|
Appraisal of Environmental Health and Ecohydrology of
Free-Flowing Aghanashini River, Karnataka, India
|
|
1 Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Indian Institute of Science (IISc),
Bangalore 560012, India;
2 Centre for Sustainable Technologies (ASTRA), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore 560012, India
3 Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP), Indian Institute of
Science (IISc), Bangalore 560012, India
4 Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management (RCG SIDM), IIT-Kharagpur,
Kharagpur 721302, India
5 Department of Civil Engineering, SR University, Warangal 506371, India
*Corresponding author: trv@iisc.ac.in
Abstract
Abstract: Rivers are vital freshwater resources that cater to the needs of society. The burgeoning
population and the consequent land-use changes have altered the hydrologic regime with biophysical and chemical
integrity changes. This necessitates understanding the land-use dynamics, flow dynamics, hydrologic regime, and
water quality of riverine ecosystems. An assessment of the land-use dynamics in the Aghanashini River basin reveals
a decline in vegetation cover from 86.06% (1973) to 50.78% (2018). The computation of eco-hydrological indices (EHI)
highlights that the sub-watersheds with native vegetation had higher infiltration (and storage) than water loss due
to evapotranspiration and meeting the societal demand. The computation of water quality index helped to assess the
overall water quality across seasons. The study provides insights into hydrology linkages with the catchment
landscape dynamics to the hydrologists and land-use managers. These insights would aid in the prudent management of
river basins to address water stress issues through watershed treatment involving afforestation with native species,
appropriate cropping, and soil conservation measures.
Keywords: eco-hydrological indices; flow regime; land use; multivariate analysis; water quality;
water quality indices (WQI)
Citation :Citation: Ramachandra, T V; Vinay, S.; Asulabha, K.S.; Sincy, V.; Bharath, S.; Bharath .H.A. Appraisal of Environmental Health and Ecohydrology of Free-Flowing Aghanashini River, Karnataka, India. Water 2022, 14, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/xxxxx
|