Abstract:
Watershed prioritization in light of morphometric analysis has picked up significance in soil and
water conservation. Morphometric investigation has been generally connected to prioritization of
watershed. GIS are ended up being a successful device for prioritization of sub-basin through
morphometric analysis. The upper Gibe catchment is located western parts of Ethiopia, in oromia
regional state with total area of 33620 sq.km. The watershed have been divided into 61 sub-basins
for taking prioritization. This study has been an endeavor to do point by point examination of
linear and shape morphometric parameters like stream length, stream order, drainage density,
stream frequency, bifurcation ratio, Length of overland flow, basin perimeter, form factor,
compactness coefficient, elongation ratio. The morphometric analyses of sub-basins have been
accomplished through the measurement of linear and shape parameters by using ArcGIS-9.3
software.
The morphometric parameters which impact the soil erodibility have been considered to organize
the sub-basins and relegated positions on the premise of association with erodibility so as to arrive
at a compound parameter (Cp) esteem for the last positioning of each sub-basin. Based on the
value of Cp the sub-basin with the lowest Cp value has been given the highest priority
and then categorized the sub-basins into three classes as high, medium and low in terms of
priority. The examination reveals that high priority zone comprises 11 sub-basins, medium 19 and
low 31 sub-basins. The sub-basins which are falling under high priority were a great deal more
defenseless to soil disintegration and ought to be given high need for land preservation measures.
