scholarly journals Ten fundamental questions for water resources development in the Ganges: myths and realities

Water Policy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (S1) ◽  
pp. 147-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Sadoff ◽  
Nagaraja Rao Harshadeep ◽  
Donald Blackmore ◽  
Xun Wu ◽  
Anna O'Donnell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Ganges Basin ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Low Flows ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Modelling Techniques ◽  
The Ganges ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Resources Planning

This paper summarizes the results of the Ganges Strategic Basin Assessment (SBA), a 3-year, multi-disciplinary effort undertaken by a World Bank team in cooperation with several leading regional research institutions in South Asia. It begins to fill a crucial knowledge gap, providing an initial integrated systems perspective on the major water resources planning issues facing the Ganges basin today, including some of the most important infrastructure options that have been proposed for future development. The SBA developed a set of hydrological and economic models for the Ganges system, using modern data sources and modelling techniques to assess the impact of existing and potential new hydraulic structures on flooding, hydropower, low flows, water quality and irrigation supplies at the basin scale. It also involved repeated exchanges with policy makers and opinion makers in the basin, during which perceptions of the basin could be discussed and examined. The study's findings highlight the scale and complexity of the Ganges basin. In particular, they refute the broadly held view that upstream water storage, such as reservoirs in Nepal, can fully control basin-wide flooding. In addition, the findings suggest that such dams could potentially double low flows in the dry months. The value of doing so, however, is surprisingly unclear and similar storage volumes could likely be attained through better groundwater management. Hydropower development and trade are confirmed to hold real promise (subject to rigorous project level assessment with particular attention to sediment and seismic risks) and, in the near to medium term, create few significant tradeoffs among competing water uses. Significant uncertainties – including climate change – persist, and better data would allow the models and their results to be further refined.

Opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the Ganges basin

Water Policy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (S1) ◽  
pp. 9-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bharat R. Sharma ◽  
Devaraj de Condappa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Aquifer Recharge ◽  
Eastern India ◽  
Ganges Basin ◽  
Additional Water ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Tehri Dam ◽  
The Ganges ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Himalaya

The topography of the Ganges basin is highly variable, with the steep mountainous region of the Himalaya upstream and the large fertile plains in eastern India and Bangladesh downstream. The contribution from the glaciers to streamflows is supposed to be significant but there is uncertainty surrounding the impact of climate change on glaciers. An application of the Water Evaluation and Planning model was set up which contained an experimental glaciers module. The model also examined the possible impacts of an increase in temperature. The contribution from glaciated areas is significant (60–75%) in the Upper Ganges but reduces downstream, falling to about 19% at Farakka. Climate change-induced rise in temperature logically increases the quantity of snow and ice that melts in glaciated areas. However, this impact decreases from upstream (+8% to +26% at Tehri dam) to downstream (+1% to +4% at Farakka). Such increases in streamflows may create flood events more frequently, or of higher magnitude, in the upper reaches. Potential strategies to exploit this additional water may include the construction of new dams/reservoir storage and the development of groundwater in the basin through managed aquifer recharge. The riparian states of India, Nepal and Bangladesh could harness this opportunity to alleviate physical water scarcity and improve productivity.

scholarly journals A Framework for Assessing Instream Supporting Ecosystem Services Based on Hydroecological Modelling

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sikhululekile Ncube ◽  
Annie Visser ◽  
Lindsay Beevers
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Western Himalayas ◽  
Water Resources Planning ◽  
River Systems ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Flood Regulation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Resources Planning

River systems provide diverse ecosystem services (ES), such as flood regulation (regulating), fresh water (provisioning), nutrient cycling (supporting), and recreation (cultural), among others. The construction of infrastructure (e.g., for hydropower, irrigation) enhances the delivery of tangible ES for example food or energy (generally provisioning) to meet human needs. However, the resulting change to river flows threatens both the ecological health of a river and its ability to provide intangible but vital ES, for example those which support the delivery of other services. Understanding these supporting ES processes in river systems is essential to fully recognise the impact of water resources development on ES delivery. Whilst approaches for assessing instream supporting ES are under development, to date few provide quantitative methods for assessing delivery. Thus, this paper sets out a framework for the assessment of instream supporting ES using hydroecological modelling. It links supporting ES delivery to fluvial hydrological indicators through the use of ecologically relevant hydrological indices and macroinvertebrate flow preferences. The proposed framework is demonstrated on the Beas River basin (Western Himalayas, India), and is flexible enough to be transferred to a basin-wide model, thereby allowing ES relationships to be accounted for in basin-wide water resources planning.

