Influence of land use enclave distribution on discharge in a small catchment

Abstract

According to many authors, hydrological modelling is one of the fundamental techniques for determining the impacts of various environmental changes on the quantitative characteristics of the aquatic environment. This study examines the effects of landscape changes induced by the need to respond to climate change and the natural urban development of the rural setting on the discharge from the small catchment. The SWAT model was applied to a small catchment of Kopaninsky Stream in the traditional agricultural part of the Czech Republic. According to the results, the most effective approach for reducing the consequences of hydrological extremes in the catchment and retaining more water in the landscape is the properly spaced placement of grassland and forest enclaves in the developing urban structure. In practice, each land use category’s overall percentage of representation is less significant than its relative arrangement.