Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System Based Approach for Watershed Conservation

Conservation of natural resources is essential to sustain any developmental activity, and such measures especially for soil and water carried out on a watershed basis are very useful for watershed management. In this context, prioritization of watersheds is required for different watershed components so as to take any further relevant conservation measures. Recent technological advances have brought remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques to the forefront as tools for recommending these conservation measures. In the present study, the topmost priority subwatershed (i.e., Murli subwatershed in the Subarnarekha Basin) among nine subwatersheds forming a major portion of the Nayagram block in the Midnapore district of West Bengal State in eastern India was considered. This subwatershed was further divided into 44 microwatersheds (with areas less than 10 km2), which were prioritized based on morphometric parameters. Accordingly, suitable soil conservation measures were suggested. For the sake of completeness, the number of the microwatersheds in which these proposed check dam sites fall was also identified. From this study, it can be inferred that prioritization of microwatersheds is essential; GIS is handy as well as effective in recommending proper treatment for these microwatersheds.