River basin planning

Chapter 8. The impact of climate change and human intervention on water resources is exemplified by India, where changes in climate are compounded by rapid urbanisation, growing population and their associated water demands, and unsustainable resource exploitation. In addition, many of India’s major rivers are impounded along their course for diverse purposes. Evaluations of existing and future water resource are essential for sustainable development and management, and large-scale hydrological models that incorporate anthropogenic influences can be critical for such assessments. Outputs from these models can inform water planners, managers and policy-makers of the potential scale of water deficits or surpluses, and identify specific areas of concern. This chapter discusses these models and why they are important, and presents an example application of one model in the Narmada river basin in India.