Evaluation of water quality and dam for sustaining the fish population dynamics

Abstract

Bhagirathi is a Himalayan River, which flows in Uttrakashi district in Uttarakhand state. It is one of the most important streams of the Ganga River. This river is famous for dam construction and fisheries development. The fishes of commercial importance in cold water are Mahaseer, Snow Trout. The fish production depends on the physical, chemical as well as biological qualities of water. In the present paper, water quality evaluation and dam in the sustaining fish population dynamics have been reviewed to make aware the fish culturist and environmentalist about the water quality factors which influence health of a pond and to increase the fish yields to meet the growing demands of present time scenario of the our country. The construction of dams causes many problems. Water quality and discharge of water from the dam wall systems also indirectly affect the fish populations. In this study, we also review some of the important impacts associated with dams and their recommended mitigation measures. There is a negative impact on fish population dynamics, especially for downstream habits due to dams. Water quality is measured like temperature, turbidity, carbon dioxide, pH, alkalinity, hardness, BOD, TDS, Turbidity. The maximum oxygen content of water was recorded in January 13.02 ± 0.166 mg l−1 and minimum 9.4 ± 0.05 mg l−1 in July in site I phase I (before the reservoir dam wall). While in site II and phase I (After the dam), the maximum DO was observed in the month of January of 12.1 mg l−1 and minimum in July of 8.93 mg l−1. This is because water level is minimized in site II almost dried in winter. The CO2 of the Maneri Bhali phase I -Site I (before dam) was recorded maximum in April 3.10 ± 0.012 mg l−1. In Maneri Bhali phase I -Site II (After dam), the CO2 was recorded maximum 3.01 ± 0.003 mg l−1 in the month July. The river of Garhwal Himalaya harbors a rich aquatic diversity, the most common endemic fish species that inhabit this fresh water is the Schizothorax species. The maximum no. of fish were observed in winter and minimum in monsoon. At present, the production of these fishes from the streams is very poor and is not well managed from recreational and conservation point of view. If such is developed properly, it can have revenue potential for our state government. Sports, fisheries, tourism should be promoted.

Water Quality Analysis in relation to biological, hydrogeochemical factors with spring discharge, population, and land use pattern in the Western Himalayan region in India

“…And the result also shows that the post-monsoon nitrate concentration increases, which might be a clear indication of the leaching of unused nitrate from soil to groundwater reservoirs with rain. This increase in nitrate might have occurred in areas where agriculture area is more, the population is more and more use of organic & inorganic nitrate fertilizers due to agricultural runoffs, which help in limiting the concentration of microbes (Tiwari et al 2022 andPatel et al 2022). Few samples show that the increase of FC and TC with nitrate (Zone B) in agricultural areas is due to an increase in the concentration of NO 3 .…”