Sustainable Watershed Development Research Articles

Global pattern of studies on phosphorus at watershed scale.

As phosphorus plays a significant role in the maintenance of ecosystem service at watershed scale, it has been studied with a dramatic growth of publications. The bibliometric dataset of publications on watershed phosphorus was downloaded from the Science Citation Index Expanded from the Web of Science and visualized with cluster and network analysis to map global research status and trends. The results showed that annual output of articles experienced a notable increase since 1991. Most research articles on watershed phosphorus appeared in the Journal of Environmental Quality. "Environmental Sciences," "Water Resources," and "Marine Freshwater Biology" were the most popular subject categories, and a development tendency of cross-disciplinary research appeared since 2005. The USA was a leading country in total publications, collaborating closely with China, Canada, and the UK. Chinese Academy of Sciences, USDA ARS, and US Geological Survey were the most productive institutions, and Chinese Academy of Sciences has become the core force of international cooperation recently. The mainstream research related to watershed phosphorus was environmental issues like eutrophication. Moreover, phosphorus management using models (soil and water assessment tool and best management practices) has emerged as an important research direction recently. To tackle environmental issues and realize sustainable development of watershed, it is crucial to further strengthen (1) the interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly between natural and social sciences; (2) North-South, South-South, and triangular regional cooperation on science and technology; and (3) theoretical research on the impact of human activities and climate change on biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus and ecosystem integrality of watershed.

A Framework for Ecological Compensation Assessment: A Case Study in the Upper Hun River Basin, Northeast China

With the rapid socio-economic development, human disturbances are believed to have resulted in the degradation of the watershed ecosystem. The ecological damage to and environmental pollution of river basins have caused great losses. It is widely agreed upon that the protection and restoration of river ecosystems should be on the agenda. Ecological compensation, an important tool to prevent the deterioration of water environments and achieve sustainable watershed development, has attracted increasing interest as a research subject. In this study, the upper reach of Hun River basin was selected as a typical study area. The primary purpose was to determine the allocation costs of ecological compensation in different regions for the river basin. The amount of willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the eco-compensation was estimated at 3.2 million dollars by the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). Based on linear programming techniques, a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) created a primary value of the allocation costs. Considering the different weights of each region, a modified coefficient was introduced to correct the primary result on the basis of a questionnaire survey of river ecological protection and construction.

Future Impacts of Climate Change and Land Use on Multiple Ecosystem Services in a Rapidly Urbanizing Agricultural Basin, China

Ecosystem services (ESs) in rapidly urbanizing agricultural basins are vulnerable to environmental changes. Adequately understanding the driving forces and the dynamics of ESs related to water quantity and quality can provide a basis for making sound management decisions on the development of basins. Here, we explored the impacts of future land use and climate changes on four ESs: nitrogen and phosphorous purification, water supply, and soil retention services in the Taihu Basin region of eastern China. Spatially explicit methods, a cellular automata-Markov (CA-Markov) model and the delta downscaling method were used to quantify the ESs, simulate land use changes, and project future climate changes, respectively. We built a business-as-usual land use scenario, representative concentration pathways (RCPs) scenarios for climate change, as well as a combined land use and climate change scenario to analyze the changes in the drivers and the responses of ESs. The results showed the following: (1) future land use changes would significantly enhance the nitrogen purification service while reducing the phosphorus purification service compared to other services; (2) climate change would have substantial effects on water supply and soil retention, but these impacts would vary with different RCPs scenarios during three future periods; and (3) the combined scenarios of both drivers would obviously influence all ESs and lead to a nitrogen purification service that was different from the other three services. Moreover, the policy implications of the results were discussed. The findings can help guide the creation of policies for land structure and patterns, climate change adaptation, and ecosystem-based management to promote the sustainable development of watersheds at the regional scale.

