Environmental Flows an Introduction for Water Resources Managers
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Environmental Flows An Introduction for Water Resources Managers 2013 Editor: Brij Gopal National Institute of Ecology New Delhi Environmental Flows An Introduction for Water Resources Managers Editor: Brij Gopal 2013 National Institute of Ecology Cap-Net New Delhi (India) Pretoria (South Africa) Environmental Flows An Introduction for Water Resources Managers © 2013, National Institute of Ecology First published 2013 No part of this book may be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, except to the extent permissible under the Indian Copyright Act, without prior permission of the publisher. Published By: National Institute of Ecology (URL: www.nieindia.org) 366 Metro Apartments, DDA Flats, Jahangirpuri, Delhi 110033, India Email: [email protected] The views expressed in this book are solely those of individual authors and do not refect in any manner whatsoever the concurrence of the CapNet or the National Institute of Ecology (NIE). The preparation and publication of this book was funded by CapNet, This edition of the book is distributed freely. A non-editable PDF fle of the book will be available for free download also from the websites of the NIE (www.nieindia.org) and the Cap-Net (www.cap-net.org). Cover Photo: Dam of Chamera I HEP on River Ravi (viewed from downstream) (B. Gopal) Back Cover Photos: Stretches of Rivers Tons, Yamuna and Ganga downstream of Dams and Barrages (B. Gopal) Printed in India at New United Process, A26 Naraina Industrial Area II, New Delhi-110028 Ph. 09811426024, Email: [email protected] ii | Dedicated to Prof. Ramaswamy R. Iyer (former Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, New Delhi) | iii iv | CONTENTS Preface vii Contributors ix 1. Introduction 1 Scope of the Book and the IWRM Context 7 2. The River Ecosystems and their Natural Flow Regimes 11 Evolution of the Ecosystem Approach to Rivers 12 The River Ecosystem 20 Ecosystem Functioning 43 River-Floodplain Interactions 47 Interaction of Flow with other Ecosystem Components 49 3. Ecosystems Services of Rivers and their Relation to Flows 67 Ecosystem Services of Rivers 72 4. Impacts of Regulation of River Flows 81 How is Flow Regime Altered? 81 Impact of Dams 83 5. Environmental Flows: Concept and History 113 Early Concerns 113 Emergence of Environmental Flows Concept 114 Current State 115 Annexure 1 120 6. Methodologies for the Assessment of Environmental Flows 129 Introduction 129 Hydrological Methods 133 Hydraulic Rating Methods 145 Habitat Simulation Methods 149 PHABSIM 154 Holistic Methodologies 157 Concluding Observations 172 7. Environmental Flows: The South Asian Experience 183 Introduction 183 India 184 | v Bangladesh 189 Nepal 189 Sri Lanka 190 Regional Initiatives of IUCN 190 Laws, Policy and Institutions 190 8. Epilogue 199 Focus on Hydropower Projects 199 Environmental Flows and Methodology for Assessment 201 Planning for Environmental Flows 202 Implementation of Environmental Flows 203 Monitoring for Environmental Flows 203 Case Studies 1. Environmental Flows Assessment in India: The Ganga Experience 207 Background 207 WWF’s Work on E-Flows 208 Environmental Flows Assessment Methodology 210 Environmental Flows Assessment – The Process 210 Results 223 Refections and Lessons Learnt from the Study 226 2. Impacts of Flow Alteration on Benthic Biota and Fish Fauna 227 Introduction 227 Producer Communities 230 Consumer Communities 233 Consumer Communities (FISH) 236 Factors Affectng the Benthic Communities 237 Response of Communities to Flow Timings 238 Linkages between Biodiversity and Flow Alteration 240 Appendix I 247 vi | PREFACE Water, besides being the very basis of the existence of life on the Planet earth, is the most critical resource for all kinds of human development – economic, cultural and spiritual. Despite its presence in abundance on the Earth, the amount of fresh water suitable for human use varies between extremes both spatially and temporally. Traditionally, community- based water management adequately addressed the problems associated with variability in the quantity and quality. However, the management was taken over by the centralised custodians of water resources who administer them through a storage and distribution network, and formulate laws and policies for ‘allocating’ water to different users according to their own perceived priorities. The increasing exploitation of water, frst for agriculture and domestic use, then for industrial development and in recent decades for energy generation, has severely affected the rivers and aquifers. The rivers have been dammed and channelised for storage and diversion of their fows. The ground water abstraction, together with reduction in recharge, has lowered the water tables rapidly. The