About Book

The importance of water- the most precious of natural resource and especially in the context of its relevance to human beings and modern countries – cannot be overstated. Watershed management is the utilization of water that necessitates the movement of water from the source to areas where human civilization resides – urban, semi-urban and rural. Watershed management is an attempt to halt land degradation and a holistic process for getting maximum production out of land. Watershed management implies rational utilisation of land and water resources for optimum and sustained production, with the minimum of hazard to natural resources. Landowners, land use agencies, stormwater management experts, environmental specialists, water use surveyors and communities all play an integral part in watershed management. Focusing on the technical, social, and economic issues involved in watershed management, this interdisciplinary book focuses on bettering land use practices and the condition of soil water resources. This book discusses the various models of ecological assessment and its relation to the severity of risk that is posed. It includes in-depth researches about fuzzy hydrologic model, upstream landscape dynamics, suspended sediment, land use changes, hydrological experimental system, remote sensing and GIS applications. From theories to research practical applications, case studies related to all contemporary topics of relevance of this field have been included in this book. It is a compilation of chapters that discusses the most vital concepts and emerging trends in the field of watershed management. As this field is emerging at a rapid pace, the contents of this book will help the readers understand the modern concepts and applications of the subject.

Preface ..................................................................................................................... v

1 Practice on the Watershed Hydrological Experimental System Reconciling

Deterministic and Stochastic Subjects Based on the System Complexity: ...

1. Theoretical Study .............................................................................................. 1

Abstract ........................................................................................................... 1

1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 2

2. Dialog with the hydrological nature .......................................................... 3

3. Organization of the watershed hydrological experimental system

(WHES) ........................................................................................................... 18

4. Conclusions .................................................................................................. 26

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 27

2. Practice on the Watershed Hydrological Experimental System Reconciling

Deterministic and Stochastic Subjects Based on the System Complexity: ...

2. Practice and Test .............................................................................................. 32

Abstract ......................................................................................................... 32

1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 33

2. Practice on the WHES: I–Nandadish, a natural CZEB ........................... 33

3. Practice on the WHES: II–Hydrohill, an artificial catchment ............... 43

4. Some results ................................................................................................. 60

5. Conclusions .................................................................................................. 62

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 63

3. Assessing the Impact of Land Use Changes and Rangelands and Forest

Degradation on Flooding Using Watershed Modeling System ................. 69

Abstract ......................................................................................................... 69

1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 70

2. Materials and methods ............................................................................... 72

3. Results ........................................................................................................... 78

4. Discussion ..................................................................................................... 83

5. Conclusions .................................................................................................. 84

References ..................................................................................................... 85

4. Bedload and Suspended Sediment of a Watershed Impacted by Dams .. 87

Abstract ......................................................................................................... 87

1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 88

2. Importance of sediment transport in watersheds ................................. 89

3. Suspended sediment and bedload transport .......................................... 90

4. The sediment flux from continent to the ocean ...................................... 91

5. Impact of dams on trapping sediments ................................................... 93

6. Sediment delivery in the shoreline and coa-stal erosion ...................... 94

7. Material and methods ................................................................................. 99

8. Velocity measurement .............................................................................. 100

9. Water discharge measurement ............................................................... 100

10. Sampling of suspended sediment and bedload .................................... 101

11. Results and discussion .............................................................................. 103

12. Conclusions ................................................................................................ 107

Acknowledgements ................................................................................... 107

References ................................................................................................... 107

5. Stakeholder Involvement in Sustainable Watershed Management ........ 113

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 113

2. Watershed management approaches ..................................................... 122

3. Organizational approaches in watershed management .................... 125

4. Watershed management studies in developing country .................... 136

5. Current situation of watershed management in Turkey .................... 144

6. Discussions and conclusion ..................................................................... 149

References ................................................................................................... 152

6. Fuzzy Hydrologic Model in Tropical Watershed ........................................ 160

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 160

2. Study area ................................................................................................... 161

3. Fuzzy theory .............................................................................................. 161

4. The Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCSCN) hydrologic

model ........................................................................................................... 162

5. Model implementation .............................................................................. 164

6. Result discussions ..................................................................................... 171

7. Conclusions ................................................................................................ 173

References ................................................................................................... 174

7. Integrated Remote Sensing and GIS Applications for Sustainable Watershed

Management: A Case Study from Cyprus .................................................... 177

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 177

2. Study area ................................................................................................... 179

3. Development of methodology for the optimization of classification

accuracy of Landsat TM/ETM+ imagery in a catchment area in

Cyprus ......................................................................................................... 180

4. Assessing soil erosion rate in a catchment area in Cyprus using

remote sensing and GIS techniques ........................................................ 185

5. Flood mapping of Yialias river catchment area in Cyprus using

ALOS PALSAR radar images ................................................................... 191

6. Monitoring urban land cover with the use of satellite remote sensing

techniques as a means of flood risk assessment in Cyprus ................ 200

7. Overall conclusions ................................................................................... 209

Acknowledgement ..................................................................................... 209

References ................................................................................................... 209

8. Upstream Landscape Dynamics of US National Parks with Implications for

Water Quality and Watershed Management ................................................ 214

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 214

2. Assessing watershed condition .............................................................. 217

3. Results and discussion .............................................................................. 224

4. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 237

5. Acknowledgment ...................................................................................... 237

References ................................................................................................... 238

Citation ................................................................................................................ 247

Index .................................................................................................................... 249

About Author

Cynthia Romano pursued her M.Sc. Degree in Environmental Science from Public University, Sheffield. Her academic interests lie in evolutionary ecology and ecosystem management. She is a distinguished professor of undergraduate education and currently serves as guest faculty for several universities across Europe. She has wide-ranging areas of academic and research interests, which include biodiversity, ecosystem ecology and ecosystem modelling. Romano has also been an invited speaker at various international ecology and environmental conferences. She has been associated with environmental research projects in various public universities.