Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Assessment of Water Availability with SWAT Model: A Study on Ganga River

  • Research Articles
  • Published:
Journal of the Geological Society of India

Abstract

Availability of water flow for assessing in transboundary river basin is a crucial issue and is necessary for water sharing and management. As a Transboundary river, Ganga has created water conflict between India and Bangladesh, related to water sharing at Farakka. Under these circumstance, applying hydrological model SWAT, measurement and understanding of water availability is important. This paper examines the spatio-temporal distribution of surface water in the entire Ganga basin to understand the actual causes of water shortage during lean season. Based on DEM, slope, soil, LULC and weather data, the SWAT model has been run at the catchment scale with a good performance under R2 and NSE evaluation methods. The study shows that annually Ganga basin of India is rich in water (average 1216165.5 cumec) and majority of the catchments delivers enough water to the main stream but during lean season only above Ramganga, Ghaghara, Gandak and Yamuna lower are active, which together contributes 60.6% of the lean season water discharge to the main channel of Ganga. Likewise, India, annual discharge in Bangladesh (average 65764 cumec) is satisfactory, but lean season water flow has only 3% of the annual, is very meagre which affects actual water availability of northwestern part of the country. The study also established that actual evapotranspiration of the entire basin is much higher than precipitation during the lean season and indicated a great deviation between supply and demand which concluded water stress condition in the Ganga basin.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aggarwal, S.P., Garg, V., Gupta, P.K., Nikam, B.R., Thakur, P.K., Roy, P.S. (2013) Run-off potential assessment over Indian landmass: a macro-scale hydrological modelling approach. Curr. Sci., v.104(7), pp.950–959

    Google Scholar 

  • Almeida, R.A., Pereira, S.B., Pinto, D.B.F. (2018) Calibration and validation of the swat hydrological model for the Mucuri river basin. Engenharia Agrícola. Jour. Brazilian Assoc. Agricul. Engg., v.38(1), pp.55–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anand, J., Gosain, A.K., Khosa, R. (2018a) Optimization of multipurpose reservoir operation by coupling oil and water assessment tool (SWAT) and genetic algorithm for optimal operating policy (Case Study: Ganga River Basin) Sustainability, v.10, pp.1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anand, J., Gosain, A.K., Khosa, R., Srinivasan, R. (2018b) Regional scale hydrologic modeling for prediction of waterbalance, analysis of trends in stream flow and variations in stream flow: The case study of the Ganga river basin. Jour. Hydrol.: Regional Studies, v.6, pp.32–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, J.G., Srinivasan, R., Muttiah, R.S., Wiliams, J.R. (1998) Large area hydrological modeling and assessment part I: Model development. Jour. Amer. Water Resour. Assoc., v.34(1), pp.74–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, J.G., Fohrer, N. (2005) SWAT2000: current capabilities and research opportunities in applied watershed modelling. Hydrological Processes, v.19(3), pp.563–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bera, S. (2019) Cross Boundary Water Conflict- A Study on River Ganga. Unpublished Thesis, Vidyasagar University.

  • Bera, S. and Maiti, R. (2015) Spatial and Temporal Variability of Pre-monsoon Rainfall during 1950–2000 in Ganga Basin, India and Bangladesh. Indian Jour. Geography Environ., v.14, pp.53–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhunia, P. (2016) Estimation of Water Resources for Effective Management in Jaipanda river Basin: A Study through System Approach. Unpublished Thesis, Vidyasagar University.

  • Chakraborty, R., Serageldin, I. (2004) Sharing of River Waters among India and its Neighbours in the 21st century: War or Peace?. Water Internat., v.29(2), pp.201–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chanda, S., Borah, T. (2016) Development of Rainfall-Runoff Modelling using ArcSWAT in the Subansiri Basin. Trans. Engg. Sci., v.4(2), pp.37–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaturvedi, M.C. (1976) Second India Studies: Water. MacMillion Company of India Ltd, New Delhi: 12–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffey, M.E., Workman, S.R., Taraba, J.L., Fogle, A.W. (2004) Statistical procedures for evaluating daily and monthly hydrologic model predictions, Trans. ASAE, v.47(1), pp.59–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CWC, Central Water Commission (2010) Preliminary Consolidated Report on Effect of Climate Change on Water Resources. Government of India. http://cwc.gov.in/main/downloads/Preliminary_Report_final.pdf

