Year Journal Volume Author Title Abstract

Year Journal Volume Author Title Abstract 2017 Geoscience Frontiers Volume 8, Issue 5, Muhammad Adnan, Snowmelt runoff prediction under There are serious concerns of rise in temperatures over snowy and glacierized Himalayan region that may eventually affect future September 2017, Ghulam Nabi, changing climate in the Himalayan river flows of Indus river system. It is therefore necessary to predict snow and glacier melt runoff to manage future water resource Pages 941-949 MuhammadSaleem, cryosphere: A case of Gilgit River Basin of Upper Indus Basin (UIB). The snowmelt runoff model (SRM) coupled with MODIS remote sensing data was employed in this Poomee study to predict daily discharges of Gilgit River in the Karakoram Range. The SRM was calibrated successfully and then simulation ArshadAshraf was made over four years i.e. 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 achieving coefficient of model efficiency of 0.96, 0.86, 0.9 and 0.94 respectively. The scenarios of precipitation and mean temperature developed from regional climate model PRECIS were used in SRM model to predict future flows of Gilgit River. The increase of 3 °C in mean annual temperature by the end of 21th century may result in increase of 35–40% in Gilgit River flows. The expected increase in the surface runoff from the snow and glacier melt demands better water conservation and management for irrigation and hydel-power generation in the Indus basin in future.

2017 Current Science(00113891) 4/25/2017, Jain, Sharad K, Trends in rainfall and peak flows for The aim of the present study is to examine the trends in magnitude and intensity of precipitation and peak floods of different Vol. 112 Issue 8, Nayak, P. C. some river basins in India magnitudes for seven major river basins in India. Data pertaining to daily flows for about 30-odd years and precipitation for 61 p1712-1726. 15p Singh, Yatveer years (from 1951 to 2012) were analysed. Linear trends were calculated for the number of rainy days, rainfall intensity and Chandniha, Surendra occurrence of flood peaks for all basins. Using the Sen’s slope estimator, it was found that annual peak rainfall increases for most Kumar of the basins in India. From the Mann–Kendall test and Sen’s slope, it was found that the Cauvery and Brahamani and Baitarani basins show a rising trend in the number of rainy days, but the trend was falling for five other basins. When the basins were classified as mountains and plains, it was found that the number of daily rainfall events of different magnitudes was more in the mountains compared to the plains. The rivers which flow from west to east direction have more rainy days compared to those which flow towards the west. It was observed that in general the number of rainy days was falling while the number of intense events was increasing. The number of flood peaks of smaller magnitude in different decades showed slight falling trend. It was also found that there was falling or no trend for severe floods. Anthropogenic activities (construction of storage reservoirs, diversions, urbanization, land-use change, and soil and water conservation measures, etc.) have probably affected the generation of peak floods in the rivers of India. River regulation through storage reservoirs in the past 50 years has resulted in the reduction of peak flows. Hence with the same rainfall, the flood peaks would have increased under virgin conditions.

2017 Journal of Hydrology: Regional Volume 13, October Vinod Tare, Eco-geomorphological approach for Study region Studies 2017, Pages 110-121 Suresh Kumar Gurjar, environmental flows assessment in Upper Ganga reaches up to Rishikesh town, India. Haridas Mohanta, monsoon-driven highland rivers: A case Study focus Vishal Kapoor, study of Upper Ganga, India Environmental Flows (E-Flows) assessment in the upper stretches of the Ganga river has been carried out by integrating ecological Ankit Modi, and geomorphological parameters with hydraulic analysis to estimate the flow depths and flow volumes necessary for river ecology R.P. Mathur, and channel maintenance. We have used a modified version of Building Block Method (BBM) for computing E-Flows for lean period, Rajiv Sinha for monsoon period and for high floods based on the flow requirements of keystone species for different sites and geomorphic considerations. We define three flow depths, D1, D2 and D3 which correspond to the minimum flow depths required for sustenance of keystone species during lean period, for breeding and spawning of keystone species during monsoon period, and for maintaining lateral connectivity during floods respectively. New hydrological insights for the region Annual hydrographs for E-Flows have been developed and compared with the observed flows for each site under natural flow conditions. Our computation shows that for the wet period, which is taken as the period from mid-May to mid-October, monthly E- Flows vary from ∼23% to ∼40% of the monthly natural flows at different sites. However, dry season E-Flows as percentages of natural flows, taken for the period from mid-October to mid-May, vary over a wider range of 29%–53% for these sites.

