Humans have exerted large-scale changes on the terrestrial biosphere, primarilyrnthrough agriculture; however, the impacts of such changes on the hydrologicrnregime are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to show thernimpacts of LU/LC change (vegetation cover reduction) on the subsurface portionrnof the hydrologic cycle by changing groundwater recharge. The hypothesis wasrnexamined through studies investigating the effects of land use/land coverrn(LU/LC) changes on groundwater recharge in the lake Awassa watershed.rnVegetation cover has been changing negatively from 1973-1986 by 168.7rnkm2area and from 1986-2000 by 108.1 km2 area, and agricultural area has beenrnchanged positively from 1973-1986 by 143 km2 and from 1986-2000 by 100 km2.rnSimilarly 6 km2 built up area of 1973 has grown to 8 km2 and 13 km2 in 1986 andrn2000 respectively that aggravate surface runoff by creating compacted surfacernwhich hinder infiltration.rnThe trend analysis of the ground water recharge and LU/LC change (especiallyrnvegetation cover reduction) showed similar trend. The significant change inrnground water recharge is due to land use and land covers change (especiallyrnvegetation cover reduction) in the catchment for the last three decades, whichrnbring change in the runoff generation and recharge reduction. It is possible tornconclude that the LU/LC change specially the vegetation cover reduction haverngreat influence to the recharge reduction than that of meteorological elements. Ifrncondition goes like this there will be a significant ground water scarcity in thernnear future; and this needs an immediate action to reinstate the normal situation,rnin this regard it is highly recommended to protect the remaining patchs ofrnvegetations in the area and apply both physical and biological conservationrnmeasure to reclaim the degraded areas.rnKeywords: GIS, Remote sensing, Awassa, land use land cover change, surfacernrunoff, and Ground Water Recharge