International Journal of Human Capital in Urban Management
Quarterly Publication

Modeling Sediment Transport and Assessing Erosion and Sedimentation Status in the HARAZ River Watershed based on the Ecosystem Services Concept.

https://doi.org/10.22034/IJHCUM.2026.01.03
Volume 11, Issue 1 - Serial Number 41
Winter 2026
Pages 33-50
International Journal of Human Capital in Urban Management

Document Type : ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Authors

A. Chahkandi
G. R. Nabi Bidhendi
B. Malekmohammadi

Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Effective river basin management requires understanding sediment transport dynamics and their impact on ecosystem services to mitigate soil erosion and sedimentation. This study emphasizes the novel integration of the ecosystem services framework into sediment transport modeling using the Integrated Valuation Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs Sediment Delivery Ratio model. The Haraz River basin, a critical watershed in northern Iran, faces significant erosion and sedimentation problems due to steep slopes, sporadic vegetation, and intensive land use. This study aimed to model sediment transport and assess erosion and sedimentation dynamics within the basin using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs Sediment Delivery Rate model, focusing on ecosystem services, particularly sediment retention and delivery.
METHODS: The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs Sediment Delivery Rate model was applied to the Haraz River Basin, using high-resolution land use maps, a Digital Elevation Model, and field-calibrated parameters. The study quantified soil erosion and sediment export at pixel and sub-watershed levels. The analysis considered key factors such as rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, slope length, land cover, and management actions to estimate sediment dynamics and identify critical erosion hotspots.
FINDINGS: The results showed considerable spatial variability in sediment transport and retention across the catchment. Subwatershed 2 had the highest soil erosion potential (13,016,268 tonnes) and sediment export (1,992,277 tonnes), primarily due to steep slopes and limited vegetation cover. In contrast, sub-catchment 5 had the lowest erosion potential (60,721 tonnes) and sediment export (9,328 tonnes) due to effective land management and favorable land cover conditions. The values for erosion control and sediment retention illustrate the crucial role of vegetation in mitigating soil loss and reducing sediment input into rivers.
CONCLUSION: This study highlights the complex interplay between natural and management factors in regulating erosion and sediment dynamics. Integrating Sediment Delivery Ratio modeling with an ecosystem services framework provided actionable insights for prioritizing erosion control measures in high-risk areas and improving sediment retention. Management strategies that include vegetation restoration, land use optimization, and sediment control barriers are recommended to improve watershed sustainability in the Haraz Basin.

Keywords

Sediment transport
Soil erosion
Ecosystem services
Haraz River watershed
InVEST DSR
Subjects

OPEN ACCESS

©2024 The author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit: 

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 

PUBLISHER NOTE
Tehran Urban Research & Planning Centre (TURPC) takes a neutral position about claims on disputed territories, place names, international boundaries, jurisdiction in published maps, and institutional affiliations. TURPC is committed to retracting a paper after its publication if it becomes apparent that there are serious problems in its content, in terms of research and publication ethics (https://www.ijhcum.net/journal/process?ethics).

CITATION METRICS & CAPTURES

Google Scholar | DOAJ | Scopus | EBSCO | Internet Archive |Twitter |Mendeley  

CURRENT PUBLISHER

 Tehran Urban Research and Planning Center: Tehran Municipality

 

