River Rejuvenation by Adopting Continuous Stream Storage Approach

in Mula-Mutha Basin using Geospatial & Simulation Tools

ByDr R K Suryawanshi

Prof. Emeritus, COEP, Pune

rksurya2000@yahoo.com

Ph 9879200630

Study Objectives

• Rejuvenation of urban rivers

•Maintain continuous environmental flows

•Maintain minimum storages in streams

•Maintain water quality

•Maintain the present water uses

• Ensure continuous Ground Water recharge

Study Basin

Basin Parameters

Basin Project

Catchment

Area

(��匝)

Gross

Storage

(��惣)

Mutha

Panshet 120 303

Warasgaon 130 374

Temghar 38 108

Khadak’sla 218 86

Mula Mulshi 244 654

Pavana Pavana 114 305

Approach

• Use of existing storages for stream rejuvenation

• Development of continuous stream storages

along the streams• Identification of storage locations and

potentials (ARC-GIS, HEC-RAS)• Development of simulation model for

integrated operation of existing reservoirs for various water uses (RIBASIM)

• Model simulation for stream rejuvenation with continuous stream storages with

environmental flows and its effect on other water demands

Identified Stream Storage parametersCSS PARAMETERS

River CSS IDCSS Location

(Long- Lat)

River Bed Level

( RL-m)

Max Area

at FRL

(��匝)

Max Capacity at FRL (Mcm)

Mutha

MT 173°49'38.916"E

18°29'15.732"N536 1.49 4.67

MT 273°51'31.614"E

18°31'34.116"N532 0.87 3.36

Mula

ML 173°45'9.896"E

18°34'38.576"N541 4.93 13.78

ML PWN73°51'52.752"E

18°34'53.962"N 538 8.99 42.13

Pavana

PWN 173°38'54.868"E

18°41'49.189"N557 3.93 13.08

PWN 273°43'57.991"E

18°38'32.655"N552 5.09 15.62

PWN 373°46'28.034"E

18°37'45.106"N545 2.62 3.04

PWN 473°47'51.905"E

18°36'15.615"N541 1.98 5.65

Mula-

MuthaML MT

73°54'1.434"E

18°32'30.657"N525 2.12 3.61

Total 32.02 104.94

Simulation Model

Basin Projects

Catchment

Area

(��匝)

Gross

Storage

(��惣)

Mutha

Panshet 120 303

Warasgaon 130 374

Temghar 38 108

Khadak’sla 218 86

Mula Mulshi 244 654

Pavana Pavana 114 305

Total 864 1830

Simulatiom Model- Reservoir operation

Simulation Results-Demand Management Table: Simulation results: Irrigation performance

Scenario

s

ParametersIrrigation (Mcm)

Khadakwasla PavanaIrr.

Eff.(%)

CSS Env flow ( Τ�惣 �) Avg Demand Avg Shortage Avg Demand Avg Shortage

I 30 No - 776.12 106.52 69.58 4.34II 30 Yes 2 776.12 143.80 69.58 13.72III 35 Yes 2 665.24 82.62 59.64 11.13IV 40 Yes 2 582.09 50.71 52.18 7.30V 45 Yes 2 517.41 36.92 46.39 5.86VI 50 Yes 2 465.67 26.61 41.75 5.13

0.00

200.00

400.00

600.00

800.00

1000.00

Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 Case 5 Case 6

Av

g D

em

an

d a

nd

Sh

ort

ag

e

(Mcm

)

Khadakwasla: IrrigationAvg Demand

Avg Shortage

0.00

20.00

40.00

60.00

80.00

Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 Case 5 Case 6Av

g D

em

an

d a

nd

Sh

ort

ag

e

(Mcm

)

Pavana : IrrigationAvg Demand

Avg Shortage

Figure: Simulation results: Irrigation performance

Conclusions• Continuous Stream Storages (CSS)filled with minimum environmental flows is easily

implementable approach for stream rejuvenation.

• Rivers with upstream storages can be rejuvenated without much impact on the other

water demands

• Upstream storages need to release environmental flows

• For Mula-Mutha basin urban streams in Pune can be rejuvenated using environmental

flows from existing storages.

• Slight increase in irrigation efficiency (10%) or by changing the present cropping pattern

substantial water can be saved which is useful for stream rejuvenation.

• With CSS , no productive land submergence , continuous ground water recharge, very

cost effective solution for river rejuvenation for all rivers in the country.

Thank You

Rejuvenating River Yamuna by Assessment and

Implementation of Environmental Flows

Anupma Sharma, Vishal Singh, Sharad K. Jain, Manohar Arora,

Pradeep Kumar, Rajesh Singh, Ajay Ahirwar, Shailendra K. Kumre

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HYDROLOGY, ROORKEE

Special Session -1 on Rejuvenation of River Ganga – from Planning to Action

Introduction

▪ Flow is the major driver of biodiversity in rivers.

