Analysis of Basin Characteristics for Stream Management Using GIS: A Case Study of Gümühane Micro-Watershed

Aim of study: Topography and climatic conditions have effected in determining the processes of the streams of the micro-watershed. Nowadays, the management plans were made for water and soil protection measures in the basins. Area of study: This study was carried outto characterize and prioritize the streams of the Gumushane upper Harsit micro-watershed using a GIS-based spatial approach. Material and methods: Fundamental watershed characteristics including drainage density, slope, land use types, and stream class were evaluated and interpreted for the Gumushane micro-watershed. Calculatea comprehensive value for each parameter, drainage density (Dd), flow frequency (Fs), slope (S), length of land flow (Lg), and land use (Lu) was used. Main results: The drainage density, stream flow frequency, and form factor of the microwatershed are from-4 to 26. Finally, the weighted rankings were summarized, and all micro-watersheds were categorized to five classes based on the risk index as very low risk, low risk, medium risk, high risk, and very high risk. This risk map overlaid to land use type maps in GIS where risk areas were evaluated in the finalrisk results. The 739 ha productive forest area within very high-risk areas was changed to non-risk parameters. Highlights: The carrying capacity of streams was calculated using the stream density of streams in the Gumushane micro-watershed. The risk values produced by streams that pass through neighborhoods where land use values for preventing erosion are present.