Assessment of spring flows in Indian Himalayan micro-watersheds – A hydro-geological approach

Autor: Abhishek, Vargish Bamola, Sumit Sen, Bhargabnanda Dass, Anita Sharma, Debashish Sen
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Hydrology. 598:126354
ISSN: 0022-1694
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126354
Popis: Springs are an indispensable source of freshwater for mountain communities in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). Owing to the synergistic impact of anthropogenic and climatic factors, numerous perennial springs and streams in the region, are either becoming ephemeral or drying out, thus impacting the local people. Water scarcity, poverty, and limited scope of alternate livelihoods further reduce the communities’ resilience. Our focus is to assess the potential of reviving drying springs with the help of hydro-geological studies in water-scarce villages. The methodology involved high-resolution data monitoring of springs and first-order streams in two headwater micro-watersheds, namely, Shiv gadera and Haraita, in the rural Himalayas of Uttarakhand, India, with unalike topography and geology. To understand the hydro-geological processes and assess the flow regimes and aquifer storage dynamics, we applied water balance, correlation, flow duration, master recession curves analysis, and geological studies. The univariate and bivariate analysis shows that Shiv gadera has a better system memory, indicating a larger storage capacity than Haraita. The spring hydrograph responses also append that Shiv gadera has better storage and has a homogenous aquifer feed. The water balance, however, is in positive storage only during the rainy months in both the sites. The hydro-geological characterization from hydrograph analysis, recession analysis, and field surveys shows that Shiv gadera has intricate flow networks and slow flow velocities while Haraita is characteristic of transmissive fractured rocks. The spring flows in Shiv gadera are observed to be perennial and more groundwater contributes to spring discharges while Haraita exhibits intermittent to ephemeral nature. The recession curves also indicate uniform geology, a distinctive feed from recharge area, and slow emptying of the aquifer, while Haraita exhibits shallow storage and quick responses to storms. Spring flows in Shiv gadera show better stability than Haraita, as indicated by Q10/Q90 and Q50/Q90 measurements. These inferences qualify Shiv gadera as having a better chance of responding to management and treatments, thus a better potential for revival. The combination of hydrologic time series analysis and geological characterization used in this study could be a valuable approach for assessing spring revival in the IHR and has a potential for implementation across other parts of the Himalayas.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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