Tropical, Seasonal River Basin Development through a Series of Vented Dams
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 16, Issue 3
Abstract
Tropical rivers are predominantly seasonal in nature, and managing water resources during the deficit period is becoming more difficult because of the rapidly increasing demand for water. The present investigation focuses on harvesting Netravathi River water in the southern Indian peninsula through a series of vented dams with an estimated storage capacity of for use during the deficit period. A brief hydraulic design of a vented dam at a specific location is presented. The spacing and capacity of these reservoirs were worked out on the basis of the dam height and the river characteristics. The proposed vented dams are seasonal dams, and the closure of the vents will be decided on the flow available (i.e., 95% dependable flow), the storage capacity, and the minimum water release required for the downstream ecosystem. The appropriate time to start storing water in the vented dams was estimated to be in the month of November, and the entire process of storing water in the vented dams may last for about 41 days. An operational protocol for the storing process is presented. The investigations of aquifer parameters were performed by using electrical resistivity, pumping, and soil tests. The results indicated that the aquifer is shallow, unconfined in nature, and had a depth ranging from 18 to 30 m and hydraulic conductivity ranging from 62.6 to . A multiple regression model developed to assess the groundwater recharge in the adjoining well fields indicated that water table fluctuations may be 30% of reservoir level fluctuations. Because the river is also tidal in nature, a saltwater exclusion dam is proposed at the lower reaches of the river to prevent the entry of saltwater along the river during the summer period.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
AQTESOLVE version 3.5 [Computer software]. Hydrosolve. Reston, VA.
Barr, D. W. (2001). “Coefficient of permeability determined by measurable parameters.” Ground Water, 39, 356–361.
Bekesi, G., and McConchie, J. (1999). “Groundwater recharge modeling using the Monte Carlo technique, Manawatu region, New Zealand.” J. Hydrol. (Amsterdam, Neth.), 224(3-4), 137–148.
Central Water Commission. (2006). “Integrated hydrological data book (non-classified river basins).” Hydrological Data Directorate, Information Systems Organization Water Planning and Projects Wing, Central Water Commission, New Delhi, India, 383.
Essential Regression and Experimental Design for Chemists and Engineers [Computer software]. Steppen, D. D., Werner, J., and Yeater, R. P.; Bethel Park, PA.
FoxPro. (2009). “FoxPro Programming Language.” 〈http://database.about.com/od/foxpro/FoxPro_Programming_Language.htm〉 (Mar. 10, 2009).
Garg, S. K. (1997). Irrigation engineering and hydraulic structures, 13th Ed., Khanna, New Delhi, India.
Google Earth. (2004). “Virtual globe.” 〈http://www.googleearth.com〉 (Jan. 7, 2007).
Griffith, J., Binley, A., Crook, N., Nutter, J., Young, A., and Fletcher, S. (2006). “Stream flow generation in the Pang and Lambourn catchments Berkshire UK.” J. Hydrol. (Amsterdam, Neth.), 330(1–2), 71–83.
Gupta, S. K., and Deshpande, R. D. (2004). “Water for India in 2050: First order assessment of available options.” Curr. Sci., 86(9), 1216–1224.
Healy, R. W., and Cook, P. G. (2002). “Using ground water levels to estimate recharge.” Hydrogeol. J., 10(1), 91–109.
Indian Standard Code. (1989). “Guidelines for hydraulic design of barrages and weirs: Part–I Alluvial reaches (First revision 02, 2001).” IS 6966, New Delhi, India, 14.
Jacobus, J. D., and Sinners, I. (2002). “Ground water recharge an overview of processes and challenges.” Hydrogeol. J., 10(1), 5–17.
Karve, A. E. (2003). “Impact of heavy pumping and ground water depletion–A case study.” Proc., Int. Conf. on Water and Environment WE-2003, Allied Publishers, New Delhi, India, 115–121.
Konrad, C. P. (2006). “Longitudinal hydraulic analysis of river aquifer exchanges.” Water Resour. Res., 42, W08425.
