GEOMORPHIC AND FOREST COVER CONTROLS ON MONSOON FLOODING, CENTRAL NEPAL HIMALAYA

Devastating monsoon season floods in the central Nepal Himalaya have b een difficult to predict with any precision, reliability, or accuracy. Deforestation is often blamed as the principal cause of flooding. Thi s paper uses field data at 22 stream crossings, together with drainage basin morphometric data and forest cover data, to determine the domin ant controls on bank-full discharge from monsoon storms. Results demon strate that 82 percent of the variation in bank-full discharge can be explained as a function of drainage area alone; forest cover did not a dd explanatory power. Findings from this study can be used to guide pl anning for future projects that will be affected by flood hazards in t he central Nepal Himalaya, including irrigation, hydropower, and footb ridge construction.