Evaluation of Land Use Types and Physical Soil and Water Conservation Structures in Wyebla Watershed, Northwest Ethiopia

The present study was carried out in the Wyebla watershed Goncha Siso Enesie Woreda, Northwestern Ethiopia. Similar to the other highland areas in the country, the Wyebla watershed is characterized by severe soil erosion and acute water scarcity problems. Hence, the objective of the current investigation was to evaluate different land use types, and physical soil and water conservation (SWC) practices in Wyebla Watershed, Northwest Ethiopia. To check whether the current land use types match with treatment-oriented capability classification (TOCC), a transect walk was conducted and measurements were taken during a field survey. Fitness ratings of recommended versus existing physical SWC structures were given based on a TOCC scheme. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation. From results of the TOCC scheme, it can be seen that current land use practices match with recommended land use types at 83.33% on average. However, with regard to rating fitness of existing SWC practices, only 36.8% match the recommended SWC measures.