Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 2022, 10, 1-14 https://www.scirp.org/journal/gep ISSN Online: 2327-4344 ISSN Print: 2327-4336 DOI: 10.4236/gep.2022.104001 Apr. 8, 2022 1 Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection Modeling Surface Water Availability for Irrigation Development in Mbarali River Sub-Catchment Mbeya, Tanzania Moses Mazengo 1* , Gislar E. Kifanyi 1 , Edmund Mutayoba 2 , Nyemo Chilagane 3 1 Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, Mbeya University of Science and Technology, Mbeya, Tanzania 2 Department of Water Supply and Irrigation Engineering, Water Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 3 Tanzania Research and Conservation Organization, Morogoro, Tanzania Abstract Although Tanzania has a large land suitable for irrigation development, only 4.2% of the arable land which is potential for irrigation has been developed. Mbarali District is characterized by commercial and small-scale irrigation ac- tivities for paddy production. Currently, surface water availability for irriga- tion in Mbarali District is dwindling due to high water demands. Inadequate studies that estimate water availability for irrigation is one of the underlying factors to the lack of irrigation development in many parts of Tanzania in- cluding in Mbarali District. This study, therefore, aimed to model surface water availability for irrigation development in Mbarali River sub-catchment Mbeya, Tanzania. The Soil and Water Analysis Tool (SWAT) model and field obser- vations were used to accomplish the study. The model estimates that Mbarali River sub-catchment receives about 631 mm of total mean precipitation an- nually. About 53% of received precipitation is lost through evapotranspira- tion, 12% recharged to deep aquifer and the remaining 35% discharged to the stream flow through surface runoff, lateral flow and return flow from uncon- fined aquifer. Discharge to the steam flow contributes to the total annual means of river discharge ranging from 0 - 10 cubic meters per second at up- per catchment to 120 - 140 cubic meters per second at lower catchment. The study recommends that the lower reach of the Mbarali River sub-catchment is potential for irrigation than the upper reach as it has potential river flow that can support irrigation activities. The study also notes the urgent need for wa- ter reallocation plan to meet competing water needs in the lower reach of Mbarali River sub-catchment. Moreover, the study addresses the potentiality of irrigation in upper catchment under sustainable water management prac- How to cite this paper: Mazengo, M., Kifanyi, G. E., Mutayoba, E., & Chilagane, N. (2022). Modeling Surface Water Availa- bility for Irrigation Development in Mbara- li River Sub-Catchment Mbeya, Tanzania. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Pro- tection, 10, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.4236/gep.2022.104001 Received: February 16, 2022 Accepted: April 5, 2022 Published: April 8, 2022 Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access