Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of the drought management measures in a semi-arid agricultural watershed

  • Published:
Environment, Development and Sustainability Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Agricultural water management plays a significant role in the sustainable development of the watershed. Three different water management techniques based on the water harvesting scenario, demand reduction scenario, and soil management scenario are simulated. In the first scenario, the runoff potential and suitable measures to harvest the surface runoff in the watershed are considered. In the second scenario, initially, double-cropped areas in the watershed are identified. Then, to reduce agricultural water consumption, the double-cropped regions that are suitable for single cropping with vegetation are identified. The third management measure is the addition of soil organic carbon in the watershed to retain the soil moisture. The hydrological modeling is carried out with modified scenarios to compute the hydrological responses. The scenarios are evaluated for their environmental and economic effectiveness. All the scenarios indicated improvement in the water yield and the soil moisture storage in the watershed. The response analysis technique using spatial inputs provides a good insight into the watershed conditions for drought management.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersson-Sköld, Y., Suer, P., Bergman, R., & Helgesson, H. (2016). Sustainable decisions on the agenda–a decision support tool and its application on climate-change adaptation. Local Environment, 21, 85–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arabi, M., Govindaraju, R. S., & Hantush, M. M. (2006). Cost‐effective allocation of watershed management practices using a genetic algorithm.

  • Arnold, J. G., Srinivasan, R., Muttiah, R. S., & Williams, J. R. (1998). Large area hydrologic modeling and assessment part I: Model development. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 34, 73–89.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bambha, K., & Kim, W. R. (2004). Cost-effectiveness analysis and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios: Uses and pitfalls. European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 16, 519–526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bansode, S., & Patil, K. (2016). Water balance assessment using Q-SWAT. International Journal of Engineering Research. https://doi.org/10.1795/ajar/v5s6/620

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baruah, T. C., & Barthakur, H. P. (1997). A textook of soil chemical analysis.

  • Calizaya, A., Meixner, O., Bengtsson, L., & Berndtsson, R. (2010). Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) for integrated water resources management (IWRM) in the Lake Poopo Basin, Bolivia. Water Resource Management, 24, 2267–2289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callow, J. N., & Smettem, K. R. J. (2009). The effect of farm dams and constructed banks on hydrologic connectivity and runoff estimation in agricultural landscapes. Environmental Modelling and Software, 24, 959–968.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, P., Basnayake, J. W. M., Ngoy, C. K., et al (2004). The effect of water availability on rice-based double cropping in rainfed lowlands in Cambodia. In: Proceedings of a CARDI International Conference: “Research on Water in Agricultural Production in Asia for the 21st Century.” Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

  • Choi, S.-J., Kim, J. H., & Lee, D.-R. (2012). Decision of the water shortage mitigation policy using multi-criteria decision analysis. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 16, 247–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Steiguer, J. E., & Mau-Crimmins, T. (2002). Economic analyses in watershed management planning: Methods, applications and education. Annals of Arid Zone, 41, 343–358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dile, Y. T., Daggupati, P., George, C., et al. (2016). Introducing a new open source GIS user interface for the SWAT model. Environmental Modelling and Software, 85, 129–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.08.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drisya, J., KumarD, S., & Thendiyath, R. (2018). Spatio-temporal variability of soil moisture and drought estimation using a distributed hydrological model. In P. Samui, D. Kim, & C. Gosh (Eds.), Integrating disaster science and management (pp. 451–460). Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drisya, J., & Sathishkumar, D. (2016). Comparison of digitally delineated stream networks from different spaceborne digital elevation models : A case study based on two watersheds in South India. Arabian Journal of Geosciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-016-2726-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drisya, J., Sathishkumar, D., & Roshni, T. (2020). Hydrological drought assessment through streamflow forecasting using wavelet enabled artificial neural networks. Environment, Development and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00737-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekrami, M., Ahmad Fatehi Marj, B., Jalal Barkhordari, B., & Dashtakian, K. (2016). Drought vulnerability mapping using AHP method in arid and semiarid areas: A case study for Taft Township, Yazd Province. Iran. Environmental Earth Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-5822-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falkenmark, M., Fox, P., Persson, G., & Rockstrom, J. (2001). Water harvesting for upgrading of rainfed agriculture. Problem analysis and research needs. SIWI Report 11. Stockholm Environmental Institute.

  • Gassman, P. W., Reyes, M. R., Green, C. H., & Arnold, J. G. (2007). The soil and water assessment tool: Historical development, applications, and future research directions. Transactions of the ASABE, 50, 1211–1250. https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.23637

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Han, Z., Huang, Q., Huang, S., et al. (2021). Spatial-temporal dynamics of agricultural drought in the Loess Plateau under a changing environment: Characteristics and potential influencing factors. Agricultral Water Management, 244, 106540.

    Google Scholar 

  • Himayoun, D., & Roshni, T. (2019). Spatio-temporal variation of drought characteristics, water resource availability and the relation of drought with large scale climate indices: A case study of Jhelum basin, India. Quaternary International, 525, 140–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, T. G. (2005). Available water capacity and soil organic matter. In: Encyclopedia of Soil Science-Two-Volume Set (pp. 139–143). CRC Press.

