Water resources in developing countries are under a constant state of stress. There are pressures of a growing population and diverse needs – agricultural, industrial, personal uses and power generation. This is coupled with degradation of water quality due to industrial waste and agricultural surface runoff. The latter contributes to nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment in large rivers. In addition, much of the workforce involved in water resources development and management has not been trained in use of the latest hydrological models and use of satellite data for water resources monitoring and development. The project, focused on in the Indian subcontinent, evaluated the risk of water resources and workforce capacity building. In the area of risk, the project focused on the risk of inadequate quantity and quality of water in the northern Indian Ganga Brahmaputra River basin. On workforce development, this project engaged in capacity building and training of engineers in the Water Resources Department in the Government of Karnataka involved in the management of the Cauvery River Basin.
Key Results Include:
- Analyzed 17 years (2000-2017) using readily available NASA satellite and model data to develop a risk assessment of the Ganga Brahmaputra River Basin. Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to examine the flow, sediment and concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in a few sub basins of the Ganga River basin.
- Developed modules for on-site training in the state of Karnataka for the engineers and will visit and offer 4-day courses in the summer season. These modules focused on hydrological modeling, water resources monitoring and management using NASA satellite data and model output.
