Soil Erosion Impact Assessment using USLE/GIS Approaches to Identify High Erosion Risk Areas in the Lowland Agricultural Watershed of Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia

Kidist Tsegaye; Hailu Kendie Addis; Ebrahim Esa Hassen

doi:10.21467/ias.8.1.120-129

Authors

Kidist Tsegaye Department of Natural Resources Management, College of Agriculture and Rural Transformation, University of Gondar
Hailu Kendie Addis Soil and Water Management Directorate, Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Ebrahim Esa Hassen Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Gondar

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21467/ias.8.1.120-129

Abstract

Erosion map of a watershed offers a wealth of knowledge and can be crucial for implementing site-specific management interventions. Thus, watershed-based soil erosion assessment was conducted to recognize erosion hotspot areas, while aiming to roughly calculate the average annual soil loss in Genda-wuha watershed, with a total area of 154,548.5 ha located in the northwest lowland of Blue Nile basin Ethiopia using USLE/GIS approach. Sixteen years of rainfall data, 53 soil sample data, a 30m by 30m digital elevation model (DEM), a land-use/land-cover map, and support practice factor were used to determine high erosion risk areas. The USLE parameters were integrated and analyzed using a raster calculator in the ArcGIS platform to predict and map the mean annual soil loss of Genda-wuha watershed. The result showed that the annual soil loss of the watershed extends from none in the lower and middle part of the watershed to 75.36 Megagram (Mg) ha^-1yr^-1 in the steeper parts of the watershed with a mean annual soil loss of 7.9 Mg ha^-1yr^-1. Most of the soil erosion affected areas are spatially situated in the upper steep slope parts of Genda-wuha watershed, which could be as a result of an increased slope gradient and length in the specified location. However, the majority of the watershed (82.62%) was estimated to be low erosion rates varying from 0 to 5 Mg ha^–1 yr^–1and these areas correspond primarily to nearly flat landscapes of the watershed.

Keywords:

Cover factor; digital elevation model; Genda-wuha watershed; soil erodibility; soil erosion

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