Ecohydrology of Lotic Systems in Uttara Kannada, Central Western Ghats, India

Abstract

The Western Ghats is the primary catchment for most of the rivers in peninsular India. Pristine forests in this region are rich in biodiversity but are under environmental stress due to unplanned developmental activities. This has given rise to concerns about land use/land cover changes with the realization that the land processes influence the climate. Rapid and unscientific land-use changes undermine the hydrological conditions, and deteriorate all the components in the hydrological regime. The developmental programs, based on ad-hocdecisions, are posing serious challenges to the conservation of fragile ecosystems. Considerable changes in the structure and composition of land use and land cover in the region have been very obvious during the last four decades. Pressure on land for agriculture, vulnerability of degraded ecosystems, the vagaries of high intensity rainfall and consequent occurrences of accelerated erosion and landslides, lack of integrated and coordinated land use planning become some of the reasons for rapid depletion of natural resource base. These changes have adversely affected the hydrological regime of river basins, resulting in diminished river/stream flows. This necessitates conservation of ecosystems in order to sustain their biodiversity, hydrology and ecology. In this situation, for resolving present problems and to avoid any future crisis, a comprehensive assessment of land use changes, its spatial distribution and its impact on hydrological regime were carried out. Accordingly, appropriate remedial methods have been explored for the sustainable utilization of the land and water resources in the catchment. The current research, focusing on five rivers located in the central Western Ghats, monitors water quality along with that of diatoms, land use in the catchment and threats faced by these ecosystems.