Building the capacity of India -Karnataka WRD engineers in River Basin Modeling to enable informed and scientific decision making for better water management with Australian science and technology.
The Krishna River, stretching as the third longest river in India, is a crucial artery for life and agriculture, flowing through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. Beyond its impressive length, this river is a lifeline for millions, its waters channelled through an extensive network of dams and canals that support a variety of crops vital to India’s agricultural food security. Its historical and cultural significance further underscores its importance to the people it nourishes.
Recognising the river’s pivotal role, in ensuring the water security of the State, the Government of Karnataka, through its Advanced Centre for Integrated Water Management (ACIWRM), sought expertise from eWater Group to enhance the scientific understanding and management of this vital water resource. The goal: to develop advanced integrated water resource management solutions for the Krishna River which has recently faced severe water challenges.
ACIWRM selected eWater Source™ as their tool because of its capability to model both river basin planning aspects and catchment rainfall-runoff, flexibility and its reputation for capabilities of operational water management and as Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform.
Building on from a recent held eWater Source™ training course we conducted in July with ACIWRM (see link), our hydrologists, Dr. Sudeep Nair and Dr. Mukta Sapkota, travelled to Karnataka, India to undertake intensive modelling training, support and mentoring of the Karnataka Water Resource Development (WRD) engineers.
The training equipped over 30 Karnataka participants of hydrologists, civil and irrigation engineers, site (field) managers, academia and researchers with the essential skills and deeper understanding to develop river system planning models for six sub-basins in Karnataka.
Our participants had extensive field knowledge, skill sets of using GIS and modelling and demonstrated quick progression in developing river system models using Source for their respective basins.
Through their learnings, participants will be able to develop models for each sub-basin and use them for supporting their River Basin Plan which identifies future basin water resource development scenarios and evaluate water availability in a river basin before and after these developments are custom-made.
Mr. Teju Kumar, Assistant Engineer at ACIWRM supported and anchored all the other participants of the course in equipping with necessary skills of modelling.
“River Basin Modelling using Source had provided for incorporating all the water assets and rules of operation for water management into the model and provides a very comprehensive overview of the basin for the field engineers to understand the basin better and think scientifically for ensuring good water management.”
Mr. Rajesh, Chief Engineer & Registrar, ACIWRM emphasised the need for advance tools, such as, Source of eWater, for addressing the emerging new water challenges and comprehensively managing the water resources of the basin.
Dr. Somasekhar Rao, Director (Technical), ACIWRM highlighted that the partnership with eWater enabled new knowledge building for WRD engineers and provide insights into international best practices of water management for the State and the field engineers are excited to work together with eWater experts. ACIWRM is working to create River Basin Modelling capacity in every zone of the State and setup models for each sub-basin in the State, to enhance the scientific understanding of the various scenarios of water resources for ensuring water security to the population of the State.
Mr. K.G. Mahesh, Director, Karnataka Engineering Research Station (KERS) with whom ACIWRM partnered to organise this capacity building program had applauded the initiative to build the modelling capacity within the department, which is first of its kind in the country and expressed that he was enthused by the commitment and inquisitiveness of the young trainee engineers and hoped that the field engineers will be better equipped with this skill set and knowledge to address several water management challenges in various zones of the State.
Several participant trainee engineers indicated that the Source model is handy, easy to navigate and provides an opportunity for them to have a full overview of the water resources of the basin and analyse various scenarios and options for effecting better water management.
For eWater Group our goal was to empower ACIWRM to create sophisticated river system planning models that will assist them in optimising water resource management. The insights gained from using eWater Source™ will enable them to evaluate water availability under various development, management, and climate scenarios.
We hope we can support ACIWRM in achieving their goal of attaining sustainable water resource management to better adapt to water crisis’ in the future.
This initiative is a key component of the Karnataka Integrated and Sustainable Water Resource Management Investment Project (KISWRMIP), funded by the Asian Development Bank. Through this collaboration, we are contributing to a sustainable future for the Krishna River and the communities it supports.
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