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Article

Climate Change Impacts on the Hydrology of the Brahmaputra River Basin

by
Wahid Palash
1,
Sagar Ratna Bajracharya
2,3,*,
Arun Bhakta Shrestha
2,
Shahriar Wahid
4,
Md. Shahadat Hossain
5,
Tarun Kanti Mogumder
5 and
Liton Chandra Mazumder
5
1
School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and Norman B Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
2
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Lalitpur 44700l, Nepal
3
Riverine Landscapes Research Laboratory, Geography and Planning, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia
4
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
5
Institute of Water Modelling, Dhaka 1230, Bangladesh
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Climate 2023, 11(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11010018
Submission received: 30 November 2022 / Revised: 30 December 2022 / Accepted: 30 December 2022 / Published: 5 January 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change and Responses for Water and Environmental Security)
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Abstract

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 will increase across the entire Brahmaputra and also in the upper and middle Brahmaputra. The impact assessment suggests that the upper Brahmaputra will be most affected by CC, followed by the middle Brahmaputra. The results can be used to support future water management planning in the basin taking into account the potential impact of CC.
Keywords: Brahmaputra; SWAT; hydrology; water balance; snowmelt; climate change Brahmaputra; SWAT; hydrology; water balance; snowmelt; climate change

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MDPI and ACS Style

Palash, W.; Bajracharya, S.R.; Shrestha, A.B.; Wahid, S.; Hossain, M.S.; Mogumder, T.K.; Mazumder, L.C. Climate Change Impacts on the Hydrology of the Brahmaputra River Basin. Climate 2023, 11, 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11010018

AMA Style

Palash W, Bajracharya SR, Shrestha AB, Wahid S, Hossain MS, Mogumder TK, Mazumder LC. Climate Change Impacts on the Hydrology of the Brahmaputra River Basin. Climate. 2023; 11(1):18. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11010018

Chicago/Turabian Style

Palash, Wahid, Sagar Ratna Bajracharya, Arun Bhakta Shrestha, Shahriar Wahid, Md. Shahadat Hossain, Tarun Kanti Mogumder, and Liton Chandra Mazumder. 2023. "Climate Change Impacts on the Hydrology of the Brahmaputra River Basin" Climate 11, no. 1: 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11010018

APA Style

Palash, W., Bajracharya, S. R., Shrestha, A. B., Wahid, S., Hossain, M. S., Mogumder, T. K., & Mazumder, L. C. (2023). Climate Change Impacts on the Hydrology of the Brahmaputra River Basin. Climate, 11(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11010018

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