Utilization of a rainfall-runoff hydrological model in studies on the Impact of land use changes: case study from Georgia

Land use and climate change along with anthropogenic impacts have significant effects on hydrological processes in river basins. Therefore, increased attention in hydrological modelling is being paid to the assessment of the impact of these factors on runoff characteristics. This contribution deals with an analysis of the runoff characteristics in the Bolnisistskali River basin with the current land use. The results of the analysis were compared with a scenario consisting of a change in the land use. The scenario is geared towards the land use for agricultural purposes and cattle breeding. The rainfall-runoff model with spatially distributed parameters was used for the research and comparison analyses. From the results of the modelling, it is obvious that the current state of the land use in terms of the runoff conditions from the basin is perceived more positively than a scenario based on delimitation criteria. (author)