Transcript Document

Towards Restoring Flows into
the Earth’s Arteries
Why, What and How of
‘ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS’
Latha Anantha
( River Research Centre, Kerala)
and
Parineeta Dandekar
( South Asia Network on Dams Rivers and People, Pune)
How serious is this statement ?
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All hydro-electric projects on the Ganga could be asked to reduce their
power generation — possibly up to 50 per cent of capacity — in an effort to
provide a clean and continuous flow of the river's waters,.
“We cannot shut down existing projects, but we are exploring the legality of
reducing the capacity of operational hydro-electric plants,” she told The
Hindu . “A clean Ganga is my top priority at present… we need to get
extremely proactive.”
If the proposal, which Ms. Natarajan plans to take to the Prime Minister, is
implemented, the power generation of 17 operational projects could be
affected. Apart from these, 14 projects are currently under construction,
while 39 more are in the pipeline.
“We are seeing if a way can be found under the EPA to impose conditions
post-facto [on these projects], given that the Ganga is national river, and
free flow is an environmental issue,” said Ms. Natarajan.
First step towards restoring flows……
We are on the edge !
 Fragmented rivers with ‘no
flows’ in between dams
 deteriorating water quality
 Food plain farming under
threat
 Fish catch and fisheries on the
decline
 Riparian ecosystems losing
continuity and diversity
 Flood plains cut off from flows
 Flows not reaching the delta
and seas
 Salinity traveling deep inland
 Basins are closing – Krishna ,
Cauvery
Indus
• 1892 – 1990s – flows reduced from 1,85,000 MCM to
12,300 MCM per annum - Reduced flows into delta –
shrimp, mangroves, fish productivity reduced , salinisation
increased , delta farming affected - Salinity intrusion 64 km
– 1.2 million acres farmland lost.
Krishna
• outfalls are falling over the years from 57 BCM before
1960s to almost nil in 2004 impacting the coastal
ecosystems
Yamuna
• no freshwater flows downstream of Tajewala upto Etawah,
where Chambal River meets Yamuna, at least during the
lean months
Flows are affected - reasons are many
• Dams - block, fragment and regulate flows – time,
magnitude, duration and frequency of flows
• Diversion of water – complete / partial diversion of river/
stream • Deforestation - Degradation of the river catchment
leading to reduced flows – Most of the rivers
• Mining in the catchments – Goa
• Sand mining on river bed – Western Ghats rivers
• Pollution – Yamuna
• Glacial melt – climate change - Gangotri
Where is the river ?
Flows and deforestation
Implications of flow regulation
• Ecological – aquatic biodiversity, feeding and breeding and
habitats affected , invasion of exotic and introduced species
• Morphological – sand, silt and sediment deposit declining,
channel
• Hydraulic connectivity – lateral and horizontal connectivity
disrupted
• Social issues – deteriorating water quantity and quality
leading to drinking water scarcity
• Economic – loss from fisheries and farming to the river
communities and the state
• Spiritual and cultural needs - sacred groves, temple fish
sanctuaries,
Paradise lost
Paradises to be lost !
Large rivers passing through different geo – climatic zones
would have different impacts
Why should a river flow from source to sea ?
• Is a river just water flowing waste to sea
• Is river an ecosystem in itself or a drain for carrying water
• Does a river have any functions or is just a conduit evolutionary and ecological functions
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delivering rich nutrients to the sea
sustaining fisheries and livelihoods;
protecting wetlands with their capacity to filter out pollutants;
providing habitat for a rich diversity of aquatic life
safeguarding fertile deltas;
protecting water quality;
maintaining salt and sediment balances;
Flows deposit sand and silt
Gharats – flour mills run using flowing
streams
Cultural and spiritual needs – prayer wheel
Enrich riparian ecosystems
Different Flows have different functions
• E flows is not just allocating 20 % of lean season
flows !
• High flows - important for channel maintenance,
bird breeding, algae control, wetland flooding and
maintenance of riparian vegetation.
• Moderate flows - critical for cycling of organic
matter from river banks and for fish migration
• Low flows - necessary for fish spawning, water
quality maintenance, the use of the river by local
people, etc.
Monsoon vs Summer flows in a
regulated tropical river
May
July
What is environmental flows ?
Ideally - A river has right to all its flows
In reality - Flows that should be left in the river
• To allow the river to complete its hydrological cycle
• To Carry out various ecological and evolutionary
processes
• To enable all beings including humans to benefit from
the ecosystem services provided by the river and its
flows
• “Environmental Flows describe the quantity, quality and
timing of water flows required to sustain freshwater and
estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and
well being that depend on these ecosystems: Brisbane
Declaration 2007”
What is the condition of the river we
aspire for ?
What is the best flow regime we are visualising ?
What all ecological and human needs are to be
satisfied ?
Who will decide how much flows is required ?
Time for communities and experts to start making
assessment of flows required and challenge the
official allocations
Implementation Challenges
• Hydrologically and ecologically different river systems
• Direct dependence on rivers very high
• Lack of valid, pre dam hydrological and ecological data
and even if present, deficient – lack of correlation with
habitats
• Political priorities is a decisive factor
• Lack of awareness about flows – ecology – community
linkages
• Need to address beyond project level to river basin level
• Norms for already dammed and developed rivers vs to
be dammed rivers to be different
• Institutional and policy challenges
Political priorities
matter
Roles in implementation
• Governments at national and sub national levels - through new
policy frameworks - nature / river is also a ‘legitimate user of
water’ and only if water is left for nature can human needs be
fulfilled.
• Research institutions and river experts - arriving at the optimum
flows including trade offs, incentives and alternatives
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• Direct river dependent communities - learn from their wisdom and
integrate their experiences while setting flows.
• Voluntary organisations / NGOs/ community based
organisations - catalyst or mediator
Enabling Policy and Legal Instruments
• Ecosystem as ‘legitimate user of water’
• Accurate data base on hydrology and ecology
• For pristine rivers – first determine flow regime –
establish ‘first user rights’ of the river
• Minimum distance between two dams –
ecological criteria to be legally mandated
• Protection of Free flowing rivers / stretches /
tributaries legislation
• Rivers as Heritage Sites or Icons ??
• For dammed rivers - Reservoir Operations
Strategy – bring within policy framework
and frame legally enforceable rules
• Accountability for non – compliance
among dam developers, operators,
• Participation of all users at all stages of e
flows to be legally mandatory
• For consistent under performance , social
and ecological costs higher than gain –
dam decommissioning to restore flow
Action strategy - Time to address dam
impacts at river basin level
• Challenge project level EIAs which exclude impacts of
flow regulation
• Challenge CIA assessments which are just cumulated
EIAs of individual projects – Lohit, Dibang, Alaknanda Bhagirathi
• Demand basin studies
• Demystify technical domain of e flows assessment
• Pitch the campaign using e flows to save the entire river
/ tributary / sub basin with all the dams proposed
Why basin approach to flows is important –
Teesta basin
Last word
• Everyone loses if we fail to account for the
ecosystem needs
• Not a legitimization for more dams or
consensus for dams in pipeline
• Is a holistic approach to stall new dams
• An Approach to restore degraded rivers
with all complexities