Adaptation by Himalayan Water Resource System under a Sustainable Socioeconomic Pathway in a High-Emission Context

Abstract

Climate change in the Indian Himalayan region is being manifested in loss of glaciers and altered patterns of monsoon rainfall. Simultaneously, rapid population growth together with economic development are increasing sectoral water demands and changing land use patterns.This study investigated the impact of this complex interplay on water resources in the Beas-Sutlej water resources system. The GFDL-CM3 model was used to describe RCP8.5 future meteorological conditions throughout the 21 st century. Population and land use changes were projected under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway-1 (SSP1). The Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) system was applied for assessing sectoral water demands. The results showed increasing runoff during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons, due respectively to increased glaciers melting and more rainfall. It also emerged that irrigation water demand will decrease moderately in Punjab (8 -13%) and Haryana (1 -9%); however, the situation was reversed in Rajasthan where it increased by 14%. Adaptation strategies were proposed including increased water allocation to Rajasthan and converting lands to cultivating more staple crops in Punjab and Haryana.

A Novel Physics‐Aware Machine Learning‐Based Dynamic Error Correction Model for Improving Streamflow Forecast Accuracy

“…Overall, the performance indices signified better performance of the model in the Sunkoshi river basin compared to the Beas. The reduction in model performance for the Beas river basin could be attributed to the lumped behavior of the HBV model which was unable to account for the water diversion to other river basins (majorly the Sutlej river) prior reaching to the Pong reservoir (Dau & Adeloye, 2021).…”

“…The Beas River originates from the western Himalayas at the elevation of 3,900 m + MSL (Dau & Adeloye, 2021) and flows westerly to the multi‐purpose Pong reservoir (considered as the outlet in the study). The river basin forms one of the major tributaries of the Indus River.…”

“…The landuse (Dau et al., 2021) and soil map of the area is illustrated in Figures 1d and 1f. The mean annual rainfall received is 1,800 mm, with heavy rainfall in the monsoon months from July to September (Dau & Adeloye, 2021). The average runoff measured at the Pandoh reservoir is 14,800 MCM, contributed 65% by rainfall and 35% by snowmelt (Dau & Adeloye, 2021; Kumar et al., 2007).…”

“…The mean annual rainfall received is 1,800 mm, with heavy rainfall in the monsoon months from July to September (Dau & Adeloye, 2021). The average runoff measured at the Pandoh reservoir is 14,800 MCM, contributed 65% by rainfall and 35% by snowmelt (Dau & Adeloye, 2021; Kumar et al., 2007). Thus, the reservoir inflows are greatly influenced not only by the monsoon rains but also by the melting glacier and seasonal snow from the Himalayas.…”

A Study of Initial Water Rights Allocation Coupled with Physical and Virtual Water Resources

“…Regarding physical water rights allocation, since the concept of water resource management was proposed in 1908, developed countries, based on the status quo of their socioeconomic development and water regimes, have explored the systems of initial water rights allocation, including riparian ownership, the prior appropriation doctrine, and water rights permissions [29]. Although scholars have proposed various allocation rules, they have reached a consensus on several basic principles of water rights allocation: putting domestic water first, ensuring food security, respecting history and the status quo, and pursuing sustainable development [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. As such, drawing on the results above, this paper constructs an index system for the water rights allocation of physical water resources in transboundary rivers that is grounded in the basic principles of the status quo: equity, efficiency, sustainability, and macro-regulation.…”