Water resource managers in Carroll County Georgia required a way to assess the impact of land cover change as it related to development on soil loss into drinking water reservoirs. Satellite imagery provided the appropriate tool to support watershed-scale analysis. Updated watershed land cover maps, which were based on image interpretation and included field verification, were input into Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) models to predict high soil-loss areas. RUSLE uses many parameters where change is not an issue, including soil classification, slope length, slope angle, and annual rainfall amount. Landcover in western Georgia is changing rapidly, through rural, suburban, and urban development, and deforestation. The County defined as Critical Areas all areas within 1,000 feet of the reservoir shoreline. The RUSLE mapping project identified high soil-loss areas’ intersection with Critical Areas, and highlighted recurring problems associated with several types of activities, including unauthorized roads, off-road trails on power line right-of-ways, forestry operations, and reworked slopes in newly-established subdivisions. The County was able to remediate some locations, and to adequately restrict development in other locations that could become problematic if developed or deforested.
Water resource managers in Carroll County Georgia required a way to assess the impact of land cover change as it related to development on soil loss into drinking water reservoirs. Satellite imagery provided the appropriate tool to support watershed-scale analysis. Updated watershed land cover maps, which were based on image interpretation and included field verification, were input into Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) models to predict high soil-loss areas. RUSLE uses many parameters where change is not an issue, including soil classification, slope length, slope angle, and annual rainfall amount. Landcover in western Georgia is changing rapidly, through rural, suburban, and urban development, and deforestation. The County defined as Critical Areas all areas within 1,000 feet of the reservoir shoreline. The RUSLE mapping project identified high soil-loss areas’ intersection with Critical Areas, and highlighted recurring problems associated with several types of activities, including unauthorized roads, off-road trails on power line right-of-ways, forestry operations, and reworked slopes in newly-established subdivisions. The County was able to remediate some locations, and to adequately restrict development in other locations that could become problematic if developed or deforested.
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