Abstract
Globally, human alterations and interventions to the rivers for their usage have led to the creation of science of Environmental Flows (E-Flows); India and specifically Ganga river basin is no exception. This chapter touches upon the concept of E-Flows, its status in Indian context and its assessment through holistic methodologies. The chapter further explains detailed process of assessment of E-Flows with the help of a case study by WWF-India using a holistic methodology, i.e. Building Block Methodology (BBM). The chapter concludes by spelling the challenges and opportunities for E-Flows implementation.
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Notes
- 1.
Tennant Method – The Tennant method (1975–1976) was developed for 11 streams in Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska in USA in order to find satisfactory discharge levels for fish-passing, since fish were crowded into smaller pool-riffle structures. It has received appeal in regions of British Columbia as a quick and easy-to-understand method of determining habitat and recreational suitability of stream habitat. The method is based on the assumption that flows that are satisfactory for needs of fish and other aquatic biota will also be sufficient for maintaining recreational and aesthetic qualities. Based upon empirical relationships and observations, Tennant suggested that minimum flows at any time of the year must be >10 % of mean annual discharge. Below the 10 % threshold, fish habitat and recreational value will be severely degraded. Above 10 %, habitat and recreational quality increases in a range from fair conditions (10 % in winter and 30 % in summer) to outstanding (40 % in winter and 60 % in summer). An optimum range is considered 60–100 % of mean annual flow at any time of the year. For details, please visit
http://www.ilmb.gov.bc.ca/risc/o_docs/aquatic/027/final-17.htm and
http://upcommons.upc.edu/pfc/bitstream/2099.1/3367/8/36228-8.pdf.
References
Smakhtin VU, Anputhas M (2006) An assessment of environmental flow requirements of Indian river basins. Research report no 107, International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka, p 38. This document is available at http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/PUB107/RR107.pdf
WQAA (2007) Report of the Working Group to advise Water Quality Assessment Authority (WQAA) on the minimum flows in the rivers, Central Water Commission, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, p 105. The report can be reached at http://wqaa.gov.in/reports/Report_on_Min_Flow_in_River.pdf
Keeffe J, Kaushal N, Bharati L, Smakhtin V (2012) Summary report by WWF India on assessment of environmental flows for the upper Ganga basin, 24 p. http://awsassets.wwfindia.org/downloads/exec_summary_mail_1_28.pdf
Keeffe J, Kaushal N, Bharati L, Smakhtin V (2012) Assessment of environmental flows for the upper Ganga basin. Report by WWF India, 162 p. (http://www.wwfindia.org/)
Central Water Commission (2008) Theme paper – Integrated Water Resources Development and Management. Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, p 23. (www.cwc.nic.in/main/downloads/WWD-2008.doc)
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to Mr. Ravi Singh Secretary General & CEO and Dr. Sejal Worah Director-Programmes from WWF-India for their continued support and encouragement. The author is thankful to Prof. Vinod Tare and Dr. Rashmi Sanghi from IIT Kanpur and Mr. Suresh Babu from WWF-India for their valuable comments, which improved the paper immensely.
The author is also thankful to all the partners, as it is because of their support the EFA for Upper Ganga could be successfully accomplished.
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Kaushal, N. (2014). Environmental Flows for River Ganga. In: Sanghi, R. (eds) Our National River Ganga. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00530-0_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00530-0_9
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