Water and Land Resource Centre facilitates stakeholders’ engagement and dissemination workshop on “Water allocation, use, and governance in the Central Rift Valley (CRV) sub-basin” on 30-31 March 2023 at South Star Hotel, Hawassa Ethiopia. The workshop aims to disseminate findings of ongoing research works and acquired information and lessons learned related to water resources governance, allocation, and management with the relevant stakeholders’. The workshop also helps to engage stakeholders for identification and prioritization of plausible future scenarios of policy and development for further inclusion of views in the research process, particularly for hydrologic model-based evaluation and analysis.

The State Minister of the Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE) Dr. Abreha Adugna on his opening remark says that water related problems in Ethiopia are now multifaceted and multilayered that demands everybody’s joint effort to combat the problem. In line to this, the efforts of research centers like WLRC are highly appreciated by the MoWE that always strives to apply in line with the National Water Management Policy.

The Deputy Director of WLRC Dr. Tena Alamirew on his keynote addresses the efforts of the Center that works on the water security on Abay, Awash, and CRV basins. Mainly, the GCRF Water Security Hub Project that focuses on water security issues including flood, pollution, and management of water on the three basins. The project produces multiple research results on water allocation, use and management.

In all the areas, problems are aggravated due to the expansion of urbanization, industrialization, and high domestic consumption that potentially incite conflicts. Activities related to water allocation planning and water management were widely shared among stakeholders with the aim of enhancing inclusive planning and promoting a coordinated water allocation and use practice. Critical issues related to water availability and use were identified and prioritized as part of the participatory water allocation and management scenarios formulation process for inclusion in further research developments within the sub-basin.

The workshop participants are from Oromia, Sidama, and SNNP regional basin authority offices; zone and woreda agriculture offices and water and energy offices; and universities in the sub-basin. Different research outputs presented and active discussions facilitated in the workshop.