Scientific foundations for environmental flow assessments and implementation in India with a specific focus on the Ganga River Basin
Abstract
The overall objective of this project is to generate scientific foundations in order to support environmental flow (e-flow) assessments and related implementation in India with a special focus on the Ganga River Basin. Though the initiatives to scientifically assess e-flows and to implement them with policy level interventions have been willingly taken up by the Indian government and related water management authorities in the past, they have hardly/rarely resulted in successful assessments and implementation of e-flow regimes that will ensure river basin level improvements in ecosystem services in India. The challenges in defining the concept of e-flows in the Indian context and outlining the elements of ecosystem services to be catered by these e- flow implementations are not yet resolved and the strategic approach towards scientific and effective planning of step-by-step approaches for assessment and implementation are yet to be formulated. Thus, this project addresses the strong demand towards the scientific and strategic support and hand-holding in effective planning of scientific assessments and development of implementation strategies. By facilitating an expert workshop involving various international scientific specialists and success stories, it is foreseen to add important value to Indian e-flow assessment and implementation initiatives. With this, it is expected to put light on global recent advances in e-flow assessment approaches and their benefits and the way to blend them to utilize in Indian context. Also, the project will showcase global experiences and scientific aspects of e-flow implementations and challenges and their solutions to help Indian decision makers in strategic planning. The insights of this workshop will lead into a roadmap for e-flow assessment in India with a specific focus on the Ganga Basin, outlining clear activities that are most relevant, as well as scientific and administrative gaps to be addressed in further steps. In light of the current hydropower boom in wide parts of Asia and elsewhere and the growing e-flow field in countries such as India, another priority of this project is to summarize the related findings for the scientific community.
keywords environmental flows water abstraction assessment implementation India water use irrigation hydropower habitat modelling ecological indicators
Publikationen
Project staff
Rafaela Schinegger
Ass.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Rafaela Schinegger
rafaela.schinegger@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-85334
Project Leader
20.09.2019 - 31.12.2020
Daniel S. Hayes
Dr. Daniel S. Hayes
daniel.hayes@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-81223
Project Staff
20.09.2019 - 31.12.2020