samples using a constant head device and in
-
situ field measure, respectively on three land use types such as
cultivated, grazing and forest. Result showed that saturated hydraulic conductivity was significantly (p<0.05)
higher in disturbed s
oil than in
-
situ measurement conditions in all land uses. Furthermore, linear fit of disturbed to
undisturbed soil of saturated hydraulic conductivity data resulted in a good R
2
across the selected land uses.
Therefore, developing an equation which replace
s the time taking in
-
situ saturated hydraulic conductivity
measurement and that may have also a far reaching impact on efficient water management.
