DOI: 10.36347/sjet

Pages: 68-77

The main objective of the study was to test the performance and feasibility of SWAT 2005 model for prediction of streamflow in Meenachil river basin, Kerala. The model was calibrated and validated for three gauging stations, viz., Peroor, Pala and Cheripad. The model was autocalibrated for a period of 13 years (1982 – 1994) using Swat Cup software. The SuFi2 algorithm in Swat Cup was adopted for autocalibration of the model. The calibrated model was validated for the three gauging stations for a period of 10 years (1995 – 2004). The landuse map used for the calibration period was for the year 1990 and that for the validation period was for the year 2000. The simulated monthly streamflow has Nash Sutcliffe efficiency value of 0.80, 0.78 and 0.80 for the calibration period for the Peroor, Pala and Cheripad stations respectively. The model was successful in simulating streamflow during validation period as indicated by Nash Sutcliffe efficiency value of 0.75, 0.78 and 0.80 and R2 value of 0.84, 0.83 and 0.85 respectively for Peroor, Pala and Cheripad stations. The model results in good performance showing that it is feasible for predicting streamflow in Meenachil river basin under changing landuse and climate conditions