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Global Climate Change Impacts on Watershed Hydrology
Published in Moonisa Aslam Dervash, Akhlaq Amin Wani, Climate Change Alleviation for Sustainable Progression, 2022
Vishnu Prasad, Abrar Yousuf, Parminder Singh Sandhu
A watershed or river basin is considered to be a hydrological unit. It is the geographical area from where the entire rainwater running off the land gets drained to a single outlet. A fundamental concept in hydrology is the watershed or river basin and is a basis for understanding the hydrological processes. The knowledge of watershed hydrology is very crucial for the planning and management of water resources. The conservation and flow of water at a watershed scale are complex by the integrated processes that operate on multiple spatial and temporal scales (Yu and Duffy, 2018). The watershed resource depletion is attributable to unregulated, unplanned and unscientific land use and added by human interventions. Watershed planning and management are done to accomplish the task related to the overall development of the drainage basin, which may include enhancing water quantity and quality, ecosystem management, socio-economic improvement of the population that lives in the watershed, working to improve employment opportunities for people and find the most appropriate cropping patterns, etc.
Land Change and Water Resource Vulnerability
Published in Yeqiao Wang, Fresh Water and Watersheds, 2020
Water quantity means the presence of adequate supply of water to sustain human and natural systems and is measured in terms of total water withdrawal and consumption from both surface water and groundwater sources. On the other hand, water quality refers to the suitability of the water supplied for its intended use (Mustard and Fisher 2012). Both water quality and amount of water use can be heavily affected by the types of land cover and land use activity and its geographical region and are important elements to consider for any watershed management program. Mustard and Fisher (2012) defined water vulnerability as human supply and demand problem, where climate and the landscape establish the supply and human systems make the demands on the supply (p. 265). Thus, decrease in quantity and quality of water resource due to the modification of the landscape and increase in demand due to population growth lead to increase in its vulnerability.
Watershed Management in the 21st Century
Published in Abrar Yousuf, Manmohanjit Singh, Watershed Hydrology, Management and Modeling, 2019
“A watershed is a complex and dynamic bio-physical system which is identified as planning and management unit. Hence, considering all technical, socio-economical, physical, ecological and organizational dimensions is essential for proper planning and management processes. Due to complex interactions among different aspects of the watershed, application of an integrated management approach is inevitable to coordinate study aspects” (California Department of Conservation 2015). A watershed is also a hydrological and biophysical response unit, and a holistic ecosystem in terms of the materials, energy, and information present. The watershed not only is a useful unit for physical analyses, it can also be a suitable socioeconomic-political unit for management planning and implementation. In essence, a watershed is a basic organizing unit to manage resources. Watershed management is faced with complex problems that are characterized by uncertainty and change. Watershed management is an ever-evolving practice involving the management of land, water, biota, and other resources in a defined area for ecological, social, and economic purposes (Wang et al. 2016). It studies the relevant characteristics of a watershed aimed at the sustainable distribution of its resources and the process of creating and implementing plans, programs, and projects to sustain and enhance watershed functions affecting the plant, animal, and human communities within the watershed boundary (California Department of Conservation 2015).
Development of a watershed health assessment framework integrating ecological, social, cultural, economic and policy attributes
Published in International Journal of River Basin Management, 2023
Shella I. Talampas, Sangam Shrestha, S. Mohanasundaram, Ho Huu Loc
A watershed is a socio-ecological system (Cabello et al. 2015, Gari et al. 2018, cited in Tsai et al., 2021) that encompasses multiple interactive units, such as rivers, streams, wetlands, reservoirs, dams, and bifurcations, along with cities and humans (Cai and Zhang 2018, cited in Tsai et al., 2021). Watersheds are meant to be appropriately managed as essential for ecosystem stability and socio-economic development (Huang and Klemas 2012, Sanchez et al. 2015, Xing et al. 2017, cited in Rolia et al., 2021). Watershed replenishes surface water and groundwater sources (Tsai et al., 2021). Watersheds provide animals and plants habitat, water for people and wildlife, irrigation for agriculture, nature’s recreation, and flood protection. Watersheds are the most appropriate unit for analysing water resources, and land use planning and management (Mirchi et al. 2010, Ormsbee and McAlister 2014, cited in Alilou et al., 2019). Due to anthropogenic and natural forces, watersheds are degrading or have the potential to degrade (Hazbavi & Sadeghi, 2017). Water pollution from agricultural and industrial activities, excessive withdrawals due to increase in population and water demand, eutrophication from accumulation of nutrients, climate change, land use change, and sediment flow regime are some of the typical causes of its degradation. Therefore, it is substantial to protect the quality and restore the health of the watersheds. Increasing the protection of healthy waters and healthy watersheds is a key component of watershed management strategies (Ahn & Kim, 2017).
Role of knowledge in the management of groundwater-use for irrigation in micro-watersheds of semi-arid India
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2022
Rekha Bhangaonkar, Shailaja Fennell
As defined by the Soil and Land Use Survey of India, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Government of India, a watershed or catchment is an area where all the water falling on it drains to a common point. The principal reference point for WDP planning is the river basin, and the soil and water conservation treatments are performed at a micro-scale referred to as a micro-watershed. A micro-watershed is the smallest, complete representation of human–nature interaction, nourished by the hydrological cycle of precipitation, rainfall run-off, groundwater recharge and evapotranspiration (Lobo, 2002). The techniques used for resource rejuvenation are land treatments (e.g., afforestation and greening the landscape with grass growth), drainage line treatment (e.g., construction of contour bunds, continuous contour trenches, loose boulder gabion structures, gully plugs), and the construction of percolation tanks. Land treatments are worked along the ridgelines (or boundaries) to slow the pace at which the rainfall-runoff travels, and percolation tanks for the collection and storage of rainfall run-off are constructed in the valley the micro-watershed. Collected water seeps down to recharge the groundwater table. Briefly, a ridge-to-valley approach is adopted for resource rejuvenation interventions at the micro-scale. The IGWDP was the first WDP to champion this approach for improving agricultural livelihoods (GoI, 2008; Lobo, 2010; Symle et al., 2014). The rejuvenation of micro-watershed located in the dryland, hilly regions was the incidence of poverty, and resource degradation are the priority regions.
An assessment of 2 watershed models to meet watershed planning needs
Published in Lake and Reservoir Management, 2022
Rebecca Hanson, June Hammond Rowan, Mark Green
Watershed planning applies scientific understanding of a watershed with management objectives to protect and restore water resources. The result of the planning process is a watershed management plan, which typically identifies relationships between land use practices and water quality (Tong and Chen 2002), and actions to maintain and improve water quality. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a watershed planning process, often implemented by states through their environmental agencies (USEPA 2008, NHDES 2013). One of EPA’s major watershed planning requirements is quantifying pollution loads, and watershed models are a recommended approach for estimating loads, providing source load estimates, and evaluating management alternatives (USEPA 2008). Models are also used to evaluate management alternatives to identify best approaches for restoration and future protection of water resources. However, when developing a watershed plan, it can be a challenge to have the necessary data to run a model at a scale small enough to represent management alternatives.