▪ River flow regime, ranging from low flows to high flows,

significantly affects the river ecosystem.

▪ For various water demands, water is stored and diverted

through various structures built on rivers that change the

flow regime and reduce flow in the downstream reaches --

degradation in the services that society gets from rivers.

▪ Need to decide the extent of changes we want in our rivers

and how much of the natural regime we would like to

maintain.

E-flows

▪ Environmental flows are the quantity, timing, andquality of water flows required to sustainfreshwater and estuarine ecosystems and thehuman livelihoods and wellbeing that depend onthese ecosystems (Brisbane Declaration 2007).

▪ Emerging science of e-flows aims to ensure abalance between the use and the protection ofnatural water resources for people by analyzingdata from hydrological, hydraulics, social,environmental, biological, and other relevantsectors.

❑ Modified flow regime

❑ Dry river segments during non-monsoon

❑ Water quality degradation

❑ Encroachment and dumping of waste

Yamuna River – Issues & Challenges

▪ Construction of diversion structures such as Hathnikundbarrage, Wazirabad barrage, Okhla barrage, etc. -- hasmodified the flow regime -- river water abstracted at differentlocations for varied uses including irrigation water supply tocanal commands and domestic water supply for Delhi.

▪ Lack of regulation in the groundwater abstraction -- hasdepleted the water table -- dry river segments are commonlyobserved between Hathnikund and Wazirabad barrage in non-monsoon period.

▪ Wastewater inflow in river Yamuna through various drains --has aggravated the water quality problems -- adverselyaffected biodiversity and aquatic ecosystem.

▪ Encroachment and dumping of municipal and constructionwaste on the flood plains -- impeded river flow and impairednatural ability to rejuvenate itself.

Yamuna River – Issues & Challenges

Need for Maintenance of E-flow

• Environmental flow is essential for Yamuna to regain the

characteristics of a healthy living river system.

• Hon'ble NGT has given directions for maintenance of requisite e-

flow in River Yamuna downstream of barrage at Hathnikund and at

Okhla, so that there is enough fresh water flowing in the river till

Agra for restoration of ecological functions of the river.

• Hon'ble Supreme Court has directed that a minimum flow of 10

cumec (353 cusec) must be allowed to flow through river Yamuna.

• As per the report 'Action Plan of the Monitoring Committee for

Rejuvenation of River Yamuna’, the release of 10 cumecs of waterin lean months is completely insufficient to sustain the flow in theriver as 10 cumecs of water released from Hathnikund barrage

evaporates or percolates into the ground as it flows downstream.

Major Features of Study Reach

between Hathnikund & Okhla Barrage

Study area selected from

Hathnikund to Okhla

barrage in Upper Yamuna

River Basin.

Hathnikund barrage was

commissioned in 2002 to

regulate the flow of Yamuna

for irrigation in Haryana and

Uttar Pradesh through

Western Yamuna Canal

and Eastern Yamuna

Canal, and, municipal water

supply to Delhi.

Points of water abstraction and additions in Yamuna river(modified from CPCB, 2006)

Discharge observed by CWCat Kalanaur, Karnal, Mawi,Baghpat, Palla and DelhiRailway Bridge in studyreach.

Percentage of waterabstraction

• Irrigation water supply 94%• Domestic water supply 4%• Industrial & other uses 2%

Field Investigations in Delhi Segment• Field surveys conducted in June 2019 show DO values were non-

detectable in river stretch below Wazirabad barrage.

• DO value in Yamuna at Dahesara village was 10.3 mg/l. Fishermen

informed that the river contains fish of size 15-20 cm and during

monsoon they get bigger fish .

Downstream of Wazirabad Barrage

Nazafgarh drain joining Yamuna

near Signature Bridge, Delhi

Waste water coming from drain

in Sonia Vihar

Keystone Species and Fish Biodiversity

• Observations in other rivers have indicated that reduceddischarge alters the micro and macro habitat charactersfavouring the increase of non-indigenous species.

• Besides meagre flows in non-monsoon season, thestudy reach receives heavy load of domestic andindustrial wastes.

• All these factors have impacted the fisheries in the riveras reflected by decline in fish catch, a discernible shiftin fish species composition and an increasing presenceof invasive fish species.

• Systematic information on the diversity, communitystructure, impact of habitat alteration and ecologicalintegrity assessment for the Yamuna river is lacking.

Methodology for Assessment of E-flows

The methodology involves development ofan integrated modeling framework (i.e.hydrological & hydrodynamic) along with:

➢ Field-based survey of cross-sections

➢Water quality parameters

➢Aquatic species suitability informationunder different flow conditions

Phase I

Phase II

Phase III

Assessment of E-flow Releases• 1D steady flow simulation performed using HEC-RAS (5.0.7 ver).