scholarly journals Investigating the Impact of Climate Change on Future Runoff of River Satluj

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-21
Author(s):  
Narayan P Gautam ◽  
Manohar Arora ◽  
N.K. Goel ◽  
A.R.S. Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Climatic Condition ◽  
The Impact

Climate change has been emerging as one of the challenges in the global environment. Information of predicted climatic changes in basin scale is highly useful to know the future climatic condition in the basin that ultimately becomes helpful to carry out planning and management of the water resources available in the basin. Climatic scenario is a plausible and often simplified representation of the future climate, based on an internally consistent set of climatological relationships that has been constructed for explicit use in investigating the potential consequences of anthropogenic climate change. This study based on statistical downscaling, provide good example focusing on predicting the rainfall and runoff patterns, using the coarse general circulation model (GCM) outputs. The outputs of the GCMs are utilized to study the impact of climate change on water resources. The present study has been taken up to identify the climate change scenarios for Satluj river basin, India.Journal of Hydrology and Meteorology, Vol. 8(1) p.10-21

scholarly journals User Antecedents, CRM Implementation and Impact on Customer Outcomes in Jordanian Service Industry

2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Equation Modelling ◽  
Modelling Techniques ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Customer Outcomes ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

The implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become increasingly important to scholars and practitioners over the last two decades. This study examined the relationships between user antecedents, CRM implementation, and customer outcomes. Its aims were to identify CRM user antecedents, explore the impact of these antecedents on CRM implementation, and examine the connection between CRM implementation and customer outcomes: loyalty, retention, and satisfaction. A quantitative method was employed consisting of a structured questionnaire. A total of 290 completed questionnaires were returned and analyzed with structural equation modelling techniques. The results indicated there were significant positive relationships between four out of five antecedents and CRM implementation; however, an impact of user involvement was not supported by the data. CRM implementation was also found to positively affect all three customer’s outcomes: loyalty, retention, and satisfaction. These findings are of practical and theoretical value to practitioners, customers, and policy makers

scholarly journals Impact of climatic change on water resources in Huia river basin, China

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 2225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rawshan Othman Alia ◽  
Zhao Chunjua ◽  
Zhou Yihona ◽  
Liu Ping ◽  
Arien Heryansyaha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Huai River Basin ◽  
Huai River ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Huai River Basin

Research on the impact of climate change on water resources has attracted the attention of academician and policy makers. This paper tends to analyze the impact of changes in air temperature and rainfall factors on the amount of water resources in the Huai River Basin from 1980 to 2014. Air temperature and rainfall data were collected from six meteorological stations. Hydrological and water resources evaluation data were collected from the Bengbu Hydrological Station in the Huai River Basin. Research findings revealed an increasing trend of average annual air temperature, with the highest increase of 0.293oC recorded at Bengbu in Anhui Province. The western part of the study area has shown a rising rainfall while the eastern part (the middle reaches of the Huai River) witnessed a declining rainfall. The rainfall in the Huai River Basin was significantly influenced by the natural fluctuations as the average rainfall in the study area was in a vaguely declining trend. This resulted in gradual decrease in the quantity of the Basin’s water resources due to decreasing rainfall and rising air temperature. Regression and sensitivity analyses were employed to develop a mathematical model between water resources quantity and changes in air temperature and rainfall. Based on regression analysis findings, changes in rainfall have a much bigger impact on its water resources quantity than changes in its air temperature.  

Integrated basin-scale and field-scale modelling as a tool to assess improved water and salinity management

Soil Research ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 355 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Torabi ◽  
H. R. Salemi ◽  
P. Droogers ◽  
M. Noshadi
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Water Quantity ◽  
Irrigation Season ◽  
Baseline Scenario ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
Scenario Analyses ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Return Flows ◽  
The Impact

