Application of geographic information systems in watershed management planning in St. Lucia

The use of geographic information systems (GIS) to develop conservation-oriented watershed management strategies on St. Lucia is presented. A soil loss model was executed within a GIS environment to evaluate agricultural management strategies in terms of soil loss on two agricultural watersheds. The GIS provided a fast and efficient means of generating the input data required for the model and allowed for easy assessment of the relative erosion hazard over the watersheds under the different land management options. The model predicted substantial declines in soil loss under conservation-oriented land management compared to current land management for both watersheds. The results of this study indicate that soil loss potential on the Soufriere watershed is approximately four times higher than on the Marquis watershed. This study represents the first attempt in the application of GIS technology to watershed conservation planning for St. Lucia. The procedures developed will contribute to the evolution of a decision support system to guide agricultural and forestry land planning in St. Lucia. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.