Future Water Use Planning by Water Evaluation and Planning System Model

• Published in: Water resources management 2020-12, Vol.34 (15), p.4649-4664
• Main Authors: Sahoo, Satiprasad, Dhar, Anirban, Debsarkar, Anupam, Pradhan, Biswajeet, Alamri, Abdullah M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agricultural management; Agriculture; Anthropogenic factors; Aquifers; Atmospheric Sciences; Civil Engineering; Climate change; Climatic conditions; Decision making; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Environment; Environmental management; Evaluation; Finite difference method; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Groundwater; Groundwater recharge; Groundwater storage; Growth models; Hydraulic structures; Hydraulics; Hydrogeology; Hydrologic models; Hydrology; Hydrology/Water Resources; Irrigation; Land use; Planning; Precipitation; River basins; River discharge; River flow; Rivers; Simulation; Soil; Soil dynamics; Soil water; Surface water; Sustainability; Water availability; Water management; Water resources; Water resources management; Water shortages; Water use
• ISSN: 0920-4741; 1573-1650
• DOI: 10.1007/s11269-020-02680-8

Assessment of future water availability is a challenging task under changing climatic conditions and anthropogenic interventions. The current research focuses on future water resources scenario generation for contributing areas of proposed hydraulic structures generated from the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) System model. The proposed methodology was implemented for the Dwarakeswar-Gandherswari river basin (India) which needs a long-term future water use plan. Bias-corrected Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) data were used for climate change analysis through a hydrological model. Different simulation model outputs [e.g. Dynamic Conversion of Land-Use and its Effects (Dyna-CLUE), Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), Modular Finite-Difference Flow Model (MODFLOW)] were utilized in water evaluation model for a generation of future water resources scenarios. Four scenarios (2010–2030–2050-2080) were generated for the sustainability of limited water resources management strategies. SWAT simulated results show an increase in river discharge for 2030 or 2080 and a decrease for 2050. MODFLOW simulated results show a visible groundwater storage change for 2030 but minimal change for 2050 and 2080 scenarios. The results also show a decrease in agricultural land and an increase in population for the contributing areas of three hydraulic structures during 2010–2030–2050-2080. These results provide a piece of valuable information for decision-makers in future water management plan preparation.