Andualem, T. G.; Hewa, G. A.; Myers, B. R.; Boland, J.; Peters, S., (2024). Predicting Suspended Sediment Transport in Urbanised Streams: A Case Study of Dry Creek, South Australia. Hydrology., 11(11): 1-16 (16 pages).
Balist, J.; Malek Mohammadi, B.; Jafari, H. R.; Nohegar, A., (2021). Water Resources Supply and Demand Modeling using the Concept of Ecosystem Services in Sirvan Transboundary Basin. Environ and Water Eng., 7(2): 279-292 (14 pages). (In Persian)
Balist, J.; Malekmohammadi, B.; Jafari, H.R.; Geneletti, D., (2022). Detecting land use and climate impacts on water yield ecosystem service in arid and semi-arid areas. A study in Sirvan River Basin-Iran. Appl Water Sci., 12(4): 1-14 (14pages).
Balist, J.; Malekmohammadi, B.; Jafari, H.R.; Geneletti, D., (2022). Modeling the supply, demand, and stress of water resources using ecosystem services concept in Sirvan River Basin (Kurdistan-Iran). Water Sply., 22 (3): 2816–2831 (15 pages).
Bhattarai, R.; Dutta, D.; (2006). Estimation of Soil Erosion and Sediment Yield Using GIS at Catchment Scale. Water Resour. Manag., 21: 1635–1647 (13 pages).
Borrelli, P.; Robinson, D. A.; Panagos, P.; Lugato, E.; Yang, J. E.; Alewell, C.; Ballabio, C., (2017). Land use and climate change impacts on global soil erosion by water (2015-2070). Proce. Nat. Acad. Scences., 114(36): 9313-9318 (6 pages).
Borselli, L.; Cassi, P.; Torri, D., (2008). Prolegomena to sediment and flow connectivity in the landscape: A GIS and field numerical assessment. Catena., 75: 268–277 (10 pages).
Cavalli, M.; Trevisani, S.; Comiti, F.;, Marchi, L., (2013). Geomorphometric assessment of spatial sediment connectivity in small Alpine catchments. Geomorphology., 188: 31–41 (11 pages).
Costanza, R.; de Groot, R.; Braat, L.; Kubiszewski, I.; Fioramonti, L.; Sutton, P.; Grasso, M., (2017). Twenty years of ecosystem services: How far have we come and how far do we still need to go. Ecos. Serv., 28: 1-16 (16 pages).
Desmet, P.J.J.; Govers, G.; (1996). A GIs procedure for automatically calculating the USLE LS factor on topographically complex landscape units. J. Soi., 51(5): 427–433 (7 pages).
Dominati, E.; Patterson, M.; Mackay, A., (2010). A framework for classifying and quantifying the natural capital and ecosystem services of soils. Ecol. Econ., 69(9): 1858-1868 (11 pages).
Fang, H.; He, G.; Huang, L.; Zhao, Ch.; Wang, J.; Han, Y.; Gao, Q.; Zhang, T.; Meng, J., (2024). Altered flow and sediment transport impacts on the ecosystems of Chinese major rivers: An urgent call for ecofluvial dynamics. River., 3: 341–361 (21 pages).
Fu, B.; Wang, Y. K.; Lu, Y. H.; & Liu, S. L., (2011). The effects of land-use combinations on soil erosion: A study in the Loess Plateau of China. Jour. Hydro., 410(3-4): 230-239 (20 pages).
Guo, Q; Jin, YeeChung., (2002). Modeling Nonuniform Suspended Sediment Transport in Alluvial Rivers., Jour.Hydr. Eng., 9: 839-847 (9 pages).
Hamel, P.; Chaplin-Kramer, R.; Sim, S.; Mueller, C., (2015). A new approach to modeling the sediment retention service (InVEST 3.0): Case study of the Cape Fear catchment, North Carolina, USA. Sci. Tot. Enviro., 524–525: 166–177 (12 pages).
Hamel, P;  Bryant, B., (2017). Uncertainty assessment in ecosystem services analyses: Seven challenges and practical responses. Ecos. Serv., 24: 1-15 (16 pages).
Lopez-vicente, M.; Poesen, J.; Navas, A.; Gaspar, L., (2013). Predicting runoff and sediment connectivity and soil erosion by water for different land use scenarios in the Spanish Pre-Pyrenees. Catena., 102: 62–73 (12 pages).
Malekmohammadi B.; Rezaei M.; Balist J.; Yaghoobi. A. A., (2023). Effects of floods on the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries: case study in Iran. Cris. Oil, Gas. Petro. Ind., 103-133 (31 pages).
Oliveira, A.H.; Silva, M.A. da.; Silva, M.L.N.; Curi, N.; Neto, G.K.; Freitas, D.A.F. de., (2013). Development of Topographic Factor Modeling for Application in Soil Erosion Models., Soil Pro. Curr. Tre. Qual. Asses., 1: 1-28 (28 pages).