  • Iglesias, A., Garrote, L., Cancelliere, A., et al. (2009). Coping with drought risk in agriculture and water supply systems: Drought management and policy development in the Mediterranean. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iizumi, T., & Wagai, R. (2019). Leveraging drought risk reduction for sustainable food, soil and climate via soil organic carbon sequestration. Science and Reports, 9, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jabr, W. M., & El-Awar, F. A. (2004). GIS and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for siting water harvesting.

  • Jeihouni, M., Toomanian, A., Alavipanah, S. K., et al. (2015). An application of MC-SDSS for water supply management during a drought crisis. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 187, 396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabbilawsh, P., Sathishkumar, D., & Chithra, N. R. (2020). Trend analysis and SARIMA forecasting of mean maximum and mean minimum monthly temperature for the state of Kerala, India. Acta Geophysica, 68, 1161–1174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kara, C., & Doratli, N. (2012). Application of GIS/AHP in siting sanitary landfill: A case study in Northern Cyprus. Waste Management Research, 30, 966–980.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan, D., & Samadder, S. R. (2015). A simplified multi-criteria evaluation model for landfill site ranking and selection based on AHP and GIS. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management, 23, 267–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, S., Roshni, T., Kumar, A., & Drisya, J. (2021). GIS-based drought assessment in climate change context: A case study for sone Command, Bihar. Journal of the Institution of Engineers, 102, 199–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laban, P., Metternicht, G., & Davies, J. (2018). Soil biodiversity and soil organic carbon: keeping drylands alive.

  • Lakshmi, J. L. (2001). Water harvesting for drought prone areas. Yojana (July) (pp. 27–35).

  • Lal, R. (2006). Enhancing crop yields in the developing countries through restoration of the soil organic carbon pool in agricultural lands. Land Degradation and Development, 17, 197–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, H.-J., & Shim, M.-P. (2002). Decision making for priority of water allocation during drought by analytic hierarchy process. Journal of Korea Water Resources Association, 35, 703–714.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, E., Mu, X., Zhao, G., et al. (2017). Effects of check dams on runoff and sediment load in a semi-arid river basin of the Yellow River. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 31, 1791–1803. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-016-1333-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, X. Y., & Gong, J. D. (2002). Effects of different ridge:Furrow ratios and supplemental irrigation on crop production in ridge and furrow rainfall harvesting system with mulches. Agricultural Water Management, 54, 243–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-3774(01)00172-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang, Z., Su, X., & Feng, K. (2021). Drought propagation and construction of a comprehensive drought index based on the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and empirical Kendall distribution function (K C′): A case study for the Jinta River basin in northwestern China. Natural Hazards and Earth Systems Sciences, 21, 1323–1335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipiec, J., Doussan, C., Nosalewicz, A., & Kondracka, K. (2013). Effect of drought and heat stresses on plant growth and yield: A review. International Agrophysics, 27, 463–477.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Q., Zhang, J., Zhang, H., et al. (2021). Evaluating the performance of eight drought indices for capturing soil moisture dynamics in various vegetation regions over China. Science of the Total Environment, 789, 147803.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, R., Zhang, P., Wang, X., et al. (2014). Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis of BMPs in controlling agricultural nonpoint source pollution in China based on the SWAT model. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 186, 9011–9022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-4061-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahmoud, S. H. (2014). Delineation of potential sites for groundwater recharge using a GIS-based decision support system. Environment and Earth Science, 72, 3429–3442. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3249-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahmoud, S. H., & Alazba, A. A. (2015). The potential of in situ rainwater harvesting in arid regions: Developing a methodology to identify suitable areas using GIS-based decision support system. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 8, 5167–5179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mata-González, R., Pieper, R. D., & Cárdenas, M. M. (2002). Vegetation patterns as affected by aspect and elevation in small desert mountains. The Southwestern Naturalist, 440–448.

  • Mbilinyi, B. P., Tumbo, S. D., Mahoo, H. F., et al. (2005). Indigenous knowledge as decision support tool in rainwater harvesting. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts a/b/c, 30, 792–798.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milne, E., Banwart, S. A., Noellemeyer, E., et al. (2015). Soil carbon, multiple benefits. Environment and Behaviour, 13, 33–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minasny, B., & McBratney, A. B. (2018). Limited effect of organic matter on soil available water capacity. European Journal of Soil Science, 69, 39–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12475

