River interlinking alters land-atmosphere feedback and changes the Indian summer monsoon
Abstract Massive river interlinking projects are proposed to offset observed increasing droughts and floods in India, the most populated country in the world. These projects involve water transfer from surplus to deficit river basins through reservoirs and canals without an in-depth understanding of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41668-x |
| _version_ | 1797355674917666816 |
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| author | Tejasvi Chauhan Anjana Devanand Mathew Koll Roxy Karumuri Ashok Subimal Ghosh |
| author_facet | Tejasvi Chauhan Anjana Devanand Mathew Koll Roxy Karumuri Ashok Subimal Ghosh |
| author_sort | Tejasvi Chauhan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Massive river interlinking projects are proposed to offset observed increasing droughts and floods in India, the most populated country in the world. These projects involve water transfer from surplus to deficit river basins through reservoirs and canals without an in-depth understanding of the hydro-meteorological consequences. Here, we use causal delineation techniques, a coupled regional climate model, and multiple reanalysis datasets, and show that land-atmosphere feedbacks generate causal pathways between river basins in India. We further find that increased irrigation from the transferred water reduces mean rainfall in September by up to 12% in already water-stressed regions of India. We observe more drying in La Niña years compared to El Niño years. Reduced September precipitation can dry rivers post-monsoon, augmenting water stress across the country and rendering interlinking dysfunctional. Our findings highlight the need for model-guided impact assessment studies of large-scale hydrological projects across the globe. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:15:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c2c1c1658e0c426996638b9ac6928e63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:15:30Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-c2c1c1658e0c426996638b9ac6928e632024-01-14T12:27:51ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-09-0114111310.1038/s41467-023-41668-xRiver interlinking alters land-atmosphere feedback and changes the Indian summer monsoonTejasvi Chauhan0Anjana Devanand1Mathew Koll Roxy2Karumuri Ashok3Subimal Ghosh4Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology BombayInterdisciplinary Program in Climate Studies, Indian Institute of Technology BombayCentre for Climate Change Research, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth SciencesCentre for Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of HyderabadDepartment of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology BombayAbstract Massive river interlinking projects are proposed to offset observed increasing droughts and floods in India, the most populated country in the world. These projects involve water transfer from surplus to deficit river basins through reservoirs and canals without an in-depth understanding of the hydro-meteorological consequences. Here, we use causal delineation techniques, a coupled regional climate model, and multiple reanalysis datasets, and show that land-atmosphere feedbacks generate causal pathways between river basins in India. We further find that increased irrigation from the transferred water reduces mean rainfall in September by up to 12% in already water-stressed regions of India. We observe more drying in La Niña years compared to El Niño years. Reduced September precipitation can dry rivers post-monsoon, augmenting water stress across the country and rendering interlinking dysfunctional. Our findings highlight the need for model-guided impact assessment studies of large-scale hydrological projects across the globe.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41668-x |
| spellingShingle | Tejasvi Chauhan Anjana Devanand Mathew Koll Roxy Karumuri Ashok Subimal Ghosh River interlinking alters land-atmosphere feedback and changes the Indian summer monsoon Nature Communications |
| title | River interlinking alters land-atmosphere feedback and changes the Indian summer monsoon |
| title_full | River interlinking alters land-atmosphere feedback and changes the Indian summer monsoon |
| title_fullStr | River interlinking alters land-atmosphere feedback and changes the Indian summer monsoon |
| title_full_unstemmed | River interlinking alters land-atmosphere feedback and changes the Indian summer monsoon |
| title_short | River interlinking alters land-atmosphere feedback and changes the Indian summer monsoon |
| title_sort | river interlinking alters land atmosphere feedback and changes the indian summer monsoon |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41668-x |
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