World Bank study looks at river basin planning in north India

16 November 2007

A consultant’s study* for the World Bank into effective river basin planning in the hydro-rich states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in India has raised the option of establishing need to development authorities.

The draft recommendations report highlighted the need for data sharing, improved yield estimation, utility and construction coordination, and the benefits of greater involvement of communities and qualified third parties, such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

These needs were identified in trying to establish the key challenges facing India in meeting its ambitious hydropower development programme, and the hurdles are primarily in the river basins of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the report notes.

A key message of the change in approach the study advocates is a shift from project-based planning to co-ordinated planning of many schemes to optimise energy and economic potential of the river basins in the states.

The study referenced the experiences of developing the Satluj and Alaknanda river basins, both to list many risks faced – ranging from geological, hydrological, flood estimation and environmental flow needs to siltation, upstream storage design and cascade optimisation – to useful progress in overcoming the challenges.

More systematic approaches to river basin development are required in other parts of the states, and the study said that establishing specific development organisations charged with such authority, and receiving sufficient funds, should be considered.

* The study – ‘River Basin Development Optimisation’ – was undertaken on behalf of the World Bank by Hydro Tasmania Consulting at the request of the governments of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Tomorrow's groundwater, today's challenge
Agriculture researcher Betty Klepper explains water in the Umatilla River Basin

By BETTY KLEPPER Umatilla County Critical Groundwater Taskforce

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third in a series of biweekly articles by members of the Umatilla County Critical Groundwater Taskforce about the work the group has been doing.

Have you ever looked at the water in the Umatilla River and thanked your lucky stars? You probably couldn't make a living here if we did not have this essential resource. Without the waters of the Umatilla River Basin, our region would be much less developed and prosperous than it is today.

The Umatilla River flows from high in the Blue Mountains to the Columbia River and drains an area of nearly 2,500 square miles. This drainage area is the Umatilla River Basin. Within the basin, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, native and cultivated plants, and humans and their domesticated animals all depend on the precipitation that falls inside the basin boundaries for their water.

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Arcelor-Mittal to harvest rain water in Orissa
17 Nov, 2007, 0000 hrs IST, PTI

BHUBANESWAR: Global steel leader Arcelor-Mittal, which proposes to set up a 12 mtpa plant in Orissa, on Friday said it will harvest rain water and use technology that consumes least quantity of 'H2O' to reduce pressure on the natural resource. "We are consulting international experts in the field on how to meet the challenges ahead", member of Arcelor-Mittal's group management board Malay Mukherjee told reporters, admitting water was a major problem for industries in Orissa. .................... "We too do not want to take a farmer's share of water. Therefore, the company has planned to make its own arrangement in the plant premises", he said, adding that water harvesting was one of the key options the company would like to exercise. However, a permanent solution would be using technology that requires least water for steel making and research was on for recycling the water in order to minimise the requirement. Full Story

All of the major water users from our basin

The AJC has put together a nice map showing all of the major users (water systems, industrial, power plants and recreational) along the Chattahoochee river basin — 36 users highlighted in all.

Seeing this helps to explain why so much water is released from Lanier each day. The water from there needs to feed all of those places and still be at 5,000 cfs (3.2 billion gallons/day) when it is in Florida.

However, there are many small creeks and rivers that feed into the river to help reach the 5,000 cfs flow. The problem is that all of those rivers are running below normal, which means they have to drain even more water from Lanier to help make up for it.

The 16% reduction that may or may not happen starting today would be a reduction in that 5,000 cfs mandate, lowering it 4200 cfs. This would mean that the releases from Lanier could be reduced a bit, though they might see a slow increase after that to compensate for less and less help from the other rivers feeding into the Chattahoochee.

River runoff improves

Nov 15 2007 6:18AM
Associated Press
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) More water than normal ran into the Missouri River system last month for the first time in many months.

The U-S Army Corps of Engineers says runoff was 4 percent above normal.

However, that still leaves runoff about 16 percent short of normal for the year.

This is the 8th year in a row for drought in the Missouri River Basin.

Consequently, the downstream navigation season has been shortened by 35 days.

Lake Oahe (oh-WAH'-hee) ended October at 18.5 feet below normal, but it's 8 feet higher than a year earlier.

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