Impact of land use-land cover changes on the stream flow of the Kolab River Basin using SWAT model

Abstract

Hydrological parameters are affected by many factors, including long-term effects such as climate change that alter rainfall-runoff relationships, and short-term effects related to human intervention (e.g., dam construction, land-use and land-cover change (LUCC)). The consequential impacts of human-induced climate changes and land use changes on hydrological parameters have become a big challenge and convinced to give great attention of many researchers. The Kolab river watershed, Odisha is an important watershed supporting drinking water and recreational activities. In this paper, it is assessed the longterm impacts of LU-LC changes on hydrological parameters using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and a detailed LULC record from 1995-2013.