Soil, one of the non-renewable resources on this planet, is being depleted at an alarming rate due to various anthropogenic activities. The effect of soil erosion could range from on-site ecosystem fragmentation to off-site reservoir storage capacity loss. Though soil erosion is caused by various agents such as wind, water, etc., water erosion is the major type. Heavy rainfall during the monsoons and the relatively thin cover of soil over the bedrock aggravates the damage potential of this form of erosion in the state of Kerala, India. Water-induced soil erosion in the Bharathapuzha river basin in Kerala, which is blessed with cultivable land resources and intensive agricultural activities, has been undertaken for quite long and has started impacting agricultural activities, drinking water supply, and reservoir storage capacity in the basin. In this background, this study was taken up to assess the effects of climate and land use–land cover dynamics on soil erosion in the Bharathapuzha river basin over the last three decades. Soil erosion from the river basin was estimated by the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), and these estimates were verified with the observed sediment load in the Bharathapuzha river at the Kumbidi river gauging station. The storage capacity loss of some of the reservoirs located in the river basin, estimated by the Integrated Bathymetric Survey (IBS), was compared with the likely storage capacity loss of these reservoirs estimated based on soil erosion from the catchment areas upstream. Soil loss from the river basin for a future period was predicted using projections of future climate under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) from four regional climate data experiments and future land use–land cover. Annual soil loss estimation maps for 2020 and 2035 under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 reveal the urgent necessity to plan and implement soil conservation measures in the erosion hotspots, especially in the Malampuzha, Anamala, and Attapady sub-basins.

土壤是地球上不可再生的资源之一，由于各种人为活动，它正以惊人的速度消耗殆尽。土壤侵蚀的影响范围可以从现场生态系统破碎到场外水库存储容量损失。虽然水土流失是由风、水等多种因素引起的，但水蚀是主要的类型。季风期间的强降雨和基岩上相对薄的土壤覆盖加剧了印度喀拉拉邦这种侵蚀形式的潜在破坏。喀拉拉邦巴拉塔普扎河流域水土流失长期存在，土地耕作资源丰富，农业活动密集，已开始影响流域的农业活动、饮用水供应和水库蓄水能力。在此背景下，本研究旨在评估气候和土地利用 - 土地覆盖动态对巴拉塔普扎河流域过去 30 年土壤侵蚀的影响。河流流域的土壤侵蚀是通过修订的通用土壤流失方程 (RUSLE) 估算的，这些估算值与在 Kumbidi 河测量站观察到的 Bharathapuzha 河的泥沙负荷进行了验证。由综合测深调查 (IBS) 估计的位于流域内的一些水库的蓄水能力损失与根据上游集水区土壤侵蚀估计的这些水库可能的蓄水能力损失进行了比较。使用两个代表性浓度路径下的未来气候预测（RCP 4. 5 和 RCP 8.5）来自四个区域气候数据实验和未来的土地利用 - 土地覆盖。RCP4.5 和 RCP8.5 下 2020 年和 2035 年的年度土壤流失估算图表明，迫切需要在侵蚀热点地区，特别是在 Malampuzha、Anamala 和 Attapady 子流域规划和实施土壤保持措施。