  • Engineers Association of Bangladesh (1997) Ganges Water Sharing Treaty. Press Club, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faisal, I.M. (2002) Managing Common Waters in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Region: Looking Ahead. SAIS Review, Summer-Fall 2002. The Johns Hopkins University Press, v.22(2), pp.309–327.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganguly, T., Dubey, A.K., Dutta, S., Kartha, S.A., Kumar, B. (2011) Hydrological Trend Analysis of the Ganga Flow at Farakka Barrage. Conference Paper. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270957691

  • Gassman, P.W., Arnold, J.G., Srinivasan, R., Reyes, M. (2010) The worldwide use of the SWAT Model: technological drives, net-working impacts and simulation trends. In: Proceeding 21st century Watershed Technology: improving water quality and environment. ASABE Publication no 701P0210cd.st. Joseph, Mich.: ASABE. Costa Rica, February 2010. Costa Rica: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaur, A. and Amarsinghe, P. (2011) A river basin perspective of water resources and challenges 3. India Infrastructure Report 2011. Oxford University Press

  • Gosain, A.K., Rao, S., Basuray, D. (2006) Climate change impact assessment on hydrology of Indian river basins. Curr. Sci., v.90(3), pp.346–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, P.K. and Panigrahy, S. (2008) Geo-Spatial Modeling of Runoff of Large Land Mass: Analysis, Approach and Results for Major River Basins of India. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences 37(B2).

  • Haque, M.A. (2002) Treaty on sharing the Ganges waters: a milestone towards regional cooperation for development and management of water resources. Regional hydrology: bridges the gap between research and practice, v.274, pp.307–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Immerzeel, W.W., Gaur, A., Zwart, S.J. (2008) Integrating remote sensing and a process-based hydrological model to evaluate water use and productivity in a South Indian Catchment. Agricultural Water Managmt, v.95(1), pp.11–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iyer, R.R. (1999) The Fallacy of ‘Augmentation’ Demands on Ganga Waters. Economic and Political Weekly, v.34(33), pp.2296–2297

    Google Scholar 

  • Jain, M., Sharma, S.D. (2014) Hydrological Modeling of Vamsadhara River Basin, India using SWAT, International Conference on Emerging Trends in Computer and Image Processing (ICETCIP’2014) Dec. 15–16, 2014 Pattaya (Thailand), pp.82–86.

  • Kaur, R., Srinivasan, R., Mishra, K., Dutta, D., Prasad, D., Bansal, G. (2003) Assessment of a SWAT model for soil and water management in India. Land Use Water Resource Res., v.3(4), pp.1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khalid Iram (2010) Bangladesh Water Concern, South Asian Studies. Research Jour. South Asian Studies, v.25(1), pp.73–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Khare, D., Singh, R., Shukla, R. (2014) Hydrological Modelling of Barinallah Watershed Using Arc-Swat Model. Internat. Jour. Geol., Earth Environ. Sci., v.4(1), pp.224–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinsel, W.G. (1980) CREAMS: a field-scale model for chemical, runoff and erosion from agricultural management systems. Conservation Research Report No. 26, South East Area, US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, P. and Joshi, V. (2015) Applications of Hydrological Model SWAT on the Upper Watershed of River Subarnarekha with Special Reference to Model Performance and its Evaluation. Jour. Basic Appl. Engg. Res., Krishi Sanskriti Publ., v.2(13), pp.1128–1134

    Google Scholar 

  • Madhusudhan, M.S., Shivpuri, A.V. (2016) Application of SWAT Model in Generating Surface Runoff for Bennihalla River basin. Internat. Res. Jour. Engg. Tech., v.3(6), pp.1093–1097

    Google Scholar 

  • Mango, L.M., Melesse, A.M., McClain, M.E., Gann, D., Setegn, S.G. (2011) Land use and climate change impacts on the hydrology of the upper Mara River Basin, Kenya: results of a modelling study to support better resource management. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., v.15, pp.2245–2258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manjan, S.K., Aggarwal, S.P. (2014) Hydrological modelling of Bagmati River Basin, Nepal. Internat. Jour. Curr. Engg. Tech., v.4(6), pp.3978–3984

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirza, M.M.Q. (2004) The Ganges Water-Sharing Treaty: Risk Analysis of the Negotiated Discharge. In: Mirza M.M.Q. (Ed.), The Ganges Water Dispersion: Environmental Effects and Implications. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netharland, pp.287–303

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Montu, K. (1980) Farakka Dispute. Economic and Political Weekly July 5 XV(27).