2017 Research Article 24-Apr-17 R. Sinha, Geomorphic diversity as a river Understanding of geomorphic processes and the determination of geomorphic diversity in catchments are prerequisites for the H. Mohanta, management tool and its application to sustainable rehabilitation of river systems and for reach-scale assessment of river health. The Ganga River system in India is a large, V. Jain, the Ganga River, India complex system consisting of several long tributaries, some >1,000 km, originating from 2 distinct hinterlands—the Himalaya to the S. K. Tandon north and the cratons to the south. Traversing through a diverse climatic regime across the Plain and through precipitation zones ranging from 600 mm/year near Delhi to 1,200 mm/year in the eastern plains, the Ganga River system has formed very diverse landform assemblages in 3 major geomorphic domains. We have recognized 10 different river classes for the trunk river from Gangotri (source) to Farakka (upstream of its confluence with the Brahmaputra) based on (a) landscape setting, (b) channel and active floodplain properties, and (c) channel planform parameters. The mountainous stretch is characterized by steep valleys and bedrock channels and is dominated by large-scale sediment production and transport through hill slope processes. The alluvial part of the river is characterized by 8 different river classes of varying reach lengths (60–300 km) many of which show sharp transitions in landscape setting. We have highlighted the application of this approach for the assessment of habitat suitability, environmental flows, and flood risk all of which have been significantly modified during the last few decades due to large-scale anthropogenic disturbances. We suggest that the diversity embedded in this geomorphic framework can be useful for developing a sustainable river management programme to “work with” the contemporary character and behaviour of rivers. River System Analysis and pp 321-337 Ravindra Kumar Preliminary Assessment and Attempt The impact of releasing additional water from Tehri Dam (114 m3/s), and subsequent releases downstream barrages at Bhimgoda, Management to Maintain Minimum Ecological Flows Bijnor, Ramganga feeder canal (from Kalagarh Dam on Ramganga River), and Narora Barrage (71 m3/s) particularly during Kumbh in Upper and Middle Ganga River bath festival for cultural/spiritual/ecological reasons during lean flow months (December–March) to augment river flows at Har ki Pauri (Hardwar) and at Sangam (Allahabad before confluence of Ganga with Yamuna River) at the cost of irrigation water seems to be unattractive due to negative water balance during non-monsoon period between Hardwar downstream catchment and Allahabad. The better option to raise water level at Sangam appears to be closing of lift pump canals situated between Kanpur and Raebareli (34 m3/s) and escaping Sharda Sahayak canal water (11 m3/s) from Bhadri escape into the Ganga River 40 km upstream of Allahabad. The other option may be construction of barrages at suitable places – Chhatnag (d/s Sangam nose, Allahabad), Kalakankar (Pratapgarh), and Bhitaura (Fatehpur) – to augment 64 m3/s water at 75 % dependability to maintain water depth 1.2 m at Sangam. Dredging of the active channel may provide adequate depth of water for bathing and navigation. The combined effect of low flow and discharge of polluting effluent into the Ganga has caused severe deterioration in the quality of water, sediment, and aquatic biodiversity in the river. But the Ganges’ pollution and low flow issues are two entirely different things. Similarly, trade-off between food security and river ecological services has to be decided on objectives of the society. The preliminary assessment of environmental flows (EFs) for the Upper Ganga basin by WWF-India (2012 assessment of environmental flows for the Upper Ganga Basin, HSBC Water Programe) at Kaudiyala (rafting site 30 km u/s Rishikesh), Kachla bridge (d/s Narora), and Bithoor (u/s Kanpur Lav Kush barrage) suggests 72 %, 45 %, and 47 % MAR natural, respectively, using building block methodology (BBM). This study further needs refinement based on actual flow regimes.

