CARPATHIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, vol.10, no.2, pp.145-158, 2015 (SCI-Expanded)
Although most soil conservation studies use the same data type and obtain the same results, a common method to measure soil erosion is lacking. This problem has remained unsolved for a long time. If a soil erosion problem is known and defined regarding all aspects in any catchment, the measures that are proposed by the experts should be the same or similar. A new approach, called the SLUP (Sustainable Land Use Planning) model, was developed based on these considerations. The proposed model was used for the first time in a small scale rural basin near Ankara, Turkey. This approach, based on the soil loss tolerance (T), was used to determine the soil conservation measures and land use planning in catchments. In this study, this new models potential soil erosion (A) was determined using the USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) model in a GIS environment. In the study area, soil loss tolerance values were determined for each soil series based on the soil depth. Then, the potential soil erosion values were rated to the values of soil loss tolerance. According to the A/T results, erosion degree, description and proposed soil conservation, precautions were determined considering the limit values that were specified in the table and that reflect the combined effects of the support practice factor (P) and soil loss tolerance (T). The results show that the mean soil erosion potential of the watershed was 16.30 t ha(-1) year(-1) and the most influenced land use cover exposed to erosion was bare land, which its potential soil loss was approximately 97.52 t ha(-1)year(-1). The estimated amount of soil loss over 10 t ha(-1) at the basin was contained in 25.84% of the total area. The areal distribution of soil erosion classes and soil conservation precautions was also obtained. According to the results, 64.68% of the basin had a non-existent or too-low erosion degree, 9.18% had a low-moderate erosion degree, 7.53% had a moderate-high erosion degree, 4.33% had a high erosion degree, and 14.33% had a very high level erosion degree. Consequently, this research suggests a new approach that can be used in terms of simplicity, flexibility and ease of application in rural catchments.