An Indicator System for Assessing Soil Erosion in the Loess Plateau Gully Regions:A Case Study in the Wangdonggou Watershed,China

The Wangdonggou Watershed on the Loess Plateau in China was selected as the study area to develop a model for soil erosion assessments. Using the data collected at 20 sampling sites all tentatively selected indicators were assessed against their corresponding erosion intensity through a correlation analysis. Eight highly correlated indicators were then chosen for the soil erosion assessment. In addition, threshold limits to delineate the class size for these indicators and weights to rank them were determined. Next, a grading model incorporating the selected indicators class rating and their associated weights was developed and verified by an on site evaluation of the soil erosion intensity in the study area. Results of the verification showed that the overall accuracy of the indicator system for assessing soil erosion in the Loess Plateau gully regions could reach 85%.

Phosphorus removal by the multipond system sediments receiving agricultural drainage in a headstream watershed

Wetland systems in headstream watersheds are important to control the nonpoint source pollutant phosphorus. Experiments were conducted using intact sediment-water columns obtained from the multipond system in Liuchahe watershed of Chaohu Lake to determine its capacity to retain P. It was found that pond sediments had strong P retention ability. For the Hill pond, Village pond and Rice pond, their retention coefficient(A) were 288.3, 279.2 and 260.8 L/m2, respectively. The equilibrium P concentration(EPC_w) were 0.016, 0.028 and 0.018 mg/L, respectively. The Hill pond indicated the highest P retention ability. P retained in the pond sediments indicated high stable degree. P removal from the overlying water column into the pond sediments followed a first-order kinetic model. Under the experimental hydrological conditions, the retention time had a positive correlation with the P loading. The multipond system could provide enough retention time to retain P in drainage runoffs. At the P levels evaluated, the sediments of the multipond system are effective sinks to retain P from nonpoint source runoffs.

Flood Hazard Prediction from Soil Properties by Remote Sensing and Genographic Information System:A Case Study of Mae Rim Watershed,Chiang Mai Province,Thailand

Physiography and soil in Mae Rim watershed, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand were investigated by using aerial photographs and satellite image in conjunction with field work, and soil infiltration rate and soil shear resistance were measured in field. Many factors affecting runoff were analyzed using the Integrated Land and Water Information System (ILWIS). As a result, a model determining flood hazard was set up. Three maps including runoff curve number map, runoff coefficient map, and flood inundation map were created. In addition, the time of concentration was predicted.

Oasis System and Its Reasonable Development in Sangong River Watershed in North of the Tianshan Mountains,Xinjiang,China

Under the guide of system theory, taking the oasis in the Sangong River watershed as a case study, this paper analyzes the oasis structure and function from 4 aspects including oasis spatial structure, water resources structure, vegetation structure, economic structure and their corresponding functions. The results indicate that as a typical small-scale watershed, Sangong River watershed has the relatively complete mountain-basin structure, and ecological and productive function. Because of human drastic activity the utilization rate of water resources was as high as 98.7%, and the utilization of groundwater was not reasonable, which resulted in an average annual decline of 0.353m in the water table of alluvial-diluvial-fan oasis, and an average annual increase of 0.047m in the alluvial-plain. The layout of crop and shelter forest benefits to the utilization of water and land resources. The development of oasis economy is at low level, and its eco-economic function is weak.

A watershed-based adaptive knowledge system for developing ecosystem stakeholder partnerships

This study proposes a Watershed-based Adaptive Knowledge System(WAKES) to consistently coordinate multiple stakeholders in developing sustainable partnerships for ecosystem management.WAKES is extended from the institutional mechanism of Payments for Improving Ecosystem Services at the Watershed-scale(PIES-W).PIES-W is designed relating to the governance of ecosystem services flows focused on a lake as a resource stock connecting its inflowing and outflowing rivers within its watershed.It explicitly realizes the values of conservation services provided by private land managers and incorporates their activities into the public organizing framework for ecosystem management.It implicitly extends the "upstream-to-downstream" organizing perspective to a broader vision of viewing the ecosystems as comprised of both "watershed landscapes" and "marine landscapes".Extended from PIES-W,WAKES specifies two corresponding feedback:Framework I and II.Framework I is a relationship matrix comprised of three input-output structures of primary governance factors intersecting three subsystems of a watershed with regard to ecosystem services and human stakeholders.Framework II is the Stakeholder-and-Information structure channeling five types of information among four stakeholder groups in order to enable the feedbacks mechanism of Framework I.WAKES identifies the rationales behind three fundamental information transformations,illustrated with the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis and the Strategic Action Program of the Bermejo River Binational Basin.These include(1) translating scientific knowledge into public information within the Function-and-Service structure corresponding to the ecological subsystem,(2) incorporating public perceptions into political will within the Serviceand-Value structure corresponding to the economic subsystem,and(3) integrating scientific knowledge,public perceptions and political will into management options within the Value-and-Stakeholder structure corresponding to the social subsystem.This study seeks to share a vision of social adaptation for a global sustainable future through developing a network to adopt contributions from and forming partnerships among all ecosystem stakeholders.