consequent changes in the biophysical structure, ecological functions and ecosystem services of rivers and their associated wetland ecosystems, and in turn, the impacts on humans themselves, especially the river-dependent communities, resulted in the realisation of the need for maintaining certain fows in the rivers – the Environmental Flows. Whereas the need for environmental fows was recognised in North America around the middle of the last century, and signifcant advancements have been made in the assessment and implementation of environmental fow requirements in North America, Europe, South Africa and Australia, most other countries, especially those of the South and Southeast Asia, have lagged far behind. Most of the major rivers of South and Southeast Asia arise in the Himalaya and are under serious threat from the hydropower projects that are in different stages of development. The issues of Environmental Flows therefore assume great signifcance and urgency in the region. Though these issues are being debated for the past few years, there has been hardly any signifcant study of the ecological impacts, the methodology for assessment of E-Flows requirements or how to make provision for them in the water resource projects. Whereas the Environmental Flows are now considered to be a critical component of the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), the water resource managers in the South and Southeast Asian region have hardly little understanding of the issues and methodology. The policy- and decision makers are generally unable to appreciate the consequences of lack of fows in the rivers. The water resources project developers as well as researchers fnd it diffcult to understand the vast amount of literature on the subject emanating from a few countries which lead in the feld. The National Institute of Ecology in India took the lead in 2005, with the support of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to initiate discussion on Environmental | vii Flows. A study of Environmental Flows assessment for the upper reaches of River Ganga was recently undertaken by the WWF-India, and a few other initiatives have been made at the policy level in India and other countries with the help of different organisations. Realising the urgent need for educating the researchers as well as water resource managers about the basic concepts, approaches and methodologies, the National Institute of Ecology organised a Training Workshop on ‘Factoring Environmental Flows into the IWRM’ in India (Haridwar, 6-11 December 2012) - the frst such exercise in the region - with the support from the CapNet. Discussions at the Workshop identifed the need for a short introductory book on the subject that would help the students as well practitioners understand various issues and enable them to explore the subject further. Though a few publications on environmental fows appeared during the past decade (e.g., those of the World Bank and the IUCN), the only comprehensive book on the subject was published only recently (Arthington, October 2012) but it makes no reference to the South Asian situation. This book is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the global knowledge on the subject. Drawing heavily from the global experiences, it discusses Environmental Flows in the context of South Asia in focusing on its specifc ecological and socio-cultural conditions. It introduces the river ecosystems, their structure and functioning with fows as the main driver, their ecosystem services and impacts of fow alterations. It summarises major methodologies for environmental fow assessments as developed and applied in different countries and describes briefy the scientifc, legal and policy related developments in the region. Adequate and latest sources of information are cited throughout the book to help the readers in accessing detailed studies on all aspects. On behalf of the National Institute of Ecology and my own, I place on record our grateful thanks to the CapNet (Pretoria, South Africa) for generously supporting the training workshop and the publication of this book. I also thank all contributors to the book for their help, cooperation and support, and all resource persons and participants of the training workshop for their interest, contributions and suggestions. Special thanks are due to Sri Ramaswamy Iyer (Former Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, New Delhi), Dr. BP Das, Dr. Ravi Chopra, Dr. Vikrant Jain, Prof. BD Joshi, Prof. PC Joshi and Dr. Rachna Nautiyal for their valuable suggestions and inputs to the workshop and this book. I thank Prof. K.S. Rao, Secretary General of the NIE, for his full support in organising the workshop and publication of the book. Finally, I owe my grateful thanks to various researchers and publishers from whose works fgures, tables and other