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CLIMATE- AND LAND USE-INDUCED RISKS TO WATERSHED SERVICES IN THE NYANDO RIVER BASIN, KENYA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2011

MWANGI GATHENYA ,
HOSEA MWANGI ,
RICHARD COE  and
JOSEPH SANG
MWANGI GATHENYA*
Affiliation:
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, P.O. Box 62000–00200 Nairobi, Kenya
HOSEA MWANGI
Affiliation:
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, P.O. Box 62000–00200 Nairobi, Kenya
RICHARD COE
Affiliation:
World Agroforestry Centre. P.O. Box 30677 – 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
JOSEPH SANG
Affiliation:
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, P.O. Box 62000–00200 Nairobi, Kenya
*
‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
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Summary

Climate change and land use change are two forces influencing the hydrology of watersheds and their ability to provide ecosystem services, such as clean and well-regulated streamflow and control of soil erosion and sediment yield. The Soil Water Assessment Tool, SWAT, a distributed, watershed-scale hydrological model was used with 18 scenarios of rainfall, temperature and infiltration capacity of land surface to investigate the spatial distribution of watershed services over the 3587 km2 Nyando basin in Western Kenya and how it is affected by these two forces. The total annual water yield varied over the 50 sub-basins from 35 to 600 mm while the annual sediment yield ranged from 0 to 104 tons ha−1. Temperature change had a relatively minor effect on streamflow and sediment yield compared to change in rainfall and land surface condition. Improvements in land surface condition that result in higher infiltration are an effective adaptation strategy to moderate the effects of climate change on supply of watershed services. Spatial heterogeneity in response to climate and land use change is large, and hence it is necessary to understand it if interventions to modify hydrology or adapt to climate change are to be effective.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 47 , Special Issue 2: Assessing and Addressing Climate-induced Risk in Sub-Saharan Rainfed Agriculture , April 2011 , pp. 339 - 356
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

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