• Accuracy of various DEMs -- SRTM 30 m, SRTM 90 m, ASTER30 m, CARTOSAT 30 m and ALOS DEM 12.5 m was checked

against available surveyed river cross-sections in study reach.

• SRTEM DEM with 30 m spatial resolution compared well withsurveyed cross sections and adopted in this study.

• Manning’s n varies from 0.012 to 0.045. The u/s BCs wereestimated using Hathnikund barrage inflow-outflow data forcorresponding dry, normal and wet years, while for d/s BCs,water level and normal depth were used.

• Average seasonal inflow for different climatic conditions i.e.Monsoon period, Lean period and Non-Monsoon/ Non-Leanperiod for corresponding dependable years was computed.Similarly, average seasonal outflow for identified years werecalculated.

Average Seasonal Flows

SN Season

Inflow at Hathnikund QAve (cumec)

Dry Year

(2009)

Normal Year

(2017)

Wet Year

(2013)

I Monsoon (June, July, Aug, Sep) 320 531 973

II Lean (Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar) 77 51 164

IIINon-Monsoon/Non Lean (Apr, May,

Oct, Nov)372 402 678

Season Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10

Monsoon (June,

July, Aug, Sep)140 232 325 417 510 603 695 788 880 973

Lean (Dec, Jan, Feb,

Mar)5 22 40 58 75 93 111 129 146 164

Non-Monsoon/Non

Lean (Apr, May, Oct,

Nov)

18 91 165 238 311 385 458 531 605 678

Values for HEC-RAS model upper BCs deri┗ed from dry to ┘et years’ ┗alues

HEC-RAS

Model

Setup –Cross

Sections

Geometry

Cross Section Profile

Geometry

Flood Depth

Map

Main Window

HEC-RAS

Model

Setup – 1D

Flow

Analysis

Depth, m Velocity, m/s WSE, m

HEC-RAS Output

(Selected Events – 28

June - 5 July 2018 )

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

0 50 100 150 200

Dep

th (

m)

Discharge (cumec)

Palla

(Lean)

Discharge vs Depth

Habitat requirement of important fishes of Yamuna River(Source: Wildlife Institute of India)

Fish species River sector Reason for species selection Size range

Depth & velocity use#

Chaguniuschagunio

Yamuna Nagar Native Riverine fish, Sensitive

to pollution, Economically important fish

20-25 cm

40-50 cm;

0.1-0.2 m/sec

Raiamas bola Yamuna Nagar Native Riverine fish, Sensitive

to pollution, Economically important fish

30-35 cm

70-100 cm;

0.2-0.3 m/sec

Banganadero Yamuna Nagar & Panipat

Native Riverine fish, Minor carp, Economically important fish

25-30 cm

50-100 cm;

0.2-0.3 m/sec

Cirrhinus reba Yamuna Nagar & Panipat

Native Riverine fish, Minor carp, Economically important fish

20-25 cm

50-80cm;

0.1-0.2 m/sec

Labeo bata Yamuna Nagar & Panipat

Native Riverine fish, Minor carp, Economically important fish

25-30 cm

50-100 cm;

0.1-0.2 m/sec

Cirrhinusmrigala

Yamuna Nagar & Panipat

Indian major carp, Economically important fish

30-40 cm

100-120 cm;

0.2-0.3 m/sec

Keystone Species and Fish Biodiversity

#Depth velocity use are based on observation in other river basins such as Ramganga & Ganga,

however, this needs to be evaluated for Yamuna river field sites.

Flow requirement of important fish for Yamuna River

Fish

species

Depth &

velocity

Requirement

Min. Discharge Required (cumec)

Kalanur Mawi Bhagpat Palla DRB

Raiamas

bala

70-100 cm;

0.2-0.3 m/sec

25 10 10 20 40

Bangana

dero

50-100 cm;

0.2-0.3 m/sec

15 10 10 15 30

Labio

bata

50-100 cm;

0.1-0.2 m/sec

15 10 10 15 30

Summary ▪ Establishing e-flows entails striking a balance between social and

economic preferences and our knowledge and understanding aboutthe requirements for protection of ecological functioning of the riverfor sustainable water resource utilization.

▪ Present study utilizes integrated hydrologic and hydrodynamicmodeling approach for assessing the e-flows in 3 phases.

▪ In Phase I, the HEC-RAS 1D hydraulic model has been used todevelop plots of depth vs discharge and estimate e-flow requirementfor important fish species of Yamuna river.

▪ Minimum discharge required varies from 10 to 40 cumec for the sitesKalanaur, Mawi, Bhagpat, Palla and Delhi Railway Bridge. Thesevalues are preliminary in nature since some parameters for habitatrequirement of fish species are based on observations in other riverbasins and need to be evaluated for Yamuna river.

