Ethiopia has an abundance of water resources, including 12 river basins with groundwater potential of approximately 2.6 billion cubic meters. However, these are unevenly distributed across the country and much of the flow-waters flow across borders. To date, only a small proportion of these water resources have been developed for sectors such as hydropower, agriculture, water supply or sanitation. Projected trends of increased temperatures and precipitation patterns and intensity is expected to not only increase water stress and fresh water vulnerability, but also exacerbate existing non-climate stressors and challenge the country’s existing weak water governance. Increased temperatures and intense rainfall are putting greater pressure on the water and sanitation sector, with potential to further impact development gains. Read more from the the Ethiopia Climate Risk Country Profile. 

This section provides insights into projected climate change impacts on various hydrological indicators.