Watershed prioritization has gained importance in natural resources management, especially in the context of watershed management. Morphometric analysis has been commonly applied to prioritization of watersheds. The present study makes an attempt to prioritize sub-watersheds based on morphometric and land use characteristics using remote sensing and GIS techniques in Kanera watershed of Guna district, Madhya Pradesh. Various morphometric parameters, namely linear and shape have been determined for each sub-watershed and assigned ranks on the basis of value/relationship so as to arrive at a computed value for a final ranking of the sub-watersheds. Land use/land cover change analysis of the sub-watersheds has been carried out using multi-temporal data of IRS LISS II of 1989 and IRS LISS III of 2001. The study demonstrates the significant land use changes especially in cultivated lands, open scrub, open forest, water bodies and wastelands from 1989 to 2001. Based on morphometric and land use/land cover analysis, the sub-watersheds have been classified into three categories as high, medium and low in terms of priority for conservation and management of natural resources. Out of the seven sub-watersheds, two sub-watersheds viz., SW1 and SW6 qualify for high priority, whereas SW7 has been categorised as medium priority based on the integration of morphometric and land use change analysis.

Jaggar watershed is a constituent of the Gambhir river basin, in eastern Rajasthan and covers an area of 352.82 km2, representing arid climate. The drainage network is dendritic to sub-dendritic pattern however parallel to sub-parallel has also developed locally. The Jaggar watershed has been divided into fourteen sub-watersheds, designated as SW1 to SW14, for prioritization purpose. The prioritization of the sub-watersheds has been done on the basis of morphometric analysis and land use/land cover categories. Various morphometric parameters (linear and shape) have been determined for each sub-watershed and assigned rank on the basis of value/relationship with erodibility so as to arrive at a compound value for final ranking of the sub-watersheds. Land use/land cover mapping has been carried out using IRS LISS III data of 1998. Based on morphometric and land use/land cover analysis and their ranks, the sub-watersheds have been classified into four categories as very high, high, medium and low in terms of priority for conservation and management of natural resources. The prioritization results based on morphometry reveal that only SW7 and SW10 fall under very high priority, whereas SW6, SW11 and SW13 fall under very high priority on the basis of land use/land cover analysis. However on the integration of morphometry and land use/land cover only SW14 show common priority whereas rest have little or no correlation.

Land and water resources development plans are generally adopted at watershed level. Delineation of watersheds and their prioritization within large river basins requires host of terrain parameters to be studied and analysed. Chopan watershed in Central India has been studied for sub-watershed delineation and prioritization based on drainage morphometry, land use/land cover and sediment yield index analysis using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The watershed was demarcated into five sub-watersheds on the basis of drainage flow directions, contour value, slope, elevation. Geocoded satellite data of 1989 and 2001 on 1:50 000 scale were visually interpreted to prepare land use/land cover and drainage maps which were later digitized using Arcview/ArcGIS. Linear and shape aspects of the sub-watersheds were computed and used for prioritization. The results show widespread variation in drainage characteristics, land cover changes and sediment yield rates across sub-watersheds. On the basis of morphometric, land use/land cover change and sediment yield index, sub-watersheds were grouped into low, medium and high priority. A correlation of results show that SW1 and SW5 are common sub-watersheds falling under high and low priority based on morphometric, land use change analysis and SYI. The priority list of sub-watersheds will be crucial for decision making and implementation of land and water resource conservation projects.

The present study makes an attempt to assess land use/land cover (LU/LC) changes at watershed level through remote sensing and GIS techniques, in Makhawan Watershed, Madhya Pradesh (India). The study involves multi-temporal satellite data of IRS-1D LISS III of 2001 and IRS-P6 LISS III of 2011, which have been analyzed visually. The study reveals that major LU/LC changes were due to the combined effects of many parameters, viz.; decline in average rainfall, more urbanization, sustainable agricultural activities and successful wasteland reclamation programmes. The major LU/LC changes noticed in the watershed decrease in uncultivated land (15.79%), wasteland whereas increases in open scrub (13.99%) and cultivated land. Changes in LU/LC categories are also compared with elevation which shows that most of the changes are associated with low lying areas (lower elevation ranges) except open scrub which shows changes in both low as well as high elevation ranges. Another notable change is the shrinkage of reservoir during 2001-2011 period which is linked to the decline in rainfall over the years.

In order to understand the hydrological behavior of a catchment area, morphometric analysis of the drainage basin plays an important role to expresses the geology, geomorphology and structural antecedents. In the present study, morphometric analysis and its influence on hydrology were carried out in Makhawan watershed, Central India, using SRTM, remote sensing and GIS. SRTM data were used for preparation of DEM, slope and aspect maps. DEM was used to delineate the watershed limits and to extract the channel network, which was later updated using IRS 1D LISS III data. The hydrological module in ArcGIS was used for calculation of watershed and morphometric parameters, under linear, relief and aerial aspects. The watershed shows dendritic-to-sub-dendritic drainage pattern; however, parallel-to-sub-parallel pattern developed locally which may be due to rejuvenation of streams in mature stage with moderate drainage texture. High drainage density in the watershed is observed over impermeable subsurface material, sparse vegetation with high relief; whereas, low drainage density is found over permeable subsurface material and low relief. It has been found that low relief with low drainage density areas are favorable sites for more groundwater prospects.