Morphometric Analysis of Karkala Micro Watershed, Karkala Taluk Udupi District, Karnataka India

Abstract

An integrated assessment of morphometric parameters has been conducted in this study with an objective of to develop the watershed and manage the available water resources in a hard rock terrain area at Karkala Taluk, Karnataka. According to the analysis of the Karkala micro-watershed, which is classified as closed basin with third-order dendritic drainage pattern, the watershed has a dense canopy of vegetation, a low relief, minute runoff, and a high infiltration rate. Drainage patterns are not greatly affected by geological structures. The basin's elongated shape is supported by the form factor, circulation ratio, and elongation ratio numbers. The Karkala micro-watershed's longitudinal profile exhibits a sharp gradient in the initial stages that has been progressively flattening as the river has weakened. Hypsometric integral found for the Karkala micro watershed is 0.5, showing the maturity stage of the basin. Low values for drainage density and texture, stream frequency, and infiltration number suggest that permeable rocks are underling and this controls the runoff in study area. Therefore, the integrated results of the morphometric assessment at the micro watershed level would be helpful for developing and managing water resources as well as for water harvesting.