Predicting the Effect of Hydro-Climatic and Land-Use Dynamic Variables on Watershed Health Status.

This study aimed to predict the impact of changing hydro-climatic variables and land use changes on the future health status of the Safaroud Watershed, northern Iran. It also sought to explore the significance of hydro-climatic and land use variables in prioritizing sub-watersheds based on the watershed health index. The study involved extracting key characteristics related to anthropogenetic, climatic, and hydrological factors for pressure, state, and response indicators. The current watershed health index was calculated, followed by predictions of watershed health based on dynamic hydro-climatic and land-use variables for the next 10 and 20 years. The Safaroud Watershed health assessment and zoning showed that the average value and standard deviation of the current pressure index were equal to 0.573 and 0.185, respectively. The lowest value of this index was around 0.290 and related to sub-watershed 5, and the highest value was around 0.840 and related to sub-watershed 11. The initial evaluation of the classification indicated the prevalence of moderate and high-pressure conditions with a range of about 79