SR-7 : Sediment yield from different land uses

Abstract

Sediment yield studies have undergone a major change in the last three decades. In India, the studies concerning the effect of land use changes on sediment yield are limited and are mostly on the experimental watersheds. Very few attempts have been made to study the effect of land use changes on the sediment production for large catchments.

The problems of erosion and subsequent sediment yield are very wide spread and are of great concern to hydrologists and water resources engineers. The phenomena of sedimentation affects the reservoirs, lakes, rivers and other water bodies. This sedimentation would, in a big way, depend upon the soil loss or silt production in the catchment. The silt production soil loss would largely depend upon the land use pattern and land management practices.

In this report, an attempt has been made to present the results of various experimental studies conducted by researchers in India for the amount of soil loss/sediment yield from different land uses. The results are presented for various land uses e.g. forests, grass lands, agricultural lands , fallow lands, ravine lands, bare rocks, horticultural lands. From the results of various studies a summary table has been derived which specifies ranges of sediment yield for each land use.