Soil erosion estimation and prioritization of Koshalya-Jhajhara watershed in North India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53550/Keywords:
GIS, Human intervention, RUSLE, Soil erosion, Watershed prioritizationAbstract
Soil is a non-renewable resource present on the surface of the earth. It is dynamic and prone to continuous degradation due to adverse land use practices. Soil erosion is a serious problem arising from agricultural intensification and other anthropogenic activities. Its assessment is essential for planning and conservation works in a watershed or basin. In the present study, the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) in geographical information system (GIS) environment has been used to estimate soil loss in Koshalya-Jhajhara (K-J) watershed in North India containing total area of 134.92 km2. Raster maps for six factors of RUSLE have been prepared. These maps have been integrated so as to prepare soil erosion risk map which reflects five soil erosion risk categories. The results showed an area of 85.54% under very low to low category of soil erosion whereas 7.92% area under moderate soil erosion category. Only 6.54% of the watershed area falls under moderate high to high category of soil erosion. Erosion pattern in various subwatersheds indicated maximum area of sub-watersheds (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13) falling in the hilly region are in low to very low category of soil erosion risk whereas maximum area of sub-watersheds (0, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18) are prone to high to very high soil erosion risk because of low vegetative cover, agricultural and human interventions.
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