Effects of land use change on annual runoff in Garan watershed, Kordistan province

Population ever increasing and consequent demands in recent decade have encouraged farmers to utilize unsuitable and marginal lands such as forests and ranges for agricultural purposes. However, these lands have high soil erosion potential and low productivity and their proper management is therefore a vital task. In the present study, the land use areas have been evaluated in Garan watershed in Kordistan Province, Iran, from 1995 to 2002 by using three digitized images and corresponding changes have been then assessed. The effects of land use changes on changing annual runoff were ultimately evaluated with the help of moving average and hydrological regime analyses. The results of the study revealed that the variation in water discharge thoroughly followed the annual rainfall oscillation which itself affected land allocation to different land uses.