Effectiveness of Soil and Water Conservation Practices Under Climate Change in the Gorganroud Basin, Iran

Abstract

Assessing the effectiveness of conservation practices under changed climatic conditions has proven to be invaluable in selecting the adaptation practices. Conservationists are concerned that past effective practices may no longer be effective in the future climate change. This research is aimed at assessing the effectiveness of soil and water conservation practices under future climate change, with respect to sediment yield leaving a watershed. For this purpose, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, SWAT, was applied to simulate various climate change scenarios with three soil and water conservation practices to assess possible changes in stream flow, and sediment yield of the Gorganroud watershed in the northern part of Iran. Study results demonstrated that the impact of climate change in the increase of watershed sediment yield is more than the stream flow and varies from 35.9 to 47.7% for the period 2040-2069. Implementing conservation practices under climate change can reduce the sediment yield of watershed up to 7.2% and for the sub-basin scale up to 46.4%. Range management practices were found to be the most effective practice in the decrease of sediment at the sub-basin scale and porous gully plugs and terrace construction, the most effective at the watershed scale. The results indicate that soil and water conservation practices will be more effective at reducing sediment yields under anticipated future climates. Though, implementation of each conservation practice solely was not sufficient to compensate for climate change-driven increases in sediment yield. This study provides valuable information for watershed managers and decision makers regarding selection of soil and water conservation practices for adaptation to climate change.

Assessment of Soil and Water Conservation Practices in the Loess Hilly Region Using a Coupled Rainfall-Runoff-Erosion Model

“…The surface runoff and soil erosion in the rainy season (May-October) under future scenarios accounted for nearly 90% and 99% of the total amount in a year, respectively. This was consistent with the results of Azari et al [70] that nearly 75% of the soil erosion occurred in the rainy season because of heavy rainfall. The frequency and intensity of large storms may increase rainfall erosivity force and cause more surface runoff and soil erosion [69,70].…”

“…This was consistent with the results of Azari et al [70] that nearly 75% of the soil erosion occurred in the rainy season because of heavy rainfall. The frequency and intensity of large storms may increase rainfall erosivity force and cause more surface runoff and soil erosion [69,70]. Water-induced soil erosion mainly resulted from soil particle detachment by the shearing force of raindrops and overland flow, and the movement and transport by rain splash and runoff [71].…”

A methodological framework for the hydrological model selection process in water resource management projects

“…In terms of population, the Basin is important for the Golestan Province in Iran, hosting approximately 1.2 million people. The Basin supports an economy based on agriculture (46% of population), industry and mining (20% of population), and supports wildlife habitats (Azari et al, 2017).…”

Comparing causal techniques for rainfall variability analysis using causality algorithms in Iran

“…Therefore, various models to predict effect variability of climatic factors and variables are used ( Cui et al., 2017 ; Javari, 2017a ; Läderach et al., 2017 ; Li et al., 2017 ). In recent years, various CPSRM have been applied in analyzing effect of climatic factors and variables on spatiotemporal levels checking numerous effects in the climate system ( Javari, 2017d ; Azari et al., 2017 ; Untenecker et al., 2017 ; Ciervo et al., 2017 ; Wang et al., 2017a ). However, there are studying facts displaying that climatic variables and suitable factors were not studied ( Wang et al., 2017a , b ; Hermwille et al., 2017 ; Frankel et al., 2009 ; Howarth et al., 2017 ).…”