Kaushal, N.; Babu, S.; Mishra, A.; Bajpai, R.; Sinha, P.K.; Arya, R.K.; Tickner, D.; Linstead, C. Securing Flows in the River Systems through Irrigation Water Use Efficiency—A Case Study from Karula River in the Ganga River System. Water2022, 14, 2894.
Kaushal, N.; Babu, S.; Mishra, A.; Bajpai, R.; Sinha, P.K.; Arya, R.K.; Tickner, D.; Linstead, C. Securing Flows in the River Systems through Irrigation Water Use Efficiency—A Case Study from Karula River in the Ganga River System. Water 2022, 14, 2894.
Kaushal, N.; Babu, S.; Mishra, A.; Bajpai, R.; Sinha, P.K.; Arya, R.K.; Tickner, D.; Linstead, C. Securing Flows in the River Systems through Irrigation Water Use Efficiency—A Case Study from Karula River in the Ganga River System. Water2022, 14, 2894.
Kaushal, N.; Babu, S.; Mishra, A.; Bajpai, R.; Sinha, P.K.; Arya, R.K.; Tickner, D.; Linstead, C. Securing Flows in the River Systems through Irrigation Water Use Efficiency—A Case Study from Karula River in the Ganga River System. Water 2022, 14, 2894.
Abstract
The pressure on freshwater resources is leading to diminishing flows in some of the critical river systems across the globe and India is no exception and this is mainly because of water withdrawal for irrigation, which is often to the tune of 70% to 80% with some proportion for domestic and industrial use. While graduating from the concept of environmental flows and its assessment methodologies in India, the water-managers, the researchers and the conservationists are now moving towards answering the next question if the rivers are to be revived, then where will the water come from, especially in the case of over-allocated rivers, including the river Ganga. While the logical way is to look at the biggest user of water, i.e. irrigation, it remains to be seen whether the irrigation water savings will actually lead to enhancing flows in a river, complementing the efforts towards maintaining e-flows in rivers, or whether it will lead to more area under agriculture, bring changes in cropping patterns towards more water-intensive crops or result in something else. This is a growing debate across the globe, where India is no exception, and there has been a wide range of opinions in this regard. This paper discusses the process, findings and lessons from a joint initiative involving farmers, the Uttar Pradesh state Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Bijnor District Administration and a conservation organisation to enhance flows in a rivulet, called karula River, which is part of the Ganga river system.
Keywords
Ganga; environmental flows; river conservation; Ramganga; Karula; irrigation water use efficiency; Water Users Association; minor canal
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
