Political

In this study, HEC 2 programme has been implemented on river Digaru to compute flow regime or the water surface profile for various discharge conditions. In this reach, two bridges have been considered to compute water surface elevations, critical water surface elevations, energy grade elevations & slope, velocity in the channel, flow area, top width and Froude Number.

We had mentioned while dispatching our 1st Issue of River Basin Transact  that the present pace and direction of development bandwagon in Odisha, made it imperative for its civil society and citizens alike to give more attention to its rivers, before it became too late.

During this quarter (Apr-Jun), there are quite a few such civil society responses towards redefining the way our rivers are being managed. While Dakshin Odisha Vikash Parishad (DOVP) came up with a suggestion to have Integrated River Valley Project in line of TVA in USA to manage South Orissan Rivers, State Govt resolved not to allow any new industry to draw water from the Brahmani and the Baitarani. Towards the end of the quarter alignment of civil society and political parties around MBA (Mahanadi Banchao Andolan) to protest diversion of Mahanadi water to POSCO and IOC made the headlines local dailies.

This is the first in a new series of articles that IWP will host on various aspects of Environmental Flows. We welcome your comments and original articles for this series, please mail us at portal@arghyam.org

The other side of the story: Free-flowing rivers around the world

With around 5100 large dams, India ranks third in the world with regards to the number of large dams. The ongoing debate over the economic, social and environmental costs of large dams has indicated many times that these costs are not commensurate with their benefits. Although we have dammed all our major rivers, (except Brahmaputra and plans to dam its major tributaries are on way, some like Ranganadi have already been dammed), profoundly changing their hydrological, ecological, social and cultural systems, we are yet to form a policy which states that environmental flows in rivers are a necessity. It is more than clear now that environmental flows relate to well being of not only ‘birds and fishes’, but also of the entire human society . Take an example of fisheries, lack of flows in rivers and contractor-owned reservoir fishing has affected the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of small fishermen . Environmental flows also dilute pollution load, so let us not hide behind the fact that pollution is wiping out our riverine fish, not the absence of flows. It is also clear that environmental flows do NOT mean a decommissioning of all the present dams, nor do they mean any random figure like 60% or 10% of MAR . Eflows require reaching a wise compromise through science and local negotiations, for each river.

While many countries have put in place policies and laws for maintaining environmental flows in their rivers, there is also a rarer category: Rivers which have not been dammed yet, rivers which retain their connection from the source to the sea, nurturing myriad ecosystems and communities in their wake! These are known by many names like Free flowing rivers, Wild Rivers, Pristine/ Virgin rivers, Heritage Rivers, etc., each indicating their rare character and value. In ecological and cultural terms, the value of these rivers is immense and as more and more rivers are being dammed the world over, this value is increasing steeply. Unfortunately, in today’s economic terms, these rivers are still waiting to get their due recognition, but as human systems evolve, they will surely be seen as ‘invaluable’ service providers with phenomenal use and non use values.

Organizer: Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation

Topics:

• Concepts in wetland and river basin management
• Facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes
• Fieldwork wetland management
• Adult education and social learning
• Curriculum development

The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize is an international award that recognises outstanding contributions towards solving global water problems. This can be done through applying groundbreaking technologies or implementing innovative policies and programmes which benefit humanity.

The Prize is named after Singapore's first Prime Minister and present Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, who through his foresight and leadership, has enabled Singapore to attain a sustainable supply of water.

Organizer: Ladakh Ecological Development Group

Venue: LEDeG Campus at Leh

Description:

Ladakh Ecological Development Group,a Non Governmental Organisation based in Leh,which has set up 57 Micro Hydro Power Units in the whole Ladakh is organising a 7-days National Training Workshop on "Community based Micro Hydro Power Units" from August 30th to 5th September, 2010 at Leh. The number of participants will be maximum 25.The application forms should be sent to LEDEG office,leh through post or email by 16th July 2010.The training involves lectures,site visits,presentations ,practical and workshops by Field experts from LEDEG and Expets/Resources persons from reputed agencies.The certificate of participation will be provided on completion of the training.

The report presents the groundwater balance for the Southern Channel command area of the Pennar delta canal system as a part of the conjunctive use studies in the area. In a hydrological system, surface water flows, low or high, do not necessarily coincide with the low or high levels in groundwater, because of the sluggishness of the groundwater flow compared to surface water flow.

The study deals with dam break analysis of Barna dam located in the state of Madhya Pradesh carried out using the popular National Weather Service Dam Break Flood Forecasting (NWS DAMBRK) model to assess the likely maximum flood discharge and elevation to be attained in Bareli township, 22 km downstream of the dam.

The study deals with flow computation in Saptamukhi river estuary in Sunderbans delta of West Bengal using finite element method. Complex interactions between physical, chemical and biological processes are present in coastal areas. Water circulation is one of the most important factors controlling these processes. The study of the real hydrodynamic regime and proper management of estuaries, lagoons and coastal regions due to high tides, peak flows erosion, sedimentation and pollutant load discharges is vital.

The report presents flood plain mapping of Phulbari area within the flood plains of Brahmaputra basin in the States of Assam and Meghalaya using satellite data. Flood is a natural calamity in which most parts of the north-eastern region are ravaged. Management of the problem in these disastrous flood affected areas often requires flood plain mapping for protection and resource development. This has mostly being done in real time on the basis of time consuming and often hazardous ground based surveys.