Spatio-temporal patterns and factors controlling the hydrogeochemistry of the river Jhelum basin, Kashmir Himalaya

Abstract

River Jhelum is a major source of water for growing population and irrigation in the Kashmir Himalaya. The region is trending towards water scarcity as well as quality deterioration stage due to its highly unregulated development. The existence of few literature on various aspects of the basin prompts us to study the spatio-temporal variability of its physicochemical parameters and thereby to understand the regulating hydrogeochemical mechanisms based on 50 samples collected during high flow (June 2008) and low flow (January 2009) periods. The water chemistry exhibited significant spatial variability reflecting the mixing processes in the basin. The seasonal effect does change the concentration of ions significantly with modest variability in the order of ionic abundance. The Ca(2+) ion among cations and HCO3 (-) ion among anions dominate the ionic budget and correlates significantly with the diverse lithology of the basin. Three major water types, i.e., Ca-Mg-HCO3 (72 %), Ca-HCO3 (12 %), and Mg-Ca-HCO3 (16 %), suggest that the chemical composition of water is dominantly controlled by carbonate lithology, besides a significant contribution from silicates. However, at certain sites, the biological processes and anthropogenic activities play a major role. Relatively, the lower ionic concentration during high flow period (summer season) suggested the significant influence of higher discharge via dilution effect. The higher discharge due to higher rainfall and snow melting in response to rising temperature in this period leads to strong flushing of human and agricultural wastes into the river. The factor analysis also reflected the dominant control of varied lithology and anthropogenic sources on the water quality based on the four significant factors explaining collectively about 70-81 % of the total data variance. A two-member chloride mixing model used to estimate the discharge contribution of tributaries to the main river channel showed reliable results. It may be mentioned that the regular and continuous contamination through anthropogenic sources is likely to jeopardize and degrade the water quality in the near future. Thus, critical management approaches and strategies are very imperative for its future sustainability.

Groundwater in catchments headed by temperate glaciers: A review

“…In Iceland glaciers provide one third of the country's main rivers discharge (Björnsson and Pálsson, 2008). In the Alps and the Himalayas too the glaciers, along with snow, are a very important source of runoff for many rivers (Alps: Huss, 2011;Himalayas: Koppes et al, 2015a;Mir et al, 2016;Pamirs: Pohl et al, 2017). Discharge is thus maximum during summer, and minimal during the snow accumulation and freezing period (Mir et al, 2016).…”

“…in the Karakoram range and West Himalayas, Mukherji et al, 2015;Schmidt and Nüsser, 2017). The process is most intense in the Himalayas (Kehrwald et al, 2008;Mir et al, 2016) and in the tropical Andes (Rabatel et al, 2013;Somers et al, 2016;Vuille et al, 2018), where some glaciers could disappear in a near future (Barnett et al, 2005;Baraer et al, 2012;Somers et al, 2016). According to an updated glacier inventory of the French Alps, Gardent et al (2016) report a significant decrease of the overall glacier cover (average loss of~26% between the late 60s and the 2000s).…”

“…Thus, many hydroelectric plants are established in mountainous area to use snow and glacial meltwater (e.g. Jóhannesson et al, 2011; on the river Jhelum in Kashmir Himalaya, Mir et al, 2016). Hydropower provides 80% of energy in Peru and 50% in Ecuador (Vergara et al, 2007), of which 10% is provided by the dams in the Cordillera Blanca (Somers et al, 2016;Bury et al, 2011).…”

Studies on Limnological Parameters and their Impact on the Distribution and Diversity of Zooplankton in Anchar Lake, Kashmir

“…Site-A1 is located between coordinates 34°08′13′′ N and 74°46′50′′ E, where the Sind River joins northern side of the lake by network of canals. (2) Site-A2 is located between coordinates 34°08′30″ N and 74°46′42″ E towards the southeast of the lake adjacent to SKIMS hospital with marshy land. It receives biomedical wastes and sewage from the SKIMS hospital drainage system.…”

“…1 The freshwater available on the earth provides services in many sectors like industries, agriculture, fisheries, and domestic activities. 2 Over the past two decades, the deterioration of freshwater quality is speeding up due to various natural and anthropogenic activities, which pose a major global challenge. 3 Some of the principal causes of water quality degradation and detrimental threats to freshwater ecosystems include the discharge of chemicals from industries, fertilizers from agricultural activities, and sewage from domestic activities.…”