Land use change study and the increased risk of floods disaster in Jeneberang watershed at Gowa Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

As part of the Jeneberang watershed area, Gowa Regency has an increasing trend of risk of flood disaster which are impact of climate change that has occurred globally. The high rate of population growth and the development of community economic activities are accompanied by the increasing need for space both for settlements and economic activities which results in changes in land cover land use (LULC). This study aims to conduct a study of changes in LULC that can increase the risk of flooding in Gowa regency with watershed area approaches. This study uses a descriptive analysis method with spatial analysis techniques and complemented by other data from agencies, community interviews, and location surveys. LULC data were used in this study are the conversion results from aerial photographs of the Landsat 7 ETM + in 1999 and Landsat-8 OLI / TIRS in 2020 with a map scale of 1: 50,000. The result shows that during the period of study (1999-2020), there were significant changes in LULC in the Jeneberang watershed, where the Jeneberang watershed experienced deforestation of 36.67 Ha, forest degradation of 770.14 Ha and increasing of settlement areas of 3,49747 Ha. The interviews and surveys indicated that the flood disaster-prone areas have grown with residential areas which reduced the water catchment areas and narrowed river boundaries thus increase the potential of flood disaster risk in the future.