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Present and future water resources in India: Insights from satellite remote sensing and a dynamic global vegetation model

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India is a country of particular interest with regard to its future water resources, as it is expected to undergo continued rapid population growth while also being especially sensitive to climate change. The Land-surface Processes and eXchanges Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (LPX-DGVM) is used here to simulate present and future runoff in India using ClimGen pattern-scaled scenarios of 1°, 2° and 4°C temperature increase (scaled to 2050) forced by six general circulation models (GCMs). As is the case with many DGVMs, groundwater storage is not simulated by LPX, so in order to form a more comprehensive understanding of water resources, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite estimates for north-west India are incorporated into this study and compared to LPX runoff simulations. Runoff is simulated to have increased slightly (1.5 mm/year) in this region during 2002–2006, while groundwater extractions appear to have been made at rates of 40 ± 10 mm/year.

North-west India is simulated to experience considerable increases in runoff by 2070–2099, with a mean change of 189 mm/year for 2°C climate change (although the range of model results, 247 mm/year, demonstrates high uncertainty among GCMs). Precipitation is shown to have an important bearing on runoff generation, while the degree of warming is shown to affect the magnitude of future runoff. This may subsequently influence the longevity of the local groundwater resource. However, at recent rates of depletion and in view of expected population growth, the long-term sustainability of groundwater reserves in north-west India is in doubt.

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Acknowledgements

S J Murray is the beneficiary of a doctoral grant from the AXA Research Fund. The author is grateful to M Rodell for provision of GRACE data, P N Foster for technical assistance regarding LPX and I M Watson for useful discussion concerning project direction.

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  1. School of Earth Sciences, Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol, Queens Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK

    S J MURRAY

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MURRAY, S.J. Present and future water resources in India: Insights from satellite remote sensing and a dynamic global vegetation model. J Earth Syst Sci 122, 1–13 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-012-0264-9

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