Abstract

A survey was carried out on soil erodibility in the territory of the capital city of Awka in the southeast of Nigeria. The study aims to assess and document the soil erosion potential in the face of growing population and environmental challenges. The erodibility potential of the study area was assessed using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) tools. A total of twenty-five (25) sample locations points was used for this study and the Arc-GIS tool was also used to assist in the field for this estimation using the erodibility indicators of the World Bank. The USLE value calculated was 672, indicating high erodibility erodibility, while the USDA forecast was Category IV. Using both the USLE and the USDA tools’ threshold, the area is concluded to be highly erodible and having high erosion risk. Both models indicated that the samples reached a highly erodible threshold. High soil erodibility index is therefore observed as a critical problem in the study area. The study recommends integrated catchment management planning which will involve a wholistic storm water master planning, vegetation, controlled land use etc to conserve soil in the study area.