Abstract
Environmental flows (Eflow, hereafter) are the flows to be maintained in the river for its healthy functioning and the sustenance and protection of aquatic ecosystems. Estimation of Eflow in any river stretch demands consideration of various factors such as flow regime, ecosystem, and health of river. However, most of the Eflow estimation studies have neglected the water quality factor. This study urges the need to consider water quality criterion in the estimation of Eflow and proposes a framework for estimating Eflow incorporating water quality variations under present and hypothetical future scenarios of climate change and pollution load. The proposed framework is applied on the polluted stretch of Yamuna River passing through Delhi, India. Required Eflow at various locations along the stretch are determined by considering possible variations in future water quantity and quality. Eflow values satisfying minimum quality requirements for different river water usage classes (classes A, B, C, and D as specified by the Central Pollution Control Board, India) are found to be between 700 and 800 m3/s. The estimated Eflow values may aid policymakers to derive upstream storage-release policies or effluent restrictions. Generalized nature of this framework will help its implementation on any river systems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acreman, M., & Dunbar, M. J. (2004). Defining environmental river flow requirements—a review. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 8(5), 861–876.
Angelidis, M. O., Markantonatos, P. G., & Bacalis, N. C. (1995). Impact of human activities on the quality of river water: the case of Evrotas River catchment basin, Greece. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 35(2), 137–153.
Arnell, N. W. (1999). Climate change and global water resources. Global Environmental Change, 9, S31–S49.
Bates, B. C., Kundzewicz, Z. W., Wu, S., & Palutikof, J. P. (2008). Climate change and water. Technical paper of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC Secretariat, Geneva, pp 210
Brown, L. C., & Barnwell Jr., T. O. (1987). The enhanced stream water quality models QUAL2E and QUAL2E-UNCAS: documentation and user manual. Athens, GA: EPA-600/3-87/007. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Bunn, S. E., & Arthington, A. H. (2002). Basic principles and ecological consequences of altered flow regimes for aquatic biodiversity. Environmental Management, 30(4), 492–507.
C.P.C.B. (1999–2000). Water quality status of Yamuna River, ADSORBS/32, Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi, India.
C.P.C.B (2005). Status of sewage and sewage treatment plants in Delhi. CUPS/57/2005. Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi, India.
C.P.C.B. (2006). Water quality status of Yamuna River (1999–2005), ADSORBS/41 Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi, India.
C.P.C.B. (2013). Basin wise water quality data. http://cpcb.nic.in/data_statics.php. Site accessed on 18th October 2013.
Chapra, S.C., Pelletier, G.J. & Tao, H. (2008). QUAL2K: a modelling framework for simulating river and stream water quality, version 2.11: documentation and users manual. Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept., Tufts University, Medford, MA.
Chaudhary, S., Dhanya, C.T. & Kumar, A. (2017). Sequential calibration of a water quality model using reach specific estimates of model parameter. Hydrology Research (In Press)
D.J.B. (2005). Delhi water supply and sewerage project. Final report—project preparation study, part C: sewerage. Delhi Jal Board, Delhi, India.
Delpla, I., Jung, A.-V., Baures, E., Clement, M., & Thomas, O. (2009). Impacts of climate change on surface water quality in relation to drinking water production. Environment International, 35, 1225–1233.
Evans, C. D., Monteith, D. T., & Cooper, D. M. (2005). Long-term increases in surface water dissolved organic carbon: observations, possible causes and environmental impacts. Env Poll, 137, 55–71.
Ficklin, D. L., Stewart, I. T., & Maurer, E. P. (2013). Effects of climate change on stream temperature, dissolved oxygen, and sediment concentration in the Sierra Nevada in California. Water Resources Research, 49(5), 2765–2782.
I.P.C.C. (2007). IPCC climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Parry, M.L., Palutikof, J.P., Van der Linden P.J. and Hanson, C.E. (eds), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
I.P.C.C. (2013). IPCC climate change 2013: the physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Stocker, T.F., Qin, D., Plattner, G.-K., Tignor, M., Allen, P.M., Boschung, J., Nauels, A., Xia, Y., Bex, V., Midgley, P.M. (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
Joshi, K. D., Jha, D. N., Alam, A., Srivastava, S. K., Kumar, V., & Sharma, A. P. (2014). Environmental flow requirements of river Sone: impacts of low discharge on fisheries. Current Science, 107(3).
Kalburgi, P.B., Shivayogimath, C.B. & Purandara, B.K. (2010). Application of QUAL2K for water quality modeling of river Ghataprabha (India). Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering, ISSN 1934-8932, USA.
