STUDY OF WATER DEMAND IN A RIVER BASIN - A CASE STUDY

Abstract

A river basin is a natural unit of water availability, its assessment and development to meet demand for various purposes. Need for adopting basin as an unit of planning is emphasized with supporting recommendations by various agencies and examples from various countries. Based on study of country practices, some important guidelines for basin water balance studies have been proposed for adherence, reference and use by those involved in river basin planning and management. A simple method for characterisation of a basin has been developed and applied. in the study of Ciujung basin in Indonesia. Emphasis in this study is on estimation of basin water demand for various purposes. Scientific methods in estimation of non-agriculture water demands (domestic and industrial use, minimum flow requirements for river maintenance, livestock water demand and fish pond water demand) and for estimation of irrigation demand have been applied in the study of Ciujung basin. Practices followed in India and Indonesia have been compiled and compared by making extensive literature survey. Irrigation development potential in a basin depends on Water Potential Area (WPA) or Irrigation and Land Potential Area (LPA). LPA and WPA are the critical limiting factors of irrigation development in a basin. The irrigation potential area derived from water potential analysis are compared with those from land suitability and land availability analysis. The smaller of the two indicates irrigation development potential in a basin. Such study requires detailed analyses of water availability which is beyond the scope of this dissertation work. However procedure for estimation of irrigation development potential has been discussed based on practice followed in Indonesia. Such type of analysis is generally not carried out in India in the basin water balance studies as seen from the reports of NWDA (NWDA 1993, NWDA 1996). Therefore the approach and procedure discussed in this dissertation report can serve as an useful reference for water balance study in a more scientific manner