Abstract:
One of the primary objectives of river basin
planning and management is to assess the behavior of
the river towards man-made and natural changes. In
recent times, the self-purifying capacity of the river is
found to be substantially affected because of extensive
use of water for agricultural and industrial purposes.
Any variation in the flow regime of a river poses a
severe impact on the aquatic ecosystem, which affects
its self-purifying capacity. Diverting river water for industrial
and agricultural uses through dams and barrages
reduces the natural flow rate of the river. The present
study develops a novel approach by couplingWatershed
Modeling System (WMS ver. 10.1) with linear optimization
to provide an alternate means of water supply for
such users. To explain the effectiveness of the model, a
case study on the Ganges river basin of India has been
considered. The ecosystem of the Ganges provides such
a magnificent biological fabric, that its self-purifying
capacity exceeds that of any other river water across
the globe. However, the industries found in the river’s
most polluted stretch consume around 1200 million
liters of water every day. In addition, 80% of the river
water diverts at Narora barrage for agricultural purposes.
As a result, the flow of the river in dry seasons is as less
as 300 m3/s.