The morphological characteristics of gully systems and watersheds in Dry-Hot Valley, SW China

Gully systems and watersheds are geomorphic units with clear boundaries that are relatively independent of basin landscapes and play an important role in natural geography. In order to explore the morphological characteristics of gully systems and watersheds in the Dry-Hot Valley [South West(SW) China], gullies are interpreted from online Google images with high resolution and watersheds are extracted from digital elevation model at a scale of 1:50,000. The results show that:(1) There are17,382 gullies(with a total area of 1141.66 km2) and 42 watersheds in the study area.(2) The average gully density of the study area(D) is 4.29 km/km2, gully frequency(F) is 14.39 gullies/km2, the branching ratio(B) is 5.13, the length ratio(L) is 3.12, and the coefficient of the main and tributary gullies(M) is 0.06. The degree of gully erosion isstrong to extremely strong, the main development intensity of gully erosion ranges from intense to moderate, and the type of gully system is tributary.(3) The watershed areas(A) are between 0.39 and 96.43 km2, the relief ratio(R) is from 0.10 to 0.19, the circularity ratio(C) is from 0.30 to0.83, the texture ratio(T) is from 0.82 to 39.35, and the dominant geomorphological texture type is fine.(4) There is a quantitative relationship between F and D:F = 0.624 D2(R =0.84) and T is closely related to D, F, M(R2[ 0.7). A,R and C are related to M(R2[ 0.5). The development of gully systems is the result of coupling effects between multiple factors. In this area, the degree of erosion and the condition of the main and tributary gullies can be controlled by the degree of topographic breakage in the watershed, which provides some theoretical basis for the evaluation of gully erosion by the latter. In addition, the scale, relief, and shape have a significant impact on the locations of the main and tributary gullies. For tributary gullies, attention should be paid to the interception and control of runoff and sediment in the small confluence branches in order to prevent gully expansion and head advance. These features can inform the development of targeted measures for the control of soil erosion.

Delineation of groundwater potential zones in Wadi Saida Watershed of NW-Algeria using remote sensing,geographic information system-based AHP techniques and geostatistical analysis

Sustainable management of groundwater resources has now become an obligation,especially in arid and semi-arid regions given the socio-economic importance of this resource.The optimization in zoning for groundwater exploitation helps in planning and managing groundwater supply works such as boreholes and wells in the catchment.The objective of this study is to use remote sensing and GIS-based Analytical Hierarchy Process(AHP)techniques to evaluate the groundwater potential of Wadi Saida Watershed.Spatial analysis such as geostatistics was also used to validate results and ensure more accuracy.Through the GIS tools and remote sensing technique,earth observation data were converted into thematic layers such as lineament density,geology,drainage density,slope,land use and rainfall,which were combined to delineate groundwater potential zones.Based on their respective impact on groundwater potential,the AHP approach was adopted to assign weights on multi-influencing factors.These results will enable decision-makers to optimize hydrogeological exploration in large-scale catchment areas and map areas.According to the results,the southern part of the Wadi Saida Watershed is characterized as a higher groundwater potential area,where 32%of the total surface area falls in the excellent and good class of groundwater potential.The validation process revealed a 71%agreement between the estimated and actual yield of the existing boreholes in the study area.

Constrction of watershed flood disastermanagement information system and its application to the catastrophic flood of theYangtze River in 1998

This paper introduces a general method of establishing Watershed Flooding Disaster Management Information System (WFDMIS). The functions, database, models, user interface, software and hardware are considered. An application example in Poyang Lake Basin was given.

