The Role of Large Dams in a Transboundary Drought Management Co-Operation Framework—Case Study of the Kabul River Basin

Hydrologic drought is a frequent phenomenon in the transboundary Kabul River Basin (KRB), the vital resource shared between the two nations of Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the KRB has vast water resources, these resources are subject to extreme hydrologic events and, as a result, are not adequately managed to deal with the stress during drought conditions in the transboundary setting with no formal agreement or treaty. Rapid population growth and increases in agricultural land will require balanced water distribution to meet the array of needs. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is used to evaluate distribution options for flow frequencies under existing and proposed large dams in the headwaters of the KRB. The calibrated SWAT streamflow results are employed for statistical analyses of the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI) and Annual Cumulative Deficit Volume (ACDV) to investigate hydrologic drought time series and identify the role of proposed dams to be used for drought mitigation. Based on the SSI, proposed dams can provide additional storage that will partially address hydrologic droughts in the future. At the same time, restrictions on agricultural land expansion and water intakes are other measures to facilitate balanced water resource availability. This study discusses the intricacies of transboundary conflict and cooperation, water rights, and drought risk management; as well, recommendations for a KRB transboundary Drought Task Force (DTF) between Afghanistan and Pakistan are provided, to develop a science-based policy for using the stored waters in large dams for drought relief, fairly and transparency.

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Influence of Headwater Reservoirs on Climate Change Impacts and Flood Frequency in the Kabul River Basin

Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering ◽

10.1139/cjce-2020-0840 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Yar M. Taraky ◽

Yongbo Liu ◽

Bahram Gharabaghi ◽

Edward McBean ◽

Prasad Daggupati ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

River Basin ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Flood Frequency ◽

Climate Change Scenarios ◽

Wet Season ◽

Quarter Century ◽

Covered Area ◽

Kabul River

While climate change impacts vary globally, for the Kabul River Basin (KRB), concerns are primarily associated with frequent flooding. This research describes the influence of headwater reservoirs on projections of climate change impacts and flood frequency, and how the riparian countries can benefit from storing of floodwaters for use during dry seasons. Six climate change scenarios and two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) are used in three periods of a quarter-century each. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is used to assess how the proposed reservoirs will reduce flooding by ~38% during the wet season, reduce the flood frequency from five to 25 years return period, and increase low flows by ~110% during the dry season, which reflect an ~17.5% reduction in the glacier-covered area by the end of the century. The risks and benefits of reservoirs are highlighted in light of the developmental goals of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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Simulating Reservoir Induced Lhasa Streamflow Variability Using ArcSWAT

Water ◽

10.3390/w12051370 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 1370

Author(s):

Muhammad Yasir ◽

Tiesong Hu ◽

Samreen Abdul Hakeem

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Reservoir Operation ◽

River Discharge ◽

Water Distribution ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Data Availability ◽

Lhasa River Basin ◽

Lhasa River ◽

Downstream Flow ◽

Gauging Station

Lhasa River Basin being the socio-economic hotspot of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is experiencing an increased hydropower capacity in the form of damming and reservoir construction. The Pangduo hydropower station, commenced in 2013, is one of these developments. Lhasa River discharge is analyzed for spatial variability under the reservoir operation at Pondo and Lhasa gauging station. The Mann–Kendall Trend analysis reveals an increased precipitation and a decreased Lhasa River discharge trend upstream and downstream the reservoir. However, the discharge received at Lhasa gauging station is experiencing a greater decline revealed by Sen’s slope estimator. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) modelling of the Lhasa River discharge for both the hydrometric stations from 2008–2016 reveals better simulation results for Pondo hydrometric station in terms of R2, NSE and PBIAS values. The modelling results for Pondo station correspond comparatively well to the reservoir operation procedures including water level and inflow despite of data availability constraint. However, the importance of non-simulated processes (e.g., groundwater abstractions) to the accurate prediction of the Lhasa flow regime particularly at the downstream flow gauge is recommended. The study can prove beneficial for local water distribution measures in Lhasa River Basin.