Analysis of rainfall trends of two complex mountain river basins on the southern slopes of the Central Himalayas

Understanding rainfall characteristics plays a vital role in sustainable watershed development and management, but at the same time it is challenging in mountainous regions, due to its topography complexities. This study investigates the seasonal along its associated months and annual rainfall characteristics and their variations over two distinct river basins; Kaligandaki in central west and Koshi in eastern Nepal, located on the southern slopes of the central Himalayas, which is crucial to the research of the climate change in these regions. The rainfall data series over the period of 34-year (1981–2015) of 43 stations between the elevation range of 143 m asl to 3870 m asl was used for this study. The analysis was carried out to assess the significance of rainfall trend along with its magnitude followed by its abrupt shift by using the Mann-Kendall test, Sen's test and Sequential Mann-Kendall test respectively. Furthermore, multitaper method was used to confirm the influence of large-scale circulation indices over the study area. An increasing pattern of rainfall from south to north was observed throughout all season in Koshi basin which was not seen in the Kaligandaki basin, indicating the effects of orography along with monsoon. Both basins share a similar pattern of rainfall between annual and monsoonal rainfall, supporting that both basins are dominated by the monsoon. The transition months between the seasons showed almost similar spatial distribution but different from other months of respective seasons. The results showed that the seasonal and annual rainfall declined in most of the stations of both the basins, except during pre-monsoon where it showed increased rainfall. But only a few stations showing such changes were statistically significant. In fact, these noticeable significant decreases were observed especially in the southern and northern region of Koshi basin while in Kaligandaki basin, it was found either in central or in the southern region. Furthermore, the trend shift analysis identified change points during 1980s or early 1990s, but most significant shifts were observed in recent years with some exceptions. Spectral analysis showed significant peaks at periodicity ranging 2–5 years, suggesting a potential association with Quasi-Biennial Oscillations (QBO) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Integrative Application of Life Cycle Assessment and Risk Assessment to Environmental Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants at a Watershed Scale.

Intense human activities have led to increasing deterioration of the watershed environment via pollutant discharge, which threatens human health and ecosystem function. To meet a need of comprehensive environmental impact/risk assessment for sustainable watershed development, a biogeochemical process-based life cycle assessment and risk assessment (RA) integration for pollutants aided by geographic information system is proposed in this study. The integration is to frame a conceptual protocol of "watershed life cycle assessment (WLCA) for pollutants". The proposed WLCA protocol consists of (1) geographic and environmental characterization mapping; (2) life cycle inventory analysis; (3) integration of life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) with RA via characterization factor of pollutant of interest; and (4) result analysis and interpretation. The WLCA protocol can visualize results of LCIA and RA spatially for the pollutants of interest, which might be useful for decision or policy makers for mitigating impacts of watershed development.

Prioritization of subwatersheds based on quantitative morphometric analysis in lower Bhavani basin, Tamil Nadu, India using DEM and GIS techniques

Watershed prioritization is one of the most important processes in natural resource management system especially in areas of sustainable watershed development and planning. Morphometric characteristics are the viable entity to understand the hydrological behavior of the subwatershed. For prioritization of subwatershed, morphometric analysis was utilized by using the linear, areal, and relief aspects of the drainage basin. In this context, remote sensing and GIS has been proved to be an efficient tool to identify the morphological features. The Survey of India (SOI) topographical maps, satellite data IRS-LISS III, and Cartosat DEM data were utilized to understand the drainage pattern and also for prioritization of subwatershed areas. The prioritization of subwatershed has been attempted using novel and quantitative approaches based on compound parameter ranking for soil erosion. Lower compound factors were chosen as the most feasible for soil erosion. Based on the observation, eight subwatersheds with a higher degree of the slope were severely prone to soil erosion and remaining 21 subwatersheds occur in low-lying areas that can be developed as sustainable watersheds. The identified subwatershed requires immediate soil remediation and water conservation measures for efficient watershed planning and management. The proposed study might be helpful for resource planners, government agencies, private sectors, and other stake holders to take up soil conservation measures and fixation of water-harvesting structures for better decision making.

