evaluation of the impact of land use change on catchment hydrology: the case of wundanyi river catchment in taita hills, kenya

Description

The conversion of forest land to agricultural land and urban settlement usually increases soil erosion, and volume of storm runoff in a catchment. In Kenya, the rural communities are encroaching into the humid and marginal areas to open up new lands for agricultural production and settlement. These changes have led to environmental degradation, which has negatively altered the hydrologic regimes of many catchments in Kenya. The Wundanyi River catchment is one of the catchments that have undergone rapid land use changes over the last 30 years. It requires intervention to improve and sustain hydrologic processes to prevent further degradation. However, the catchment lacks continuous records for hydrologic data that can be used.