Optimizing Management of Soil Erosion in Orazan Sub-basin, Iran

Land use optimization is one of the appropriate methods for soil conservation programs that allow watershed managers and decision makers to choose the best land use practices. With the objective of optimizing land use to minimize soil erosion, the present research was conducted in one of the Taleghan sub-basins in Iran, namely, Orazan sub-basin, with an area of ۲,۷۰۶ ha. To achieve the objective, the area, the erosion rate, and the net income value of each land use was assessed according to the pertinent standards. Then, limitations and objective functions were determined and the optimization problem was solved by using Steuer method (۱۹۹۵) and ADBASE software. The results revealed that optimizing land use while taking into consideration the legal restrictions (Article ۵۶ of The Forest and Rangeland Nationalization Law) leads to a decrease of ۱۰.۲۹ percent in erosion rate (from ۱۸۲۵۳.۳۹ t y-۱ to ۱۶۳۷۳.۵۱ t y-۱) and ۱۷.۷۱ percent lower net income(from ۲,۳۸۲.۱۲ to ۱,۹۶۰.۲۸ million Rials). In contrast, optimization without consideration to legal restrictions would result in ۲۲.۲۴ percent increase in the net income and ۶.۹۳ percent decrease in erosion rate.

کلیدواژه ها:

Erosion ، Land use ، ADBASE software ، optimization ، Orazan sub-basin ، Steuer method