National Institute of Hydrology (NIH)

The report discusses the application of deterministic and stochastic approaches in daily rainfall-runoff modeling. The structure of a simple hydrologic water balance type conceptual model of daily time scale is discussed and tested on three catchments of India. Further, the deviations of historic and computed runoff series obtained by using the model, which indicate the error in the fitting of model, is analyzed and used to improve the predicted flows.

The report presents a seasonal rainfall-runoff model developed for the Saurashtra region as well as parts of Narmada river basin. The successful planning and implementation of water resources projects require reliable data on volumetric runoff. It is not feasible to have discharge stations in all the river basins of interest given resource constraints. Therefore, regional rainfall-runoff models are preferred. The utility of such models can be improved if rainfall-runoff models for different regions are developed using data specific to the regions.

The report presents the evaluation of water supply system of Kakinada town in Andhra Pradesh. The neglect of hydrology of a region, while undertaking planning and development works in an urban environment, has serious consequences, the most notable being non-availability of enough potable drinking water to citizens. Water budget studies can be undertaken with all the available records to improve the functioning of such systems and to identify additional alternate resources.

The report looks at groundwater quality and presents the results of the chemical analysis of groundwater samples from openwells & borewells of Belgaum district. The study broadly covers these aspects - (i) groundwater quality evaluation of the district (ii) identification of groundwater quality problems in various parts of district (iii) classification of groundwater, and (iv) application of DRASTIC model for assessing the vulnerability to groundwater pollution.

In the present study, surface and groundwater quality monitoring has been undertaken in parts of Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir in order to evaluate its quality for domestic and agricultural purposes. Water sources are polluted by four kinds of substances: traditional organic waste, waste generated from industrial processes, chemical agents of fertilizers & pesticides used for crop production and silt from degraded catchment.

The report attempts to analyze the shallow groundwater table and water quality data for about 20 years pertaining to the Krishna delta. The trend analysis of groundwater level data of shallow wells indicates that in the upper part of the delta, the groundwater table moved up during the period 1979 to 1999. This may be due to the dense canal network in the delta and increase in irrigated area over a period of time.

The report presents a sedimentation study of the Mansar lake in Udhampur district situated about 55 kms east of Jammu at an elevation of 666 m above mean sea level in the Siwalik terrain. The lake surface area is 0.59 sqkm whereas the lake basin area is 1.67 sqkm. The maximum depth of lake is 38.25 m. The lake has been developed as a tourist spot of the region owing to its natural beauty. The water is also being used for drinking and irrigation purposes.

The report deals with the applicability of remote sensing techniques to monitor changes in land-use and water spread area for the Yelbarga and Kustagi talukas of Koppal district in Karnataka. Information on the rate and kind of changes in land and water resources is essential for planning, management and regularizing the use of such resources.

The report deals with the artificial recharging of an unconfined aquifer with injection well in the Hukkeri taluka in Ghataprabha sub-basin of Krishna river. The Ghataprabha sub-basin of Krishna like most river basins of peninsular India has been facing groundwater development problems varying in nature and severity. It has got a wide spectrum of issues such as cases of failure of wells at several places on the one hand, while some areas becoming unfertile due to waterlogging.

In the present study, watershed prioritization of the catchment immediately upstream of the Ukai reservoir has been carried out using remote sensing technique. The Watershed Response Model (WRM) has been used for this purpose. This model utilizes the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Soil Brightness Index (SBI), the two important parameters responsible for soil erosion.