▪ Under Phase II, flows generated using SWAT would be incorporatedinto HEC-RAS, with high resolution data, to generate e-flows withupdated parameters for habitat requirement.

Acknowledgments

The R&D study is sponsored under the Namami

Gange Program of National Mission for Clean

Ganga, DoWR, RD&GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoI.

Hydro-meteorological data for the study was

provided by Yamuna Basin Organization, CWC, New

Delhi. Information on aquatic biota was provided by

Dr. J.A. Johnson, Wildlife Institute of India,

Dehradun.

THANKS!

Nodal Organization:

International Commission on Irrigation and

Drainage (ICID)

Er. B. A. Chivate, Director (Tech), ICID, New Delhi

Er. A. B. Pandya Secretary General ICID New Delhi

Welcome to Panel

Discussion (PD-11)

ICID established in 1950 is a leading scientific, technical

and not-for-profit scientific international organization.

Network of professionals spread across more than a

hundred countries, has facilitated sharing of experiences

and transfer of water management technology for over

six decades.

Dedicated to enhance the world wide supply of food and

fibre for all people and believes that food security at

various levels: global, national, local and household, and

provision of assured livelihood starts with stable

agriculture production.

Encourages public private partnership in development

and management of water resources.

Prime Minister Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru and the then President Dr. A.N. Khosla at the French National Committee Pavilion (1951)

The Central Office building inaugurated byVice President Dr. Zakir Hussain (10 January 1966)

Agenda 2030 provides opportunity to ICID

to revisit its vision and mission

Agriculture cannot be made solely dependent on rains as it amounts to gambling with the nature.

- Kauṭilya’sArthshastra, 371 BC

Sr

No

Sector Water Demand in Km3 (or BCM)

Standing Sub-

Committee of

MOWR

NCIWRD

2010 2025 2050 2010 2025 2050

Low High Low High Low High

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

1 Irrigation 688 910 1072 543 557 561 611 628 807

2 Drinking

Water56 73 102 42 43 55 62 90 111

3 Industry 12 23 63 37 37 67 67 81 81

4 Energy 5 15 130 18 19 31 33 63 70

5 Other 52 72 80 54 54 70 70 111 111

6 TOTAL 813 1093 1447 694 710 784 843 973 1180

State Major &

Medium

projects

Minor projects Total

Surface Ground

Uttar Pradesh 12.1 1.2 16.3 29.7

Bihar 5.2 1.5 4.1 10.8

Madhya Pradesh 4.9 2.1 9.2 16.2

Andhra Pradesh 5.0 2.3 3.9 11.2

Maharashtra 4.1 1.2 3.6 8.9

Others 27.2 9.0 27.0 63.1

All-India 58.5 17.3 64.1 139.9

State Completed Under

Construction

Total

Maharashtra 1676 145 1821Madhya

Pradesh

899 7 906

Gujarat 598 68 666Andhra

Pradesh

283 51 334

All-India 4711 390 5101

It is estimated that there is a gap of about 15%

in the irrigation potential created and utilized.

Full utilization of the created facilities has been

identified as an important strategy.

Irrigation -State subject but

Central Government of India had taken many

efforts considering the importance of water. To

manage and get maximum benefits from the

created irrigation potential efforts are being

made at various levels.

Command Area Development (CAD) concept.

The update and revised National Water Policy

framed in year 20123

WUAs Formation

National Water Mission- One of the goal is to

improve the efficiency of water use at least by

20%.

Some of the Strategies included under the goal

are as follows:

Promotion of water efficient techniques and

technologies.

Incentive through award for water conservation

& efficient use of water.

Farmers Participatory Action Research

Programme (FPARP)

Initiation of 5000 Farmers as partners in

FPARP throughout the country with the help of

Agricultural Universities/ ICAR institutes/

Engineering colleges/ WALMIs etc. for

demonstrating the technologies available on

shelf to the farmers for increasing the

productivity and profitability of agriculture

through generating synergy among water, crop,

agronomic practices, soil nutrients, crop variety

and implements etc.

It is very difficult in agriculture field to control

the water pump manually. One has to visit in

fields to switch ON and OFF.

In worldwide, where electricity is the main

problem, villagers frequently don’t have the electricity. In that situation, Solar Energy is

used to give the power to water pumps.

New technologies related to several aspects of

crop management

Focused in facilitating the increase of net

income to farmers

Drones and Satellites can be effectively used to

manage specific crops

At present, remote sensing technologies

(including images and vegetation indices

obtained by drones and satellites) have begun

to be widely used.

Figure 3: (a) and (b) Droning D-820, Open Source equipment developed by

Droning to carry out the photogrammetric work; (c) and (d) initial design based on

Droning D-650

ICID is a unique platform for the exchange of

knowledge and information related to agricultural

water management. ICID organizes International

Congresses on Irrigation and Drainage, and World

Irrigation Forum, Regional Conferences, Micro

Irrigation Congresses, International Drainage

Workshops, Symposia and Workshops, Seminar

and Special Sessions, etc. to address and discuss

issues of global/regional importance.

