Degradation of soil and hydrological conditions in the Pestan River Basin

Abstract

In the Pestan River Basin, the right tributary of the Kolubara River, a complex degradation of natural conditions has been expressed over the decades. The exploitation of lignite in the Kolubara Coal Basin, which is in large part located in the territory of this basin, as well as accompanying activities related to it, are the dominant activities that lead to the degradation of soil and hydrological conditions. If other land use types are added to this, it can be concluded that the land cover in the studied territory suffered significant negative changes. The above mentioned activities have led to land loss and deterioration of its quality, and the regulation works due to dislocation of the Kolubara watercourse into the Pestan riverbed have caused numerous degradation of landscapes, reduced the basin area and shortened its watercourse, led to morphological changes of the river network and deterioration of the surface water quality. The aim of this paper is to perform a geospatial analysis of all areas in which the degradation of soil and hydrological conditions is present, in order to prevent their further degradation and proper management of these areas.