Impact of Climate Change on Soil Loss in Mudhole Watershed of Telangana using GIS and RUSLE

The Mudhole watershed of Adilabad district of Telangana lies in Godavari river basin and is having a drainage area of 300 km². The watershed is severely affected by soil erosion due to high intensity of rainfall. Changes in the distribution and frequency of rainfall, decrease in the number of rainy days, increase in rainfall intensities and intensity of cyclonic storms are projected under changing climatic scenarios. While planning interventions, the soil loss that can occur in near future (2020’s, 2050’s and 2080’s) also plays an important role. Therefore, in this study, soil loss was estimated under current scenario and in near future. During base line period, the soil loss from most of the area varied from 0 to 5 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. Most of the area, soil loss under RCP 2.6 is predicted to increase by 1.5 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. Under RCP 4.5, it is predicted to increase by 2.5 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, under RCP 6.0, it is predicted to increase by 5 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ and under RCP 8.5, it is predicted to increase by 7.5 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. An increase in the soil loss predicted for future scenarios shows the need for more interventions for sustainability of the watershed.