Hydrological Modeling and Characterization of the Khanpur Watershed, Pakistan

Abstract

The Khanpur watershed in Pakistan has a high spatial changeability of precipitation attributable to extremely undulating surface topography and complex interactions between the land elevation and precipitation. This study used stormwater runoff modeling software, adapted to determine peak discharge of the Haro River. Correlation analysis was used to select input precipitation data for the software. Horton's and Strahler's strategies were used for manipulating the streams’ analysis and characterization of the watershed. Morphological features of the watershed are important in terms of hydrology. The bifurcation ratio was 3.5, which showed that the watershed has suffered less structural disturbance and the drainage patterns have not been distorted. The stream density of 0.5 is low, demonstrating a lower flood risk and an average channel slope. The Khanpur watershed has a circularity ratio of 0.6, showing that it is a small drainage basin with homogeneous geologic material that preserves the geometrical similarity. It has been determined that the watershed is well drained, hilly, and slopey.

Impact Assessment of Future Climate Change on Streamflows Upstream of Khanpur Dam, Pakistan using Soil and Water Assessment Tool

“…Throughout the year, the springs and streams fulfil the demand of the domestic water supply. At the time of droughts, the stream discharge is significantly reduced and the seepage through the spring retains the perennial flow [21]. The major source of streamflows in the region is precipitation.…”

Role of indigenous knowledge in managing floods projects

“…The position of the moon helps them to determine the expected rains. They can predict the rainy season through the position of the sun (Zaheer et al, 2016;Cheeseman, 2016). Likewise, the direction of wind gives them indication of hot or cold weather.…”

“…The government of Pakistan is concerned; it has been criticized for not being proactive resulting great loss. However, in many rural areas of Pakistan, people resort to local or Indigenous Knowledge to manage disasters (Kumbhar et al, 2018;Zaheer et al, 2016).…”

Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Managing Floods Projects

“…The government of Pakistan is concerned; it has been criticized for not being proactive resulting great loss. However, in many rural areas of Pakistan, people resort to local or Indigenous Knowledge to manage disasters (Kumbhar et al, 2018;Zaheer et al, 2016). These methods can offer a good model for disaster risk reduction and rescue strategies in some other affected areas as well.…”