Abstract
The Ganga Basin in India experiences problems related to water availability, water quality and ecological degradation because of over-abstraction of surface and groundwater, the presence of various hydraulic infrastructure, discharge of untreated sewage water, and other point and non-point source pollution. The basin is experiencing rapid socio-economic development that will increase both the demand for water and pollution load. Climate change adds to the uncertainty and future variability of water availability. To support strategic planning for the Ganga Basin by the Indian Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the governments of the concerned Indian states, a river basin model was developed that integrates hydrology, geohydrology, water resources management, water quality and ecology. The model was developed with the involvement of key basin stakeholders across central and state governments. No previous models of the Ganga Basin integrate all these aspects, and this is the first time that a participatory approach was applied for the development of a Ganga Basin model. The model was applied to assess the impact of future socio-economic and climate change scenarios and management strategies. The results suggest that the impact of socio-economic development will far exceed the impacts of climate change. To balance the use of surface and groundwater to support sustained economic growth and an ecologically healthy river, it is necessary to combine investments in wastewater treatment and reservoir capacity with interventions that reduce water demand, especially for irrigation, and that increase dry season river flow. An important option for further investigation is the greater use of alluvial aquifers for temporary water storage.
Highlights
The Ganga River Basin (Figure 1) in India stretches over 860,000 km2 [1] and is home to more than 485 million people (2011 census data [2])
International scientists are intended as the start socio-economic and climate change scenarios combined with different strategies for new infrastructure, of a continuous process of model application and improvement led by Indian authorities and management and operation
Model presented in this paper has a very wide scope allowing for an an integrated assessment impacts related to hydrology, geohydrology, water resources management, assessment of impacts related hydrology, management, waterintegrated quality and ecology
Summary
The Ganga River Basin (Figure 1) in India stretches over 860,000 km2 [1] and is home to more than 485 million people (2011 census data [2]). North of the plains the Ganga and its tributaries flow from the Himalaya at elevations over 6000 m. Covered by snow and glaciers, the Himalaya significantly influence the flow regime average elevation of around 1000 m. Himalayan tributaries of the Ganga (the Yamuna, Ghagra, Gandak and Kosi) supply the majority of elevation of around 1000 m. Conjunctive irrigation using surface and groundwater in the western part of tributaries of the Ganga (the Yamuna, Ghagra, Gandak and Kosi) supply the majority of the water to the plains has Conjunctive led to localirrigation decreases in groundwater tables, while inwestern some canal eastern the plains. Precipitation increases further the east, asisdoes led to localisdecreases groundwater tables, while in some canal and eastern areasto waterlogging mainstem flow as tributaries join.
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