Development and Field Evaluation of a Low-Cost Wireless Sensor Network System for Hydrological Monitoring of a Small Agricultural Watershed

Hydrological monitoring and real-time access to data are valuable for hydrological research and water resources management. In the recent decades, rapid developments in digital technology, micro-electromechanical systems, low power micro-sensing technologies and improved industrial manufacturing processes have resulted in retrieving real-time data through Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) systems. In this study, a remotely operated low-cost and robust WSN system was developed to monitor and collect real-time hydrologic data from a small agricultural watershed in harsh weather conditions and upland rolling topography of Southern Ontario, Canada. The WSN system was assembled using off-the-shelf hardware components, and an open source operating system was used to minimize the cost. The developed system was rigorously tested in the laboratory and the field and found to be accurate and reliable for monitoring climatic and hydrologic parameters. The soil moisture and runoff data for 7 springs, 19 summer, and 19 fall season rainfall events over the period of more than two years were successfully collected in a small experimental agricultural watershed situated near Elora, Ontario, Canada. The developed WSN system can be readily extended for the purpose of most hydrological monitoring applications, although it was explicitly tailored for a project focused on mapping the Variable Source Areas (VSAs) in a small agricultural watershed.

Agricultural Land Use Optimal Allocation System in Developing Area:Application to Yili Watershed, Xinjiang Region

In developing countries, land productivity involves little market, where the agricultural land use is mainly determined by the food demands as well as the land suitability. The land use pattern will not ensure everywhere enough land for certain cropping if spatial allocation just according to land use suitability. To solve this problem, a subzone and a pre-allocation for each land use are added in spatial allocation module, and land use suitability and area optimi- zation module are incorporated to constitute a whole agricultural land use optimal allocation （ALUOA） system. The system is developed on the platform .Net 2005 using ArcGIS Engine （version 9.2） and C# language, and is tested and validated in Yili watershed of Xinjiang Region on the newly reclaimed area. In the case study, with the help of soil data obtained from 69 points sampled in the fieldwork in 2008, main river data supplied by the Department of Water Resources of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China, and temperature data provided by Data Center for Resources and Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, land use suitability on eight common crops are evaluated one by one using linear weighted summation method in the land use suitability model. The linear pro- gramming （LP） model in area optimization model succeeds to give out land area target of each crop under three scenarios. At last, the land use targets are allotted in space both with a six subzone file and without a subzone file. The resuits show that the land use maps with a subzone not only ensure every part has enough land for every crop, but also gives a more fragmental land use pattern, with about 87.99% and 135.92% more patches than the one without, while at the expense of loss between 15.30% and 19.53% in the overall suitability at the same time.

Assessment of soil erosion in the Irga watershed on the eastern edge of the Chota Nagpur Plateau,India

Human activities to improve the quality of life have accelerated the natural rate of soil erosion.In turn,these natural disasters have taken a great impact on humans.Human activities,particularly the conversion of vegetated land into agricultural land and built-up area,stand out as primary contributors to soil erosion.The present study investigated the risk of soil erosion in the Irga watershed located on the eastern fringe of the Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand,India,which is dominated by sandy loam and sandy clay loam soil with low soil organic carbon(SOC)content.The study used the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation(RUSLE)and Geographical Information System(GIS)technique to determine the rate of soil erosion.The five parameters(rainfall-runoff erosivity(R)factor,soil erodibility(K)factor,slope length and steepness(LS)factor,cover-management(C)factor,and support practice(P)factor)of the RUSLE were applied to present a more accurate distribution characteristic of soil erosion in the Irga watershed.The result shows that the R factor is positively correlated with rainfall and follows the same distribution pattern as the rainfall.The K factor values in the northern part of the study area are relatively low,while they are relatively high in the southern part.The mean value of the LS factor is 2.74,which is low due to the flat terrain of the Irga watershed.There is a negative linear correlation between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)and the C factor,and the high values of the C factor are observed in places with low NDVI.The mean value of the P factor is 0.210,with a range from 0.000 to 1.000.After calculating all parameters,we obtained the average soil erosion rate of 1.43 t/(hm^(2)•a),with the highest rate reaching as high as 32.71 t/(hm^(2)•a).Therefore,the study area faces a low risk of soil erosion.However,preventative measures are essential to avoid future damage to productive and constructive activities caused by soil erosion.This study also identifies the spatial distribution of soil erosion rate,which will help policy-makers to implement targeted soil erosion control measures.