Environmental History in the pp 187-206 Vipul Singh (Department Where Many Rivers Meet: River Looking at the changing nature of river economy this paper tries to examine the relation between economy and environmental Making of History University of Morphology and Transformation of Pre- history. Bihar province in mid-Ganga basin has the natural advantage of many rivers converging the Ganga. During the seventeenth Delhi, Delhi India) modern River Economy in Mid-Ganga and the eighteenth century the province went on to get linked with the maritime economy and trade, and the center of commercial Basin, India activities shifted from Ganga-Yamuna doab to eastern part of the Ganga basin. Using Patna as the case study, the paper argues that region’s orientation from west to east had grave implication on the river morphology. After 1765 when the British East India Company got the land revenue rights of the region it sought permanence in the administrative and revenue policies and to achieve this it encouraged construction of embankments and railways. It created obstruction to the natural flow of the flooding Ganga.

2017 Natural Hazards July 2017, Volume 87, S. Panwar, Morphometric and sediment source Erosion and the resulting sediment load is a silent natural hazard that can affect the hydraulic processes in a fluvial system. The Issue 3, pp 1649–1671 V. Agarwal, characterization of the Alaknanda river physical erosion rate in the Alaknanda basin is five times higher than the global average, and Alaknanda River is a major supplier of G. J. Chakrapani basin, headwaters of river Ganga, India sediments to the Ganga River. Anthropogenic intrusion in the form of construction of dams and reservoirs is influencing the natural landscape of the basin. Thus, it is necessary to prioritize erosion prone areas, understand the weathering intensity and identify source bed rocks contributing to the sediment load. The present study displays a combined approach of morphometry and geochemistry for erosion risk estimation. Nineteen morphometric parameters were evaluated for Alaknanda main channel, Mandakini, Pinder, Nandakini, Birahi Ganga and Dhauli Ganga sub-catchments. Suspended sediment samples collected during non- monsoon and monsoon seasons of the year 2014 were analyzed and quantified for sediment load, grain size distribution, clay mineralogy and rare earth elements composition. The results showed the dominance of structural, lithological and climatic control on the erosion processes. The eastern side of the Alaknanda basin was found to be more vulnerable to fluvial erosion. The mean grain size varied from 8.9 to 56.3 μm and 25.3 to 87.3 μm in the post-monsoon and monsoon season, respectively. The clay mineral assemblages, low values of kaolinite/illite ratio, illite chemistry index and illite crystallinity index along with inconsistent Eu and Ce anomaly indicate that physical and chemical weathering of felsic, mafic and carbonate rocks contributes to high sediment load carried by the Alaknanda River.

Land Cover Change and Its Eco- pp 383-408 Ningsheng Chen, Water Hazards in the Trans-boundary The Kosi River is an important tributary of the Ganges that passes through China, Nepal and India. With a basin area of 71,500 km2, environmental Responses in Nepal Guisheng Hu, Kosi River Basin the Kosi River has the largest elevation drop in the world (from 8848 m of Mt Everest to 60 m of the Ganges plain) and covers a Wei Deng, broad spectrum of climate, soil, vegetation and socioeconomic zones. The basin suffers from multiple water-related hazards Narendra Raj Khanal, including glacier lake outburst, debris flow, landslide, flood, drought, soil erosion and sedimentation. This paper describes the Yunhua Zhu, characteristics of water hazards in the basin based on the literature review and site investigation covering hydrology, meteorology, David Han geology, geomorphology and socioeconomics. Glacier lake outbursts are a huge threat to the local population in the region, and they usually further trigger landslides and debris flows. Floods are usually a result of interaction between man-made hydraulic structures and the natural environment. Debris flows are widespread and occur in clusters. Droughts tend to last over long periods and affect vast areas. Rapid population increase, decline of ecosystems and climate changes could further exacerbate various hazards in the region. The paper has proposed a set of mitigating strategies and measures. It is a huge challenge to implement them in practice. More investigations are needed to fill in the knowledge gaps. 2017 Geomorphology - N.G.Roy, Integrating channel form and processes Geomorphic diversity at a variety of spatial and temporal scales has been studied in the western Ganga plains (WGP), India, to R.Sinha in the Gangetic plains rivers: isolate the dominating factors at each scale that have the potential to cause major geomorphic change. The Ganga River and its Implications for geomorphic diversity major tributaries draining the WGP have been investigated in terms of longitudinal, cross-sectional, and planform morphology to assess the influence of potential controls such as climate, geology, topography, land use, hydrology, and sediment transport. These data were then compared with those from the rivers draining the eastern Ganga plains (EGP) to understand the geomorphic diversity across the Ganga plains and the causal factors. Our investigations suggest that in-channel geomorphic diversity over decadal scale in rivers with low width-to-depth (W/D) ratio is caused by periodic incision/aggradation, but it is driven by channel avulsion in rivers characterized by high W/D ratio. Similarly, planform (reach-scale) parameters such as sinuosity and braid-channel- ratio are influenced by intrinsic factors such as changes in hydrological conditions and morphodynamics (cutoffs, small-scale avulsion) that are in turn impacted by natural and human-induced factors. Finally, we have isolated the climatic and hydrologic effects on the longitudinal profile concavity of alluvial trunk channels in tectonically stable and unstable landscapes. We demonstrate that the rivers flowing through a tectonically stable landscape are graded in nature where higher discharge tends to create more concave longitudinal profiles compared to those in tectonically unstable landscape at 103-year scale