Korkmaz, S., and Halil, O. (2006). “Seepage from a rectangular ditch to the ground water table.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 132(3), 263–271.
Lee, C. H., Chen, W. P., and Lee, R. H. (2006). “Estimation of ground water recharge using water balance coupled with base-flow-record estimation and stable-base-flow analysis.” Environ. Geol., 10(1007), 1–10.
Lin, Y. F., Wang, J., and Valocchi, A. J. (2008). “PRO-GRADE: GIS toolkits for groundwater recharge and discharge estimation.” Ground Water, 47(1), 122–128.
Lorenz, D. W., and Delin, G. N. (2007). “A regression model to estimate regional groundwater recharge.” Ground Water, 45(2), 196–208.
Mahesha, A. (2008). “Status report on studies on the efficacy of vented dams as water harvesting structures across the river Netravathi of D.K. district, Karnatak.” Dept. of Science and Technology Grant No. NRDMS/11/1136/2006, Government of India, New Delhi, India, 72.
Mayya, S. G., Lakshman, N., Nagaraj, M. K., SubbaRao, and Mahesha, A. (2003). “Rural water supply project under Rajiv Gandhi national drinking water mission for eleven villages of Mangalore taluk with vented dam across Gurupur River at Malavoor village.” Final Design Rep., National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, India, 289.
Nagesh, Kumar D. . (2000). “Groundwater recharge modeling—An overview.” Proc., National Workshop on Rainwater and Groundwater Management for Sustainable Rice Ecosystem, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, 1–10.
Nath, S. K., Patra, H., and Shahid, S. (2000). “Estimation of aquifer parameters from surface geo-electric measurements.” Geophysical prospecting of ground water, Oxford and IBH, New Delhi, India, 129–137.
National Water Development Agency (NWDA). (1993). “Water balance study of Bhavani sub-basin of Cauvery basin.” Technical Study Rep. No. WB51, National Water Development Agency, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, New Delhi, India.
Neuman, S. P. (1974). “Effect of partial penetration on flow in unconfined aquifers considering delayed gravity response.” Water Resour. Res., 10(2), 303–312.
Kumar, Rakesh, Singh, R. D., and Sharma, K. D. (2005). “Water resources of India.” Curr. Sci., 89(5), 794–811.
Rosenberg, D. E., and Lund, J. R. (2006). “Derived operating rules for allocating recharges and withdrawals among unconnected aquifers.” J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage., 132(1), 25–34.
Rushton, K. R., and Ward, C. (1979). “The estimation of ground water recharge.” J. Hydrol. (Amsterdam, Neth.), 41(3–4), 345–361.
Sanford, W. (2002). “Recharge and ground water models: Overview.” Hydrogeol. J., 10(1), 110–120.
Scanlon, B. R., Healy, R. W., and Cook, P. G. (2002). “Choosing appropriate techniques for quantifying ground water recharge.” Hydrogeol. J., 10(1), 18–39.
Shetkar, R. V. (2009). “Studies on the efficacy of vented dams as water harvesting structures across the river Netravathi of D.K. district, Karnataka.” Ph.D. thesis, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, Surathkal, India, 189.
Shetkar, R. V., and Mahesha A. (2011). “Tropical, seasonal river basin development—Hydro-geological analysis.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 16(3), 280–291.
Singh, V., Vijaykumar, and Prabhakar, J. (2003). “Estimation of ground water recharge by soil moisture modeling.” Proc., Int. Conf. on Water and Environment WE-2003, Allied Publishers, New Delhi, India, 216–223.
Smakhtin, V., et al. (2007). “Developing procedures for assessment of ecological status of Indian river basins in the context of environmental water requirements.” Research Rep. 11, International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 40.
Somaratne, P. G., Jayakody, P., Molle, F., and Jinapala, K. (2005). “Small tank cascade systems in Walawe River basin.” Working Paper 92, International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 46.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 29, 2008
Accepted: Aug 24, 2010
Published online: Oct 1, 2010
Published in print: Mar 1, 2011
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.