Snow/Ice Melt, Precipitation, and Groundwater Contribute to the Sutlej River System

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution air, and soil pollution, 2023-11, Vol.234 (11), p.719, Article 719
• Main Authors: Joshi, Suneel Kumar, Swarnkar, Somil, Shukla, Sandeep, Kumar, Sudhir, Jain, Sanjay, Gautam, Sneha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Baseline studies; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Earth and Environmental Science; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Environment; Environmental monitoring; Groundwater; Hydrogeology; Hydrographs; Hydrologic models; Ice; Ice melting; Irrigation water; Management; Monte Carlo method; Monte Carlo simulation; Precipitation; Rain and rainfall; Rainfall; Resource management; River discharge; River flow; Rivers; Runoff; Separation; Snow; Snowmelt; Soil Science & Conservation; Water; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Water resources; Water resources management; Water supply; Water, Underground
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1007/s11270-023-06744-4

This study examines the proportional contribution of snow/ice melt, rainfall, and groundwater to Sutlej River discharge at various locations. Sutlej River is a major tributary of the Indus River system and an important water supply source for irrigation through the canal network in northwest India. Here, we used hydrograph separation and associated uncertainty and applied the snowmelt runoff model (SNOWMOD) to estimate the contribution from different water sources to the Sutlej River. We used δ 18 O and electrical conductivity values of different waters for the hydrograph-separation approach. The first-order Gaussian error propagation and Monte-Carlo simulation are used to assess the accuracy. The estimated contribution at Rampur is ~ 62.7% (snow/ice melt), 18.7% (rainfall), and ~ 18.4% (groundwater); for Ropar is 59 ± 2% (snow/ice melt), 23 ± 2% (rainfall), and 18 ± 2% (groundwater); and for Yusufpur, 25 ± 3% (snow/ice melt), 39 ± 3% (rainfall), and 36 ± 2% (groundwater) during July–December 2013. The findings from the hydrograph-separation and SNOWMOD analysis established a fundamental understanding of the hydrological processes in the Sutlej River system, providing valuable baseline data essential for developing sustainable water resource management strategies.