This document summarizes a workshop on environmental flows (E-flows) in India. The first section provides an overview of India's progress with E-flows, including policy recommendations of 15-30% of flows. Case studies on the Ganges river show E-flows were maintained during religious festivals. The second section discusses understanding trade-offs, including a study that found farmers would sacrifice for E-flows but prefer changing cropping patterns. Groundwater usage was also analyzed. The third section outlines the challenges of implementing E-flows, including integrating them into basin plans and building capacity for long-term E-flows assessments and mainstreaming. A vision for the Ganges calls for maintaining ecosystem services through

1. India-EU Water Partnership
Workshop on Water Allocation, Water Economics and Eflows
In River Basin Management
14-15 September 2016, New Delhi

2. Environmental flows in India:
Case studies, achievements
and future work
September 15, 2016

3. Outline
• E-flows: Our journey so far
• Understanding trade offs and economics
• Setting the scene for E-flows Implementation

4. (including material transport)
temporal and spatial variations in quantity and quality of water
required for freshwater and estuarine systems to perform their natural ecological functions
and supports the spiritual, cultural
and livelihood activities that depend on them
1. E-flows: journey so far

5. Biodiversity
Fluvial geomorphology
Cultural and religious
Socio-economical
Hydraulics
Water Quality
Hydrology
Holistic Methodology

6. River Health Classes
• Near-pristine: Reaches with minimal human
interference
• Slightly Modified: Reaches with some evidence of
human interference, but still functionally intact.
• Moderately Modified: Reaches with clear evidence of
human interference, but still largely functionally intact.
• Degraded: Reaches with evidence of considerable
human interference and functionally disturbed.
• Critically Degraded: Reaches dominated by human
interference

7. • Himachal Pradesh E-flows Policy 2005
– 15% of lean flows
• Expert Appraisal Committee on Hydropower and River
Valley Projects (66th meeting)
– Lean season: 20% of average discharge in four leanest
months
– Non monsoon, non lean season: 20-30% of inflows
– Monsoon period: 30% of the cumulative inflows during the
monsoon period
• GRBMP (2015): Aviral Dhara
• Committee on E-flows

9. E-Flows during Kumbh 2013
The X-axis indicates the levels, which has been
marked at a pillar of Shastri Bridge (u/s of Sangam,
Allahabad); whereas the Y-axis shows the dates
from 12 January to 31 March 2013.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
12/1/2013
14/1/2013
16/1/2013
18/1/2013
20/1/2013
22/1/2013
24/1/2013
26/1/2013
28/1/2013
30/1/2013
1/2/2013
3/2/2013
5/2/2013
7/2/2013
9/2/2013
11/2/2013
13/2/2013
15/2/2013
17/2/2013
19/2/2013
21/2/2013
23/2/2013
25/3/2013
27/2/2013
1/3/2013
3/3/2013
5/3/2013
7/3/2013
9/3/2013
11/3/2013
13/3/2013
15/3/2013
17/3/2013
19/3/2013
21/3/2013
23/03/2013
25/03/2013
27/03/2013
29/03/2013
31/03/2013
Observed current flows (in cumec) Recommended E-Flows (in cumec)

10. Discussion points
• How to go beyond Ganga and few hydro
power projects?
• Basin wise E-flows assessments under a
national programme
– Is this possible?
– Capacity & resources needed?
– Responsibility? Centre, State and/or both
– Timelines

11. 2. Understanding tradeoffs

13. Bhimgoda Barrage_UGC
Narora Barrage_LGC
India

14. 8 Branches
28 distributaries
86 minors
19 Districts
126 villages
9 Divisions
Sample size: 540
400 women
35 officials

15. Understanding trade-offs
Water allocations
Water use
Agriculture
practices
Policy and pricing
Institutions

16. Water resources allocation

17. Leaving water for the Ganga
6%
94%
UGC
Disagree
Agree
20%
80%
LGC
Disagree on Canal
water transfer to
maintain depth
Agree on Canal
water transfer to
maintain depth

18. Transfer of saved water to Ganga
53.9%
1.6%
2.4%
42.0%
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0%
Change in cropping
pattern
Extension of
cropped/irrigated area
Intensive irrigation
Sacrifice for E-Flow
Number of respondents
UGC
23.3%
5.8%
21.4%
49.4%
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0%
Change in cropping
pattern
Extension of
cropped/irrigated area
Intensive irrigation
Sacrifice for E-Flow
Number of respondents
LGC

19. Groundwater use
,
92.4
80.7
92
74
76
78
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
Head Middle Tail
UGC
97.9
94.4
91.9
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
Head Middle Tail
LGC: Reach wise % of farmers using
ground water usage
% of farmers using ground water

