The potential for land use change to reduce flood risk in mid-sized catchments in the Myjava region of Slovakia

The effects of land use management practices on surface runoff are evident on a local scale, but evidence of their impact on the scale of a watershed is limited. This study focuses on an analysis of the impact of land use changes on the flood regime in the Myjava River basin, which is located in Wes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Contributions to geophysics & geodesy Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 95 - 112
Main Authors:	Rončák, Peter, Lisovszki, Evelin, Szolgay, Ján, Hlavčová, Kamila, Kohnová, Silvia, Csoma, Rózsa, Poórová, Jana
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Bratislava De Gruyter Open 01-06-2017 Earth Science Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences Earth Science Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia
Subjects:	Agricultural land Agricultural practices Arable land Catchment area Catchments Components Computer simulation design floods Discharge Environmental risk Erosion Erosion processes Erosion rates Evapotranspiration Flood management Flood protection Flood regime Flood risk Flooding Floods Forest management Forests Geographical information systems Geology Grasses Groundwater Groundwater runoff Hydrologic models Hydrology Impact analysis Land management Land use land use change land use change, land use scenarios, the wetspa model, maximum discharges, design floods Land use management land use scenarios maximum discharges Outlets Pedology Protection Rain Rainfall runoff Rainfall-runoff modeling Rainfall-runoff relationships River basins Rivers Runoff Slope Slopes Soil Soil erosion Soil moisture Solutions Surface runoff the WetSpa model Water balance Watersheds Slovakia
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Summary:	The effects of land use management practices on surface runoff are evident on a local scale, but evidence of their impact on the scale of a watershed is limited. This study focuses on an analysis of the impact of land use changes on the flood regime in the Myjava River basin, which is located in Western Slovakia. The Myjava River basin has an area of 641.32 km and is typified by the formation of fast runoff processes, intensive soil erosion, and muddy floods. The main factors responsible for these problems with flooding and soil erosion are the basin’s location, geology, pedology, agricultural land use, and cropping practices. The GIS-based, spatially distributed WetSpa rainfall-runoff model was used to simulate mean daily discharges in the outlet of the basin as well as the individual components of the water balance. The model was calibrated based on the period between 1997 and 2012 with outstanding results (an NS coefficient of 0.702). Various components of runoff (e.g., surface, interflow and groundwater) and several elements of the hydrological balance (evapotranspiration and soil moisture) were simulated under various land use scenarios. Six land use scenarios (‘crop’, ‘grass’, ‘forest’, ‘slope’, ‘elevation’ and ‘optimal’) were developed. The first three scenarios exhibited the ability of the WetSpa model to simulate runoff under changed land use conditions and enabled a better adjustment of the land use parameters of the model. Three other “more realistic” land use scenarios, which were based on the distribution of land use classes (arable land, grass and forest) regarding permissible slopes in the catchment, confirmed the possibility of reducing surface runoff and maximum discharges with applicable changes in land use and land management. These scenarios represent practical, realistic and realizable land use management solutions and they could be economically implemented to mitigate soil erosion processes and enhance the flood protection measures in the Myjava River basin.
ISSN:	1338-0540 1335-2806 1338-0540
DOI:	10.1515/congeo-2017-0007