Impact of land use change on sediment production, in the upper part of the Pixcayá river basin, using the MUSLE equation for the years 2003 and 2012

Abstract

In the higher part of the Pixcayá river basin, there is an increase in areas used for agricultural activities (without soil conservation practices) in areas with slopes not suitable for agriculture, which causes water erosion, which implies loss or degradation of the soils by the draggingt of sediments towards the bodies of water. In the present article, the production of sediments resulting from the change of land use, based on the modified equation of loss of soil MUSLE by its acronym in English, applying Geographic Information Systems -GIS-. Land use data from 2003 and 2012 were used. The results indicate that, for the years studied, in the upper part of the Pixcayá river basin, agricultural areas increased by 6.90 km² and areas populated by 4.87 km² and that sediment production increased by 61%, from two hundred and thirty-five thousand tons in 2003 to three hundred and eighty-six thousand tons in 2012. In the watershed of the Pixcayá river land use has a direct relationship with the production of sediments, as it influences the variation of the number of curve (proportion of water drained for a given area) and factor C (the resistance offered by soil cover to erosion).