GIS Based Assessment of Rural Potable Water Access: In Ahferom Woreda, Tigray, Ethiopia

Access to a safe and affordable water supply of drinking is universally recognized as a basic human need for preset generation and precondition for the development and care of the next. But, many Tigray rural communities are suffering from lack of safe drinking water supply facilities specifically in Ahferom woreda. So, in order to realize the severity of shortage of safe water in the rural community and to find timely solutions it is important to take an assessment on the existing accessibility situation of the woreda. To do that, detail accessibility assessment has been taken in the issues of: Type of water technologies introduced to the woreda, growth trend of water schemes, spatial coverage of water schemes and ratio to the beneficiaries, accessibility coverage of safe water in relation to regional standard and the determinant factors for the non-functionality of water schemes were detail analyzed. To do that spatial and non-spatial data were collected from primary and secondary and analyzed using buffer, descriptive statistical tables and graphs and by visualizing the results in the map. As a result, the study identified 520 water schemes spatially distributed in the study area. Of the total, 396(76.2%) and 124(23.8%) were functional and non-functional water schemes respectively. The basic reasons for non-functionality of water schemes were: lack of ownership in the beneficiaries, weakness in maintenance and operation system, lack of spare part accesses and quality, poor financial capacity of the community to repair the breakdown water schemes and for different activities, Lack of training to the water committee and poor management system were accepted by the respondents as key problems to the non-functionality of water schemes in their district. And also the study found that, three types of potable water technologies: Hand dug well, Shallow well and protected springs were introduced to the study area. Hand dug well covered majority of the woreda, 62 percent followed by shallow well 26 percent and protected spring 11.9 percent. In Ahferom woreda the spatial coverage of water schemes and the ratio to beneficiaries in 2013 was, one water scheme to 3.25 square kilometers area and 2.36 water schemes to 1000 beneficiaries. The actual average potable water per capita (L/d) of the beneficiaries in the rural area was 7.6 l/d. Therefore, in contrast to the regional standard (15 L/d) the consumption level of the Woreda is below the regional standard. Also the distributions of water schemes have not equity to the existing population and to the given area. The accessibility coverage as a standard within 1.5km radius of travel distance and 15 l/day also analyzed and the result was found below the regional coverage which is only 39%(65,463) population were within 1.5km radius and 15 L/day access. The growth rate of water schemes was also analyzed and the result showed an increment from time to time but not in similar ranges throughout the four of the five years plan of the woreda. But, a steady increment has been observed in the first five year (1996-2000) with 91.4 percent and second five years (2001-2005) with 13.1 percent. In general the average growth rate of water schemes throughout the twenty years was 23.7 percent