This study was conducted to investigate the impact of changes in water management on water and salinity problems and crop production at field and basin level by analysing several probable scenarios. First, a simplified water and salinity basin model (WSBM) was developed for a quick analysis of river basin processes and was combined with the comprehensive field-scale model, SWAP (soil–water–atmosphere–plant). The WSBM model was calibrated and used for water resources analyses in Zayandeh Rud basin in central Iran. Observed and simulated stream flows were similar, proving that the model could be used for scenario analyses. Yield functions for cotton were developed with SWAP, including the impact of water quantity and quality on crop yields and field water and salinity balances. Three scenarios were considered. The first scenario analysed the effect of more efficient irrigation techniques on the basin water resources, where it was assumed that farmers would not accept lower water allocations if they invested in these more efficient techniques. Therefore, return flows would decrease and less water would be available for downstream users. It was concluded that the effect on the downstream irrigation schemes was dramatic, with a 22% decrease in yield. Obviously, upstream yields would increase. A second scenario was defined where the effect of an increase in water extraction for the town of Esfahan was evaluated. In terms of basin-scale water quantity aspects, this increased extraction was negligible as extractions were relatively low and return flows high. The last scenario was developed to study the additional releases required from the reservoir to provide sufficient water for expansion of the tail-end Rudasht irrigation scheme. If no restriction were imposed on water quality, additional releases from the reservoir would be limited. However, if salinity levels were not to exceed 2�dS/m, mean annual water release requirements from the reservoir would increase from 52 to 64 m3/s, and peak requirements during the irrigation season would increase from 85 to 112 m3/s. In this case, the crop yield would increase from 66% (for the baseline scenario) to 73%. Finally, it was concluded that the methodology and the models developed were useful for a swift and transparent analysis of past, current, and future water and salt resources, and to perform scenario analyses.

scholarly journals Impact of Eastern Redcedar Proliferation on Water Resources in the Great Plains USA—Current State of Knowledge

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Zou ◽  
Dirac Twidwell ◽  
Christine Bielski ◽  
Dillon Fogarty ◽  
Aaron Mittelstet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Surface Runoff ◽  
Water Budget ◽  
Eastern Redcedar ◽  
Aquatic Life ◽  
South Central ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
The Impact

In the Great Plains of the central United States, water resources for human and aquatic life rely primarily on surface runoff and local recharge from rangelands that are under rapid transformation to woodland by the encroachment of Eastern redcedar (redcedar; Juniperus virginiana) trees. In this synthesis, the current understanding and impact of redcedar encroachment on the water budget and water resources available for non-ecosystem use are reviewed. Existing studies concluded that the conversion from herbaceous-dominated rangeland to redcedar woodland increases precipitation loss to canopy interception and vegetation transpiration. The decrease of soil moisture, particularly for the subsurface soil layer, is widely documented. The depletion of soil moisture is directly related to the observed decrease in surface runoff, and the potential of deep recharge for redcedar encroached watersheds. Model simulations suggest that complete conversion of the rangelands to redcedar woodland at the watershed and basin scale in the South-central Great Plains would lead to reduced streamflow throughout the year, with the reductions of streamflow between 20 to 40% depending on the aridity of the climate of the watershed. Recommended topics for future studies include: (i) The spatial dynamics of redcedar proliferation and its impact on water budget across a regional hydrologic network; (ii) the temporal dynamics of precipitation interception by the herbaceous canopy; (iii) the impact of redcedar infilling into deciduous forests such as the Cross Timbers and its impact on water budget and water availability for non-ecosystem use; (iv) land surface and climate interaction and cross-scale hydrological modeling and forecasting; (v) impact of redcedar encroachment on sediment production and water quality; and (vi) assessment and efficacy of different redcedar control measures in restoring hydrological functions of watershed.

scholarly journals Quantifying the impact of climate change on water resources at the basin scale on five continents – a unified approach

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 7485-7519 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Todd ◽  
R. G. Taylor ◽  
T. Osborne ◽  
D. Kingston ◽  
N. W. Arnell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. This paper presents an overview of the methods and results of an assessment of climate change impacts on catchment scale water resources, conducted under the QUEST-GSI (Global Scale Impacts) programme. The project method involved running simulations of catchment-scale hydrology using a unified set of past and future climate scenarios, to enable a consistent analysis of the climate impacts around the globe. The results from individual basins are presented in other papers in 2010. Overall, the studies indicate that in most basins the models project substantial changes to river flow, beyond that observed in the historical record, but that in many cases there is considerable uncertainty in the magnitude and sign of the projected changes. The implications of this for adaptation activities are discussed.

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