Creating Healthy Working Rivers: The Wisdom of Environmental Flows

Abstract

"As demand for water grows, pressure to develop river water resources also grows. At the same time, enough water needs to remain in the rivers to keep them in good ecological health. This is the aim of maintaining environmental flows. "But how do we out how much water a river requires to meet environmental needs, and when does it need that water? So far, most environmental flow assessments have been done in developed countries where river flow data is good and there's plenty of expertise. A new approach, aimed at meeting the need for environmental flows in India, promises to help developing countries assess the environmental water requirements of the rivers using existing data and current knowledge."