Assessing Land Use and Land Cover Changes in the Chepkoilel/Sergoit River Catchment

Abstract

Land cover refers to what is on the land, natural or man-made, while land use refers to human activities on land. Therefore, there is always a direct link between land cover and the actions of people in their environment.  Land Cover and Land Use (LC/LU) changes involves intensification of an existing use, or a shift to a different use. Increasing demand for space for settlement and all types of development are the driving force. The study aimed to quantify the changes in LC/LU in the catchment during the period 1995 to 2020 and to examine their effects on the long term availability of potable water. Medium (Landsat 5) and high (Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel-2) resolution satellite images of three dates were used and all the data processing and analysis was done in ArcGIS environment. Results showed that the catchment had lost 69% of its forest cover, while farmland increased by 44%; settlement in the catchment increased by 261% and wetland declined by 64% during the period. The upper zone, the main source of the water supply in the catchment, lost 46% of its forest cover during the period.  We recommend that immediate steps be taken to increase forest/vegetation cover and implement land conservation in the catchment, especially the upper zone.