Landuse-Landcover Change And Its Impact On Surface Runoff.

The effects of the land use/cover changes (LUCC) have impacted the stream flow of the Gidabo river basin by changing the magnitude of surface runoff. This study is mainly aimed at exploring the impacts of the land use/cover changes on the surface runoff on annual basis through satellite Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) integrated with the SWAT model.The result of this analysis indicated that the mean annual surface runoff increased by 34% (1987 to 2002) and by 21 %(2002-2017). Generally, the surface runoff increased, due to the expansion of crop land, built-up areas, and clearance of shrub lands, grasslands forest. Therefore, to minimize the degradation process and increased runoff, there should be strong encouragement and compensation mechanisms to afforestation, soil and conservation practice at watershed level.