2016 Hydrological Sciences Journal Volume 61, 2016 - Issue M.Y.A. Khan, Neural network model for discharge Discharges and water levels are essential components of river hydrodynamics. In unreachable terrains and ungauged locations, it is 11 F. Hasan, and water-level prediction for quite difficult to measure these parameters due to rugged topography. In the present study an artificial neural network model has S. Panwar, Ramganga River catchment of Ganga been developed for the Ramganga River catchment of the Ganga Basin. The modelled network is trained, validated and tested using G.J. Chakrapani Basin, India daily water flow and level data pertaining to 4 years (2010–2013). The network has been optimized using an enumeration technique and a network topology of 4-10-2 with a learning rate set at 0.06, which was found optimum for predicting discharge and water-level values for the considered river. The mean square error values obtained for discharge and water level for the tested data were found to be 0.046 and 0.012, respectively. Thus, monsoon flow patterns can be estimated with an accuracy of about 93.42%.

2016 Environmental Earth Sciences February M. Y. A. Khan, Factors responsible for temporal and The Ramganga River flows from the mountainous regions of Kumaon Himalayas, through the forests of Jim Corbett National Park 2016, 75:283 S. Daityari, spatial variations in water and and the Ganga flood plains. It is the first major tributary of the Ganga River, carrying high sediment load causing frequent floods in G. J. Chakrapani sediment discharge in Ramganga River, major cities of Uttar Pradesh. The water discharge of the river is controlled by glacial melt as well as precipitation, making it a Ganga Basin, India perennial river. This study is on the temporal and spatial variation of water discharge and sediment flux of the Ramganga River and identifies the factors which control them. In this study, 84 samples were collected from different locations over the 642 km stretch of the river and its major tributaries to observe the temporal and spatial variation of suspended matter in river water. In addition, daily water flow and sediment concentration data of two locations, e.g. Bareilly and Dabri, for a duration of 10 years were used to understand the variation in those parameters over an extended time period. An attempt was also made to relate meandering to the change in water discharge and sediment flux in the Ganga flood plains. Human activities also contribute to the sediment concentration. The results of this study showed that a significant amount of water flow and sediment flux (>75 %) were attributed to the monsoon months. However, in 2009, the results were not similar to other years, probably because of low rainfall due to the occurrence of an El Niño.

