Watershed Resilience - Soil and Water Management in Arid Regions to Prevent Desertification

作者：Mira Haddad, Abeyou W. Worqlul, Doa’a Abu Hammour, Muhi El-Dine Hilali, Osama Gazal · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18000 · 研究领域：Soil erosion and sediment transport、Transboundary Water Resource Management、Aeolian processes and effects

 Jordan faces a critical challenge of land degradation and water scarcity, primarily affecting the extensive natural rangeland (Badia), which covers over 80% of the country's area. The degradation of natural vegetation, adversely affects local agropastoral communities that are depending on livestock farming and triggeing downstream issues such as flash floods and sedimentation in dams. Water harvesting and increasing vegetation cover are promising technologies to adapt and reduce the impact.  The Badia Research Site (BRS), a confined watershed of approximately 1000 hectares, rainwater harvesting (RWH) and plantation techniques have shown promise in reducing soil erosion and runoff rates and enhancing various ecosystem services. The BRS research is mainly led by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the Jordan National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), supported by the United States Forestry Service (USFS).  This study involves (1) scaling out two RWH techniques, namely the Vallerani and the Marab, on a larger basin. The scaling out utilises local and international datasets, incorporating biophysical parameters such as land use, digital elevation models, slope, topographic wetness index, soil texture, and climate data. Optimal ecological conditions for plants, including temperature and soil pH, are considered. (2) The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is employed to analyse and assess the impact on sur...