Application of a Groundwater Classification System and GIS Mapping System for the Lower Ruby Valley Watershed, Southwest Montana

Classification of groundwater conditions at the watershed scale synthesizes landscape hydrology, provides a mapped summary of groundwater resources, and supports water management decisions. The application of a recently developed watershed-scale groundwater classification methodology is applied and evaluated in the 100,000 hectare lower Ruby Valley watershed of southwestern Montana. The geologic setting, groundwater flow direction, aquifer productivity, water quality, anthropogenic impact to water levels, depth to groundwater, and the degree of connection between groundwater and surface water are key components of the classification scheme. This work describes the hydrogeology of the lower Ruby Valley watershed and illustrates how the classification system is applied to assemble, analyze, and summarize groundwater data. The classification process provides information in summary tables and maps of seamless digital overlays prepared using geographical information system (GIS) software. Groundwater conditions in the watershed are classified as low production bedrock aquifers in the mountainous uplands that recharge the moderate productivity basin-fill sediments. Groundwater levels approach the surface near the Ruby River resulting in sufficient groundwater discharge to maintain stream flow during dry, late summer conditions. The resulting classification data sets provide watershed managers with a standardized organizational tool that represents groundwater conditions at the watershed scale.

Spatial Variability of Selected Soil Attributes under Agricultural Land Use System in a Mountainous Watershed, Ethiopia

In the Ethiopian Highlands, research projects were often measuring soil attributes of spatially structured point data but soil variability at a watershed scale is not clearly defined. This study was conducted to assess the correlation among selected soil attributes and to illustrate the spatial pattern and dependence of neighboring observations. The 53.7 km2?study watershed was divided into a 500 m by 500 m square grid using arcgis and at the center of each grid soil samples from 0 to 25 cm depth were collected within 184 locations. The descriptive statistics revealed available phosphorous (AP) had the largest coefficient of variation (CV = 104) while pH was the least variable. There was a positive link between elevation and SOC whereas bulk density (ρd) and pH indicated an inverse relationship with elevation and SOC. The value for nugget/sill of ρd, pH and elevation are less than 0.25, and depicts that it has strong spatial autocorrelation. The value for nugget/?sill of SOC, and TN found between 0.25 and 0.75, and indicate that they have moderate spatial?autocorrelation. With regard to AP, the value for nugget/sill is more than 0.75, which displays a weak?spatial autocorrelation. Semivariograms of ρd, pH and elevation were best fitted to Gaussian model whereas SOC, TN and AP were best fitted to exponential function. Generally, the study verified that soil measurements taken at the given scale through regular sampling interval were adequate to capture the spatial dependence of numerous initial soil assessments in the study watershed.

Web-Based Spatial Decision Support System andWatershed Management with a Case Study

In order to maintain a proper balance between development pressure and water resources protection, and also to improve public participation, efficient tools and techniques for soil and water conservation projects are needed. This paper describes the development and application of a web-based watershed management spatial decision support system, WebWMPI. The WebWMPI uses the Watershed Management Priority Indices (WMPI) approach which is a prioritizing method for watershed management planning and it integrates land use/cover, hydrological data, soils, slope, roads, and other spatial data. The land is divided into three categories: Conservation Priority Index (CPI) land, Restoration Priority Index (RPI) land, and Stormwater Management Priority Index (SMPI) land. Within each category, spatial factors are rated based on their influence on water resources and critical areas can be identified for soil conservation, water quality protection and improvement. The WebWMPI has user-friendly client side graphical interfaces which enable the public to interactively run the server side Geographic Information System to evaluate different scenarios for watershed planning and management. The system was applied for Dry Run Creek watershed (Cedar Falls, Iowa, US) as a demonstration and it can be easily used in other watersheds to prioritize crucial areas and to increase public participation for soil and water conservation projects.

Spatial Availability of Nitrogen and Pesticides in the Surface Layers of Agricultural Soils of Tropical Hydrosystems in the Wet Season: Case of the BéréWatershed in Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa)

