Prof A.

Balasubramanian
Former Dean, Faculty of Science and
Technology
Centre for Advanced Studies in Earth Science
University of Mysore, India
 Weather and Climate
 Climate Variability
 Climatic Observations
 Climate Projection
 Impacts
 Mitigation and Adaptation
There is a saying that climate what you
expected and weather is what you get
 RAPID & DIRECT CONSEQUENCES ON
1. WATER VAPOUR- HUMIDITY
2. SOIL HORIZON + SEGMENTS OF
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
3. SUFACE WATER RESOURCES
4. SNOW-COVERED REGIONS/ SNOW-MELT FED
RIVER BASINS
 SLOW- PACED EFFECTS ON
1. GROUNDWATER RESOURCES- BUT FULLY
DEPENDING UPON SURFACE SOURCES.
2. SALINE INTRUSIONS
 The newer findings indicate that warming is more
pronounced than expected.
 The impact would be particularly severe in the
tropical areas, which mainly consist of developing
countries, including India (Sathaye, Shukla &
Ravindranath, 2006).
 Increasing temperature trends of the order of
0.60°C during last 112 years (IMD 2012) and
increase in heavy rainfall events and decrease in
low and medium rainfall events (Goswami et al.
2006) over India have been observed.
 Changes in rainfall and temperatures have also
been reported.
 To Sustain the Increasing Temperature –
Establish Green Belts, Control Fossil Fuel
Emissions, adopt Green concepts
 Changing Cropping Pattern/ Changing
Irrigation Methods
 Manage Evapotranspiration
 Maintain Soil Moisture-levels- Infiltration
Galleries, Compulsory Ploughing of Lands(old
method practiced during 1960s and 70s)
 Climatic Change-related Factors- reduction in
natural recharge during rainfall deficit periods,
 High intensity/ short duration RF= No change
 Non-climatic Change Factors- Human Induced-
Population, Economic Development, Landuse
Changes, Irrigation, Agriculture, Etc
 Effects are= over-exploitation beyond capacity of
storage, depletion of groundwater resources,
pollution, deep bore-wells interconnecting deep
fissures/fractures- widening storage space
1. Adaptation to global change must include
prudent management of groundwater as a
renewable, but slow-feedback resource in most
cases.
2. Groundwater storage is already over-tapped
in many regions, yet available subsurface
storage may be a key to meeting the combined
demands of agriculture, industry, municipal
and domestic water supply, and ecosystems
during times of shortage.
 The future intensity and frequency
of dry periods combined with
warming trends need to be
addressed in the context of
groundwater resources, even though
projections in space and time are
fraught with uncertainty.
 Short-term simulation through
modeling
Enhancing the Water Storage Mechanisms
1. Artificial recharge ( Mandatory- Passing
a Bill)
2. Managed aquifer storage and recovery
projects may become a more important
component of many Govt. or local water
systems to bank excess renewable-water
supplies and provide water for both
normal years and those times when
resource shortages may develop.
 Establishment of large and small
surface water storage facilities will
benefit from increased runoff.
 There is also a fear that higher
carbon-di-oxide concentration in the
atmosphere may influence
dissolution of mineral substances
and alter the infiltration sequences
of soils.
 There is need to store water
underground as part of a larger
water management strategy, by
considering the role of saturated
flow and unsaturated flow in
artificial recharge.
 The Role of Saturated Flow in
Artificial Recharge
 The Role of Unsaturated Flow in
Artificial Recharge
 Aquifer recharge and aquifer storage
and recovery
wells(ASR)(USPA,1999) are used to
replenish the water in an aquifer.
 AR wells have been utilized to deter
salt water intrusion into freshwater
aquifers and to control land
subsidence(USEPA, 2009).
 AR and ASR wells are drilled to
various depths depending on the
depth of the receiving aquifer.
 Drainage wells include all wells that are used to
inject surface water directly into an aquifer, or
shallow ground water directly into a deeper
aquifer, primarily by gravity(Joel 0. Kimrey and
Larry D. Fayard,1984).
 Effective use of drainage wells requires a source of
injection water (a losing aquifer or surface water);
prevailing natural downward gradient from the
source to the receiving aquifer; and transmission
and storage characteristics of the receiving zone
that will allow emplacement of the volumes of
injection water without head buildup sufficient to
decrease severely the downward gradient.
 Establishing drainage wells with
adequate densities averaging about 2 to
4 wells per ten square km in the rural
and suburban and Direct street
stormwater-drainage wells in urban
areas may enhance to groundwater
recharge for a period of 100 years.
 Control pollutants through appropriate
methods.
 The lake-level control wells receive a mix of
rainfall, ground-water seepage, and
stormwater runoff during the wet seasons and
receive mostly groundwater seepage during
the dry seasons.
 The wetland drainage wells receive short
duration, high-intensity rainfall and
stormwater runoff and low, but continuous,
amounts of ground-water seepage nearly year
round.
 Green Strategies for Controlling Stormwater
and Combined Sewer Overflows(Natural
Resources Defense Council, 2006).
 The urban landscape, with its large areas
of impermeable roadways and
buildings—known as impervious
surfaces—has significantly altered the
movement of water through the
environment.
 Once upon a time under Jeevan
Dhara scheme, we dug million wells
( shallow open wells)
 Now, not in use. Is it possible to
convert them as recharge wells with
lateral drill-holes.
 Intensive collection of data &
creation of databases
 Climate Change Impact on
Groundwater –Research Groups
 Sharing of Simulation Results
 Groundwater resources are related to
climate change through the direct
interaction with surface water resources,
such as lakes and rivers, and indirectly
through the recharge process.
 Therefore, quantifying the impact of
climate change on groundwater
resources requires not only reliable
forecasting of changes in the major
climatic variables, but also accurate
estimation of groundwater recharge.
 GHG- GLOBAL
WARMING RISE OF LONG/SHORT-
TEMPERATURE TERM TREND-
UNDERSTOOD

