Influence of Tea Plantations, Forest and Mixed Farming on Stream Flow and Sediment Loads, Case of Sondu Miriu River Basin, Kenya

Koech, Nancy C.; Kitheka, Johnson U.; Otieno, Hesbon

doi:10.4236/ojmh.2022.124009

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Sondu River drops about 1800 m between the source areas at about 2900 m and the lake level at about 1130 m above sea level (42,46). The general land uses in the basin are agriculture, forest, rain-fed shrub crop (tea estates) mainly on the upper elevations bordering the forest, and settlements scattered across the basin (5,47,48). The area under forest comprises the forest reserve and covers about 84000 ha, which is about 20% of the total Mau Forest coverage.…”

Section: Area Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Deforestation and Anthropogenic Aspects on Streamflow in the Mau Forest Catchments in Kenya: Hydrological Modelling of Surface Water Yields from Sondu River Basin

Rwigi,

J Kinyanjui,

Mutwiri

et al. 2024

ijcsrr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climatic factors determine the amount and distribution of atmospheric water received at the land surface while the land cover conditions determine the partitioning of this water into different hydrological components and ultimately the catchment surface water yields. This study assessed the effects of deforestation of a tropical catchment on surface water yields to address fluctuating flows of the rivers emanating from Mau Forest, the largest water tower in Kenya. Sondu basin traverses Southwest Mau Forest covering an area of 3500 km2. The main channel in the basin flows in a southwest direction into Lake Victoria in an altitudinal range of 2900 to 1130 m a.s.l over a length of 173 km. Different deforestation scenarios over the basin were integrated with climate data to form inputs to a hydrologic model, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Using model outputs, the effects of deforestation on annual and seasonal surface water yields, represented by changes in streamflow volumes under different deforestation scenarios, were evaluated. Deforestation scenarios were derived from a supervised classification scheme of time series of LANDSAT images (1970-2020) to show deforestation trends. Effects of deforestation on the catchment water-yielding capacity were estimated as the ratio of the difference between simulated yields under different deforestation scenarios and those simulated under the pre-deforestation scenario of the 1970s decade. Results show that forest cover declined by 21% and a corresponding growth in land under agriculture by 26% in the period 1970-2020. The decline in forest coverage resulted in an increase in the annual surface water yields of about 23% (from 152 to 187 MCM/year) throughout the period of study. This implies that there is less recharge of groundwater due to decreased infiltration and subsequent storage leading to lower flows during the dry seasons and increased flood frequencies in the basin during the wet seasons. The study has therefore, demonstrated that deforestation has reduced the stability of Mau Forest as a water tower and conservation of the forest will enhance its water-holding capacity thereby ensuring a stable water supply to rivers emanating from it as a way of combating floods and low flows in the basin. The resultant impacts on environment and society are displacements from floods and destruction of properties.

show abstract

Section: Area Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Deforestation and Anthropogenic Aspects on Streamflow in the Mau Forest Catchments in Kenya: Hydrological Modelling of Surface Water Yields from Sondu River Basin

Rwigi,

J Kinyanjui,

Mutwiri

et al. 2024

ijcsrr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Influence of Tea Plantations, Forest and Mixed Farming on Stream Flow and Sediment Loads, Case of Sondu Miriu River Basin, Kenya

Abstract: The changing patterns of land cover and land use in the tropical river basin over time are critical. The hydrological phenomena at basin and sub basin scale are affected positively or negatively by dynamics of the land cover and land use patterns.

Cited by 1 publication

References 27 publications

Effects of Deforestation and Anthropogenic Aspects on Streamflow in the Mau Forest Catchments in Kenya: Hydrological Modelling of Surface Water Yields from Sondu River Basin

Effects of Deforestation and Anthropogenic Aspects on Streamflow in the Mau Forest Catchments in Kenya: Hydrological Modelling of Surface Water Yields from Sondu River Basin

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About