Need for integrated resource management plan for UR river watershed
Student name: Mr Ankit Rana
Guide: Ms Ranjana Ray Chaudhuri
Year of completion: 2016
Host Organisation: National Institute of Hydrology
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr V. C. Goyal
Abstract: The Bundelkhand region in Central India has been facing recurrent droughts since the last decade due to changing rainfall pattern and distribution being one of the prime reasons among many others. The water resources management under drought scenario is a challenging task for the decision makers and planners since it is not at all possible to avoid droughts leading to widespread water scarcity. The phenomenon of drought coupled with the impacts of the climate change could prove to be disastrous for the fragile ecosystems and economy of the region.
The watershed of UR River have a catchment area of 990.69 km2 situated in Tikamgarh district is a perfect representative of Bundelkhand area. The parameters like climate data , crop coefficients , domestic water demand which are essential for WEAP were sourced. The WEAP was calibrated for the year 2013 to give the Water demand for domestic and agricultural practices. WEAP-MABIA tool was used to calculate the crop water demand for the study area. There was a huge gap between water demand and supplied required i.e. 6.67MCM and 557.69MCM unmet water demand for domestic and agricultural requirements for the year 2013respectively. Future scenarios was generated for two scenarios i,e 1. Population growth with 12% and 2. Use of better techniques for irrigation.
Water samples for different drinking water quality parameters were tested for the study area. Forty six samples were taken from 36 villages. Fluoride and pH were found to be in acceptable limit in all the samples. Nitrate was above permissible limit in samples while Iron was found to be above permissible limit in four samples.
Household survey done in the study area confirmed the non-availability of the water for domestic purposes. It found out that a large number of people were willing to accept the interventions.
Keywords: WEAP, Ur River, Tikamgarh, Scenarios, Water Quality parameters.
