Description about EIWR

1. The Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources (EiWR) is an academic and research institute
in Addis Ababa University. Its mission is to enhance capacity of higher education institutes
in Ethiopia in the areas of academics, research and outreach for an improved and
sustainable water resources utilization and management. Based on its mandates, the
Institute is involving in various water related research endeavors. Considering the national
and regional urgency of resolving the water problems, the institute was established on
11th June 2011 through the Ethiopian – US Partnership Project with the University of
Connecticut to build Ethiopia’s water future through Sustainable Water Resources
Development.
The vision of EiWR is to be one of the most preferred institutes of graduate studies and
research in areas of integrated and sustainable water resources development and
management in Africa by 2025. Its mission is to produce highly competent and socially
responsible professionals at MSc and PhD level by providing high quality and world class
education and conducting high quality nationally relevant research in multi-disciplinary
integrated and sustainable water resource engineering and management. Moreover, it
aspires to become a regional and international center of excellence in the water resources
engineering and management area.
The Institute is currently running MSc and PhD in two programs - Water Resources
Engineering & Management (WREM), and Water & Health (WaHe). These programs
consist of five specialization areas, including Surface Water Management, Groundwater
Management, Irrigation Water Management, Water & Public Health, and Water &
Wastewater Treatment. Since its establishment, the institute produced more than 70 MSc
and 25 PhD graduates of whom female are 16 (30%) and 5 (28%), respectively. This has
contributed in strengthening the capacity of higher education institutions in the water
sector education and research in Ethiopia. Currently, EiWR has enrolled 130 PhD
candidates from 28 public universities. Additional multidisciplinary programs such as

2. Water and Agriculture, Water and Society and Water and Environment are under
consideration. These would contribute for the integrated socio-economic development of
the country by producing research based cross-cutting interdisciplinary knowledge that
that would narrow knowledge gaps in the water sector.
The EiWR has been carrying out multidisciplinary research contributing to sustainable
water resources development and management that ensure food security, promote clean
energy production, and improve human and environmental health in the country.
Researches conducted in the two programs cover almost all the river basins of Ethiopia
as shown Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Research work by EiWR in the river basins of Ethiopia
Some of the completed and/or ongoing research works mainly carried out by PhD
graduates and candidates are listed in Table 1.
Table 1 – Some of the research works carried out in EiWR

3. Water Resources Engineering and Management
Program
Water and Health Program
Determination of Groundwater – Surface Water
Interaction and Trans-basins Flows: Using Remote
Sensing Techniques and Isotope Hydrology. (The
case of Lower Baro-Akobo Basin Wetlands, SW
Ethiopia)
Synthesis, Characterization
and DE Fluoridation Studies
of Al-based Adsorbents
A Hydro-economic Model for Agricultural Water
Productivity Assessments, as an Important Pathway
for Food Security in Water Scarce Blue Nile
Basin(BNB), Ethiopia
Roof Rainwater Harvesting:
Reliability, Quality and Point-
of- use Treatment Systems in
Semi-Arid City of Mekelle,
Ethiopia
Application of Water Footprint and Virtual Water
Trade to Develop Water Policy in Trans-boundary
Basin: The Case of Nile
Health Risk Evaluation
Associated with Heavy
Metals in the Little Akaki
River of Addis Ababa
Modelling Sediment Flux and Suspended Sediment
Concentration Variability from Climate Change
using Hydrologic Model and Remote Sensing
Technology, Tekeze River Basin, Ethiopia
Treatment of Municipal
Wastewater using
Constructed Wetland
System: Case Study of Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia
Institutionally, EiWR has been carrying out multidisciplinary researches supported by both
local and international funding. The research currently being carried out in partnership
with the Hydraulic Research Centre of the Sudan under the title “River Basin Simulation
for improved Transboundary Water Management in the Nile: Case study of the Tekezze-
Atbara Sub-Basin”, Fig. 2, is envisaged to create an environment for joint research among
researchers of riparian countries and influence policy decisions in transboundary water
issues.

4. Fig. 2 – Tekezze Atbara sub-basin of the Nile basin
The EiWR of Addis Ababa University in accordance with its vision of becoming a regional
water center of excellence has become a member of the AU-NEPAD network of water
center of excellence: Central and Eastern Africa Network of Water Center of Excellence
(CEANWATCE) which was founded in November 2017. The AU-NEPAD network was
previously established in Southern Africa (SANWACE) and Western Africa (WANWACE).
EiWR is now among the 20 universities and research centers, Fig. 3, which are selected

5. to be a member of regional centers of excellence leading towards achievement of its
vision of becoming regional water center of excellence.
Fig. 3 – AU/NEPAD Water Centers of Excellence
The performance of EiWR is excelling both in its graduate program education and
research. It has conducted various research activities and collaborated with many
institutions in North America, Europe and Asia. It has succeeded in publishing more than
70 research articles in internationally reputable journals and in the AAU journals in the
past six years. The institute has got a recognition by the AAU management for its
outstanding performance in publication and awarded the status of AU-NEPAD Network
of Water Centre of Excellences. EiWR is highly enthusiastic to achieve its vision of
becoming international water center of excellence through its graduate education and
research that would make significant influence on sustainability of water resources at
national, regional, and international level.