Location specific identification of insitu soil and water conservation interventions for sustainable management of drylands

Abstract

Identifying the suitable sites for insitu and ex-situ soil and water conservation interventions with the help of survey is one of the giant tasks for planners. Considering the time consumption for conventional geographical surveys for identification of potential sites, a methodology is being developed using the remote sensing and GIS techniques to find the suitable locations for different insitu soil and water conservation interventions. Different thematic layers of slope, soil, rainfall and land use land cover was intersected in ARCGIS and the selected criteria for each intervention was applied for identifying the suitable locations. This methodology was applied for identifying the suitable locations of different insitu soil and water conservation interventions such as contour bunds, semi-circular bunds, small pits, contour bench terraces, contour ridges and stone bunds in Adilabad District of Telangana state. Among the different interventions selected, stone bunds, contour bunds and small pits are more suitable for major portion of the Adilabad District. This methodology deciphers more precise, easier and less time consuming planning technique which has the ability to process districts or even large catchments.