Watershed Prioritization using Morphometric and Land Use/Land Cover Parameters of Dudhganga Catchment Kashmir Valley India using Spatial Technology

Abstract

Watershed prioritization has gained importance in natural resources management, especially in the context of watershed management. Morphometric and land use analysis has been commonly applied to prioritization of watersheds. In the present study, prioritization on the basis of morphometricand land use analysis of watersheds have been performed for the Dudhganga catchment of Kashmir Valley J&K. Various morphometric parameters, namely linear and shape have been determined for each watersheds and assigned ranks on the basis of value/relationship so as to arrive at a compound value for a final ranking of the watershed. Land use/land cover change analysis of the watersheds has been carried out using multi-temporal data of Land sat TM of 1991 and Land sat TM of 2010. The study demonstrates the significant land use changes especially in built up land, agricultural lands, plantation, forest, scrubland, and wastelands from 1991 to 2010. Based on morphometric and land use/land cover analysis, the watersheds have been classified into three categories as high, medium and low in terms of priority for conservation and management of natural resources.