An Assessment of Availability of Livestock Drinking Water Resources, Patterns of Exploitation and Management Strategies at Ginchi Watershed, Ethiopia

The objectives of the study were to assess the availability of livestock water resources, patterns of exploitation and management strategies in Ginchi watershed, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. A total of 78 households were randomly selected and interviewed using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Data were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The survey showed that 23 water sources were identified and categorized into 3 types, viz.: rivers (21.74 % of the water resources), streams (29.09 %) and springs (52.17%) in terms of number of occurrence. Rivers and streams were the dominant sources of water for livestock watering. Watering at home (85.5 %) and at water sources (98.6 %) were the two systems of livestock watering systems practiced. Majority (98.7%) of the respondents indicated that there was no problem of water for livestock consumption. Water resources for livestock drinking were communally owned (100 %) and no one claimed a special right of ownership and control over access, except the privately owned springs. The popular water management practice for increasing the availability of water in the dry season was traditional dam building and fencing of watering points. Watering frequency of livestock was once and twice per day in the short and dry seasons, respectively, whereas during wet season animals are watered at watering points occasionally. Mean time of watering varied from 1:30 to 2:18 pm local time. The mean distance to watering points was 0.76±0.67 for rivers and 0.21±0.07 km for streams. Mean travel time round trip to rivers and streams was 0.68±0.48 and 0.36 ±0.07 hours, respectively. Leech was reported to be the major (97.4%) constraint to water utilization by livestock in the dry season. It was concluded that the Ginchi watershed area is well endowed with water resources for livestock.