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morillas, L., Hund, S. V., & Johnson, M. S. (2019). Water use dynamics in double cropping of rainfed upland rice and irrigated melons produced under drought-prone tropical conditions. Water Resources Research, 55, 4110–4127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mtibaa, S., Hotta, N., & Irie, M. (2018). Analysis of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of best management practices for controlling sediment yield: A case study of the Joumine watershed, Tunisia. Science of the Total Environment, 616, 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nassif, S. H., & Wilson, E. M. (1975). The influence of slope and rain intensity on runoff and infiltration. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 20, 539–553.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neuhauser, D., & Lewicki, A. M. (1975). What do we gain from the sixth stool guaiac? New England Journal of Medicine, 293, 226–228.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neupane, R. P., Ficklin, D. L., Knouft, J. H., et al. (2019). Hydrologic responses to projected climate change in ecologically diverse watersheds of the Gulf Coast, United States. International Journal of Climatology, 39, 2227–2243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Péter, L., Rajkai, K., Pásztor, L., et al. (2005). Sensitivity of the swat model to soil organic carbon content: A Lake Balaton catchment case study. Cereal Research Communication, 33, 297–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, E. H., & Hoyle, F. C. (2016). Estimating the economic value of soil organic carbon for grains cropping systems in Western Australia. Soil Research, 54, 383–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reddy, N. N., Reddy, K. V., Vani, J. S. L. S., et al. (2018). Climate change impact analysis on watershed using QSWAT. Spatial Information Research, 26, 253–259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41324-017-0159-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rejani, R., Rao, K. V., Srinivasa Rao, C. H., et al. (2017). Identification of potential rainwater-harvesting sites for the sustainable management of a semi-arid watershed. Irrigation and Drainage, 66, 227–237. https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.2101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rimba, A. B., Setiawati, M. D., Sambah, A. B., & Miura, F. (2017). Physical flood vulnerability mapping applying geospatial techniques in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Urban Science, 1, 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty, T. L. (1980). The analytical hierarchy process, planning, priority.

  • Shao, H., Gao, J., & Zhang, Y. X. (2013). Preliminary assessment of human and natural contributions to the changes of Weihe River runoff using SWAT model. Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment, 11, 2629–2633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaoxuan, H., Zongsuo, L., Ruilian, H., et al. (2016). Soil carbon dynamics during grass restoration on abandoned sloping cropland in the hilly area of the Loess Plateau, China. CATENA, 137, 679–685.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Siegert, K. (1994). Introduction to water harvesting: Some basic principles for planning, design and monitoring.

  • Su, X., Su, X., Yang, S., et al. (2020). Drought changed soil organic carbon composition and bacterial carbon metabolizing patterns in a subtropical evergreen forest. Science of the Total Environment, 736, 139568.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sur, H. S., Bhardwaj, A., & Jindal, P. K. (2001). Performance evaluation and impact assessment of a small water-harvesting structure in the Shiwalik foothills of northern India. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 16, 124–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taner, M. Ü., Ray, P., & Brown, C. (2019). Incorporating multidimensional probabilistic information into robustness-based water systems planning. Water Resources Research, 55, 3659–3679.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorp, K. R., Hunsaker, D. J., French, A. N., et al. (2015). Integrating geospatial data and cropping system simulation within a geographic information system to analyze spatial seed cotton yield, water use, and irrigation requirements. Precision Agriculture, 16, 532–557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-015-9393-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tokarczyk, T., Szalińska, W., Łabędzki, L., et al (2013). Activity 5.4. Drought Risk Management Scheme: a decision support system Recommendations for operational support system in drought risk management.

  • Vohland, K., & Barry, B. (2009). A review of in situ rainwater harvesting (RWH) practices modifying landscape functions in African drylands. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 131, 119–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2009.01.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walkley, A. (1947). A critical examination of a rapid method for determining organic carbon in soils-Effect of variations in digestion conditions and of inorganic soil constituents. Soil Science, 63, 251–264.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, C., Zhang, Z., Zhang, J., et al. (2019). The effect of terrain factors on rice production: A case study in Hunan Province. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 29, 287–305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-019-1597-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittenberg, L., & Inbar, M. (2003). The role of soil moisture variability as determining overland runoff in a burnt Mediterranean forest. Geo-Öko, 24, 107–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, Y., Xu, Y., Yin, G., et al. (2021). A collaborated framework to improve hydrologic ecosystem services management with sparse data in a semi-arid basin.

  • Xu, X., Jiang, Y., Liu, M., et al. (2019). Modeling and assessing agro-hydrological processes and irrigation water saving in the middle Heihe River basin. Agricultural Water Management, 211, 152–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.09.033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Y., Fang, J., Tang, Y., et al. (2008). Storage, patterns and controls of soil organic carbon in the Tibetan grasslands. Global Change Biology, 14, 1592–1599.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yasir, M., Hu, T., & Abdul Hakeem, S. (2021). Impending hydrological regime of lhasa river as subjected to hydraulic interventions—A SWAT model manifestation. Remote Sensing, 13, 1382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Z., Liu, J., & Huang, J. (2020). Hydrologic impacts of cascade dams in a small headwater watershed under climate variability. Journal of Hydrology, 590, 125426.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for helping to improve the quality of the manuscript. The authors wish to thank INSPIRE (Grant No. IF131103) component of the Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, and the respective Govt agencies for providing data for carrying out this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kerala Land Development Corporation, Thrissur, India

    J. Drisya

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, India

    J. Drisya & Sathish Kumar D.

Authors
  1. J. Drisya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sathish Kumar D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Drisya.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Drisya, J., Sathish Kumar, D. Evaluation of the drought management measures in a semi-arid agricultural watershed. Environ Dev Sustain 25, 811–833 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-02079-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-02079-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation