Socio-Hydrological Approach to Explore Groundwater–Human Wellbeing Nexus: Case Study from Sundarbans, India
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School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
2
Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0115, Japan
3
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
4
Applied Policy Advisory to Hydrogeosciences Group, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Alexander Yakirevich
Water 2021, 13(12), 1635; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121635
Received: 7 May 2021
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Revised: 3 June 2021
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Accepted: 8 June 2021
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Published: 10 June 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Quality Assessments for Urban Water Environment)
Coastal regions are the residence of an enormously growing population. In spite of rich biodiversity, coastal ecosystems are extremely vulnerable due to hydroclimatic factors with probable impact on socio-economy. Since the last few decades, researchers and policymakers were attracted towards the existing water demand–resource relationship to predict its future trends and prioritize better water resource management options. Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) serves the wholesome purpose of modeling diverse aspects of decision analysis using water algorithm equations for proper planning of water resource management. In this study, future groundwater demand (domestic, agricultural, and livestock sector) in the fragile Sundarbans ecosystem was estimated considering different human population growth rates (high, low, and current) for 2011–2050. The results showed that the sustainability of coastal aquifer-dependent rural livelihood is expected to face great danger in the near future. The total groundwater demand is expected to rise by approximately 17% at the current growth rate in the study area to fulfill the domestic and agricultural requirement, while this value goes up to around 35% for a higher growth rate and around 4% for a lower growth rate. The impact of increasing groundwater demand was analyzed further to identify any socio-economic shifts in this region.
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Keywords:
groundwater demand; Sundarbans; agriculture; WEAP; vulnerability; sensitivity loop; water–human wellbeing nexus
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MDPI and ACS Style
Halder, S.; Kumar, P.; Das, K.; Dasgupta, R.; Mukherjee, A. Socio-Hydrological Approach to Explore Groundwater–Human Wellbeing Nexus: Case Study from Sundarbans, India. Water 2021, 13, 1635. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121635
AMA Style
Halder S, Kumar P, Das K, Dasgupta R, Mukherjee A. Socio-Hydrological Approach to Explore Groundwater–Human Wellbeing Nexus: Case Study from Sundarbans, India. Water. 2021; 13(12):1635. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121635
Chicago/Turabian StyleHalder, Soham, Pankaj Kumar, Kousik Das, Rajarshi Dasgupta, and Abhijit Mukherjee. 2021. "Socio-Hydrological Approach to Explore Groundwater–Human Wellbeing Nexus: Case Study from Sundarbans, India" Water 13, no. 12: 1635. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121635
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