*3.5. Spatial Analysis of Slope Ranges for Attock and Chakwal Districts*

As reported by various researchers, the soil loss is minimal on sloping land with vegetation cover; however, when the available vegetation cover is removed, soil loss becomes more significant as a function of the slope length and slope steepness. The stream power, as a function of the shear stress and flow velocity, is the basic criterion for assessing the erosion of soil particles caused by overland flow. The shear stress and flow velocity are directly proportional to the slope steepness. This means that the steeper the land slope is, the greater the shear stress becomes, consequently increasing the potential for soil erosion.

Additionally, when soil conservation structures are installed in a field, farmers focus on cultivating agricultural crops in the areas above and below such structures. Considering these factors, this section estimated the potential area that would benefit from the installation of structures in Chakwal and Attock. Accordingly, the suitable slopes for stone structures and agricultural practices were analyzed at the district level based on the slope characteristics of selected sites. The areas under various slopes in the small watersheds were calculated and are shown in Table 5.


**Table 5.** The areas under different slopes in small watersheds of the Chakwal and Attock districts.

All selected watershed sites were found to have a maximum slope area of less than 5%. This is because the selected sites were used for agricultural production. Farmers have graded the land as suitable for crop production and generating less surface runoff. The agricultural practices are only possible on soil that has a slope of less than 8%; otherwise, land grading must be carried out. The same has been suggested by various authors. A USLE experiment conducted at the SAWCRI office concluded that only a slope of less than 10% is acceptable for agricultural practices under rainfed conditions.

A slope classification analysis was performed to check the areal installation applicability of the soil and water conservation structures on district level, as shown in Table 6. The maximum proportions of the areas in the Attock and Chakwal districts with less than 20% slope were 94% and 94.5%, respectively. The table shows that approximately 60% of the area of the Attock and Chakwal districts lies in a slope range of 0–4%, whereas 30% lies in a slope range of 4–10%. The minimum slope areas were considered according to the findings of Betrie et al., who recommended that stone bunds should be applied in low-slope areas for soil conservation [61]. However, the effectiveness of the structures depends on the local topography and soil and land use–land cover conditions. Considering the topographic conditions, considerable potential exists for implementing soil conservation measures through the installation of stone structures. However, the appropriate maintenance of the structures is crucial for sustaining their effectiveness.


**Table 6.** Slope classification analysis of the Chakwal and Attock districts.
