Opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the Ganges basin
The topography of the Ganges basin is highly variable, with the steep mountainous region of the Himalaya upstream and the large fertile plains in eastern India and Bangladesh downstream. The contribution from the glaciers to streamflows is supposed to be significant but there is uncertainty surround...
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
IWA Publishing
2013
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40312 |
| _version_ | 1855524042655662080 |
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| author | Sharma, Bharat R. Condappa, D. de |
| author_browse | Condappa, D. de Sharma, Bharat R. |
| author_facet | Sharma, Bharat R. Condappa, D. de |
| author_sort | Sharma, Bharat R. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | The topography of the Ganges basin is highly variable, with the steep mountainous region of the Himalaya upstream and the large fertile plains in eastern India and Bangladesh downstream. The contribution from the glaciers to streamflows is supposed to be significant but there is uncertainty surrounding the impact of climate change on glaciers. An application of the Water Evaluation and Planning model was set up which contained an experimental glaciers module. The model also examined the possible impacts of an increase in temperature. The contribution from glaciated areas is significant (60-75%) in the Upper Ganges but reduces downstream, falling to about 19% at Farakka. Climate change-induced rise in temperature logically increases the quantity of snow and ice that melts in glaciated areas. However, this impact decreases from upstream (2?8% to 2?26% at Tehri dam) to downstream (2?1% to 2?4% at Farakka). Such increases in streamflows may create flood events more frequently, or of higher magnitude, in the upper reaches. Potential strategies to exploit this additional water may include the construction of new dams/reservoir storage and the development of groundwater in the basin through managed aquifer recharge. The riparian states of India, Nepal and Bangladesh could harness this opportunity to alleviate physical water scarcity and improve productivity. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace40312 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publishDateRange | 2013 |
| publishDateSort | 2013 |
| publisher | IWA Publishing |
| publisherStr | IWA Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace403122025-06-17T08:23:38Z Opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the Ganges basin Sharma, Bharat R. Condappa, D. de climate change temperature glaciers snowmelt river basins aquifers dams models water scarcity water resources stream flow upstream downstream The topography of the Ganges basin is highly variable, with the steep mountainous region of the Himalaya upstream and the large fertile plains in eastern India and Bangladesh downstream. The contribution from the glaciers to streamflows is supposed to be significant but there is uncertainty surrounding the impact of climate change on glaciers. An application of the Water Evaluation and Planning model was set up which contained an experimental glaciers module. The model also examined the possible impacts of an increase in temperature. The contribution from glaciated areas is significant (60-75%) in the Upper Ganges but reduces downstream, falling to about 19% at Farakka. Climate change-induced rise in temperature logically increases the quantity of snow and ice that melts in glaciated areas. However, this impact decreases from upstream (2?8% to 2?26% at Tehri dam) to downstream (2?1% to 2?4% at Farakka). Such increases in streamflows may create flood events more frequently, or of higher magnitude, in the upper reaches. Potential strategies to exploit this additional water may include the construction of new dams/reservoir storage and the development of groundwater in the basin through managed aquifer recharge. The riparian states of India, Nepal and Bangladesh could harness this opportunity to alleviate physical water scarcity and improve productivity. 2013-03-01 2014-06-13T14:47:22Z 2014-06-13T14:47:22Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40312 en Limited Access IWA Publishing Sharma, Bharat R.; de Condappa, D. 2013. Opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the Ganges basin. Water Policy, 15(S1):9-25. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2013.008 |
| spellingShingle | climate change temperature glaciers snowmelt river basins aquifers dams models water scarcity water resources stream flow upstream downstream Sharma, Bharat R. Condappa, D. de Opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the Ganges basin |
| title | Opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the Ganges basin |
| title_full | Opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the Ganges basin |
| title_fullStr | Opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the Ganges basin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the Ganges basin |
| title_short | Opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the Ganges basin |
| title_sort | opportunities for harnessing the increased contribution of glacier and snowmelt flows in the ganges basin |
| topic | climate change temperature glaciers snowmelt river basins aquifers dams models water scarcity water resources stream flow upstream downstream |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40312 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sharmabharatr opportunitiesforharnessingtheincreasedcontributionofglacierandsnowmeltflowsinthegangesbasin AT condappadde opportunitiesforharnessingtheincreasedcontributionofglacierandsnowmeltflowsinthegangesbasin |