Modelling hydrologic regime of Lakshmanatirtha watershed, Cauvery river

Ramachandra, T. V.; Nagar, Nupur; Vinay, S.; Aithal, Bharath H.

doi:10.1109/ghtc-sas.2014.6967560

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…One such source of perennial waters is Yettinaholé originating at an altitude of 950 m in Sakaleshpura taluk of Hassan district, and tributary of river Gundia, which joins Kumaradhara and finally drains to Netravathi River The region with a repository of endemic and rare biodiversity is ecologically sensitive and large scale degradation of catchment landscape have influenced the availability of water and has also affected the sustenance of biodiversity. Changes in landscape structure and the regional climate [8,9] have altered the hydrologic regime [10,11] in many lotic ecosystems in the tropical regions, affecting the potential of the catchment to retain water in the surface and sub surfaces. Various studies carried out in Western Ghats [12][13][14] and across the globe show the relevance of landscape on surface and subsurface hydrological regime [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Changes in landscape structure and the regional climate [8,9] have altered the hydrologic regime [10,11] in many lotic ecosystems in the tropical regions, affecting the potential of the catchment to retain water in the surface and sub surfaces. Various studies carried out in Western Ghats [12][13][14] and across the globe show the relevance of landscape on surface and subsurface hydrological regime [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Few studies carried out in Western Ghats also emphasize on the role of hydrological regime on the habitats, ecology, biodiversity, quality of water, soil and ecosystem etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental Flow Assessment in a Lotic Ecosystem of Central Western Ghats, India

Ramachandra¹,

Vinay²,

Aithal³

2016

Hydrol Current Res

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Environmental/Ecological flow refers to the minimum flow of water to be maintained in a water body (river, lake, etc.) to sustain ecosystem services. Understanding environmental flow is important to ensure the local ecological and social (people, agriculture and horticulture, etc.) needs in a sustained and balanced way, while designing large scale projects (such as hydro-electric, river diversion, etc.). Western Ghats are the mountain ranges extending from southern tip of India (Tamil Nadu-Kanyakumari) to Gujarat. These mountain ranges are rich in biodiversity with diverse and endemic flora and fauna, and is birth place to numerous perennial rivers namely Netravathi, Sita, Sharavathi, Aghanashini, Krishna, Cauvery, etc. Western Ghats is often referred as water tower of peninsular India, due to the water and food security provided by the ecosystem through array of services. The region is also one among 35 global biodiversity hotspots. However, deforestation due to large scale land cover changes has affected the water sustenance in the region evident from the quantity and duration of water availability during post monsoon period. Forests in the Western Ghats along with the soil characteristics and precipitation plays a major role in storing water in sub-surface (vadoze and groundwater) zones during monsoon, and releases to the streams during post monsoon periods catering to the needs of the dependent biota including humans. Some of these undisturbed/ unaltered natural flow conditions in rivers and streams have proved their worth with the presence of rich and diverse species and array of ecosystem services, which also has helped in sustaining the livelihood of dependent populations. The undisturbed flow conditions guarantees the natural flow as well as minimum flow in streams to sustain the ecosystem services, which helps in meeting the social and ecological needs. Growing demand to cater the demands of burgeoning human population coupled with accelerated pace of deforestation due to unplanned and senseless developmental projects in the ecologically fragile regions have led the water scarcity even in regions receiving high amount of rainfall. In the current communication an attempt is made to understand the linkages between the hydrological dynamics across varied landscape with the anthropogenic and ecological water needs. If the available water resource meets the societal and environmental demands across seasons, the catchment is said to achieve the minimum flow requirements. The federal government has plans to divert the water from rivers in Western Ghats region to the dry arid regions in Karnataka. In this regard, environmental flow assessment of Yettinaholé river in Central Western Ghats is carried out to understand the feasibility of river diversion through the assessment of hydrologic regime with the analysis of land use dynamics (using remote sensing data), meteorological data (rainfall, temperature, etc. from IMD, Pune), hydrological data (from gauged streams) apart from field investigations in the catchment...

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