Chapter 14 - Assessing the impact of land use and land cover changes on the water balances in an urbanized peninsular region of India

Abstract

This chapter presents a case study on the impact of land use land cover (LULC) change on water balances in an increasingly urbanized Palar and other sub-basins that form the upper basin area of the east flowing rivers between Pennar and Cauvery basin. The study area covers 35,392 km 2 in hydrologically important peninsular regions of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The LULC changes were quantified between 1995 and 2020, which showed that the study area experienced a significant increase in built-up area and decrease in wetland and forest coverage. The impacts of these LULC changes on the water balances were analyzed using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). A SUFI-2 algorithm was used to calibrate and validate the model for streamflow. The results of the SWAT model were used to assess the LULC impact on water balances, which can be used to develop water resources planning and management strategies in the urbanized peninsular region of India.