Kazmi, A. A. (2000). Water quality modelling of river Yamuna. Journal of Institute of Engineers, India, 81, 17–22.
Li, P., Wu, J., Qian, H., Zhang, Y., Yang, N., Jing, L., & Yu, P. (2016). Hydrogeochemical characterization of groundwater in and around a wastewater irrigated forest in the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert, Northwest China. Exposure and Health, 8(3), 331–348.
Malmqvist, B., & Rundle, S. (2002). Threats to the running water ecosystems of the world. Environmental Conservation, 29(02), 134–153.
Mimikou, M. A., Baltas, E., Varanou, E., & Pantazis, K. (2000). Regional impacts of climate change on water resources quantity and quality indicators. Journal of Hydrology, 234(1–2), 95–109. doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00244-4.
Mohseni, O., Stefan, H. G., & Erickson, T. R. (1998). A nonlinear regression model for weekly stream temperatures. Water Resources Research, 34, 2685–2692.
O’Connor, D. J., & Dobbins, W. E. (1958). Mechanisms of reaeration in natural streams. Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 123, 641–684.
O’Keeffe, J., Kaushal, N., Bharati, L. & Vladimir, S. (2012). Assessment of environmental flows for the Upper Ganga Basin, WWF-India, New Delhi.
Ozaki, N., & Fukushima, T. (2003). Statistical analyses on the effects of air temperature fluctuations on river water qualities. Hydrological Processes, 17(14), 2837–2853.
Paliwal, R., Sharma, P., & Kansal, A. (2007). Water quality modeling of the river Yamuna (India) using QUAL2E-UNCAS. J. Environ.Mgmt., 83, 131–144.
Parmar, D. L., & Keshari, A. K. (2012). Sensitivity analysis of water quality for Delhi stretch of the river Yamuna. India, Environ Monit Assess, 184, 1487–1508.
Rehana, S., & Mujumdar, P. P. (2011). River water quality response under hypothetical climate change scenarios in Tunga Bhadra River. India. Hydrol. Process., 25(22), 3373–3386. doi:10.1002/hyp.8057.
Rehana, S., & Mujumdar, P. P. (2012). Climate change induced risk in water quality control problems. Journal of Hydrology, 444–445, 63–77.
Richter, B. D., Baumgartner, J. V., Wigington, R., & Braun, D. P. (1997). How much water does a river need? Freshwater Biology, 37(1), 231–249.
Soni, V., Shekhar, S., & Singh, D. (2014). Environmental flow for the Yamuna River in Delhi as an example of monsoon rivers in India. Current Science, 106(4).
Tang, J., Yin, X. A., Yang, P., & Yang, Z. F. (2014). Climate-induced flow regime alterations and their implications for the Lancang River, China. River Research Applications. doi:10.1002/rra.2819.
Tharme, R.E. (2003). A global perspective on environmental flow assessment: emerging trends in the development and application of environmental flow methodologies for rivers. River Research and Applications, 19.
Thompson, J. R., Laizé, C. L. R., Green, A. J., Acreman, M. C., & Kingston, D. G. (2014). Climate change uncertainty in environmental flows for the Mekong River. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59(3–4), 935–954.
Vasudevan, M., Nambi, I.M. & Suresh Kumar, G. (2011). Application of QUAL2K for assessing waste loading scenario in river Yamuna, IJAET E-ISSN 0976–3945.
Whitehead, P. G., Wilby, R. L., Battarbee, R. W., Kernan, M., & Wade, A. J. (2009). A review of the potential impacts of climate change on surface water quality. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 54(1), 101–123.
Xu, C. Y. (1999). From GCMs to river flow: a review of downscaling methods and hydrologic modelling approaches. Progress in Physical Geography, 23(2), 229–249.
Yang, Z. F., Sun, T., Cui, B. S., Chen, B., & Chen, G. Q. (2008). Environmental flow requirements for integrated water resources allocation in the Yellow River Basin, China. Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, 14, 2469–2481.
Zhang, R., Qian, X., Yuan, X., Ye, R., Xia, B., & Wang, Y. (2012). Simulation of water environmental capacity and pollution load reduction using QUAL2K for water environmental management. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 9(12), 4504–4521.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Department of Science and Technology (India) for partly supporting this study through the grant no: SB/S3/CEE/045/2014 to Dr. Dhanya C.T. The authors sincerely thank the Editor and the anonymous reviewers for reviewing the manuscript and providing insightful comments. The authors also express thanks to Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, for supporting this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walling, B., Chaudhary, S., Dhanya, C.T. et al. Estimation of environmental flow incorporating water quality and hypothetical climate change scenarios. Environ Monit Assess 189, 225 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-5942-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-5942-2