Rivers

Featured Articles
November 25, 2022 These maps at the watershed scales have been made to not only ensure inclusion of different freshwater ecosystems, their connectivity and hydrological processes, but can also provide a spatial context for conservation decisions.
A stream at Anini, Arunachal Pradesh (Image Source: Roshni Arora)
October 30, 2022 This book by Dr. Mitul Baruah presents a fascinating, ethnographic account of the challenges faced by communities living in Majuli, India, one of the largest river islands in the world, which has experienced immense socio-environmental transformations over the years, processes that are emblematic of the Brahmaputra Valley as a whole. This is an excerpt from the book.
Floods are recurrent phenomena in Assam (Image: Mitul Baruah)
October 11, 2022 In an effort to inform the general public, especially citizen activists, policymakers, researchers, and students, about the current status of the Vrishabhavathi river, Paani.Earth has created the necessary maps, data, analysis, and information to drive conservation awareness and action around the river.
Vrishabhavathi river (Image Source: Paani.Earth)
October 6, 2022 Rapid urbanisation and faulty land use policies are rapidly destroying forests, grasslands and wetlands in Jammu and Kashmir, India and the ecosystem value services they provide. Can these valuable ecosystems be saved?
Deteriorating ecosystems of Jammu and Kashmir, India (Image Source: tkohli at Flickr via Wikimedia Commons)
September 5, 2022 In an attempt to present a perspective on how rivers are used and abused, a map of the Bengaluru rivers illustrate how waste flows through natural river corridors, polluting the rivers and altering their status.
Vrishabhavathi river flow at Thagachguppe Bridge, Kumbalgodu (Image Source: Paani.Earth)
August 11, 2022 This could lead to water quality crisis reinforcing the need for basin-specific management strategies
Around the world, more than a fifth of nitrogen released by human activity ends up in aquatic ecosystems (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Adaptive water resource management in the Lower Bhavani project command area in Tamil Nadu – A research report by IWMI
This study by IWMI explores the theory and practice of adaptive management based on a detailed field study in the Lower Bhavani project command area. Posted on 25 Aug, 2011 11:07 PM

Bhavani

To what extent farmers and water resource managers already practice adaptive management and whether it is practiced in an optimal manner or could there be areas for improvement based on recent advancements in the theory of adaptive management are some of the questions that are particularly appropriate in the light of rapid changes in river basin water use and also in relation to basin closure.

This paper draws on the development and use of water resources in the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP), with the LBP reservoir and the 84,000 hectare (ha) LBP command area. The project diverts water from the Bhavani River, a tributary of the Cauvery River in Tamil Nadu.

Restructuring of the Central Water Commission – Ministry of Water Resources invites comments on its proposal till September 30, 2011
The Ministry of Water Resources has invited comments from various stakeholders on restructuring of the Central Water Commission. Posted on 25 Aug, 2011 12:24 PM

CWC

The restructuring is being proposed primarily to adopt river basins as the fundamental block for integrated planning, development and management of water resources in the country. 

Boundary concepts for interdisciplinary analysis of irrigation water management – A working paper by Peter Mollinga
This paper by Peter Mollinga, University of Bonn reviews the boundary concept that has emerged in interdisciplinary irrigation studies in South Asia, particularly India. Posted on 24 Aug, 2011 07:16 PM

The focus is concepts that capture the hybridity of irrigation systems as complex systems, and cross the boundaries of the natural and social sciences. 

Blue harvest – Inland fisheries as an ecosystem service – A report by UNEP
The report highlights the integrative ecosystem approach to inland fisheries. Posted on 24 Aug, 2011 11:34 AM

CoverThis report by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reviews the importance of inland fisheries as an ecosystem service, the pressures upon them, and management approaches to sustain them and thus helps inform future approaches to conservation and management of freshwater ecosystems.

There is an urgent need for major investment in policy and management approaches that address the direct and indirect drivers of aquatic ecosystem degradation and loss of inland fisheries taking into account their role in sustainable development and human well being. The UNEP Ecosystem Management Programme (UNEP-EMP) provides an effective framework for pursuing this challenge.

Hydrology of the Upper Ganga river – A report by the International Water Management Institute
This report by International Water Management Institute deals with the hydrology of the Upper Ganga river - the upper main branch of the river. Posted on 21 Aug, 2011 10:43 PM

To provide the background hydrological information for the assessment of environmental flow requirements at four selected ‘Environmental Flow’ sites, a hydrological model was set up to simulate the catchment in the present state (with water regulation  infrastructure) and to generate the natural flows (without water regulation infrastructure).

Fishing crafts and gear in river Krishna - Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge
This paper documents the commonly used crafts and gears along the entire stretch of the Krishna. Posted on 21 Aug, 2011 10:40 AM

This paper published in the Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge makes an attempt to record the fisheries related indigenous technological knowledge in terms of fishing crafts and gears used in river Krishna.

River basin planning deconstructed
Chicu presents the report of the dialogue on mainstreaming river basin planning, 9th to 11th August, Delhi. Posted on 20 Aug, 2011 08:33 AM

Guest post by: Chicu

Fine-scale responses of phytoplankton to freshwater influx in a tropical monsoonal estuary following the onset of southwest monsoon – A paper in Journal of Earth System Science
The study investigates the effects of freshwater discharge on phytoplankton populations in a tropical monsoon-influenced estuary. Posted on 09 Aug, 2011 09:53 PM

This paper in the Journal of Earth System Science deals with a study by National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa to investigate the influence of monsoonal rainfall on hydrographic conditions in the Mandovi River of India. The study was undertaken at a location approximately 2 km upstream of the mouth of the estuary.

Paleochannel and paleohydrology of Middle Siwalik (Pliocene) fluvial system in Northern India – A paper in Journal of Earth System Science
The study uses paleodrainage data for the reconstruction of paleochannel morphology and paleohydrological attributes of the Pliocene fluvial system. Posted on 09 Aug, 2011 11:41 AM

This paper in Journal of Earth System Science deals with paleochannel and paleohydrology of the Middle Siwalik (Pliocene) fluvial system in Northern India. In recent years, fluvial sedimentologists have carried out numerous studies to estimate quantitative hydrodynamics of ancient fluvial systems, particularly, their morphology and hydrology. The methods for reconstructing the morphology and hydrology employ either several groups of empirical relationships derived from modern fluvial environments or dynamic models of fluvial flow and sediment transports in alluvial reaches.

Establishment of missing stream link between the Markanda river and the Vedic Saraswati river in Haryana – A paper in Current Science
The study reveals that once the Markanda basin was a part of the Vedic Saraswati river system. Posted on 05 Aug, 2011 04:11 PM

This paper in Current Science attempts to establish a missing stream link between the Markanda river and the Vedic Saraswati river in the plains of northern Haryana based on geoelectrical resistivity surveys. Resistivity surveys in the Gangetic Plains around Pehowa region in Haryana, have revealed different subsurface geological formations composed of fine, medium and coarse sand with gravel. Resistivity section between the lower part of the Markanda basin and the Saraswati river around Pehowa region indicates the presence of buried sand bodies connecting the two rivers.

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