Water Management in the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin: Emerging Challenges for the 21st Century

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayanta Bandyopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Brahmaputra Basin ◽  
The Ganges

scholarly journals Are General Circulation Models Ready for Operational Streamflow Forecasting for Water Management in the Ganges and Brahmaputra River Basins?

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safat Sikder ◽  
Xiaodong Chen ◽  
Faisal Hossain ◽  
Jason B. Roberts ◽  
Franklin Robertson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Streamflow Forecasting ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Brahmaputra River ◽  
Ganges Basin ◽  
Monthly Scale ◽  
Brahmaputra Basin ◽  
The Ganges

Abstract This study asks the question of whether GCMs are ready to be operationalized for streamflow forecasting in South Asian river basins, and if so, at what temporal scales and for which water management decisions are they likely to be relevant? The authors focused on the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna basins for which there is a gridded hydrologic model calibrated for the 2002–10 period. The North American Multimodel Ensemble (NMME) suite of eight GCM hindcasts was applied to generate precipitation forecasts for each month of the 1982–2012 (30 year) period at up to 6 months of lead time, which were then downscaled according to the bias-corrected statistical downscaling (BCSD) procedure to daily time steps. A global retrospective forcing dataset was used for this downscaling procedure. The study clearly revealed that a regionally consistent forcing for BCSD, which is currently unavailable for the region, is one of the primary conditions to realize reasonable skill in streamflow forecasting. In terms of relative RMSE (normalized by reference flow obtained from the global retrospective forcings used in downscaling), streamflow forecast uncertainty (RMSE) was found to be 38%–50% at monthly scale and 22%–35% at seasonal (3 monthly) scale. The Ganges River (regulated) experienced higher uncertainty than the Brahmaputra River (unregulated). In terms of anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC), the streamflow forecasting at seasonal (3 monthly) scale was found to have less uncertainty (>0.3) than at monthly scale (<0.25). The forecast skill in the Brahmaputra basin showed more improvement when the time horizon was aggregated from monthly to seasonal than the Ganges basin. Finally, the skill assessment for the individual seasons revealed that the flow forecasting using NMME data had less uncertainty during monsoon season (July–September) in the Brahmaputra basin and in postmonsoon season (October–December) in the Ganges basin. Overall, the study indicated that GCMs can have value for management decisions only at seasonal or annual water balance applications at best if appropriate historical forcings are used in downscaling. The take-home message of this study is that GCMs are not yet ready for prime-time operationalization for a wide variety of multiscale water management decisions for the Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins.

Comprehensive approaches to water management

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter T. J. C. van Rooy ◽  
Joost de Jong ◽  
Eric Jagtman ◽  
S. Harry Hosper ◽  
Paul C. M. Boers
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Interactive Planning ◽  
The People ◽  
The Right

For us to have sufficient amounts of good quality fresh water available in the 21st century, it is necessary that we find a different way of dealing with water. Awareness of this fact represents a first step in the right direction. Interactive planning can substantially contribute to this awareness and therewith to the solution of both physical and cultural bottlenecks. Interactive plan processes are complex. The challenge lies in being actively involved in this complexity. The IPEA methodology has been developed to support adequate completion of interactive plan processes. This methodology has already been applied in a number of plan processes, 25 of which were recently evaluated. From this evaluation it appears that applying IPEA helps to increase the clarity and the suitability of both processes and plans. The methodology also makes a positive contribution to levels of communication and interaction between the people and organizations involved in a plan process. Furthermore, IPEA leads to an increased acceptance of the contents of plans.

scholarly journals Flood Inundation Mapping of the Sparsely Gauged Large-Scale Brahmaputra Basin Using Remote Sensing Products

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biswa Bhattacharya ◽  
Maurizio Mazzoleni ◽  
Reyne Ugay
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Rainfall Data ◽  
Flood Inundation ◽  
Hydraulic Modelling ◽  
Brahmaputra Basin ◽  
Gauged Basins ◽  
Global Datasets

Sustainable water management is one of the important priorities set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, which calls for efficient use of natural resources. Efficient water management nowadays depends a lot upon simulation models. However, the availability of limited hydro-meteorological data together with limited data sharing practices prohibits simulation modelling and consequently efficient flood risk management of sparsely gauged basins. Advances in remote sensing has significantly contributed to carrying out hydrological studies in ungauged or sparsely gauged basins. In particular, the global datasets of remote sensing observations (e.g., rainfall, evaporation, temperature, land use, terrain, etc.) allow to develop hydrological and hydraulic models of sparsely gauged catchments. In this research, we have considered large scale hydrological and hydraulic modelling, using freely available global datasets, of the sparsely gauged trans-boundary Brahmaputra basin, which has an enormous potential in terms of agriculture, hydropower, water supplies and other utilities. A semi-distributed conceptual hydrological model was developed using HEC-HMS (Hydrologic Modelling System from Hydrologic Engineering Centre). Rainfall estimates from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) was compared with limited gauge data and used in the simulation. The Nash Sutcliffe coefficient of the model with the uncorrected rainfall data in calibration and validation were 0.75 and 0.61 respectively whereas the similar values with the corrected rainfall data were 0.81 and 0.74. The output of the hydrological model was used as a boundary condition and lateral inflow to the hydraulic model. Modelling results obtained using uncorrected and corrected remotely sensed products of rainfall were compared with the discharge values at the basin outlet (Bahadurabad) and with altimetry data from Jason-2 satellite. The simulated flood inundation maps of the lower part of the Brahmaputra basin showed reasonably good match in terms of the probability of detection, success ratio and critical success index. Overall, this study demonstrated that reliable and robust results can be obtained in both hydrological and hydraulic modelling using remote sensing data as the only input to large scale and sparsely gauged basins.

scholarly journals Projections of historical and 21st century fluvial sediment delivery to the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, Mahanadi, and Volta deltas

2018 ◽  
Vol 642 ◽  
pp. 105-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances E. Dunn ◽  
Robert J. Nicholls ◽  
Stephen E. Darby ◽  
Sagy Cohen ◽  
Christiane Zarfl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Sediment Delivery ◽  
Fluvial Sediment ◽  
The Ganges

Water Management in the 21st Century: The Allocation Imperative

2001 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 400
Author(s):  
David Shively ◽  
Terence Richard Lee
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
21St Century

scholarly journals Green Light for Adaptive Policies on the Colorado River

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
John Fleck ◽  
Anne Castle
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Green Light ◽  
River System ◽  
Policy Option ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Adaptive Policies

The Colorado River is a critical source of water supply for 40 million people in nine states spanning two nations in western North America. Overallocated in the 20th century, its problems have been compounded by climate change in the 21st century. We review the basin’s hydrologic and water management history in order to identify opportunities for adaptive governance to respond to the challenge of reduced system flows and distill the ingredients of past successes. While significant advances have been made in the first two decades of the 21st century, these past actions have not been sufficient to halt the declines in the basin’s reservoirs. We find that the mix of federal, state, and local responsibility creates challenges for adaptation but that progress can be made through a combination of detailed policy option development followed by quick action at hydrologically driven moments of opportunity. The role of directives and deadlines from federal authorities in facilitating difficult compromises is noted. The current state of dramatically decreased overall flows has opened a window of opportunity for the adoption of water management actions that move the river system toward sustainability. Specific measures, based on the existing institutional framework and on policy proposals that have circulated within the Colorado River community, are suggested.

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