Comparative Analysis of Watershed Health and Sustainability (Technical Note)

Increasing population and the ever-growing needs cause over exploitation and unprincipled utilization of natural resources. This has led to more extensive and irreparable consequences particularly in arid and semi-arid regions due to their high susceptibility and fragility. Therefore, consequence assessment of the aforementioned issues is essential for integrated management of the watersheds. Although the concepts of watershed health and sustainability are close to each other but there are some differences in between which are not clear to everyone. Hence, the present research aims to identify, clarify, and compare the concepts of watershed health and sustainability. The conducted investigations indicate that the watershed health refers to the ability of the watershed to selfmaintain and recover its potentials after the stresses. This concept is a temporary process closely linked to watershed services. Thus, biophysical criteria are used to assess watershed health and the results obtained from this health assessment can provide an early warning system for managers and policy-makers. Furthermore, the reason behind the problems and stresses in watershed systems can be diagnosed. Watershed sustainability is the ability of a watershed to provide services in the future. Watershed sustainability is a permanent process for which the social, economic, and environmental components are used in the assessment. The proper assessment of watershed health and sustainability provide a proper basis for comprehensive management in the scale of the catchment area. A comprehensive understanding of these concepts helps managers and policy-makers for better management of the resources.