Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Land use and land cover (LULC) changes and variability in climate are critical factors impacting the response and feedback mechanisms of river basins. This work seeks to assess the effects of LULC changes and climate variability on the hydrological conditions of the Kulpawn River Basin (KRB) in Ghana. The study applied the Random Forest (RF) algorithm to classify LULC changes using Landsat images from 1995, 2005, 2015, and 2023. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to analyse the hydro-climatic conditions of the basin. The results revealed substantial conversion of dense savannah forest to built-up areas by 28.34%, light savannah forest by 20.83%, and agricultural land by 3.22%. Significant changes were also observed in key hydrological components, with precipitation decreasing by 2.14% and evapotranspiration by 4.91%, while surface runoff increased by 7.78%. In addition, water yield, lateral flow, and percolation declined by 14.5%, 1.8%, and 4.87%, from 1995 to 2023, indicating reduced water availability in the basin. The study established a strong correlation between LULC changes and hydro-climatic variables of the basin, which highlighted the combined effects of LULC changes and climate variability on basin hydrology. The study recommends the implementation of sustainable land and water use planning and the promotion of climate-smart agricultural practices, as well as the integration of climate adaptation strategies into basin-scale water resources management to enhance the hydrological resilience of the basin.</p>