Assessing the hydrological effects of Landuse changes using distributed hydrological modelling and GIS

A distributed hydrological modelling and GIS approach was applied for the assessment of landuse changes in the Alzette basin, Grand-duchy of Luxembourg. The assessment focused on the potential impact of landuse changes on the hydrological processes. Three scenarios were established and investigated. The first scenario considered a realistic increase of urbanisation, while the other scenarios were hypothetical, i.e. forest was converted to agricultural land or the opposite. Comparison of the results for each scenario showed that although the overall changes in the total evapotranspiration and river discharge remained small, that change observed in the different component of the discharge was important. Urbanisation could increase floods by 26% and deforestation increased peak discharges, but to a lesser extent. The afforestation scenario reduced peak flows by as much as 5.3%. Moreover, the afforestation scenario increased soil moisture and base flow.