Water use efficiency and TN/TP concentrations as indicators for watershed land-use management: A case study in Miyun District, north China

Under dual influences of climate change and human disturbances, it is an important measure for sustainable watershed development to conduct land use planning with considerations of water saving and pollution control. In this research, the following tasks has been accomplished: (1) identifying runoff variations due to the land use changes, (2) investigating concentration variations in total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in overland flow of different vegetation, (3) based on the rules found by the analyses above, determining the optimal land use demand of water, grass, forest, farm and construction lands through the adoption of multi-objective linear programming and a hydrological model (i.e., MIKE-SHE), (4) taking the relationship between land use changes and hydrological factors at the watershed scale as a corrected input of CLUE-S model to visually allocate land use under three scenarios (i.e., the most optimal situation, adjustment planning after the check point and the government planning for 2020), and further making the detailed crops distribution map for agricultural management with aim of improving water use efficiency and controlling TN/TP concentrations. Thus the “top-down” land use optimal allocation combining the macro scale and the field scale was implemented. The results can provide useful decision alternatives for the land use management of the watershed. Pine, chestnut and walnut were distributed on relatively steep hillside above 400m. Crops like corn, millet and sweet potato were allocated to the flat areas with the slope less than 3° and the altitude below 400m. The combination of CLUE-S model and MIKE-SHE model improved the accuracy of land use demand and specific vegetation distributions for farmers. The “top-down” land use optimal allocation considering both water saving and pollution control would support decision makers with feasible suggestions of optimizing land management at different scales.

A method for estimating watershed restoration feasibility under different treatment levels

The restoration of watershed health can be influenced by ecological, technical and socio-economic factors. The paper presents a conceptual framework and typology to assess watershed ecological restoration based on the properties and processes of sustainable watershed development. According to multiple life stages, habitat properties and existing legal frameworks and applicable valuation approaches, the bio-indicator that integrates natural, political and socio-economic dimensions is proposed. With existing assessment results and official web-pages as references, evaluation systems concerning human impacts on aquatic systems are set forth. Suitable aquatic bio-indicators can standardize the monitoring methodology with respect to water quality, organic pollutants and pesticides, generation time, migration ability, saprobic status, taxonomic composition and diversity. A large number of fish-based indexes have been developed to monitor and manage river ecosystems. Biophysical and statistical models are being used to identify influential stream variables that correlate with macroinvertebrate indices. A probabilistic fuzzy hybrid model to assess river water quality is proposed. The method and process of ecological risk assessment are provided based on adaptive management principles. The environmental sustainability index (ESI) is used to estimate the degree of environmental restoration sustainability with the emergy triangle as a reference.

Soil erosion assessment for developing suitable sites for artificial recharge of groundwater in drought prone region of Jharkhand state using geospatial techniques

The study demonstrates the identification of site-specific watershed management technique using geospatial technology to enhance the groundwater potential of an area. The soil erosion prioritization evaluated using geoinformatics technique and drainage morphometric analysis highlights the utility of multiresources evaluation in sustainable watershed development. The superimposed thematic layers of land use/land cover, lithology, hydrogeomorphology, drainage, and lineament over the soil erosion variability map helped in suggesting the site-specific location of the water harvesting structures in Daltonganj watershed of Palamu, Jharkhand, India. The spatial variability of the various soil erosion zones indicated that 0.78 and 11.31 km2 are under very high and high soil erosion prone areas, respectively, whereas moderate areas of soil erosion comprised of 11.46 km2 within the Daltonganj watershed. The lower catchment region of the Daltonganj watershed was found to be most prone to very high soil erosion, whereas parts of the lower, middle, and upper catchment regions are significantly prone to high rate of soil erosion. The central regions, however, are low to moderately prone to soil erosion. The quantitative drainage morphometric analysis helped to understand the groundwater situation. The present study thus helped in locating suitable sites for water harvesting structures which include 9 check dams, 31 farm ponds, and 9 nala bunds in the watershed, which will help in efficiently monitoring the soil moisture conservation and groundwater recharge and put a check on soil erosion of the area.

