Applications of Hydrological Model Simulated Long Term Water Balance Components for India

Hydrological models are useful tools for simulating long-term trends in hydrological components resulting from climate and anthropogenic factors. In the present study, long-term hydrological components are simulated using Variable Infiltration Capacity – VIC, a process based model for the time period of 1971-2013 at a resolution of 5.5 km for entire India. The model was calibrated and validated against observed streamflow for all the southern river basins. The simulated soil moisture was also evaluated using in situ observations. It is observed that there is a slight increase in precipitation for Cauvery, Krishna, Ganga and Godavari basins. The model derived soil moisture was converted into percentage available soil moisture (PASM) taking into account of water holding characteristics of soils, which is depicting a good agreement in time and space. Floods and its return period were reconstructed and analyzed by calculating basin wise annual maximum streamflow for the entire period. This modeling framework is developed for the entire country which will contribute towards evaluating and planning for water resources management, its retrospective outlook, mitigating drought, periodic water budgeting, agriculture planning, and irrigation scheduling.