Search Results (4)

The Ramganga River basin, comprising three rivers, the Dhela, Dhandi, and Ramganga, plays a vital role in groundwater recharge, sustaining numerous industries, urban areas, and rural communities reliant on these rivers for daily activities. The study’s primary purpose was to analyze the groundwater quality in the context of potability, irrigation, and health risks to the local inhabitants of the Ramganga River basin. In 2021–2022, 52 samples (26 × 2) were collected from 13 locations in two different seasons, i.e., pre-monsoon and post-monsoon, and 20 physico-chemical and heavy metal and metalloids were analyzed using the standard protocols. The result shows that heavy metal and metalloids and metalloid concentrations of Zn (0.309–1.787 and 0.613–1.633); Fe (0.290–0.965 and 0.253–1.720), Cd (0.001–0.002 and 0.001–0.002); As (0.001–0.002 and 0.001–0.002), Cr (0.009–0.027 and 0.011–0.029), and Pb (−0.001–0.010 and 0.00–0.010) values in mg/L are present in both seasons. The groundwater quality index (GWQI), heavy metal pollution Index (HPI), and heavy metal evaluation index (HEI) were used to assess the water quality and metal pollution in the basin area. As per GWQI values, water quality lies from excellent water quality (41.639 and 43.091) to good water quality (56.326 and 53.902); as per HPI values, it shows good (29.51 and 30.03) to poor quality (60.26 and 59.75) and HEI values show the low-level contamination (1.03–2.57 and 1.13–3.37) of heavy metal and metalloids in both seasons. According to the potential health risk assessment, infants show low risk in pre-monsoon and low risk to medium post-monsoon, while children and adults show low risk to high risk in both seasons. From the health risk perspective, it shows that children and adults have more concerns about non-carcinogenic effects, so adequate remedial measures and treatment are required to avoid the groundwater quality of the Ramganga River basin. Full article

The pressure on freshwater resources is leading to diminishing flows in some of the critical river systems across the globe. India is no exception, and this is mainly because of water withdrawal for irrigation, which is often to the tune of 70% to 80% of the lean season flows, 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, 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, WWF, to enhance flows in a sub-tributary, called the Karula River, which is part of the Ganga River system. Another objective of this paper is to look at the scalability and replicability of similar approaches in other irrigation command areas to benefit nearby river systems in general. Under this initiative, the team attempted to enhance flows in the river Karula by routing the saved water from irrigation supplies in a canal commanded area. This saving of water is being achieved due to supply-side and demand-side measures that are being adopted in the project area. With the objective of ensuring the sustainability of the initiative, efforts are made to form an institutional arrangement, through which this initiative can be sustained beyond the project support. Full article

Nowadays, space-borne imaging spectro-radiometers are exploited for many environmental applications, including water quality monitoring. Turbidity is a standout amongst the essential parameters of water quality that affect productivity. The current study aims to utilize Landsat 8 surface reflectance (L8SR) to retrieve turbidity in the Ramganga River, a tributary of the Ganges River. Samples of river water were collected from 16 different locations on 13 March and 27 November 2014. L8SR images from 6 March and 17 November 2014 were downloaded from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website. The algorithm to retrieve turbidity is based on the correlation between L8SR reflectance (single and ratio bands) and insitu data. The b2/b4 and b2/b3 bands ratio are proven to be the best predictors of turbidity, with R² = 0.560 (p < 0.05) and R² = 0.726 (p < 0.05) for March and November, respectively. Selected models are validated by comparing the concentrations of predicted and measured turbidity. The results showed that L8SR is a promising tool for monitoring surface water from space, even in relatively narrow river channels, such as the Ramganga River. Full article

The managed aquifer recharge (MAR) of excess monsoonal runoff to mitigate downstream flooding and enhance groundwater storage has received limited attention across the Indo-Gangetic Plain of the Indian subcontinent. Here, we assess the performance of a pilot MAR trial carried out in the Ramganga basin in India. The pilot consisted of a battery of 10 recharge wells, each 24 to 30 m deep, installed in a formerly unused village pond situated adjacent to an irrigation canal that provided river water during the monsoon season. Over three years of pilot testing, volumes ranging from 26,000 to 62,000 m³ were recharged each year over durations ranging from 62 to 85 days. These volumes are equivalent to 1.3–3.6% of the total recharge in the village, and would be sufficient to irrigate 8 to 18 hectares of rabi season crop. High inter-year variation in performance was observed, with yearly average recharge rates ranging from 430 to 775 m³ day⁻¹ (164–295 mm day⁻¹) and overall average recharge rates of 580 m³ day⁻¹ (221 mm day⁻¹). High intra-year variation was also observed, with recharge rates at the end of recharge period reducing by 72%, 88% and 96% in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively, relative to the initial recharge rates. The observed inter- and intra-year variability is due to the groundwater levels that strongly influence gravity recharge heads and lateral groundwater flows, as well as the source water quality, which leads to clogging. The increase in groundwater levels in response to MAR was found to be limited due to the high specific yield and transmissivity of the alluvial aquifer, and, in all but one year, was difficult to distinguish from the overall groundwater level rise due to a range of confounding factors. The results from this study provide the first systematic, multi-year assessment of the performance of pilot-scale MAR harnessing village ponds in the intensively groundwater irrigated, flood prone, alluvial aquifers of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Full article