The future nexus of the Brahmaputra River Basin: Climate, water, energy and food trajectories (original) (raw)
Related papers
Ecologist Asia, Vol. 11 No.1 January-March 2003, 2003
The paper presents basic information about the geomorphic, hydrological, sedimentological, climatic, hazardscape of the Brahmaputra River with especial focus ono the Indian part of the river and its basin. With this backdrop the paper highlights the large hydropower development projects promoted by the Government of India on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries and provides a commentary on the pros and cons of such mega development plans.
Climate Change Impacts on the Hydrology of the Brahmaputra River Basin
Climate
Climate change (CC) is impacting the hydrology in the basins of the Himalayan region. Thus, this could have significant implications for people who rely on basin water for their lives and livelihoods. However, there are very few studies on the Himalayan river basins. This study aims to fill this gap by presenting a water balance for the Brahmaputra River Basin using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Results show that snowmelt contributed about 6% of the total annual flow of the whole Brahmaputra, 21% of the upper Brahmaputra, and 5% of the middle Brahmaputra. The basin-wide average annual water yield (AWY) is projected to increase by 8%, with the maximum percentage increase in the pre-monsoon season. The annual snowmelt is projected to decrease by 17%, with a marked decrease during the monsoon but an increase in other seasons and the greatest percentage reduction in the upper Brahmaputra (22%). The contribution of snowmelt to AWY is projected to decrease while rain runoff w...
Signature and hydrologic consequences of climate change within the upper-middle Brahmaputra Basin
Hydrological Processes, 2013
A prevailing perception is that the glaciers and perennial snow and ice covered areas (SCA P) or in the Himalayan region are fast contracting. However, systematic studies providing the quantitative estimates of SCA P as a function of time within individual river basins are lacking. The importance of meltwater in river flows varies greatly from one river basin to another, yet the actual estimates of those contributions are largely unknown. This study bridges such knowledge gaps for the upper-middle Brahmaputra Basin by using best available digital cartographic and remotely sensed snow cover data. We find that when the entire basin is considered, SCA P decreased from 7637 AE 764 in 1980 to 4298 AE 1422 km 2 in 1992. However, it has increased to 7160 AE 2248 km 2 in 2000. From 2000 to 2010, the SCA P has remained nearly constant around a mean of 10 052 AE 1468 km 2. The same trend is observed within individual physiographic zones of the basin. Such increase in SCA P is due to the increase in the precipitation over the middle Brahmaputra Basin and the Nyainquentanglha Mountains, as observed in station records. The incursion of moist air through the Brahmaputra valley to the higher elevations within the Nyainquentanglha Mountains causes snowfall during pre-monsoonal and post-monsoonal seasons and an expansion of the SCA P. Glacial expansions in the Nyainquentanglha Mountains have also been observed in other recent studies. In addition to the increase in precipitation and SCA P , another manifestation of climate change observed in this basin is the increasing temperature with a mean annual trend of +0.28 C/decade. The hydrologic consequences of the observed effects of climate change are expected to be an insignificant change in streamflows in the watersheds drained by the upper Brahmaputra River but a perceptible increase in river discharges in the watersheds drained by the middle Brahmaputra River and its tributaries, particularly within the upper and lower catchments of the middle Brahmaputra Basin.
The Brahmaputra: Water hotspot in Himalayan Asia
Global Water: Issues and Insights, 2014
Analysts around the world increasingly have their eyes on the Brahmaputra River, a transboundary watercourse with headwaters in the Tibetan Plateau of the Himalayan mountain range. The three riparian states sharing the Brahmaputra-China, India and Bangladesh-are the world's first, second and seventh most populous countries. All three face severe problems of water scarcity and steeply rising demand for power generation. The possibility of serious resource conflict involving these demographic giants stems from plans, some already being implemented, to put the river's thus-far relatively unexploited waters to greater use.
Integrated water management of the Brahmaputra basin: Perspectives and hope for regional development
Natural Resources Forum
Water is strongly linked with the overall development framework of the Brahmaputra basin. However, the absence of integrated management of Brahmaputra water resources and lack of coordination among the riparian states constitutes an ongoing threat to future development plans within the basin. Brahmaputra's abundant hydropower potential can help give riparian countries a safer energy future that is the key driving force behind the prospect of potential cooperation. This paper analyses the current status of Brahmaputra water resources and identifies the perspectives of riparian countries regarding the development of the Brahmaputra basin. It also identifies the opportunities for cooperation and regional development through integrated water development and management of the Brahmaputra basin. It is essential to develop an integrated water resources management approach involving all riparians to foster regional development and overcome the prospect of severe water conflict along the Brahmaputra basin.
Natural Resources Forum, 2009
Water is strongly linked with the overall development framework of the Brahmaputra basin. However, the absence of integrated management of Brahmaputra water resources and lack of coordination among the riparian states constitutes an ongoing threat to future development plans within the basin. Brahmaputra's abundant hydropower potential can help give riparian countries a safer energy future that is the key driving force behind the prospect of potential cooperation. This paper analyses the current status of Brahmaputra water resources and identifies the perspectives of riparian countries regarding the development of the Brahmaputra basin. It also identifies the opportunities for cooperation and regional development through integrated water development and management of the Brahmaputra basin. It is essential to develop an integrated water resources management approach involving all riparians to foster regional development and overcome the prospect of severe water conflict along the Brahmaputra basin.
Climate Change Impacts on Water Availability in the Brahmaputra Basin
2015
Being a riverine country, Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts since most of climate change related vulnerabilities are associated with water resources. The Brahmaputra, the largest river in Bangladesh has one of the large river basin and also ranked as the highest specific discharge system in the world, is expected to be impacted by climate change. In this study, water availability of the Brahmaputra Basin has been assessed for present and future using basin-scale hydrology with the help of a semi-distributed hydrological model‚ Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)’ for two scenarios (A2 and A1B by 2030, 2050 and 2080). To identify the range of potential range of water availability, 9 GCMs’ data are used along with PRECIS RCM data. The model development has been completed in five sequential steps: watershed delineation, weather data definition, editing SWAT inputs, simulating SWAT (incorporating calibration and validation). The monthly changes in discharge for...
Climatic Change, 2013
Water is the primary medium through which climate change influences the Earth's ecosystems and therefore people's livelihoods and wellbeing. Besides climatic change, current demographic trends, economic development and related land use changes have direct impact on increasing demand for freshwater resources. Taken together, the net effect of these supply and demand changes is affecting the vulnerability of water resources. The concept of 'vulnerability' is not straightforward as there is no universally accepted approach for assessing vulnerability. In this study, we review the evolution of approaches to vulnerability assessment related to water resources. From the current practices, we identify research gaps, and approaches to overcome these gaps a generalized assessment framework is developed. A feasibility study is then presented in the context of the Lower Brahmaputra River Basin (LBRB). The results of the feasibility study identify the current main constraints (e.g., lack of institutional coordination) and opportunities (e.g., adaptation) of LBRB. The results of this study can be helpful for innovative research and management initiatives and the described framework can be widely used as a guideline for the vulnerability assessment of water resources systems, particularly in developing countries.