An Assessment of Resource Potentials for Sustainable Development of Micro-Watershed in Tirunelveli District Using Geoinformatics
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Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Aquatic Procedia 4 ( 2015 ) 1299 – 1306 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON WATER RESOURCES, COASTAL AND OCEAN ENGINEERING (ICWRCOE 2015) An Assessment of Resource Potentials For Sustainable Development of Micro-Watershed In Tirunelveli District Using Geoinformatics– A Case Of Nambiyar Micro-Watershed In Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, India. Narmada. K*a, Gobinath. Ka,G.Bhaskarana aDepartment Of Geography, University Of Madras,Chennai - 600005, India Abstract Micro-watershed level planning requires a host of interrelated information to be generated and studied in relation to each other. An attempt has been made to assess the resource potential of Nambiar Watershed by the integration of remote sensing and GIS techniques to identify and evaluate the land quality and water resources. Different thematic maps have been prepared with the aid of visual interpretation keys, using IRS P6, LISS IV data and SOI topographical maps and relevant secondary data. Land and water resources are assessed individually integrating information derived from the remote sensing satellite data. By combining both land resources with water resources using the GIS techniques, a composite map on the Resource Potential Zones (RPZ) were created.The integrated resource analysis has proved to be efficient in categorizing the watershed as excellent to poor based on the weightage given and the suitability of the land parcels for a particular land use was assessed. The present study helps in the strategic management of water, agriculture, forest and other natural resources for the sustainable development of the Nambiar watershed that runs across Nanguneri Taluk in Tirunelveli district in TamilNadu state in India. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (©http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.). Peer-review-review under under responsibility responsibility of organizing of organizing committee committee of ICWRCOE of ICWRCOE 2015 2015. Keywords:Watershed; Remote sensing; GIS; Resource Potential. * Corresponding author. Tel.:+91-044-25399663; fax: +91-044-25391594. E-mail address:[email protected], [email protected] 2214-241X © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of ICWRCOE 2015 doi: 10.1016/j.aqpro.2015.02.169 1300 K. Narmada et al. / Aquatic Procedia 4 ( 2015 ) 1299 – 1306 1. Introduction The pressures on the land have immensely increased over years due to increase in population and by man’s greed for livelihood. Hence it is very much important to understand the consequences of anthropogenic activities and to come out with appropriate strategies to counteract these detrimental effects to keep a balance of the environment at micro watershed level. Micro-watershed level planning requires a host of inter-related information to be generated and studied in relation to each other. With the increasing population, industries and commercial activities, the land utilization pattern has changed over a period of time and the pressure on the water resources is increasing and per capita availability of water resources is reducing day by day, it has become an important and dependable source of water supplies in all climatic regions including both urban and rural areas of developed and developing countries. Of the 37Mkm3of freshwater estimated to be present on the earth, about 22% exists as groundwater, which constitutes about 97% of all liquid freshwater potentially available for human use. (Foster, 1998). In practice, it is essential to understand the cumulative effects and their influence on land utilization. (Doughlas, 1994). In India, more than 90% of the rural and nearly 30% of the urban population depend on groundwater for meeting their drinking and domestic requirements.(BasavrajHutti and Nijagunappa, 2011) (Reddy et al., 1996) The quality of surface water is deteriorating because of increasing pollutant loads from point and non-point sources. Geo informatics technology, with its advantage of spatial, spectral and temporal availability of data coverage large and inaccessible areas within a short time, has emerged as a very useful tool for the assessment, monitoring and management of resources.