Prediction of Land Use Management Scenarios Impact on Water Erosion Risk in Kashidar Watershed, Azadshahr, Golestan Province

Soil erosion is a serious problem especially in northern parts of Iran. One the most important side effects on soil erosion may be the decline in qualities of soil refers to agricultural productivity. So it is very important to assess the soil erosion risk for the sustainable development of agriculture. This study outlines ways undertaken to provide a new tool to manage water erosion from physical and economical perspectives. Kashidar Watershed in north of Iran is used as a case study. The focus of this study is on exploring the economic and physical impacts of eight land use-based scenarios for water erosion management as well as conducting a trade-off analysis using the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique. This involves developing a modeling system to assist decision makers in formulating scenarios, analyzing the impacts of these scenarios on water erosion, interpreting and suggesting appropriate scenarios for implementation in the area. This study was conducted with object of modeling and assessing soil erosion risk in Kashidar Watershed with the application of IMAGE\LDM. Rainfall erosivity index, relief index, soil erosivity index and land cover index were four basic factors used in IMAGE\LDM. Soil erosion risk can be divided into six groups. Furthermore, the spatial distribution characteristics were also analyzed with the application of GIS in the view of elevation, land use types. Among 8 scenarios for water erosion management, most appropriate ones that have minimum proportion of high water erosion hazard classes, maximum gross margin and minimum establishment cost were chosen as best scenarios.