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www.iwmi.org Water for a food-secure world Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal L. Bharati , P. Gurung and L. Maharjan

Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

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Presented by Luna Bharati at the Global Water Systems Project: Water in the Anthropocene Conference May 21-24th in Bonn, Germany.

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Page 1: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

www.iwmi.org

Water for a food-secure world

Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

L. Bharati , P. Gurung and L. Maharjan

Page 2: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

Basin Characteristics

Area considered in this study is the Koshi Basin upstream of Chatara in the mountainous region of eastern Nepal and southern Tibet (57,760 km2)

The average elevation of the basin is 3,800 m but varies from 110 m at Chatara to more than 8,000 m in the Great Himalayan Range

The basin can be divided into the Trans-mountain Region, Central Mountain Region, Eastern Mountain Region, Central Hill Region and Eastern Hill Region

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0 50 10025 km

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#* Flow Station

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Rivers

Koshi Basin Boundary

Country Boundary

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Country boarder

Subbasin

Trans-mountain region

Central mountain region

Eastern mountain region

Central hill region

Eastern hill region0 40 80 12020 km

Ü

Study Area: Koshi River Basin

Page 3: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

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Water for a food-secure world

Projected Climate Data for Climate Change Study:

Downscaled using MarkSim Weather Generator (RCM)

(http://gismap.ciat.cgiar.org/MarkSimGCM/)

- Average of CNRM-CM3, CSIRO-Mk3.5, ECHam5, and MIROC3.2

- AR4-SRES: BL, A2 and B1

- Period: 2000s (1971-2000) for BL

2030s (2016-2045) for A2 and B1

2050s (2036-2065) for A2 and B1

- Variable: Rainfall, Temperature (Max & Min), Solar Radiation

Methods: Input Data

Page 4: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

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Water for a food-secure world

Results: Spatial Distribution of Precipitation, Actual ET and Water Yield

•Average annual precipitation is highest in the Central Mountain (1775 mm) and Eastern Mountain Regions (1418 mm)

•The lowest rainfall during both the dry and wet season is the Trans-mountain region (mean precipitation was 113 mm during the dry season and 307mm during the wet season

1

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6

2

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78 73

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4137

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7679

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2624

21

LEGEND

Precipitation (mm)

294 - 350

351 - 500

501 - 1000

1001 - 1500

1501 - 2000

2001 - 2500

2501 - 3000

3001 - 3500

3501 - 4000

4001 - 45000 50 10025 km

Ü(a)

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51

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78 73

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5762

65

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15

38

5560

72

23

71

30

61

53

54

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6967

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4137

68

31

7679

28

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77

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46 5249

63

39

25

50

33

2624

21

LEGEND

Actual ET (mm)

189 - 250

251 - 300

301 - 350

351 - 400

401 - 450

451 - 600

601 - 650

651 - 700

701 - 750

751 - 8170 50 10025 km

Ü(a)

1

8

6

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51

7

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11

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13

5762

65

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15

38

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72

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71

30

61

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54

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6967

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43

4137

68

31

7679

28

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77

29

22

20

46 5249

63

39

25

50

33

2624

21

LEGEND

Net Water Yield (mm)

23 - 50

51 - 100

101 - 500

501 - 1000

1001 - 1500

1501 - 2000

2001 - 2500

2501 - 3000

3001 - 3500

3501 - 40000 50 10025 km

Ü(a)

• ET is mainly related to precipitation as

well as land cover

•During both the dry and wet seasons, average Actual ET is highest in the Central and Eastern mountain region and lowest in the Trans-mountain region

• Water yield is highest also in

the mountain region and lowest in the Trans-mountains

• Range is quite big with lowest of 5mm during the dry season in Trans mountain region to 1629 mm in the Central mountain zone

Page 5: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

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Water for a food-secure world

Results: Simulated Seasonal Flow Contribution

Simulated seasonal flow contribution in annual flow under current and future climate

Under 2030s Projection

Under 2050s Projection

Page 6: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

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Water for a food-secure world

Percent change in precipitation during the a)winter, b)pre-monsoon,

c)monsoon and d)post-monsoon seasons under the A2 climate

projections for the 2030’s

Page 7: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

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Water for a food-secure world

Percent change in flow volume during the a)winter, b)pre-monsoon,

c)monsoon and d)post-monsoon seasons under the A2 climate

projections for the 2030’s

Page 8: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

Change in Monsoon Rainfall

SRES Family – A1B

WRF-ECHAM5 WRF-GFDL-V2 WRF-HADCM3

PRECIS-HadCM3Q0 RegCM4-ECHAM5 WRF-CCSM3

Page 9: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

Change in Monsoon Max. Temperature

WRF-ECHAM5 WRF-GFDL-V2 WRF-HADCM3

PRECIS-HadCM3Q0 RegCM4-ECHAM5 WRF-CCSM3

SRES Family – A1B

Page 10: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

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Water for a food-secure world

Results: Minimum, maximum and mean precipitation in the Central mountain region

of the Koshi Basin for observed, baseline, A2 and B1 projections for the 2030’s and 2050’s

Page 11: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

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Water for a food-secure world

Page 12: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

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Water for a food-secure world

Summary of Results for the Koshi Basin

• (i) Higher maximum precipitation during monsoon and post-monsoon and lower maximum precipitation during winter (in A2 and B1 scenarios)

• (ii) Increase in precipitation and flows in the Trans Mountain region during all the seasons except for flows during the monsoon under the B1 scenario

• (iii) Increase in post-monsoon precipitation and routed flow volumes in the whole basin (under A2 and B1 scenarios)

• (iv) Decrease in winter precipitation and routed flow volumes in all the regions except the Trans Mountain

• (v) Increase in the frequency of high flow peaks and decrease in the base flow portion of runoff.

Page 13: Current and Future Variability in the Hydrological Regime of the Koshi Basin, Nepal

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Water for a food-secure world

• Understanding of and adapting to existing climate variability as well as the changes in variability is critical for adaptation to future climates

• There is still high level of uncertainty in future Climate Change projections

• Instead of planning for certain trends, adaptation strategies need to plan for future uncertainty…

– Will future climate lead to exposer that is outside the boundaries of past data ranges

– increased frequency of extreme events such as both high-flows and low-flows

– Investments in systems which reduce risk such as storage development, crop insurance schemes might be more effective

Conclusions