World Irrigation and Drainage Prize – Instituted to

recognize the contributions made by an individual or an institution in the field of Irrigation and Drainage that have far reaching and wide impacts.

WatSave Awards - Presented to promote and encourage the best technological applications or projects which have been successful in saving water.

Best Paper Award - Instituted to recognise the outstanding paper contributed to ‘Irrigation and Drainage’, the Journal of ICID.

World Heritage Irrigation Structures – Instituted to recognize the structure with more than 100 years old

World Water System Heritage (WSH) – Aims at identifying and preserving the people-centredwater management systems.

Best Performing National Committee – Instituted to recognize the contributions made by an individual or an institution in the field of Irrigation and

Drainage that have far reaching and wide impacts.

Best Performing Workbody - Presented to promote and encourage the best technological applications or projects which have been successful in saving water.

Recognizing the need to encourage

innovations in irrigation and drainage, ICID

instituted WatSave Annual Award(s) in 1997

and are presented each year to recognize

outstanding contributions to water conservation

or water saving in agriculture.

The WatSave Awards are given in four

categories: (i) Technology (ii) Innovative Water

Management (iii) Young Professionals; and

(iv) Farmer.

Promoting and encouraging the best

technological applications or projects which

have been successful in saving water and/or

recovering waste waters/low quality waters.

From Year 2000 to 2019 (19) Awards

Innovation promoting non-technological interventions

and/ or innovative land and water management/

techniques for increasing the availability of water for

different uses;

Promoting research that leads to substantial savings

in water applications or uses; or Promoting

development of new policies/approaches for water

saving leading to cost effective and beneficial use of

water.

From Year 1998 to 2019(22) Awards

Recognizing young professionals (below 40

years) contributing in original research and

innovative water saving techniques leading

towards sustainability.

From Year 1999 to 2019 (13)Awards

It is presented to farmer or farmer(s) who has

successfully developed or implemented water-

efficient farming techniques in the farms as well

as the community. (From year 2009 to 2019 6

Awards)

During last 22 years the WatSave Awards are

confirmed to number of innovative ideas under

above mentioned categories, details can be

seen at

https://www.icid.org/watsave_past.html#Techno

logy

Title of the Winning Contribution

Name of the Winner(s) Contribution

1 2 3

Innovative waterManagement Award:Trangie-Nevertire RenewalAn IrrigationInfrastructureModernisation SuccessStory

Mr. James Winter and Mr.Tony Quigley (Australia)

Transfer/sale of water to the

Australian Government in return

for funding to totally modernize

the irrigation infrastructure of the

Trangie-Nevertire Co-operative

Ltd both off and on farm

Technology Awards:Water and salt regulationscheme under mulcheddrip irrigation for cotton inarid regions

Mr. TIAN Fuqiang (China) Mulched Drip Irrigation (MDI), a

surface drip irrigation method

combined with film of both saving

water and labour and increasing

crop yieldsYoung Professional'sAward: Applications ofconstant flow rate controlvalve in water saving

Mr. Ali Mahdavi Mazdeh;

Mr. Mohammad Bijankhan;

Mrs. Narges Mehri; Mr.

Hadi Ramezani Etedali and

Mrs. Fatemeh Tayebi (Iran)

MCOP includes a float-spring

blockage system inserted into an

ordinary orifice that maintains a

quasi-constant flow by being

insensitive to both upstream and

downstream pressure fluctuations.Farmers Award: Mr. Karan Jeet Singh

Chatha (India)Water Conservation by use ofSprinkler & Drip Technologies inPaddy Crop

Title of the Winning Contribution

Name of the Winner(s) Contribution

1 2 3

Innovative water ManagementAward:Trangie-Nevertire Renewal AnIrrigation InfrastructureModernisation Success Story

Mr. James Winter and Mr. TonyQuigley (Australia)

Transfer/sale of water to the Australian

Government in return for funding to

totally modernize the irrigation

infrastructure of the Trangie-Nevertire

Co-operative Ltd both off and on farm

Technology Awards:Water and salt regulationscheme under mulched dripirrigation for cotton in aridregions

Mr. TIAN Fuqiang (China) Mulched Drip Irrigation (MDI), a

surface drip irrigation method

combined with film of both saving

water and labour and increasing crop

yieldsYoung Professional's Award:Applications of constant flowrate control valve in watersaving

Mr. Ali Mahdavi Mazdeh; Mr.

Mohammad Bijankhan; Mrs.

Narges Mehri; Mr. Hadi

Ramezani Etedali and Mrs.