The objective of this study was to assess the contribution of the spatial organization of cropping systems and the physicochemical properties of surface layers of the agricultural zones soils in tropical hydrosystems to the spatial availability of nitrogen and pesticides during the wet season, such as the Béré watershed (BW) in C?te d’Ivoire. For this purpose, after mapping the spatial distribution of the BW cropping systems based on the likelihood classification methodology of satellite images of the study area, 27 samples from the 0 - 20 cm horizon of the soil surface layers of the agricultural areas were taken during the wet and agricultural season of the year 2016. The Kjeldahl method has been used to evaluate the total nitrogen concentration and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) chain made it possible for the analysis of pesticide residues in the soil solutions. Geostatistical analysis and processing of spatial data and physicochemical and agrochemical soil parameters revealed that two major agricultural areas stand out in the BW, namely the Béré upstream watershed (BUW) dominated at 32.65% by annual croppings (maize, cotton, rainfed or lowland rice, market gardening, etc.) and the Béré downstream watershed (BDW) by large areas of perennial croppings (cashew nuts, cocoa, etc.), i.e. 21.47%. Agricultural soils in BW are usually of the moderately desaturated ferralitic type with a low acid pH and a quite strong temperature, such as those of tropical soils’ characteristics. However, agricultural soils in the BUW are characterized by higher proportions of sand and coarse sand. The parameters such as total porosity, cation exchange capacity, clay, organic matter, silt, fine silt, coarse silt, and potassium ions, are higher in the soils of the agricultural area of the BDW. Moreover, soils in the agricultural areas of the BUW are less rich in total nitrogen (0.84 g·kg-1) in contrast to those of the BDW (1.2 g·kg-1). On the other hand, the median concentrations of total pesticides remain very high in the BUW (193.80 μg·kg-1) in front of those of the BDW (94.81 μg·kg-1). In addition, the biological family of herbicides was the most notable in BW. The chemical families of triazines (100% detection;79.37 μg·kg-1) are the most important in the agricultural area of the BUW with the very significant presence of active molecules of pesticides such as simazine (92.86% detection;13.17 μg·kg-1). However, in the BDW, urea substitute (100% detection;44.02 μg·kg-1) dominate, including the active substance chlortoluron (84.62% detection;10.12 μg·kg-1). The presence and abundance of nitrogen and pesticides in the soils of the agricultural areas of BW are strongly linked to the intensive use of these agrochemicals in cropping systems in recent decades in West African countries, even though most of the active molecules found are forbidden in several countries, especially in European countries. These are applied to tropical agricultural soils with physicochemical characteristics favorable to their retention in wet weather, as confirmed by the case of BW’s agricultural soils. Therefore, the BW’s water resources present worrying risks of contamination during rainy events that deserve to be assessed and monitored. Hence the need to take mitigating measures to this effect in order to preserve the quality of the environment.

Analysis of the Water Management System in a Mountain Territory, the Case of the Nekor Watershed, Rif, Morocco

Integrated management has become an essential approach for sustainable water resource management. However, if the concept seems relevant, its concrete application at the local scale has yet to be undertaken, with all the difficulties related to the complexity underlying the issue. The Rif is characterized by the multiplication and interdependence of uses, the overlapping responsibilities between public and private actors, the superposition of sectoral regulations, which raises the following question: Is the current management of water resources in the Rif mountains suitable for a future constraining on several aspects: socio-economic and climatic? The general objective of this work is to analyze the current management of water resources scientifically, politically, institutionally and legally, to identify the innovations needed for sustainable management and adaptation to climate change in the Rif Mountains. The systemic approach allowed us to highlight and prioritize the structuring elements of water management in the Nekor basin and their interactions. The crossing of hydrological data with socio-economic data allowed us to have a global and multidisciplinary vision of both uses and water resources, and of all the components of the system’s environment, the interdependencies influence the management system, despite the complexity accentuated by the lack of data. Indeed, it was difficult to identify the influence of each component. The current degradation of resources is only a reflection of a socio-cultural crisis that can only be remedied by a change in mentality, economic development, social equity and more solidarity between the city and rural communities.

Nutrients Flow as Affected by Cropping System and Production Niche in Smallholder Farmers of Cyabayaga Watershed

Nutrient-balance assessments are valuable tools for both planning and monitoring the implementation of sustainable integrated soil fertility management strategies. The aim of this study was to assess nutrient flows as affected by cropping systems and production niche in soils of Cyabayaga watershed. yabayaga watershed is located in Nyagatare district, Eastern province of Rwanda. Production niches considered are homestead fields, remote hillside fields and wetland fields. Partial nutrient (N, P and K) flows were collected through a survey using MonQi structured questionnaire, administrated to a random sample of 35 farmers. There was nitrogen (N) and Potassium (K) negative balances (– 67.5 kg N ha-1 season-1 and – 7.7 kg K ha-1 season-1 respectively) whereas phosphorous (P) balance was positive (17.4 kg P ha-1 season-1). N, P and K balances were negative in bean, maize-bean, cassava, groundnut, maize, onion, sorghum and tomato and positive in rice, banana and banana-bean. Highest amount of nutrients were significantly allocated in wetland fields while allocation of nutrients in homestead fields and remote hillside fields was almost the same. Groundnut and maize plots were experiencing highest negative nutrients balance (e.g. N balance in groundnut plot was – 40.6 N ha-1 season-1). N and K balance were positive in rice and banana plots;whilst P balance was positive in banana, bean, maize, rice and tomato plots. Partial nutrients flow and balance from this study show that nutrient depletion is a problem in the study area. A special attention should be put to fertility management and alternative solution for less fertile soil (uplands in particular), especially for farm that have reduced land size. From this respect, conservation agriculture is the main farm management which could be recommended.

