Abstract:
This study modeled soil erosion between January 2016 and September 2018
for land management in Golole catchment. The Revised Universal Soil Loss
Equation (RUSLE) constituting the main agents of soil erosion was modeled
in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment. The objective of
this study was to model soil erosion for land management in the ungauged
Golole catchment. The Golole catchment soil erosion map reveals that within
the catchment the soil loss was not homogeneous and erosion risk was not
the same. The catchment experiences an annual mean score soil loss rate of
279 t/ha that is above the recommended maximum allowable annual soil loss
rate of 4 t/ha. The catchment’s soil loss rate is described as high and severe
representing 70% and 30% of landmass respectively. This study found the
need to decelerate the above soil loss rates to moderate and low levels by
adopting soil erosion mitigation measures such as stone contour ridges, manure,
strip
cropping,
and
terracing
in
the
cultivated
areas
and
controlled
grazing
in
the
lowland
rangeland.
The
study
strongly
felt
the
need
to
protect
the
forest
reserve
from
tree
cutting
and
further
human
encroachment.
This
study
concludes
that
there
is
the
need
for
further
research
1)
in
the
forest
reserve
areas
that
showed
the
greatest
rates
of
soil
erosion
menace
to
determine
the
underlying
causes,
and
2)
to
assess
the
temporal
trends
of
the
soil
erosion
hazard
using
high-resolution
data.