  • Moriasi, D.N., Arnold, J.G., Van Liew, M.W., Bingner, R.L., Harmel, R.D., Veith, T.L. (2007) Model evaluation guidelines for systematic quantification of accuracy in watershed simulations. T. ASABE, v.50, pp.885–900

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nash, J.E., Sutcliffe, J.V. (1970) River flow forecasting through conceptual models: Part I, A discussion of Principles. Jour. Hydrol., v.10(3), pp.282–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neitsch, S.L., Arnold, J.G., Kiniry, J.R., Srinivasan, R., Wiiliams, J.R. (2005) Soil and Water Assessment Tool Input/Output File Documentation Version. Blackland research center, Texas Agriculture Experiment Station, Temple, Texas

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishat, A., Pasha, M.F.K. (2001) A Review of the Ganges Treaty of 1996. Globalization and Water Resources Management: The changing Value of Water. University of Dundee International Specialty Conference (August 6–8, 2001)

  • Parua, P.K. (2010) The Ganga: Water Use in the Indian Subcontinent. Water Science and Technology Library-64, Springer, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perrin, J., Ferrant, S., Massuel, S., Dewamdel, B., Marechal, J.C., Aulong, S., Ahmed, J. (2012) Assessing water availability in a semi-arid watershed of southern India using a semi-distributed model. Jour. Hydrol., v.460–461, pp.143–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao, A.L. (1975) India’s water wealth: Its assessment, uses and projections, Orient Longman Limited.

  • Rao, K.L. (1979) India’s Water Wealth, Orient Longman.

  • Santhi, C., Arnold, J.G., Williams, J.R., Dugas, W.A., Srinivasan, R, Hauck, L.M. (2001) Validation of the SWAT model on a large river basin with point and nonpoint sources. Jour. Amer. Water Resour. Assoc., v.37(5), pp.1169–1188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Setegn, S.G., Srinivasan, R., Dargarhi, B., Melesse, A.M. (2009) Hydrological Modelling in the Lake Tana Basin. Ethiopia Hydrol. Proces., v.23, pp.3738–3750

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, R.H., Shakya, N.M. (2006) Hydrological changes and its impact on water resources of Bagmati watershed, Nepal. Jour. Hydrol., v.327(3–4), pp.315–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharpley, A.N., Williams, J.R. (1990) EPIC- Erosion/Productivity Impact Calculator: 1. Model Documentation. US Department of Agriculture Technical Bull. No. 1768. US Government Printing Office: Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tundisi, J.G., Tundisi, T.M. (2010) Impactos potenciais das alterações do código florestal nos recursos hídricos. Biota Neotropica v.10(4), pp.67–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • USDA, Soil Conservation Service (1972) National Engineering Handbook, Section 4: Hydrology. Washington, D.C., USA.

  • Van Liew, M.W., Arnold, J.G., Garbrecht, J.D. (2003) Hydrologic simulation on agricultural watersheds: Choosing between two models. ASAE, v.46(6), pp.1539–1551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J.R. (1995) Chapter 25. The EPIC model. In: Singh, V. P (Ed.). Computer models of watershed hydrology. Highlands Ranch, CO, USA World Bank (2011) Water systems modeling for Ganga basin: Final Report (English). Washington DC, World Bank Group

  • Wu, K., Xu, J. (2005) Applicability of SWAT for three coastal watersheds in Louisiana. Watershed Management to Meet Water Quality Standards and Emerging TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load), Proceedings of the Third Conference 5–9 March 2005. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

  • Young, R.A., Onstad, C.A., Bosch, D.D., Anderson, W.P. (1989) AGNPS: a nonpoint-source model for evaluating agricultural watersheds. Jour. Soil Water Conserv., v.44, pp.168–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zade, M., Ray, S.S., Dutta, S., Panigrahy, S. (2005) Analysis of runoff pattern for all major basins of India derived using remote sensing data. Curr. Sci., v.88(8), pp.301–1305.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This work has been carried out under the Ph. D. programme in the Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, West Bengal, India. The first author is thankful to UGC for the financial support during the work. The authors would like to acknowledge NATCOM and SWAT community for their cooperation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Environment Management, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, Paschim Medinipur, 721 102, India

    Suman Bera & Ramkrishna Maiti

Authors
  1. Suman Bera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ramkrishna Maiti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Suman Bera or Ramkrishna Maiti.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bera, S., Maiti, R. Assessment of Water Availability with SWAT Model: A Study on Ganga River. J Geol Soc India 97, 781–788 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-021-1760-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-021-1760-9

Search

Navigation