Estimation of sediment yield by using Soil and Water Assessment Tool for an agricultural watershed in Eastern India Sarkar Surojit, Vaibhav Vivek, Singh Ajai* Centre for Water Engineering and Management, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi-835205, Chhattisgarh, India *E-mail: ajai.singh@cuj.ac.in
Online published on 27 April, 2017. Abstract Soil erosion due to accelerating runoff in various land cover types poses a serious threat to the long term sustainability of the fragile Chotki Berghi watershed in Jharkhand. Estimation of sediment yield is needed to study7 the reservoir sedimentation, river morphology7 and taking up any7 soil and water conservation measures. The study7 was aimed at delimitation of the zones of high runoff and consequently7 soil erosion in the agricultural dominated Chotki Berghi watershed. Identification of such zones could help in the implementation of better land management practices. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was applied to simulate stream flow and sediment yield. The model was calibrated for the period 2004–2006 and validated for 2007–2008. Nine highly7 sensitive parameters were identified of which base flow alpha factor was the most sensitive one. The results were satisfactory7 for the gauging station with coefficient of determination, R = 0.75 and Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency7 coefficient, NSE = 0.78 for calibration and R = 0.62 and NSE = 0.68 for validation period. Sub-basin 5 contributed highest sediment load to the outlet and thus need immediate attention. The SWAT model could be effectively7 used to predict stream flow and sediment yield in order to effectively7 design irrigation sy7stem and water resources planning and management at large scale. Top Keywords Hydrologic modeling, SWAT, SWAT-CUP, Sediment yield, Sediment distribution, Jharkhand. Top |