THE ROLE OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON VARIABILITY AND TRENDS OF TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL: THE CASE OF DORANI DISTRICT ILU ABA BORA ZONE SOUTHWEST ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia has a long history of initiatives aimed at managing watersheds, with efforts dating back to the 1970s. Currently, the country is facing the challenge of climate change and its impacts. To address this issue, adaptation measures are necessary to mitigate the effects of climate change, cope with its consequences, and take advantage of opportunities arising from it. To this end, this study was conducted to evaluate the role of watershed management in addressing climate change and variability, using the badesa Watershed in Doreni District, Ilu Aba Bor Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia as a case study. The study analyzed the spatial and temporal variability of tempreture and rainfall in the area, including trends, with providing any meteorological explanations for the patterns observed. The study used gridded monthly rainfall and temperature data obtained from the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia for the period 1991–2021, at a resolution of 15× 15 km. The mean annual temperature in the Didu Haro, Elemu and Kusaye varies from 18.9 °C (1996) to 21.6 °C (2003), 18.5 0C (1993) to 21.6 0C (2003), 18.8 0C (1993) to 36.8 0C (2003) respectively. The mean annual temperature over the period of observation is 19.7 °C, 19.7 0C, 26.6 with standard deviation of 0.69 °C, 0.70C and 7.020C and coefficient of variation of 3.48 °C, 3.50C, and 26.40C respectively. The mean annual temperature of the watershed was 26.5 °C, with a standard deviation of 0.31 °C and a coefficient of variation of 0.01 °C. Mean annual precipitation in the Didu, Elemu and Kusaye was 1721.2mm, 1725.67mm and 1723.31mm respectively with a standard deviation of 483.5mm, 484.54mm and 475mm. The coefficient of variation (CV) is the measure of spread data points in data series around the mean annual precipitation which is found 28.1%, 28.1% and 27.6% respectively. All the statistical parameters on an annual and seasonal basis. Except average annual rainfall (CV<30); all months, seasons and locations have shown high rainfall variations with considerable difference across the kebeles. at the p = 0.05 level. The year-to-year variability in the mean annual minimum and maximum temperatures showed that the 2000s were cooler than the preceding decades. Surprisingly, the study found that annual and seasonal rainfall totals showed increasing trends, and maximum and minimum temperatures showed increasing trends. This highlights the importance of conducting local-level investigations to develop context-specific climate change adaptation and agricultural planning, rather than relying solely on coarse scale national level analysis to guide local-level decisions.