Owens, Philip N., (2020). Soil erosion and sediment dynamics in the Anthropocene: a review of human impacts during a period of rapid global environmental change.  J. Soi. Sedi., 20: 4115–4143 (28 pages).
Pimentel, D.; Harvey, C.; Resosudarmo, P.; Sinclair, K.; Kurz, D.; McNair, M.; Blair, R., (1995). Environmental and economic costs of soil erosion and conservation benefits. Science., 267(5201): 1117-1123 (7 pages).
Posthumus, H.; Rouquette, J. R.; Morris, J.; Gowing, D. J.; Hess, T. M., (2010). A framework for the assessment of ecosystem goods and services; a case study on lowland floodplains in England. Ecol. Econ., 69(6): 1510-1523 (14 pages).
Renard, K.; Foster, G.; Weesies, G.; McCool, D.; Yoder, D., (1997). Predicting Soil Erosion by Water: A Guide to Conservation Planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). U.S. Dep. Agri., Washington DC.
Renard, K.; Freimund, J., (1994). Using monthly precipitation data to estimate the R-factor in the revised USLE. J. Hydrol., 157: 287–306 (20 pages).
Rodriguez, B.C.; Palma-Torres, V. M.; Castaeda, TJ.E.; Codtiyeng, S.K.; Castillo, J.F.; Sasi, A.P.V.; Tercero, M.U.; Andrada, R.T.; and Andrada, R.T., (2023). Drivers and Impacts of Land Use and Land Cover Changes on Ecosystem Services Provided by the Watersheds in the Philippines: A Systematic Literature Review. Int.l for. rev., 25(4): 473-490 (18 pages).
Roose., (1996). Land husbandry - Components and strategy. Soi. Bull., 70. Rome.
Sadeghi, A.; Galalizadeh, S.; Zehtabian, G.; Khosravi, H.; (2021). Assessing the change of groundwater quality compared with land-use change and precipitation rate (Zrebar Lake's Basin). Appl Water Sci., 11: 1-15 (15 pages).
Sadeghi, A.; Khaledi, J.; Nyman, P., (2018). Rainfall Variability and Land-Use Change in Arid Basins with Traditional Agricultural Practices; Insight from Ground Water Monitoring in Northwestern Iran. J Earth Sci Clim Change., 9 (11): 491-498 (8 pages).
Sadeghi, A.; Zehtabian, G.; Malekian, A.; Khosravi, H., (2014). The Effect of Land use Changes on Groundwater Quality (Case Study: Zaribar Lake Basin). Wat. Man. Res., 27(4): 90-97 (8 pages).
Schröter, M.; Zanden, E. H.; van Oudenhoven, A. P. E.; Remme, R. P.; Serna-Chavez, H. M.; de Groot, R. S.; Opdam, P., (2014). Ecosystem services as a contested concept: A synthesis of critique and counter-arguments. Cons. Let., 7(6), 514-523 (10 pages).
Slosson, J.; Kelleher, C.; Hoke, G., (2021). Contrasting Impacts of a Hotter and Drier Future on Streamflow and Catchment Scale Sediment Flux in the High Andes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Eart. Sur., 126 (8): 1-20 (21 pages).
Sougnez, N.; Wesemael, B. Van.; Vanacker, V., (2011). Low erosion rates measured for steep, sparsely vegetated catchments in southeast Spain. Catena., 84: 1–11 (10 pages).
Tabarestani, E Sh.; Afzalimehr, H.; and Sui, J., (2022). Assessment of Annual Erosion and Sediment Yield Using Empirical Methods and Validating with Field Measurements Case Study. Wat., 14 (10): 1-16 (16 pages).
Tedesco, P.; Beier, C. M.; & Johnson, S. L., (2020). Modeling sediment delivery in response to land use and climate change using the InVEST tool: Case studies from New York and Oregon, USA. Enviro. Mod. & Soft., 132: 1-20 (20 pages).
Vigiak, O.; Borselli, L.; Newham, L.T.H.; Mcinnes, J.; Roberts, A.M., (2012). Comparison of conceptual landscape metrics to define hillslope-scale sediment delivery ratio. Geomor., 138: 74–88 (15 pages).
Zebardast, L.; Balist, J.; Karimi, H., (2023). Integrated Environmental Assessment of Unsustainable Exploitation and Pollution of Shared Water Resources in Transboundary Basins of Semi-arid and Arid Regions. Case Study: Tigris-Euphrates River Basin. Poll., 9(4): 1475-1495 (21 pages).
 
  • Receive Date 12 February 2025
  • Revise Date 22 April 2025
  • Accept Date 26 May 2025

Home

Authorship

Submit Manuscript

Indexing and Abstracting

Editorial Board

Unrestricted Reuse in Compliance with BOAI

Open Access Policy

Self-Archiving Policy

Privacy Statement

Publisher Business Model

Publisher and Sponsor

Contact Us