2016 Arabian Journal of Geosciences January 2016, 9:28 Mohd Yawar Ali Khan, Assessment of surface water quality Ramganga River is the main tributary of the Ganges River which is the most sacred and largest river basin of India. For effective Khalid Muzamil Gani, and its spatial variation. A case study management of Ganges, assessment of water quality in its tributaries is must, and this river lacks it so far. The present study Govind Joseph Chakrapani of Ramganga River, Ganga Basin, India focuses on the evaluation of water quality of this river and its adjoining tributaries. Organic pollution indicators, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD5) of river water ranges from 15.2 to 55.5 mg/L and 7.1 to 29 mg/L, respectively. Nutrient parameters nitrate (NO3−-N) and phosphate (PO42−-P) of river water ranges from 0.2 to 12.7 mg/L and 0.02 to 0.76 mg/L, respectively. While in tributaries, these parameters range from 0.2 to 9.9 mg/L and 0.03 to 1.47 mg/L, respectively. The most polluted stretches of river were from Moradabad to Farrukhabad via Bareilly especially in terms of organic pollution. Pair sample t test applied to compare the water quality of river and its tributaries revealed no significant difference in COD, NO3−-N, PO42—P, and fluoride (F−) while sulfate (SO42−) was significantly large (25.1 mg/L) in tributaries. The spatial variation in water quality of river was addressed by cluster analysis (CA) which grouped the 16 sampling points into three significant clusters corresponding to lower pollution, moderate pollution, and severe pollution regions. The results from CA restructure the entire sampling campaign to a cheaper and less-effort sampling program that will be helpful in water quality assessment and management of the river. 2016 Journal of Hydrology Volume 541, Part B, R. Maheswaran, Regional scale groundwater modelling Subsurface movement of water within the alluvial formations of Ganga Basin System of North and East India, extending over an October 2016, Pages R. Khosa, study for Ganga River basin area of 1 million km2, was simulated using Visual MODFLOW based transient numerical model. The study incorporates historical 727-741 A.K. Gosain, groundwater developments as recorded by various concerned agencies and also accommodates the role of some of the major S. Lahari, tributaries of River Ganga as geo-hydrological boundaries. Geo-stratigraphic structures, along with corresponding hydrological S. K.Sinha, parameters,were obtained from Central Groundwater Board, India,and used in the study which was carried out over a time horizon B.R. Chahar of 4.5 years. The model parameters were fine tuned for calibration using Parameter Estimation (PEST) simulations. C.T. Dhanya Analyses of the stream aquifer interaction using Zone Budget has allowed demarcation of the losing and gaining stretches along the main stem of River Ganga as well as some of its principal tributaries. From a management perspective,and entirely consistent with general understanding, it is seen that unabated long term groundwater extraction within the study basin has induced a sharp decrease in critical dry weather base flow contributions. In view of a surge in demand for dry season irrigation water for agriculture in the area, numerical models can be a useful tool to generate not only an understanding of the underlying groundwater system but also facilitate development of basin-wide detailed impact scenarios as inputs for management and policy action.

2013 Mitigation and Adaptation June 2013, Volume 18, Anil Kumar Misra Climate change impact, mitigation and Agriculture consumes more than two-thirds of global fresh water out of which 90 % is used by developing countries. Freshwater Strategies for Global Change Issue 5, pp 673–689 adaptation strategies for agricultural consumption worldwide is expected to rise another 25 %by 2030 due to increase in population from 6.6 billion currently to about 8 and water resources, in Ganga Plain billion by 2030 and over 9 billion by 2050. Worldwide climate change and variability are affecting water resources and agricultural (India) production and in India Ganga Plain region is one of them. Hydroclimatic changes are very prominent in all the regions of Ganga Plain. Climate change and variability impacts are further drying the semi-arid areas and may cause serious problem of water and food scarcity for about 250 million people of the area. About 80 million ha out of total 141 million ha net cultivated area of India is rainfed, which contributes approximately 44 % of total food production has been severely affected by climate change. Further changing climatic conditions are causing prominent hydrological variations like change in drainage density, river morphology (tectonic control) & geometry, water quality and precipitation. Majority of the river channels seen today in the Ganga Plain has migrated from their historic positions. Large scale changes in land use and land cover pattern, cropping pattern, drainage pattern and over exploitation of water resources are modifying the hydrological cycle in Ganga basin. The frequency of floods and drought and its intensity has increased manifold. Ganga Plain rivers has changed their course with time and the regional hydrological conditions shows full control over the rates and processes by which environments geomorphically evolve. Approximately 47 % of total irrigated area of the country is located in Ganga Plain, which is severely affected by changing climatic conditions. In long run climate change will affect the quantity and quality of the crops and the crop yield is going to be down. This will increase the already high food inflation in the country. The warmer atmospheric temperatures and drought conditions will increase soil salinization, desertification and drying-up of aquifer, while flooding conditions will escalate soil erosion, soil degradation and sedimentation. The aim of this study is to understand the impact of different hydrological changes due to climatic conditions and come up with easily and economically feasible solutions effective in addressing the problem of water and food scarcity in future.