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Assessment of Irrigation Performance in Large River Basins Under Data Scarce Environment - A Case of Kabul River Basin, Afghanistan

10.20944/preprints201804.0133.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Fazlullah Akhtar ◽

Usman Khalid Awan ◽

Bernhard Tischbein ◽

Umar Waqas Liaqat

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Water Distribution ◽

Irrigation System ◽

Large River ◽

Early Summer ◽

Irrigation Performance ◽

Water Supplies ◽

Entire Study ◽

Target Values ◽

Kabul River

The Kabul River basin (KRB) of Afghanistan, a lifeline of around 10 million people, has multiplicity of governance, management and development related challenges leading to inequity, inadequacy and unreliability of irrigation water distribution. Prior to any uplifting intervention, there is a need to evaluate the performance of irrigation system on long term basis to identify the existing bottlenecks. Although there are several indicators used for the performance evaluation of the irrigation schemes, but we used the coefficient of variation (CV) of actual evapotranspiration (ETa) in space (basin, sub-basin, and provincial level), relative evapotranspiration (RET) and temporal CV of RET to assess the equity, adequacy and reliability of water distribution respectively, from 2003 to 2013. The ETa was estimated through surface energy balance system (SEBS) algorithm and the ETa estimates were validated using advection aridity (AA) method with R2 value of 0.81 and 0.77 at Nawabad and Sultanpur stations respectively. The global land data assimilation system (GLDAS) and moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) products were used as main inputs to the SEBS. Results show that mean seasonal sub-based RET values during summer (May – September) (0.37 ± 0.06) and winter (October – April) (0.40 ± 0.08) are below the target values (RET ≥0.75) during 2003-2013. The CV of mean ETa within sub-basins and provinces for the entire study period has equitable distribution of water from October-January (0.09±0.04) whereas the highest inequity (0.24±0.08) in water distribution is during early summer. The range of the CV of mean ETa (0.04-0.06) on monthly and seasonal basis shows the unreliability of water supplies in several provinces or sub-basins. The analysis of temporal CV of mean RET highlights unreliable water supplies across the entire basin. The maximum ETa during the study period was estimated for Shamal sub-basin (552±43mm) while among provinces Kunar experienced the highest ETa (544±39mm). This study highlights the dire need for interventions to improve the irrigation performance in time and space. The proposed methodology can be used as a framework for monitoring and implementing the water distribution plans in future.

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Agricultural biomass monitoring on watersheds based on remotely sensed data

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2015.423 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 72 (12) ◽

pp. 2212-2220 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

János Tamás ◽

Attila Nagy ◽

János Fehér

Keyword(s):

Spectral Data ◽

River Basin ◽

Yield Loss ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Hydrological Cycle ◽

Standardized Precipitation Index ◽

Remotely Sensed ◽

Drought Indices ◽

Drought Risk ◽

Drought Period

There is a close quality relationship between the harmful levels of all three drought indicator groups (meteorological, hydrological and agricultural). However, the numerical scale of the relationships between them is unclear and the conversion of indicators is unsolved. Different areas or an area with different forms of drought cannot be compared. For example, from the evaluation of meteorological drought using the standardized precipitation index (SPI) values of a river basin, it cannot be stated how many tonnes of maize will be lost during a given drought period. A reliable estimated rate of yield loss would be very important information for the planned interventions (i.e. by farmers or river basin management organisations) in terms of time and cost. The aim of our research project was to develop a process which could provide information for estimating relevant drought indexes and drought related yield losses more effectively from remotely sensed spectral data and to determine the congruency of data derived from spectral data and from field measurements. The paper discusses a new calculation method, which provides early information on physical implementation of drought risk levels. The elaborated method provides improvement in setting up a complex drought monitoring system, which could assist hydrologists, meteorologists and farmers to predict and more precisely quantify the yield loss and the role of vegetation in the hydrological cycle. The results also allow the conversion of different-purpose drought indices, such as meteorological, agricultural and hydrological ones, as well as allow more water-saving agricultural land use alternatives to be planned in the river basins.

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Assessing hydrologic drought risk using multi-dimensional copulas: case study in Karkheh River basin

Environmental Earth Sciences ◽

10.1007/s12665-021-09870-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 80 (17) ◽

Author(s):

Ommolbanin Bazrafshan ◽

Marzieh Shekari ◽

Hossein Zamani ◽

Shahla Dehghanpir ◽

Vijay P. Singh

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Drought Risk ◽

Hydrologic Drought ◽

Karkheh River Basin

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Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Sustainable Land Use Management by Nature-Based Solution (NbS) in the Common Agricultural Policy Actions: A Case Study on the Foglia River Basin (Marche Region, Italy)

Land ◽

10.3390/land11010057 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 57

Author(s):

Elisa Morri ◽

Riccardo Santolini

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Public Goods ◽

River Basin ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

Land Use Management ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Human Wellbeing

