Impacts of Land Use Land Cover Changes and Climate Variability on Water Yield in the Dire and Legedadi Watersheds central Ethiopia

Water yield capacity assessment is critical for water management and ecosystem improvement. Using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, we assessed the effects of land use changes and climate variability on annual water yield in the Dire and Legedadi watersheds. The model was run using meteorological data, land use, soil depth, plant water content, and biophysical parameters. The impact of land use changes and climate variability was investigated by creating three scenarios: actual conditions, actual conditions with Land Use and Land Cover (LU/LC) remaining constant, and actual conditions without climate variability. The findings revealed that the total water yield in both watersheds has increased. The Legedadi watershed increased total water yield by 15.32% from 111.6 million m(3) (1149 mm) in 1995 to 131.8 million m(3)(1357.5 mm) in 2021; while, the Dire watershed increased total water yield by 32.5% from 259.5 million m(3)(1202 mm) in 1995 to 386.6 million m(3)(1790 mm) in 2021. The effect of climate variability on annual water yield was approximately 99.9% and 73.3% in the Legedadi and Dire watersheds, respectively; land use change was 0.01% and 26.7%. Despite its higher water yield, urban and agricultural land expansion may have an impact on water yield. As a result, participatory watershed management interventions that consider landscape patterns are required to optimize and maintain ecosystem services.