Study of morphogenetic characteristics of surgad catchments for watershed management

The problem of surveying watersheds for strategic planning in the Himalayan terrain has attracted the attention of the land surveyors recently. A small watershed in Surgad Catchment has been surveyed to select various parameters that determine soil loss, which can be studied using aerial photo-interpretation technique with a view to watershed management. Soil, slope, landuse and micro climatic factors have been used to delineate different morphogenetic categories. The result shows that on steeper slopes, well developed soils are found which indicates a high tolerance limits of these soils. In Himalayan terrain soils and vegetation are therefore, better indices of sediment losses than slopes. Small scale aerial photographs can be successfully used to judge the tolerance limits of soils in Himalayan terrain.