Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Model. Earth Syst. Environ. (2017) 3:44 DOI 10.1007/s40808-017-0304-1 ORIGINAL ARTICLE LUPWY: land use planner for water yield for environmental change analysis Jay Krishna Thakur 1,3  · Kapil Khanal 2  · Kabita Poudyal 1   Received: 28 November 2016 / Accepted: 9 February 2017 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 necessary in order to make the model applicable to any dif- ferent location with speciic features which can be diferent from the original example provided. Keywords Land use planner · LUPWY · Water yield · Environmental change Introduction Land use planning plays an important role in sustain- able conservation and management of catchment speciic resources (Lal 2003). Certain properties of catchments determine various sub-parameters that play crucial role in water budget within the catchment (Bonan et al. 2003). Land cover and land use practices are unorganized in most river basins of Nepal (Kaly 2004). In order to determine the optimum land use practice for enhancing the water service in Tanahun and Kaski districts in Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape (CHAL) (Osti 2005) a certain software model was developed and used. The target of the model is such that it combines the primary and sec- ondary data as well as information pertaining to the study location and then combine the process based representa- tions of terrestrial vegetation dynamics and land–atmos- phere carbon and water exchanges in the modular frame- work (Sitch et al. 2003). Prediction of the results changes in vegetation patterns, water quality and runof production requires an accurate representation of the relationships between hydrology, vegetation and climate (Wigmosta et al. 1994). The objective of the research was to develop the software providing the possibility to assess the changes of nature conditions over the years in the watershed areas. Abstract Sustainable land use of watershed is an impor- tant aspect for the development and conservation of nature. Unconcerned use of the resources may lead to irreversible consequences and overall misbalance. The main aim of the research was to create a software, which could be useful for estimation of the catchment’s nature conditions and assess- ment of changes on the basis of which the prediction of possible consequences can be made. In the given work, the inluencing factors have been considered: precipitation and temperature analysis and land cover change over the last 30 years. With the help of the developed model based on the provided data, the representation of changes in climate, land cover and water dynamics were calculated. As a result, the software establishes the characteristics of the catchment area and makes it possible to see the changing pattern of the selected factors. The primary and secondary outcomes of the model provide precise calculation of surface runofs, interception losses, and transpirations. In order to assess the efectiveness of the model, the results of the model and the river discharge were compared with estimation of the possible error rate. Diferent territories with similar charac- teristics can implement developed software for daily use on the local level. However, for successful applying in a new area the model has to be localized. Further evolvement is * Jay Krishna Thakur info@hems.org.np; info@uizentrum.de Kapil Khanal kapil.khanal@wwfnepal.org 1 Health and Environment Management Society (HEMS), Basundhara, Kathmandu, Nepal 2 World Wildlife Fund Nepal, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal 3 Environment and Information Technology Centre – UIZ, Neue Grünstraße 38, 10179 Berlin, Germany