Bogacayi watershed problems and watershed management suggestions in solutions to these problems

The development of Antalya together with Turkey has occurred rapidly in parallel with the development of the technology, industry and tourism in the world in the last century. Especially, the city of Antalya has gained great momentum with the development of the tourism and agriculture sector in the last ten years. As result of this development, the Boğaçayı basin is ecologically most affected area in the city of Antalya, which is in the western part of the city and 10 km away from the city center. With this increased development have emerged problems in the area of the rapid population growth, housing, nutrition, transportation. With the increasing need of housing, Boğaçayı basin is deemed appropriate the most economical way to meet the demand for construction materials and as a result began operations here many of stone and sand quarry. As a result of rapid urbanization, the housing problem was caused the undesirable land uses. In addition, the increased nutritional needs caused the use of agricultural areas more intensive and the contamination of the soil with chemical use. However, the measures were in sufficient for the solution of these problems.In this study, Boğaçayı Basin, which is formed by three rivers of Karaman River, Çandır River and Doyran River in the west of Antalya province, is analyzed in detail existing land uses, socio-economic structure, environmental issues and problems arising from them. A survey was conducted with the local people (n = 400). In this study, the questions were asked how people behave in the face of challenges and demands for a solution. As a result, taking ideas among the people, tried to develop solutions for the problems.As a result of this study, the people who are living in the basin Boğaçayı are very sensitive to their environment and the most important environmental problems of the basin from the past to the present are the environmental damages during the operating of limestone quarries and sand pits in the basin. People who live here think that public institutions have failed to fulfill their responsibilities of solving the problem. To ensure the sustainability of Boğaçayı is recommended as soon as possible to prevent improper land use before losing the ecological characteristics of the basin. The planning which is related to Boğaçayı basin must be implementing in accordance with the watershed management techniques and science sand the local people should be incorporated into the work by the responsible public institutions. Based on the results of this study, against the problems of the Boğaçayı basin are developed some suggestions in accordance with the principles of watershed management.