An Analytical Framework of Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources: Vulnerability and Integrated Adaptation Strategies

Climate change has already started altering water resources and also transforming life on the earth. Water resources are one of the major sectors vulnerable to climate change in a developing country like India. Climate change impact assessment is the main concern for water resource availability and sustainable water use activities like agricultural production. Water resources and agricultural sectors are put into the top priority list for adaptation plans as these sectors are vulnerable to climate change. A detailed framework is necessary to assess the responses of spatial and temporal water availability to a range of baseline and climate change scenarios. Climate change impact assessment can be performed using modelling approaches such as climate change analysis (existing climate trends and jumps), analysis of hydrological extremes, downscaling and hydrological models. The results of vulnerability assessment on water resources can be transferred as information to farmers and government agencies in order to support them in the planning of appropriate sustainable adaptation measures. Farmers’ perception of climatic conditions, environmental conditions and biological systems, and major coping strategies undertaken can be identified by questionnaire surveys. Thus, an analytical framework for integrated adaptation strategies based on the modelling approaches (climate downscaling and hydrological modelling), water resources’ vulnerability assessment, farmers’ perception and coping strategies is attempted in this paper.