What is Watershed?

Watershed is defined as:

Topographically  delineated  area  that  is  drained  by  a  stream,  and  a  major river basin as a collection watershed (Brooks, 1993).

Total land area that is drained to one point of a stream or a river.

Watershed  is  a  natural  drainage  area  where  precipitation  is  collected  and cycled.  It  tied  together  physically  by  an  inter-related  stream  pattern  (Eren,1983).

Watershed is a unit of land catching precipitation and serving to move and concentrate water at some lower elevation (Krygier, J.T. 1963)

Watershed  is  made  up  of  the  natural  resource  in  a  basin,  especially  the water, soil and the vegetative factors (Eren, T. 1977)  

A watershed or catchments is any surface (varying  from a few hectares to several  thousand  square  kilometers)  in  which  rainfall  is  collected  and conveyed to a common natural waterway (Botero, 1983)

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Watershed, catchments, drainage basin, river basins are interchangeable and used commonly as per management objectives. However, a watershed is differentiates from a river basin in that a river basin, whose main stream leads to the sea, may encompass hundreds of watersheds and many other types of land formation.

Watershed Management - JNTUH Syllabus (R09)

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, HYDERABAD

(57004) WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

(ELECTIVE-II)

UNIT - I

INTRODUCTION: Concept of watershed development, objectives of watershed development, need for watershed development in India, Integrated and multidisciplinary approach for watershed management.

UNIT - II

CHARACTERISTICS OF WATERSHED: size, shape; physiography, slope, climate, drainage, land use, vegetation, geology and soils, hydrology and hydrogeology, socio-economic characteristics, basic data on watersheds.

UNIT - III

Watershed delineation - Runoff Computations from a watershed – Flood Frequency Analysis – Gumbell, Log Pearson and Weibull Methods of Analysis.

UNIT - IV

PRINCIPLES OF EROSION: Types of erosion, factors affecting erosion, effects of erosion on land fertility and land capability, estimation of soil loss due to erosion, Universal soil loss equation.

MEASURES TO CONTROL EROSION: Contour techniques, Ploughing, furrowing, trenching, bunding, terracing, gully control, Rockfill dams, brushwood dam, Gabion.

UNIT- V

WATER HARVESTING: Rainwater Harvesting, catchment harvesting, harvesting structures, soil moisture conservation, check dams, artificial recharge, farm ponds, percolation tanks.

UNIT- VI

FOREST AND GRASS LAND MANAGEMENT: Interpretation of Satellite Imageries- Land use and Land Cover. Land capability classification, management of forest, agricultural, grassland and wild land. Reclamation of saline and alkaline soils.

UNIT - VII

ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT: Role of Ecosystem, crop husbandry, soil enrichment, inter, mixed and strip cropping, cropping pattern, sustainable agriculture, bio-mass management, dry land agriculture, Silvi pasture, horticulture, social forestry and afforestation.

UNIT - VIII

Planning of watershed management activities, peoples participation, preparation of action plan, administrative requirements- Reservoir Routing.

TEXT BOOKS:

1. Watershed Management by JVS Murthy, - New Age International Publishers.

2. Water Resource Engineering by R. Awurbs and WP James, - Prentice Hall Publishers.

REFERENCE:

1. Land and Water Management by VVN Murthy, - Kalyani publications.

2. Irrigation and Water Management by D.K. Majumdar, Printice Hall of lndia.