Estimation of soil erosion in a semi-arid watershed of Tamil Nadu (India) using revised universal soil loss equation (rusle) model through GIS

Soil erosion is one of the serious issues threatening the environment. This degrading phenomenon deteriorates the soil fertility and drastically affects the agricultural practices. As a consequence, the productivity of soil is affected unquestionably. In this regard, there is a need to take up conservation and management measures which can be applied to check further soil erosion. Even though, soil erosion is a mass process spread across the watershed, it is not economically viable to implement conservation techniques to the entire watershed. However, a method is a pre-requisite to identify the most vulnerable areas and quantify the soil erosion. In this context, Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) has been adopted to estimate soil erosion in the semi-arid Andipatti Watershed of Tamil Nadu, India. This model takes into consideration the parameters including runoff-rainfall erosivity factor (R), soil erodability Factor (K), topographic factor (LS), cropping management factor (C), and support practice factor (P). All these layers are prepared in a geographical information system (GIS) platform using various data sources and data preparation methods. The results of the study indicate that the annual average soil loss within the watershed is about 6 t/ha/yr (metric ton per hectare per year). Higher soil erosion is observed in the landuse classes of gullied wasteland, open scrub forest and degraded plantation. The soil erosion risk is extremely higher on the steep slopes and adjoining foot hills. Based on the average soil erosion values of different landuse classes and characteristics of land, a proposed landuse map was prepared. The estimated soil erosion and the proposed landuse map could be an effective input for drawing sustainable watershed development measures.

A non-probabilistic programming approach enabling risk-aversion analysis for supporting sustainable watershed development

Due to insufficiency and ineffectiveness of monitoring facilities, variations in natural conditions and changes of human behaviors, watershed planning is interwoven with imprecise data, resulting in a multitude of complexities. A robust interval fuzzy programming approach with superiority–inferiority and risk-aversion analyses (RIFP-SIRA) was developed for identifying sustainable agricultural and industrial production strategies at the watershed scale in a highly uncertain environment. RIFP-SIRA represented a novel attempt to tackle synergies of uncertain information in the forms of intervals with non-statistical bounds and conventional intervals. The developed method was applied to a Chinese watershed. A RIFP-SIRA model was formulated and analyzed under three scenarios to investigate the effects of different policies and standards on watershed development plans. Sensitivity of the model's solutions to varied risk-aversion and input-fluctuation levels were analyzed, verifying the superiority of RIFP-SIRA over the existing inexact approaches. This research revealed that RIFP-SIRA could provide local authorities with robust, yet flexible decision plans. It could enable a quantitative analysis over the trade-offs between the economic benefits and environmental risks in the absence of probabilistic information.

Evaluation method of water quality for river based on multi-spectral remote sensing data

Abstract. With the rapid development of the regional economy, water pollution has gradually become an environmental problem that cannot be ignored. As an important water source in central China, the Han River should strengthen water quality monitoring and management in order to ensure the sustainable development of watershed and related areas. Taking typical sections of middle and lower reaches of the Han River as the study area, this paper focuses on rapid river water quality assessment using multispectral remote sensing images. Based on measured water quality data and synchronous spatial high and medium-resolution remote sensing data (multi-spectral data of ZY3 and HJ1A) in 2013, neural network algorithm is used to establish water quality index retrieval model for the study area, and then water quality status is assessed accordingly. The results show that BP neural network retrieval model of water quality index that is established based on multispectral data of ZY3 satellite has higher accuracy and that its assessment results are of high credibility and strong applicability, which can really reflect changes in water quality and better achieve water quality assessment for the study area. In addition, water quality assessment results show that major excessive factors in the study area are total nitrogen and total phosphorus; the polluting type is organic pollution; water quality varies greatly with seasons.