Agricultural land is a very important ecosystem that provides a range of services like food, maintenance of soil structure, and hydrological services with high ecological value to human wellbeing Ecosystem Services (ESs). Understanding the contribution of different agricultural practices to supply ESs would help inform choices about the most beneficial land use management. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are defined by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) as actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems, which address societal challenges (e.g., climate change, food and water security, or natural disasters) effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human wellbeing and biodiversity benefits. Some actions farmers can implement in the new Rural Development Programs (RDP 2021–2022 and 2023–2027) can be considered as NbS and could affect the quantity, quality, and time of some ESs related to water regulation and supply, N adsorption and erosion protection. This study aims to evaluate these ESs in different scenarios in the upper Foglia river basin (Italy) and at a local scale (farming), and to highlight the issue to compensate farmers for the production of public goods which benefit the whole society (ESs) by the implementation of RDP’s actions. These scenarios highlight how actions have positive effects on ecosystem services and their economic value related to land use management, on maintaining agricultural practices by integrating Water Frame Directive (2000/60/EC), Directive 2007/60/EC on the management of flood risks and highlighting the potential role of farmers in a high diversity landscape. This study highlights a new way to evaluate the processes of natural capital in the production of public goods, which benefits the whole society (ESs), by emphasizing the economic and environmental role of farmers in producing them and putting on the table data to trigger a PES (Payment for Ecosystem Services) mechanism. To facilitate decision making, robust decision support tools are needed, underpinned by comprehensive cost-benefit analyses and spatially modeling in which agriculture can be a strategic sector to optimize food production and environmental protection in harmony with the Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy.

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Significant Baseflow Reduction in the Sao Francisco River Basin

Water ◽

10.3390/w13010002 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 2

Author(s):

Murilo Cesar Lucas ◽

Natalya Kublik ◽

Dulce B. B. Rodrigues ◽

Antonio A. Meira Neto ◽

André Almagro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Sao Francisco River ◽

São Francisco River ◽

Terrestrial Water ◽

Long Term Trends ◽

Storage Change

Water scarcity is a key challenge to global development. In Brazil, the Sao Francisco River Basin (SFB) has experienced water scarcity problems because of decreasing streamflow and increasing demands from multiple sectors. However, the drivers of decreased streamflow, particularly the potential role of the surface-groundwater interaction, have not yet been investigated. Here, we assess long-term trends in the streamflow and baseflow of the SFB during 1980–2015 and constrain the most likely drivers of observed decreases through a trend analysis of precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (ET), and terrestrial water storage change (TWS). We found that, on average, over 86% of the observed decrease in streamflow can be attributed to a significant decreasing baseflow trend along the SFR, with a spatial agreement between the decreased baseflow, increased ET, and irrigated agricultural land in the Middle SFB. We also noted a decreasing trend in TWS across the SFB exceeding –20 mm year−1. Overall, our findings indicate that decreasing groundwater contributions (i.e., baseflow) are providing the observed reduction in the total SFR flow. A lack of significant P trends and the strong TWS depletion indicate that a P variability only has likely not caused the observed baseflow reduction, in mainly the Middle and Sub-middle SFB. Therefore, groundwater and surface withdrawals may likely be a driver of baseflow reduction in some regions of the SFB.

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Significant baseflow reduction in the Sao Francisco River Basin

10.20944/preprints202009.0410.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Murilo Cesar Lucas ◽

Natalya Kublik ◽

Dulce B. B. Rodrigues ◽

Antonio A. Meira Neto ◽

André Almagro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Sao Francisco River ◽

São Francisco River ◽

Terrestrial Water ◽

Long Term Trends ◽

Storage Change

Water scarcity is a key challenge to global development. In Brazil, the Sao Francisco River Basin (SFB) has experienced water scarcity problems because of decreasing streamflow and increasing demands from multiple sectors. However, the drivers of decreased streamflow, particularly the potential role of surface-groundwater interaction, have not been yet investigated. Here, we assess long-term trends in baseflow, quickflow, and streamflow of the SFB during 1980–2015 and constrain the most likely drivers of observed decreases through trend analysis of precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (ET), and terrestrial water storage change (TWS). We found that over 82% of the observed decrease in streamflow can be attributed to a significant decreasing baseflow trend (< -20 m3 s-1 y-1) along the SFR with spatial agreement between decreased baseflow, increased ET, and irrigated agricultural land. We also noted a decrease in TWS across the SFB with trends exceeding -20 mm y-1. Overall, our findings indicate that decreasing groundwater contributions (i.e., baseflow) is providing the observed reduction in total SFR flow. A lack of significant P trends indicates that only P variability likely has not caused the observed baseflow reduction, mainly in the Middle and Sub-middle SFB. Therefore, groundwater and surface withdrawals may be likely a driver of water scarcity over the SFB.

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