Fatemeh Tayebi (Iran)

MCOP includes a float-spring blockage

system inserted into an ordinary orifice

that maintains a quasi-constant flow by

being insensitive to both upstream and

downstream pressure fluctuations.Farmers Award: Mr. Karan Jeet Singh Chatha

(India)Water Conservation by use of Sprinkler& Drip Technologies in Paddy Crop

The innovation: Secondary salinization induced

by improper irrigation is recognized as a crucial

threat to agriculture, especially in arid and semi-

arid areas.

Secondary salinization is typically caused by

flood irrigation;

Utilizing micro-irrigation techniques also leads to

increases in salinization, but in this case

secondary salinization is caused by insufficient

leaching due to inadequate watering as

demonstrated.

* Mulched Drip Irrigation (MDI), a recently-

introduced micro-irrigation approach incorporating

surface drip irrigation methods combined with film-

mulching techniques, has the advantages of both

saving water and labor and increasing crop yields.

.

* Institutional reforms for implementing

action plans prepared on the basis of bestpractices in water management.

* Technical and financial support to for

implementing action plans prepared on thebasis of best practices in water management.

* Sharing of success stories of best

practices in water management.

* Recognising and Awarding best

practices in water management.

Thank you

A Water Secure World Free of

Poverty and Hunger

Achieved Through

Sustainable Rural Development

ICID Vision 2030

Challenges in the Implementation of E-flows in Ganga Basin

By

Bhopal Singh, Chief Engineer, UGBO, CWC, Lucknow

Mrs Deepti Verma, AEE, UGBO, CWC, Lucknow

6th IWW- Session: Rejuvenation of the River Ganga – from Planning to Action (SS1)

27th September, 2019

Outline

• Policy and Prevailing provisions on River conservation and Maintenance of Environmental Flows in Rivers in India

• Provision of E-flows in Ganga River

• Challenges and SOPs for Implementation of E-flows in Ganga River

Need For River Conservation in India

➢The river system in India have so far beenexploited for various human uses withoutlooking at requirement of its own ecosystem.

➢These exploitations(sometime excessive)coupled with pollution ingress have led todegradation of many rivers/river stretches inthe country (about 351 river stretches in 275rivers are polluted—CPCB, 2018)

➢Flow discharges of certain magnitude, timing,frequency and duration are needed to sustainholistic flow regime for river dependent eco-systems primarily to ensure the health of theaquatic life in rivers and also to sustainvarious goods and services being otherwiseprovided by the rivers

➢This aspect has been duly recognized inNational Water Policy (2002, 2012).

River Conservation Policy and Provisions in India

❑ The river conservation and protection are covered underEnvironment Protection Act, 1986 (amended in Sep, 2006) whichmandates prior environmental clearance for implementation of anyprojects from Central Govt./State level Environment ImpactAssessment Authority as the case may be.

❑ The environmental management plan is an integral partof planning of any water resources development project.

❑ The river conservation activities are broadly looked afterby National River Conservation Directorate, MoJS.However, this office concentrate mainly on the waterquality aspects of the river.

❑ For Ganga river basin, NMCG (under DOWR,RD&GR) hasbeen entrusted the task of river conservation/protectionvide notification dated October, 2016.

E-flows Policy and Provisions in India

❖ An Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for River Valley and HydroelectricProjects, constituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest andClimate Change (MoEF&CC) examine the study reports andrecommends the required environmental flows in the affected riverreach

❖ Earlier, EAC used to recommend, 20% of average lean season discharge(4 leanest months) in 90% dependable year to be released asenvironment flow. However now, E-flows are required to be assessedscientifically as per requirement of aquatic biota in the affected riverreach in all season and provided.

❖ Cumulative Impact Assessment Studies carried out for some of theimportant basins, are also referred while recommending the requisitee-flows.

❖ Some of the river reaches/sub-basins are declared eco sensitive zonebarring any developmental project

❖ As such the current policy and practices duly emphasize on assessmentand provision of requisite environmental flows in the affected riverreach by any human intervention.

Provision of E-flows in Ganga River

Vide Gazette Notification dated 9th October, 2018, the Government of India

has notified the minimum environmental flows for River Ganga that has to be

maintained at various locations on the river.

(A)E-flow Norms for Projects in Upper Ganga Basin up to Haridwar

SN Season Months

Percentage of Monthly Average Flow

observed during each of preceding 10-

daily period

1 Dry November to March 20

2 Lean October, April and May 25

3 High Flow June to September 30

(B) E-flow Norms for Projects in Main Ganga Stem from Haridwar to Unnao

SNLocation of

Barrage

Minimum flow releases

Immediately d/s of

Barrages (In Cumecs)

Non-Monsoon

(October to May)

Minimum flow releases immediately

downstream of barrages

(In Cumecs)

Monsoon

(June to September)

1Bhimgoda

(Haridwar)36 57

2 Bijnor 24 48

3 Narora 24 48

4 Kanpur 24 48

SN Name of the Project Owner Agency

1. Maneri Bhali Stage-I UJVNL

2. Maneri Bhali Stage –II UJVNL

3. Tehri Dam THDC

4. Koteshwar Dam THDC

5. Vishnuprayag HEP JPVL

6. Srinagar GVK

7. Pashulok Barrage/ Chilla HEP UJVNL

8. Bhimgoda Barrage UP. Irrigation

9. Bijnor Barrage UP. Irrigation

10 Narora Barrage UP Irrigation

11 Kanpur Barrage UP Irrigation

The Central Water Commission (CWC) has been entrusted the

responsibility for supervision, monitoring, regulation of flows

and reporting of compliance to NMCG. Monitoring status

report is to be submitted on quarterly basis.

