Prioritization of soil erosion-prone sub-watersheds using fuzzy-based multi-criteria decision-making methods in Narmada basin watershed, India

Every year, soil erosion causes significant damage to humans by reducing soil productivity and filling reservoirs from sediment deposition in the Manot watershed in the Narmada basin, India. Hence, it is important in this basin to recognize soil erosion-prone areas for preventive steps. In this research, prioritization of sub-watersheds of the Manot watershed has been done using fuzzy MCDM approaches such as Fuzzy-SAW, Fuzzy-VIKOR and Fuzzy-TOPSIS methods. For this purpose, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)-generated Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was used to extract and analyze 12 morphometric parameters, including linear, aerial, and relief parameters. A fuzzy MCDM was successfully implemented for prioritizing watersheds in terms of soil erosion. Overall, the descending order in terms of susceptibility to erosion is found to be MN8 > MN7 > MN2 > MN10 > MN1 > MN9 > MN12 > MN4 > MN5 > MN6 > MN14 > MN3 > MN13 > MN11. The findings showed that morphometric parameters and the fuzzy MCDM approach have high efficiency in recognizing areas that are vulnerable to erosion.