GLOBAL
CLIMATE
EXTREME
CHANGE WEATHER
CHANGE IN
EVENTS
WEATHER
CYCLES

FLOODS/
DROUGHTS
CHANGE IN
PRECIPITATION SPATIAL AND
PATTERNS TEMPORAL UNCERTAINTY IN
VARIATIONS MAGNITURE AND
INTENSITY
 GLOBAL WEATHER PRECIPITATION-
CIRCULATION PREDICTION RUNOFF
MODELS(GCM) MODELS HYDROGRAPH
MODELS

ISLAND/
SEAWATER
INTERFACE SIM INTEGRATION RIVER BASIN
MODELS HYDROLOGY
OF MODELING
MODELS
METHODS

GROUDWATER
FLOW MODELS/
TRANSPORT FLOOD FORCAST
MODELS MODELS

WATER
QUALITY STREAM-AQUIFER UNSATURATED
SWAT MODEL
MODELS MODELS ZONE MODELS
 MODELING & SIMULATION
PLANET AS A WHOLE SCALE OF VARIATIONS

N-S HEMISPHERICAL SPATIAL :

X-DIMENSION
Y-DIMENSION
CONTINENTAL LEVEL Z-DIMENSION

NATIONAL
LEVEL TEMPORAL : Dt
CENTURY
REGIONAL / STATE LEVEL DECADE
ANNUAL
RIVER BASIN LEVEL SEASONAL
MONTHLY
WATERSHED LEVEL DAILY/ EVENT
 As climate change continues to affect our
water resources and elevate threats to public
health, water resource managers and
policymakers must act quickly to enact well-
informed, environmentally sound policies
that address the threats we already face while
preparing for the predicted challenges of
tomorrow.
 Scientific research can, however,
play a key role in the nation’s
response to climate change.
 The Technological solutions are
already available.

Thank you…