The monitoring of projects for implementation of mandated E-

flows has been commenced w.e.f. 1st January, 2019. Currently

following projects are being monitored.

Implementation of E-flows in Ganga River

MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE PROTOCOL

• A Standard Operating Procedures for monitoring andimplementation of environmental flows in river Gangahas been evolved based discussions during reviewmeetings.

• Efforts have been made to keep the SOPs simple and easyto implement while keeping intact the sprit of GovtOrder.

Monitoring Interval

• The data of inflows, diversions, downstream releases andchanges in storage to be monitored on hourly basis.

• The flow data of each project shall be transmitted to E-flow Web Portal/ CWC on real time basis (preferably onhourly basis)

• Till installation of automatic data acquisition andtransmission, the hourly flow data for the entireprevious day shall be transmitted by project authoritiesto CWC on daily basis by 11am.

No. CWC/UGBO/EF/SOP1

MoJS

DoWR,RD&GR

Central Water Commission

Upper Ganga Basin Organization

IMPLEMENTATION OF MINIMUM ENVIREMENTAL FLOWS IN

RIVER GANGA (Up to UNNAO)

Suggested Standard Operating Procedures

September, 2019

SOPs for Projects in Upper Ganga River Basin up to Haridwar

(i) Dry and lean Period

• Flows during lean and dry periods are mainly contributed by base flows and snow melt and are quite steady.

• As there are not much day to day variations in inflows during this period, e-flow targets may be defined on 10 daily period.

• For the ease of monitoring and compliance, the e-flow targets for given ten daily period may be assessed based on the inflows during previous ten daily period.

Sl No Season Months Mandated E-flows

1 Dry November to March

20 % of average inflows observed during each of preceding 10-daily period

For example, required E-flows during December 11-20 ten daily period shall be 20 % of

average inflows observed during 1-10 December ten daily period.

2 Lean October, April and May

25 %of average inflows observed during each of preceding 10-daily period

For example, required E-flows during March 11-20 ten daily period shall be 25 %of average

inflows observed during 1-10 March ten daily period.

• To account the diurnal variability in the inflows, the e-flow release rate (discharge) during the

day may vary within 20 percent range of target e-flow rate for the day. However, the flow

volume released during day shall not be less than the targeted daily volume of e-flow

release.

SOPs for Projects in Upper Ganga River Basin up to Haridwar

(ii)During June to September ( Monsoon Period)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 3 7 11 15 19 23 27 31 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 3 7 11 15 19 23 27 31

Flo

ws

in C

um

ecs

Day ( June-Oct)

Flows at Joshimath

2012 2013

2014 2015

2016 2017

Min 10 per. Mov. Avg. (Min)

Lot of variability in

flows during flood

period and setting

targets to E-flows is a

big challenge

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

1 6 11162126 1 6 1116212631 5 1015202530 4 9 14192429 4 9 14192429

Flo

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in C

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Day (Jun-Oct)

Flows of Ganga at Karnprayag

2012 2013

2014 2015

2016 2017

2018 Lower

10 per. Mov. Avg. (Lower)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

1 6 11162126 1 6 1116212631 5 1015202530 4 9 14192429 4 9 14192429

Flo

ws

in C

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Day (Jun-Oct)

Flows of Ganga at Rudraprayag

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

1 6 11162126 1 6 1116212631 5 1015202530 4 9 14192429 4 9 14192429

Flo

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in C

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Day(Jun-Oct)

Flows of Ganga at Devprayag

2012 2013

2014 20152016 2017

2018 Min

10 per. Mov. Avg. (Min)

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

1 6 11 16 21 26 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 5 10 15 20 25 30 4 9 14 19 24 29 4 9 14 19 24 29

Flo

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in C

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Day (Jun-Oct)

Flows of Ganga at Rishikesh

2012 2013

2014 2015

2016 2017

Lower 10 per. Mov. Avg. (Lower)

Flows at any location can be split into two parts:

Baseline flows, Baseline flows may be defined as

the lower envelope of flows observed during past

years say last 5 years. These baseline flows

normally follow the seasonal trend, being highest in

the month July or August. This component of flows

are normally stable and predictable.

