The potential for land use change to reduce flood risk in mid-sized catchments in the Myjava region of Slovakia

  • Peter RONČÁK Dept. of Land and Water Resources Management, Slovak University of Technology
  • Evelin LISOVSZKI Department of Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME)
  • Ján SZOLGAY Dept. of Land and Water Resources Management, Slovak University of Technology
  • Kamila HLAVČOVÁ Dept. of Land and Water Resources Management, Slovak University of Technology
  • Silvia KOHNOVÁ Dept. of Land and Water Resources Management, Slovak University of Technology
  • Rózsa CSOMA Department of Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME)
  • Jana POÓROVÁ Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Division Hydrological Service
Keywords: land use change, land use scenarios, the WetSpa model, maximum discharges, design floods

Abstract

The effects of land use management practices on surface runoff are evident on a local scale, but evidence of their impact on the scale of a watershed is limited. This study focuses on an analysis of the impact of land use changes on the flood regime in the Myjava River basin, which is located in Western Slovakia. The Myjava River basin has an area of 641.32 km2 and is typified by the formation of fast runoff processes, intensive soil erosion, and muddy floods. The main factors responsible for these problems with flooding and soil erosion are the basin’s location, geology, pedology, agricultural land use, and cropping practices. The GIS-based, spatially distributed WetSpa rainfall-runoff model was used to simulate mean daily discharges in the outlet of the basin as well as the individual components of the water balance. The model was calibrated based on the period between 1997 and 2012 with outstanding results (an NS coefficient of 0.702). Various components of runoff (e.g., surface, interflow and groundwater) and several elements of the hydrological balance (evapotranspiration and soil moisture) were simulated under various land use scenarios. Six land use scenarios (‘crop’, ‘grass’, ‘forest’, ‘slope’, ‘elevation’ and ‘optimal’) were developed. The first three scenarios exhibited the ability of the WetSpa model to simulate runoff under changed land use conditions and enabled a better adjustment of the land use parameters of the model. Three other “more realistic” land use scenarios, which were based on the distribution of land use classes (arable land, grass and forest) regarding permissible slopes in the catchment, confirmed the possibility of reducing surface runoff and maximum discharges with applicable changes in land use and land management. 

Author Biographies

Peter RONČÁK, Dept. of Land and Water Resources Management, Slovak University of Technology

Radlinského 11, 810 05 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Ján SZOLGAY, Dept. of Land and Water Resources Management, Slovak University of Technology

Radlinského 11, 810 05 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Kamila HLAVČOVÁ, Dept. of Land and Water Resources Management, Slovak University of Technology

Radlinského 11, 810 05 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Silvia KOHNOVÁ, Dept. of Land and Water Resources Management, Slovak University of Technology

Radlinského 11, 810 05 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Jana POÓROVÁ, Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Division Hydrological Service

Jeséniova 17, 833 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Published
2017-06-30
How to Cite
RONČÁK, P., LISOVSZKI, E., SZOLGAY, J., HLAVČOVÁ, K., KOHNOVÁ, S., CSOMA, R., & POÓROVÁ, J. (2017). The potential for land use change to reduce flood risk in mid-sized catchments in the Myjava region of Slovakia. Contributions to Geophysics and Geodesy, 47(2), 95-112. https://doi.org/10.1515/congeo-2017-0007
Section
original research papers