Gumara irrigation project is being under taken by the Ministry of Water Resources for therndevelopment of the agriculture sector of the country. The project envisages the constructionrnof a zoned earth dam for irrigation purpose. The Gumara Irrigation project is found inrnNorthern Ethiopia, Amhara Regional state, south Gondar Administrative Zone.rnThe present research study was planned to investigate the engineering geological suitabilityrnof Gumara dam foundation. The study was aimed to determine the suitability of the damrnfoundation conditions against seepage, and deformation of the foundation material inrnresponse to the loads imposed by the dam. Thus, through the present study an attempt hasrnbeen made to identify the adverse foundation conditions, which may pose problems during orrnafter the construction stage. Based on the foundation conditions certain remedial measuresrnhave been worked out. This contributes towards the safety as well as the economic planningrnand execution of the Gumara irrigation projects.rnFrom the review of the previous investigation reports and the investigations made during thernpresent study through the surface, subsurface investigations and laboratory test results anrnoverall appraisal of foundation condition of Gumara Dam has been made. In order to overrncome the various problems associated with the dam foundation suitable remedial measuresrnhave been worked out.rnFrom the evaluation of the foundation condition it has been deduced that the rocks on thernabutments and the bed rock in the river section are pervious and needs grouting to improvernpermeability condition. The left abutment slope is kinametically stable for the presentrngeometric configuration however, it may become unstable during the stripping operations ifrnit is cut at steeper angles. On abutments the rocks are weathered and contain wide open jointsrnthese undesirable rocks have to be stripped off before laying the embankment. The mostrnserious problem in the foundation section is the presence of thick organic soil strata, whichrnare about 47m thick. These soils are semi-pervious and highly compressible. In order tornimprove the permeability condition of these soil strata certain preventive and curativernmeasures are suggested. Further, to overcome the compressibility of organic soils somernpossible treatments have been suggested.