Integrated research methods in watershed science

We discuss the concepts, research methods, and infrastructure of watershed science. A watershed is a basic unit and possesses all of the complexities of the land surface system, thereby making it the best unit for practicing Earth system science. Watershed science is an Earth system science practiced on a watershed scale, and it has developed rapidly over the previous two decades. The goal of watershed science is to understand and predict the behavior of complex watershed systems and support the sustainable development of watersheds. However, watershed science confronts the difficulties of understanding complex systems, achieving scale transformation, and simulating the co-evolution of the human-nature system. These difficulties are fundamentally methodological challenges. Therefore, we discuss the research methods of watershed science, which include the self-organized complex system method, the upscaling method dominated by statistical mechanics, Darwinian approaches based on selection and evolutionary principles, hydro-economic and eco-economic methods that emphasize the human-nature system co-evolution, and meta-synthesis for addressing unstructured problems. These approaches together can create a bridge between holism and reductionism and work as a group of operational methods to combine hard and soft integrations and capture all aspects of both natural and human systems. These methods will contribute to the maturation of watershed science and to a methodology that can be used throughout land-surface systems science.

Geomorphometric Analysis for Estimation of Sediment Production Rate and Run-off in Tuirini Watershed, Mizoram, India

In hilly areas like Mizoram, sediment production rate and run-off estimation for land parcels is of utmost importance to the efforts of soil and water conservation work. The study demonstrated the use of remotely sensed data in conjugation with GIS for the sustainable development of watershed. The terrain is prone to erosion due to steeper slopes associated with high relief and drainage density. The different geomorphometric parameters of the study area have been computed with the aid of ArcGIS-10.2 software. SPR and run-off rate of the watershed was estimated on the basis of morphometric parameters. The Tuirini watershed is designated as 6th order stream comprises an area of about 420 sq.km. The mean bifurcation ratio indicates strong structural control over the drainage development. The values of drainage density and texture ratio indicate that the area is composed of impermeable rocks associated with very fine drainage texture. The analysis of shape and relief parameters shows that watershed is having elongated shape and structurally complex with high relief. The estimated value of SPR and runoff rate suggests that the watershed produces moderate amount of sediments annually with high discharge of runoff due to high relief with steeper slopes.

Groundwater development in hardrock terrain using morphometric analysis

The occurrence of several water crises in India over the years has resulted in the formulation of strategies that promote sustainable development of groundwater resources. For such planning efforts, the evaluation of groundwater recharge zones is a vital component of the water balance equation. Therefore, this study presents a systematic scientific analysis of various morphometric parameters relating to groundwater flow in hard rock terrain. The numerical classification scheme presented herein constitutes an integrated approach that shows how to leverage basic watershed information to evaluate prospective sites and measures at various scales for the purposes of water resources development and management. We have used our morphometric analysis of the Mamundiyar watershed of southern India to demonstrate the use of this classification scheme as a helpful tool in the watershed development planning process. The results of this relative ranking of Mamundiyar subbasins, using various parameters that are ultimately indicative of surficial rock permeability, show the usefulness of this classification scheme in identifying suitable rainfall infiltration sites. Together with an evaluation of the various hydrogeologic conditions in a given basin, this type of numerical classification scheme can be developed and applied to properly identify recharge sites in the planning stages of sustainable watershed development, as well as in already active watersheds, perhaps where extractive industries are working or certain land use practices exist, to evaluate potential relationships between hydrogeologic regimes and these anthropogenic activities.

People Participation in Conservation and Re-generation of Natural Resources of Watersheds

The changes in natural resources and climate are mainly occurring due to the anthropogenic activities where they are present. This paper illustrates conservation and management of natural resources and environmental issues that must be sorted out at the watershed level. All the problems related to watershed resources and environment must be tackled through participation of local people living therein. By implementing integrated approaches of conservation and development, involving people in watershed level, we can not only improve the natural resources but also help in the mitigation of climate change. Involvement of people in planning, designing, planting, production and consumption cycle can play a lead role and must be considered in various conservation and protection and developmental programs. Human resource constitutes a major part in the sustainable development of watersheds. Education and training of professionals along with local people help in the conservation, utilization and protection of each natural resource in any watershed, which is an urgent. The sustainability of resources like pasture, livestock, agricultural land, soil, water, biodiversity, forests and practices like agro-forestry, medicinal and aromatic plants, sustainable use of resources and responsible eco-tourism through integrated development approache,s must be recognized for better production and productivity at the watershed level.