Payment for Water-Related Ecosystem Services as a Strategic Watershed Management Approach

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) have been created worldwide to assist watershed management and improve or maintain water quality. Considering their importance, we conducted a holistic review of payment for water-related ecosystem services to understand how this instrument has been applied in watershed management worldwide. First, we identified the watershed management actions considered by the PES programs and the challenges of implementing water-related PES. After we identified the methods and criteria used to define priority areas for water-related PES. Our review considered articles published on the Web of Science from 2011 to 2022. We found 236 articles relating PES to water resources, highlighting the main water conservation strategies: native vegetation conservation, native vegetation restoration, and implementing best agricultural practices. The method most frequent was interview, followed by the use of technologies, document analysis, and hydrological models. Another significant result was that priority areas for receiving PES are mainly riparian zones, areas near or with native vegetation cover, areas with higher erosion potential, steep areas, and areas with socially vulnerable communities. This review was crucial to identify efficient water resource conservation strategies and potential challenges in the implementation and development of PES programs.

The Influence of Land Use and Fish Farming on the Contents of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺and Na⁺in Pond and Reservoir Ecosystems in an Agricultural Small Watershed, China

It is not understood well that how the effects of land use and fish farming on the contents of alkali metals (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+ and Na+) in small water bodies of pond and reservoir ecosystems at the watershed scale. In this study, the concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, K+ and Na+ in water bodies were measured for 103 ponds and reservoirs used as fish farming or surrounded by different agricultural land use types in the subtropical hilly watershed of Jinjing (105 km2), China. The two important environmental factors of fishing farming and agricultural land use influenced the spatial variation the contents of alkali metals. The ponds and reservoirs in residential area had significantly higher concentrations of Ca2+ and Na+ than those with other land use types, reflecting the influence of domestic wastewater. Compared with those of natural ponds with non-fish farming, no significant increase of alkali metal contents occurred in fish farming ponds, due to the regular cleaning of ponds by farmers. However, the effect of fish culture on alkali metal contents was still supported indirectly by the fact that the alkali metal contents significantly correlated with nitrate contents in fish farming ponds and but high related with that of DIP in natural ponds. The suitability assessment for irrigation on the pond water indicated that almost all of ponds were suitable for irrigation except some ponds surrounded by residential area and tea plantation. Generally, our results demonstrated that fish farming and agricultural land use affected the contents of alkali metals in ponds and reservoirs. The agricultural water irrigation would be with caution from the ponds with tea plantation and residential area in the subtropical hilly watershed.

Community perspectives on the effectiveness of watershed management institutions in the Himalayas

The sustainability of environmental management initiatives,such as watershed management programs,relies on the presence of effective institutions at the watershed level.However,there needs to be more empirical evidence from evaluating the effectiveness of watershed-level institutions.Therefore,this study presents a pioneering effort to evaluate the effectiveness of Nepal’s first watershed conservation committee at the watershed scale,focusing on the case of the Khageri Khola watershed in Central Nepal.The study involved conducting a household survey,key informant interviews,focus group discussions,and field observations to collect and analyze the data.Descriptive analysis,index value calculation,and chi-square statistics were then employed to summarize the results regarding local respondents’perceptions of twelve institutional characteristics,their rationalities,and their association with socio-demographic variables.The results reveal that the watershed conservation committee was perceived as performing well in managing the watershed.Specifically,good interaction,appropriate scale,technical,environmental,social,organizational,and government rationality were perceived as highly effective,with an average index value of less than 0.36.In contrast,clarity of objectives and economic rationality showed moderate effectiveness,with an average index value ranging from 0.36 to 0.65.However,the results suggested that adaptiveness,compliance capacity,and financial rationality merit increased attention,intending to improve their performance.Further,the results showed the association of socio-demographics with respondents’perceptions of various indicators of institutional characteristics and their rationalities.Therefore,the study provides valuable insights for policymakers,researchers,and development practitioners charged with designing sustainable and effective programs and institutions.To enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of watershed management programs,we recommend establishing a policy-guided institutional mechanism at the watershed scale.This mechanism should be based on various institutional characteristics and rationalities and should consider the extant variability in the socio-demographic and topographic characteristics of the watershed.