Integrated Assessment of no-Regret Climate Change Adaptation Options for Reservoir Catchment and Command Areas

Abstract

The need for credible, salient and legitimate climate change adaptation options in the water sector, which target location specific adaptation requirements, is well recognized. In developing countries, the low-hanging fruit; no-regret options, should be identified with stakeholders and assessed against future changes in water availability and demand, for comparing effectiveness and robustness. Such integrated basin-scale assessments, including reservoir catchment and command areas, can suitably inform adaptation decision-making. In this study, we integrate participatory and modelling approaches for evaluation of reservoir catchment and command area no-regret options addressing water availability and demand in the Kangsabati river basin. Through multi-level stakeholder workshops we identify and prioritize options, followed by evaluation of two reservoir catchment options; check dams and increasing forest cover and three reservoir command options; changing cropping pattern, traditional ponds and waste water reuse, using the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model. We use four high resolution (~25 km) regional climate model simulations of future climatic factors, along with non-climatic factors affecting water demand, for forcing WEAP. We find that options have varied ability in addressing adaptation requirements. Amongst catchment options, increasing forest cover addresses adaptation requirements more suitably than check dams, while in the command areas we observe mixed abilities of options, leading to the inference that combining complementary options may be a more useful strategy. We conclude by discussing our experiences with this approach in a developing country context, in terms of benefits, limitations, lessons learnt and future research directions.Water Resour Manage (2016) 30:1001-1018 DOI 10.1007/s11269-015-1207-4 Electronic supplementary

Water Resource Planning Under Future Climate and Socioeconomic Uncertainty in the Cauvery River Basin in Karnataka, India

“…We observed a similar effect in all pathways, where high flows decrease, medium flows may decrease or increase, and low flows increase. Absorbing high flows is important in a monsoon‐dominated region (Bhave et al, ) because it reduces the risk of downstream flooding, while increasing water availability during dry periods. High flows are absorbed because of a distributed reservoir formulation of the adaptation option URLR.…”

The centrality of engineering codes and risk-based design standards in climate adaptation strategies

“…It should be noted that the popularly advocated 'no regrets' climate adaptation practices inherently encompass current engineering 'best management practices', including contemporary risk-based design, safety factors and freeboard considerations that are routinely incorporated into the design of dams and flood works (Bhave et al, 2016). Especially when the impacts of future changes remain highly uncertain, bottom-up 'no regrets' actions may offer the most realistic adaptation option.…”

Lake Malawi’s threshold behaviour: A stakeholder-informed model to simulate sensitivity to climate change

“…Globally, several studies have considered the sensitivity of river basins and water supply systems to climate change (e.g. Bhave et al 2014;Safavi et al 2015;Bhave et al 2016;Ortiz-Partida et al 2016). Some studies using WEAP have also assessed lake inflows, management and water allocation (e.g.…”