Flood fluxes which is the component of variable flows

resulted from high rainfall in the catchment. The flood fluxes

last for few days and are stochastic in nature. Their

occurrence is random and is difficult to predict.

Suggested E-flow Norms For Monsoon Season (from June to September)

Looking at the characteristics of flows during monsoon period, the E-flows may constitute of two components, one based on baseline flows and other based on flood fluxes.

(a) E-flow Component based on Baseline Flows

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1 7 13 19 25 31 6 12 18 24 30 6 12 18 24 30 5 11 17 23 29 4 10 16 22 28 4 10 16 22 28

Dis

cha

rge

in

Cu

me

c

Day

Baseline Flows of Alaknada at Joshimath

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Aug Sep OctMay Jun Jul

10 daily Period 10 Daily Average of

Moving average

(Cumecs)

Baseline E-flows

(Cumecs)

Jun-I (Jun 1-10) 110 33

Jun-II (Jun11-20) 153 46

Jun-III(Jun21-30) 198 60

Jul-I(Jul1-10) 286 86

Jul-II(Jul11-20) 287 86

Jul-III(Jul21-31) 251 75

Aug-I (Aug1-10) 244 73

Aug-II (Aug11-

20)

245 73

Aug-III (Aug21-

31)

193 58

Sep-I(Sep1-10) 130 39

Sep-II (Sep 11-20) 83 25

Sep-III (Sep21-30) 56 17

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

1 6 1116212631 5 1015202530 5 1015202530 4 9 14192429 3 8 13182328 3 8 13182328

Flo

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in C

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Day

Baseline Flows of Ganga at Rishikesh

2013 2014

2015 2016

2017 Min

10 per. Mov. Avg. (Min)

Ma Jun Jul Au Sep Oct

10 daily Period 10 Daily

Average of

Moving

average

(Cumecs)

Baseline E-flows

(Cumecs)

Jun-I (Jun 1-10) 406 122

Jun-II (Jun11-20) 431 129

Jun-III(Jun21-30) 453 136

Jul-I(Jul1-10) 582 174

Jul-II(Jul11-20) 718 215

Jul-III(Jul21-31) 1220 366

Aug-I (Aug1-10) 1563 469

Aug-II (Aug11-20) 1767 530

Aug-III (Aug21-31) 1294 388

Sep-I(Sep1-10) 721 216

Sep-II (Sep 11-20) 503 151

Sep-III (Sep21-30) 405 122

Suggested E-flow Norms For Monsoon Season (from June to September)

(b) Flood Fluxes E-flows

As flood fluxes are stochastic in nature, e-flows corresponding to floodfluxes may be released any time during the month preferably at thetime of high flood wave(s). The project authorities shall be at libertyto release the E-flows corresponding to flood fluxes at any timeduring the month. However, the quantum of flood fluxes e-flowcomponent should be adequate so as to meet overall target of e-flows ( 30 percent of gross inflows during the month includingbaseline e-flows).

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23 26 29

Flo

ws

in C

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ecs

Day (Jun-Sep)

Typical E-flows Releases During Monsoon at Joshimath

Gross Inflows Baseline E-flows Flood Fluxes E-flows Gross E-flows

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23 26 29

Flo

ws

in C

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ecs

Day (Jun-Sep)

Typical E-flow Releases at Rishikesh During Monsoon

Gross Flows Baseline E-flows Flood Fluxes E-flows Gross E-flows

Projects in stretch of main stem of River Ganga from Haridwar, Uttarakhand to Unnao, Uttar

Pradesh

Sl NoLocation of

Barrage

Minimum flow releases

Immediately downstream of barrages

(In Cumecs)

Non-Monsoon

(October to May )

Minimum flow releases immediately

downstream of barrages

(In Cumecs)

Monsoon

(June to September)

1Bhimgoda

(Haridwar)36 57

2 Bijnor 24 48

3 Narora 24 48

4 Kanpur 24 48

Issues in the implementation of e-flows in ganga river

• Seamless data flow on real time from each project to web portal/CWC

• Many of the existing projects were not planned and accounted for therecent e-flow norms and adhering to these norms may impact theircommercial interest and meeting their water demands.

• Initiating requisite measures like revising PPA, improving water useefficiency etc by project authorities

Current Focus Areas by CWC

➢Development of Data Framework for Assessment of E-flows. Preparationof Habitat Atlas for all major rivers in the country

➢ Standardise the methodology(ies) for assessment of E-flows fordifferent hydro-climatic regions in the country including model/softwarerequirement

➢Framework for integrated basin planning and management for optimaland sustainable allocation/utilization of limited water resources of abasin duly safeguarding the river ecology

➢Evolve a mechanism for assessing quantitatively the socio-economicbenefits/impacts of E-flows/ river eco services

➢Strategy for implementing E-flows