Review on Effects of Climate Change on Water Resources

The primary objective of this study is to determine what drives to plan for the impacts of a changing climate. As the climate continues to change, climate scientists have projected changes in water quantities available for human and other uses. A review of the present study has been taken up to quantify the possible impact of the climate change on the water resources of Indian river systems within the constraints of the uncertainty of climate change predictions. Impacts of climate change and climate variability on the water resources are likely to affect irrigated agriculture, installed power capacity, environmental flows in the dry season and higher flows during the wet season, thereby causing severe droughts and floods in urban and rural areas. Climate change impacts on water resources which are addressed and analyzed in the present study include impacts on annual and inter-annual water availability as well as extreme events of droughts and floods. The analysis has been performed to evaluate the severity of droughts and floods and thus identify the vulnerable hotspots that may require attention in view of the climate change in various parts of the country. The analysis is also performed on the blue and green water so as to identify the climate change impacts on these sub-components of water that are responsible for environmental functions and biomass production. The study determines the present water availability in space and time without incorporating any man-made changes like dams, diversions, etc. The same framework is then used to predict the impact of climate change on the water resources with the assumption that the land use shall not change over time. The analysis has also been extended to the detection of extreme events of droughts and floods that may be triggered on account of the climate change and are of major concern to the local societies. This paper will focus on each and every aspect related to climate change impact assessment of water resources of India.