reviving floodplains, reviving the yamuna river, india

14
Reviving floodplains , Reviving Yamuna Ritesh Kumar Wetlands International – South Asia [email protected]

Upload: wetlands-international

Post on 09-May-2015

3.378 views

Category:

Education


6 download

DESCRIPTION

This presentation discusses how floodplains provide important ecological services to people living around the Yamuna River in India and why it is necessary to prtect and restore them in stead of embanking them for agriculture or construction.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

Reviving floodplains , Reviving Yamuna

Ritesh Kumar

Wetlands International – South Asia

[email protected]

Page 2: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

Based on the outcomes of a research project on assessing hydrological and ecological characteristics

of River Yamuna floodplains , funded by National River Conservation Directorate, Ministry of River Conservation Directorate, Ministry of

Environment and Forests, implemented during 2004 –06

Detailed Report and Published Findings available on request to [email protected]

Page 3: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

• Floodplain is a narrow strip braided by bunds extending to 94.84 sq km (incl. river channel 19.31 sq km)

• Forests and agriculture are the dominant land uses covering more than 90%

Floodplains in Delhi

Palla

Wazirabad Barrage Bhalsava Lake

• 45 water bodies including lakes, pools, ponds and puddles etc. identified play important role in biodiversity

• Aquatic vegetation spread all across the floodplain particularly in Okhla is of significant ecological importance

Jaitpur

ITO Barrage

Okhla Barrage

Sanjay Lake

Page 4: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

• Flow regimes are essentially controlled by three barrages leading to delineation of four zones within the river stretch.

• Hydrologically theses zones function as separate entities within the river stretch, except

Barrages reduce connectivity !

within the river stretch, except during monsoon.

• More than 75% of precipitation occurs during June to September which is critical to inundation of floodplain area

Page 5: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

Evaporaspiration (1,140 MCM)

Okhla Barrage D/S Discharge (2,834 MCM)

Agriculture(2,080 MCM)

Power Generation(266 MCM)

Wazirabad Barrage d/s discharge

(4,232 MCM)

Catchment runoff

(772 MCM)

Sewage from drains

(767 MCM)

Hindon cut

(473 MCM)

Inflows into river channels (6244 MCM)

Floodplain aquifer

recharge (866 MCM)

Yamuna Barrage

Floodplain is a net groundwater recharge zone

(266 MCM)

Outflows from stretch (6,320 MCM)

Abstraction from floodplain aquifers

(942 MCM)

Wazirabad Barrage

Page 6: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

Vegetation 69 species55% aquatic and 45 % for terrestrial

Benthos 54 species50% Insecta ,28% Mollusca and 22 % for Annelida

Zooplankton 40 species

Floodplains are full of life in various forms

Zooplankton 40 species45% Rotifera, 42.5% Cladocera and 12.5 % Copepoda6 coexisting species of Brachinous

Phytoplankton 76 species49.4% Chlorophyceae, 22% Bacillariophyceae, 16.9% Cyanophyceae, 6.5% Chrysophyceae, 3.9% Euglenophyceae, and 1.3% Dinophyceae.

Fish 35 speciesCarps ,Murrels, Cat fishes and Minnows were recorded

Avifauna 131 speciesDucks, Waders, Rails and Cracks

Page 7: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

100

120

140 Macrophytes

Benthos

Zooplankton

Phytoplankton

Fishes

Avifauna

Stress Zone

Functioning floodplains, higher diversity

0

20

40

60

80

Jhangola Wazirabad Upstream

Wazirabad Downstream

ITO Upstream

ITO Downstream

Okhla Upstream

Okhla Downstream

Page 8: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

Floodplains sustain riverinefisheries

• Hardy and tolerant fish species found in the river stretch except in upstream of Wazirabadin upstream of Wazirabadbarrage where still major and minor carps are found

• Floodplain lakes and ponds play a significant role as breeding and spawning grounds of riverine fish species and their restocking into the system

Page 9: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

Recommendations

Recognition of floodplains as ecologically fragile area under appropriate legal provisions considering its importance in recharging aquifers, improvization of water quality, and maintenance of biodiversity

Delineation of floodplain for the entire river stretch highlighting their critical role

Regulating land use changes to prevent fragmentation of floodplain habitats

Integrating conservation and wise use of floodplain as an integral component of Yamuna Action Plan

Page 10: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

Recommendations

Environmental Flow Assessment for allocating water for developmental activities and ecosystem conservation

Assessment of water demand for human and ecological purposes

Minimum water flows should be based on ecological requirements of floodplains to harness the benefits accrued through their natural floodplains to harness the benefits accrued through their natural functioning

Development of water allocation scenarios linking ecological, hydrological, and socio economic aspects. Ranking options for decision making using economic valuation techniques

Barrage operation policies to be developed involving concerned stakeholders considering upstream downstream impacts

Page 11: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

Recommendations

Utilization of floodplain wetlands for treatment of diffused sources of pollution

Promote development of vegetational belts in the floodplain area for improvizing water quality and enhancement of biodiversityfor improvizing water quality and enhancement of biodiversity

Use of floodplain area to augment treatment of pollution from diffused sources.

Operationalize test projects at Kailash Colony and Sonia Vihar in collaboration with MCD and other agencies

Page 12: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

Recommendations

Ecotourism Development

Regeneration of floodplain area by aquatic / semi aquatic species to promote waterbird diversity and population

Development of wetland interpretation center at Okhla Bird Sanctuary for communication, education and awareness generation

Economic incentives to local communities through conservation and wise use of floodplain area

Page 13: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India

Recommendations

Monitoring and Evaluation

Integration of ecological indicators developed in the monitoring protocols

Periodic evaluation to assess the efficacy of interventions using both water quality and biological parameters

Page 14: Reviving floodplains, Reviving the Yamuna River, India