Evaluation of Sustainable Development of Typical Small Watershed in Mountain Area - A Case Study of Puwa Small Watershed

With rapid sponsorship and widely spreading of sustainable development theory, the research on the sustainable development indicator systems and its evaluation became increasingly an important issue for small watershed. Small watershed was thought to be the most basic operation unit for watershed sustainable development realization, building its sustainable development indicator system was regarded as the basic approach of realizing its sustainable development. Taking Puwa small watershed as study object, this paper quantitative analysis that the status of small watershed sustainable development by using AHP-PCA method. In this paper, taking AHP-PCA method as a powerful tool, by calculating comprehensive evaluation values of sustainable development as well as objective analysis of the level of sustainable development in different years the sustainable development situation of Puwa small watershed was evaluated. Corresponding strategies were put forward to supply relational decision-making departments with reference.

Stakeholder analysis: a conceptual framework for sustainable watershed development in the Ikwuano watershed in south east Nigeria

One of the major challenges face by man is the need to achieve a balance between the utilization of natural resources and at the same time maintain an optimal resource environment. A way out of this logjam is the recognition of the various interest groups involved in the use and conservation of such resources. This approach will thus improved the involvement of the parties in the sustainable use , management and conservation of such resources as well as reduced conflicts arising from the utilization and or non-utilization of the resources. In this paper we outline a framework for establishing stakeholder analysis for natural resource management on a community scale. Key words: Stakeholder Analysis, watershed development

Simulation-Optimization Framework to Support Sustainable Watershed Development by Mimicking the Predevelopment Flow Regime

The modification of land and water resources for human use alters the natural hydrologic flow regime of a downstream receiving body of water. The natural flow regime is essential for sustaining biotic structure and equilibrium within the ecosystem. Best management practices mitigate the increased storm water runoff due to increased imperviousness and are typically designed and located within a watershed to match peak and minimum flows for a small set of targeted design storms. Ecosystems are, however, affected by all the characteristics of a long-term flow regime, including the magnitude, duration, frequency, and timing of flows. A more environmentally sustainable approach for watershed development is presented based on the minimization of differences in the characteristics of the flow regime between predevelopment and postdevelopment conditions. The indicator of hydrologic alteration (IHA) is a set of 33 hydrologic indices that characterize a flow regime and, coupled with the range of variability approac...

Assessment of a multi-objective decision support system generated land use plan on forest fodder dependency in a Himalayan watershed

This paper analyzes the impact of integrated watershed land use plans generated through multi-objective optimization techniques in a Central Himalayan watershed on forest fodder dependency for meeting fodder requirements of livestock in the watershed. Alternate land use plans were developed for optimizing four objective functions – maximizing farm income, employment and nutritional security, and minimizing soil loss individually and simultaneously at the watershed level. The analysis was carried under two capital availability scenarios (restricted and unrestricted). The values of cultivated land utilization index (CLUI), crop diversification index (CDI), cropping intensity (CI) and forest dependency were estimated for each plan. Inferior plans were eliminated by applying the Law of Dominance rule. Out of the several optimal plans generated, the best land use plan was selected by employing MODSS techniques. Annual fodder production, sustainable animal population and changes in forest dependency were then computed. Optimal plans suggested significant changes in the number of buffaloes and cows in the watershed and in land use. Under a restricted capital availability scenario, forest dependency would change from existing surplus fodder availability to a dependency of 31.96% under the optimal plan, while under unrestricted capital scenario, forest dependency would be about 29.6%. This technique for land use planning to balance farmer and environmental needs has potential to prepare plans that will reduce current trends of increased forest degradation in the Himalayas. Watershed development and forest management plans in the central middle Himalayan region would therefore need to incorporate several measures to improve forest productivity, in situ moisture conservation and develop effective participatory forest management plans. The complexity of sustainable watershed development in a highly heterogeneous landscape requires that such optimal land use plans be developed for various identified micro-watersheds to meet location specific social and environmental requirements in the Himalayan region.