(Jha et al., 2007) The hydro-geologic interpretation of satellite data has been shown to be a valuable survey tool in areas of the world where little geologic and cartographic information exists or is not accurate, as well as inaccessible regions of the world (Engman and Gurney, 1991) as remote sensors cannot detect groundwater directly, the presence of groundwater is inferred from different surface features derived from satellite imagery such as geology, landforms, soils, land use / land cover, surface water bodies, etc., which act as indicators of groundwater existence(Todd, 1980; Jha and Peiffer, 2006)(Reddy, 1996). Geoinformatics use in the natural resource management has proved to be an indispensable management and decision making tool which can ensure optimum use of the resources and help in devising systems for judicious resource use and management practices. Therefore Geoinformatics applications has been used in the present study to analyze the land degradations problems and to give alternative optimum land use at micro level.(Bhaskaran, 2001) Various layers like land use and Land cover, Geomorphology, Slope, relief have been generated and integrated to generate an action plan for optimum land utilization. 2. Study area The Nambiyar River is located in the Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu. Tirunelveli district is located in the southern part of Tamil Nadu and surrounded by Virudhunagar District on the North, Western Ghats on the West, Kanyakumari District in the South and Tuticorin District in the East. This District is having three Revenue Divisions comprising of 11 Taluks, 19 Development Blocks, 628 Revenue Villages and 425 Village Panchayats. The district is a part of the composite east flowing river basin, between Vaippar and Nambiyar as per the Irrigation Atlas of India.(District Groundwater Brochure, 2009) Tambarabarani, Vaipar and Nambiar are the important Sub-basins. The NambiyarRiver is the water source to the Nanguneri taluk. It takes its origin in the western slopes of the Western Ghats - 8 km. west of Thirukurungudi village at an altitude of 1500 m. above MSL. It runs eastwards and turns south east and confluences in the Gulf of Mannarat Tiruvambalapuram village. Its course of 45km is restricted entirely to Nanguneri taluk. The river has two tributaries, the Parattaiyar and the Thamaraiyar. The first tributary is a stream from Mahendragiri hills and the second tributary originates from the combination of two hill streams, Mombaiyar and Kodumudiyar. These tributaries join Nambiyar at the foot of the Mahendragiri hills. The river has nine anaicuts, Mailaimanianaicut,Dhalavaipuramanaicut,Rajakkamangalamanaicut,Mylapuramanaicut,Kannanthuranaicut,Vijayan anaicut,Kovankulamanaicut,Thittikulamanaicut, and Pulimangulamanaicut.The total area of the watershed taken for the study is around 80480 hec. K. Narmada et al. / Aquatic Procedia 4 ( 2015 ) 1299 – 1306 1301 Fig 2: Nambiyar Watershed Fig 1: Study area, Nambiyar Watershed 2.1 Geomorphylogy and soil types 2.1.1 Geomorphology Tirunelveli district is bordered by Western Ghats (Ridge and valley complex) in the West. A major part of the district constitutes a plain terrain with a gentle slope toward East and Southeast, except for the hilly terrain in the west. The general elevation of the area varies from less than 10 to 1408 m above mean sea level (Tulukkaparai hill range). The prominent geomorphic units identified in the district through interpretation of Satellite imagery are Structural Hill, Bazada Zone, Valley Fill, Flood Plain, Pediment, Shallow buried pediment, Deep buried pediment and Coastal Plain. 2.1.2 Soils Soils in the area have been classified into i) Deep Red soil ii). Red Sandy Soil. iii) Block Cotton Soil. iv)Saline Coastal Alluvium, and v) River Alluvium. Major partsof the area are covered by Deep Red soil and are found in Sivakasi, Tenkasi, Senkottai and Sankarankoil blocks and it is suitable for cultivating coconut and palmyrah trees. Red sandy soil also in reddish yellow in colour and are found in Nanguneri, Ambasamudram, and Radhapuram blocks and it is suitable for cultivating groundnut, millets and pulses etc., The Block Cotton Soil is found in Tirunelveli, Palayankottai and Sankarankoil blocks, and it is suitable for cultivating Paddy, Ragi, and Cholam etc., The Saline Coastal Alluvium are dark grey to deep brown in colour and spread over the Nanguneri and Radhapuram blocks. The River alluvial soils occur along the river courses of Tamrabarani and ChittarRiver covering in the blocks Tirunelveli and Palayankottai and it is suitable for cultivating Groundnut, Chillies and Cumbu. 2.2 Drainage Thamarabarani, Nambiyar, Chittar and Karamaniar are the important rivers draining the district. Tamarabarani originating from Papanasam flows thorough the district. The Nambiyar river originates in the eastern slopes of the Western ghats near Nellikalmottai about 9.6 km west of Tirukkurugundi village at an altitude of about 1060 m amsl At the foot of the hills, the river is divided into two arms. The main arm is joined by Tamarabarani at the foothills.