Modeling the potential for floodwater recharge to offset groundwater depletion: a case study from the Ramganga basin, India

The Ganges basin faces considerable spatial and temporal imbalance between water demand and availability. Lack of water storage infrastructure has led to this mismatch, wherein there are limited options to store flood water during the wet season and limited groundwater and surface water resources du...

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Main Authors: Chinnasamy, Pennan, Muthuwatta, Lal P., Eriyagama, Nishadi, Pavelic, Paul, Lagudu, S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Springer 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91318
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author Chinnasamy, Pennan
Muthuwatta, Lal P.
Eriyagama, Nishadi
Pavelic, Paul
Lagudu, S.
author_browse Chinnasamy, Pennan
Eriyagama, Nishadi
Lagudu, S.
Muthuwatta, Lal P.
Pavelic, Paul
author_facet Chinnasamy, Pennan
Muthuwatta, Lal P.
Eriyagama, Nishadi
Pavelic, Paul
Lagudu, S.
author_sort Chinnasamy, Pennan
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The Ganges basin faces considerable spatial and temporal imbalance between water demand and availability. Lack of water storage infrastructure has led to this mismatch, wherein there are limited options to store flood water during the wet season and limited groundwater and surface water resources during the dry season. In this current study, a semi-coupled hydrological modeling framework is used to test scenarios that can help bridge this imbalance. A hydrological model (SWAT), groundwater model (MODFLOW) and flood inundation model (HEC-RAS) were applied to the Ramganga basin in India (*19,000 km2) to understand the baseline hydrologic regime and to test scenarios with distributed managed aquifer recharge (MAR) interventions, which when applied to at the basin scale to co-address flooding and groundwater depletion has come to be known as Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation. The scenarios with MAR, which used available basin runoff to recharge groundwater, yielded favorable results in flood reduction and groundwater level improvement throughout the sub-basin. Groundwater levels improved within 5 years of introducing MAR, resulting in a groundwater elevation increase of up to 7 mwhen compared to baseline conditions. The HEC-RAS model indicated that a 20% reduction in basin outflow converted a 15-year flood peak to an 8-year flood peak, a 5-year peak to 3 years and a 2-year peak to 1 year. In addition, this resulted in a 10% reduction in the inundated area in all return periods tested. Therefore, distributed MAR practices can be effective in reducing the negative impacts from larger return period floods and increasing the groundwater levels.
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spelling CGSpace913182025-03-11T09:50:20Z Modeling the potential for floodwater recharge to offset groundwater depletion: a case study from the Ramganga basin, India Chinnasamy, Pennan Muthuwatta, Lal P. Eriyagama, Nishadi Pavelic, Paul Lagudu, S. flooding flood irrigation models groundwater depletion water demand water availability water storage water resources water levels river basins wet season dry season surface water aquifers hydrological factors soil water calibration case studies The Ganges basin faces considerable spatial and temporal imbalance between water demand and availability. Lack of water storage infrastructure has led to this mismatch, wherein there are limited options to store flood water during the wet season and limited groundwater and surface water resources during the dry season. In this current study, a semi-coupled hydrological modeling framework is used to test scenarios that can help bridge this imbalance. A hydrological model (SWAT), groundwater model (MODFLOW) and flood inundation model (HEC-RAS) were applied to the Ramganga basin in India (*19,000 km2) to understand the baseline hydrologic regime and to test scenarios with distributed managed aquifer recharge (MAR) interventions, which when applied to at the basin scale to co-address flooding and groundwater depletion has come to be known as Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation. The scenarios with MAR, which used available basin runoff to recharge groundwater, yielded favorable results in flood reduction and groundwater level improvement throughout the sub-basin. Groundwater levels improved within 5 years of introducing MAR, resulting in a groundwater elevation increase of up to 7 mwhen compared to baseline conditions. The HEC-RAS model indicated that a 20% reduction in basin outflow converted a 15-year flood peak to an 8-year flood peak, a 5-year peak to 3 years and a 2-year peak to 1 year. In addition, this resulted in a 10% reduction in the inundated area in all return periods tested. Therefore, distributed MAR practices can be effective in reducing the negative impacts from larger return period floods and increasing the groundwater levels. 2018-06 2018-03-07T10:16:35Z 2018-03-07T10:16:35Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91318 en Open Access Springer Chinnasamy, Pennan;Muthuwatta, Lal; Eriyagama, Nishadi; Pavelic, Paul; Lagudu, S. 2017. Modeling the potential for floodwater recharge to offset groundwater depletion: a case study from the Ramganga basin, India. Sustainable Water Resources Management. 14p. (Online first).. . 10.1007/s40899-017-0168-6
spellingShingle flooding
flood irrigation
models
groundwater depletion
water demand
water availability
water storage
water resources
water levels
river basins
wet season
dry season
surface water
aquifers
hydrological factors
soil water
calibration
case studies
Chinnasamy, Pennan
Muthuwatta, Lal P.
Eriyagama, Nishadi
Pavelic, Paul
Lagudu, S.
Modeling the potential for floodwater recharge to offset groundwater depletion: a case study from the Ramganga basin, India
title Modeling the potential for floodwater recharge to offset groundwater depletion: a case study from the Ramganga basin, India
title_full Modeling the potential for floodwater recharge to offset groundwater depletion: a case study from the Ramganga basin, India
title_fullStr Modeling the potential for floodwater recharge to offset groundwater depletion: a case study from the Ramganga basin, India
title_full_unstemmed Modeling the potential for floodwater recharge to offset groundwater depletion: a case study from the Ramganga basin, India
title_short Modeling the potential for floodwater recharge to offset groundwater depletion: a case study from the Ramganga basin, India
title_sort modeling the potential for floodwater recharge to offset groundwater depletion a case study from the ramganga basin india
topic flooding
flood irrigation
models
groundwater depletion
water demand
water availability
water storage
water resources
water levels
river basins
wet season
dry season
surface water
aquifers
hydrological factors
soil water
calibration
case studies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91318
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