Sustainability

24Sustainability of River Water Resources Under the Influence of Climate Change

Shivam Gupta¹ and Manish Kumar Goyal²

¹Central Agricultural University, Imphal, India

²Discipline of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Indore, India

24.1 Introduction

Several climatic events, reports and scientific studies confirm the phenomenon of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) has reported in its assessment report that the mean temperature of the earth will rise by 0.6°C. This rise in temperature will have severe consequences for various sectors such as the environment, agriculture and water resources. Rising temperatures alter the various components of the hydrological cycle such as evapotranspiration, snowfall, snowmelt, runoff and precipitation (Bates et al. 2008). These changes in hydrological processes will affect water availability at the regional and global scale. Enhanced evapotranspiration will lead to aridity and increased water demand for agriculture; decreased precipitation will cause the frequent occurrence of droughts, and increased precipitation will lead to flood conditions.

Recent studies for the assessment of the impact of climate change on the Himalayan region also indicate several changes in the hydrology of the region. Bates et al. (2008) stated that one-sixth of the world population, who live in the river basin of snow and glacier-fed river systems, will face severe water scarcity due to change in snowmelt and snow ...