Prioritization of sub-watershed in Eastern Jeddah using PCA-WSA hybrid modeling approach

The development and implementation of any watershed management plan require a thorough understanding of geometrical circumstances within the watershed. Therefore, watershed planning and management as well as the delineation of natural drainage systems are carried out by the application of GIS-based morphometric analysis. The current work proposes a hybrid model that incorporates multivariate statistical models and geo-informatics to determine the most significant erosion-prone morphometric characteristics and sub-watersheds for the eastern Jeddah sub-watersheds. In recent decades, the Eastern Jeddah sub watershed has suffered multiple catastrophic floods and soil erosions, resulting in numerous fatalities, wrecked homes, and badly damaged vehicles. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Weighted Sum Approach (WSA), two statistical approaches, are coupled to determine the Jeddah Eastern Sub-Watersheds (SWDs) that need to be managed for soil conservation. The relevant correlated factor-loading matrix was identified using PCA, and the weights for the morphometric parameters were provided using WSA, which also established their priority ranking for classification according to compound factor value. The most vulnerable sub-watersheds are SWD-9 and SWD-11, and the results indicated that very sensitive zone sub-watersheds make up 56.48% of the entire region. This emphasizes the need for appropriate conservation measures for water and soil to be implemented by the Jeddah water authorities. In terms of estimating the risk of erosion, the suggested methodology turned out to be a useful management and planning tool for watershed priotization. It has been demonstrated that using PCA and WSA together is a useful technique for enhancing long-term soil erosion prevention strategies and watershed conservation priorities.