20. Irrigation methods
12, 5%
244, 95%
UGC
Floodi
ng
10, 4%
249, 96%
LGC
Flooding
Basin

21. Soil health and input management
11.7%
88.3%
UGC
Soil testing done Soil testing not done
8.0%
86.5%
5.5%
0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0% 100.0%
Soil testing done
Soil testing not done
Fertilizer application based on
testing
LGC

23. Trade off analysis

24. Costs and benefits
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: 4 groups of
ecosystem services: provisioning, regulating, supporting,
and cultural.
– Provisioning: Fishery, Agricultural crops (Food); River bed farming;
Drinking Water
– Regulating services: Carbon Sequestration; Microclimate regulation;
– Cultural: Forest Tourism; cultural/religious tourism
• Various flow regimes are associated with various services
provided by the ecosystem, and might entail changes in
the target groups who receive the services.
• Monetary valuation of each flow regime is one of the ways
to evaluate the scenarios, understand the trade-offs, and
help in allocation of water across sectors.
24

25. Cost-benefit analysis of environmental
flows
Nilanjan Ghosh, Suresh Babu

26. Scenarios
• Business-As-Usual: Baseline valuation of the
ecosystem services of the current hydrological
regime;
• Alternate scenarios:
– Flow Regime Change: Degraded, Improved, Diversionary.
– Demand Management Scenario: Changes in Allocation
Patterns, Better Management Practices.
– Institutional Changes: Pricing regimes, participatory
irrigation management

27. Water resources allocation
How do we redraw the pie ?

28. Discussion points
• Lessons from integrating e-flows into water
allocations?
• How trade-offs analysed and managed
• Examples of research on surface-groundwater
interactions?
• Understanding the impacts on ecology

29. 3. Setting the scene for
implementation

30. 1st EFA training
2nd EFA training
Pilot EF Implementation
Main River Implementation
EFlowsassessmentand
implementation
Stakeholder Engagement
Policy & Legislation
IWRM Process
SocialandPolicy
Process Timeline for E Flows development
10 to 20 years
Source: Prof Jay O Keffee
Atnationallevel

32. Rāmgangā river is rejuvenated, by ensuring aviral dhara, nirmal dhara
and maintaining ecosystem services and functions, providing long term
water security to all stakeholders.
Basin
Governance
(management
& stakeholder
behaviour)
River and
ecosystem
health
• Sustainable water management
• E-flow releases required
• Improved water use efficiency
Flows and
connectivity are
maintained in
the river and
floodplains
Benefits to
society
Water supply for
people, agriculture,
and industry
Urban
wetlands and
floodplains
maintained or
improved
Groundwater
recharge areas
protected and water
levels maintained or
improved
Water
quality
meets
prescribed
standards
Integrated
urban water
management
adopted
Freshwater-
related livelihoods
supported
Risks from flooding
and water borne
diseases reduced
Cultural and
spiritual
opportunities
Ecotourism developed
and expanded
Vision,goals,andobjectives
Breeding
populations of
critically
endangered
species established
Planning
regulations to
support habitat
protection
Improved knowledge
of risks and resilience
to climate change
and natural disasters
Pollution
load
reduced
Support for collective conservation action by stakeholders
Integrating into basin plans

33. Regulation
and policy
Basin
Governance
management
&
stakeholder
behaviour
Fisheries
management
Improved
water use
efficiency
Climate change
policy
Contingency
planning for
disasters
Dam operation rules
Integrated
urban water
management
adopted
Strategyandactions
Planning
regulations to
support
habitat
protection
Improved knowledge
of risks and resilience
to climate change
and natural disasters
Pollution
load
reduced
Support for collective conservation action by stakeholders
River health monitoring
Climate change and
biodiversity
Future development
Impact of sand
mining
Response to natural
disasters
Promotion
of clean
technology
Ecosystems-
based urban
planning
Biodiversity
and habitat
protection and
restoration
E-flow
releases
required
Sustainable
water
management
Water allocations, trade-offs
Capacity building of stakeholder groups
Capacity building for government agencies, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Civil Society
Participatory groundwater
management
Improved river
bed farming
Improved farming (land, water, agriculture) practices
Climate changeWater use
efficiency
programs
Research,
assessment
& monitoring
Capacity
building &
stakeholder
engagement
Goals

34. Key challenges
• Lessons from E-flows policies
• How to integrate E-flows into basin plans
• Road map for E-flows mainstreaming and
implementation
• Examples of implementation, monitoring

36. Implementation Challenge
Tom Lequesne et.al