Impact of land use change on hydrological systems: A review of current modeling approaches

Abstract

Hydrologic modeling plays a very important role in assessing the seasonal water availability, which is necessary to take decisions in water resources manage-ment. Both climate and land use and land cover change have great influence on the hydrological response of a watershed. The main aim of this study is to provide a detailed review of studies which have been carried out to analyze the hydrologi-cal impacts of land use change, and also to evaluate different scenario modeling approaches. In addition, a brief description of basic hydrologic models which are used to simulate the stream flow is provided. This review paper tried to explain the importance of model comparison and performance evaluation in modeling stud-ies. The following conclusions may be drawn from this review: (1) it is necessary to model the possible impacts of land use change and climate change in order to pro-ceed with effective water resources management, (2) it is important to analyze the variation in hydrological response in catchments with different land use characteris-tics and climatic conditions and also under climate scenarios, and (3) integration of different models with hydrologic models can be considered as an efficient method to forecast future trends in hydrological response. The conservation of land and water resources is significant for the sustainable development of mankind. But, the rapid development in the pace of industrialization and urbanization has put pressure on the natural resources of the earth leading to degradation and becoming a global problem. In addition to climate change, land use change is one of the important human interventions altering the quality and quantity of surface and ground water. It is essential to model the complex relationship between various hydrological processes and their behavior in relation to human induced modifications. Present study talks about, how human activities are affecting the environment and impacts of change in climate and natural vegetation on the availability of water resources? and how to predict future change? This information helps people to realize the effect of human activities on climate change and hence it makes them to take necessary precautions regarding conservation of the resource.