Rivers have been degraded globally due to various
reasons over centuries and limiting their
ecological health and value, including Ganga River in India. Riverscape
approach can provide relevant information on riverine resources needed
in river restoration programmes. We propose a
conceptual riverscape model to rejuvenate the holy river Ganga in India through
forestry interventions after due consideration of ecological processes, mosaic
of landforms, communities and environment within the large landscape of Ganga
basin.?The select
riverscape area includes the area of 5 km and 2 km on either side of the river Ganga and important tributaries, respectively, all
along the rivers in five stakeholder
states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal
in the country. The width of the riverscape was taken from the maximum bank
line in recent years on either side of river in the concerned state. However,
all micro-watersheds in the hills of Uttarakhand state, being the origin place
of river, have been included in riverscape area up to Haridwar. Here riverscape
is a mosaic of different land uses viz., natural ecosystems, rural and agricultural ecosystems and built-up urban
environment including flood plain and is an ecologically sustained
system developed during the last 30 years due to river meandering all along the
river. Geospatial modelling and GIS data on land use pattern, soil erosion
rates, slope of the topography, etc. were used to classify riverscape area into
high, medium and low priority areas to implement forestry interventions in
delineated riverscape. Thereafter, forestry interventions were planned and
carried out in three identified landscapes viz., Natural (forests), Agriculture
(agroforestry), and Urban along with conservation activities. Forestry
interventions in delineated riverscape are expected to increase water rechargeand decrease the sedimentation load in the Ganga River and its
tributaries.
References
[1]
Acevedo, L., Rauen, W., & Dziedzic, M. (2014). A Systematic Approach to River Restoration. In Conference: 13th IWA Specialized Conference on Watershed and River Basin Management. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270217052
[2]
Allan, J. D. (2004). Landscapes and Riverscapes: The Influence of Land Use on Stream Ecosystems. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 35, 257-284. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.35.120202.110122
[3]
Anon (2009). Report of the Ground Water Resources Estimation Committee. Ground Water Resources Estimation Methodology. Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, New Delhi.
[4]
Boisjolie, B. A., Flitcroft, R. L., & Santelmann, M. V. (2019). Patterns of Riparian Policy Standards in Riverscapes of the Oregon Coast Range. Ecology and Society, 24, 22. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10676-240122
[5]
Castelle, A. J., Conolly, C., Emers, M., Metz, E. D., Meyer, S., Witter, M., Mauermann, S., Erickson, T., & Cooke, S. S. (1992). Wetland Buffers: Use and Effectiveness. Publ. 92-10, Adolfson Associates for Shorelands and Coastal Zone Management Program, Washington Dept. of Ecology, Olympia, WA.
[6]
Champion, H. G., & Seth, S. K. (1968). A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Govt of India Publications.
[7]
Chauhan, M. S., Dikshit, P. K. S., & Dwivedi, S. B. (2015). Modelling of Discharge Distribution in Bend of Ganga River at Varanasi. Computational Water, Energy, and Environmental Engineering, 4, 25-37. https://doi.org/10.4236/cweee.2015.43004
[8]
CWC (2008). Theme Paper—Integrated Water Resource Development and Management. Central Water Commission, MOWR, Government of India, New Delhi, India.
[9]
Ellison, D., Morris, C. E., Locatelli, B., Sheil, D., Cohen, J., Murdiyarso, D., Gutierrez, V., Noodwijk, M. V., Creed, I. F., Pokory, J., Gaveau, D., Spracklen, D. V., Tobella, A. B., Sands, D. C., Muys, B., Verbist, B., Springgay, E., Sugandi, Y., & Sullivan, C. A. (2017). Trees, Forests and Water: Cool Insights for a Hot World. Global Environmental Change, 43, 51-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.01.002
[10]
Falke, J. A., Dunham, J. B., Jordan, C. E., McNyset, K. M., & Reeves, G. H. (2013). Spatial Ecological Processes and Local Factors Predict the Distribution and Abundance of Spawning by Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) across a Complex Riverscape. PLOS ONE, 8, e79232. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0079232
[11]
FRI (2016). Detailed Project Report (DPR) on Forestry Inventions for Ganga (Volume I, II). Forest Research Institute (ICFRE), New Forest, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.
[12]
Hamilton, L. S., & King, P. N. (1983). Tropical Forested Watersheds. Hydrologic and Soils Response to Major Uses or Conversions. Westview Press.
[13]
IPCC (2019). Climate Change and Land: An IPCC Special Report on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
[14]
IUCN (2016). Nature-Based Solutions to Address Global Societal Challenges (pp. xiii+97). International Union for Conservation of Nature.
[15]
Jones, J. A., Wei, X., Archer, E., Bishop, K., Blanco, J. A., Ellison, D., Gush, M., McNulty, S. G., van Noordwijk, M., & Creed, I. F. (2019). Forest-Water Interactions under Global Change. In D. F. Levia, D. E. Carlyle-Moses, S. Iida, B. Michalzik, K. Nanko, & A. Tischer (Eds.), Forest-Water Interactions (pp. 589-624). Ecological Studies Series No. [TBD], Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26086-6_24
[16]
Lane, E. W. (1955). The Importance of Fluvial Morphology in Hydraulic Engineering. Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Journal of the Hydraulics Division, 81, Article No. 745.
[17]
Leopold, L. B., & Marchand, M. O. B. (1968). On the Quantitative Inventory of the Riverscape. Water Resources Research, 4, 709-717. https://doi.org/10.1029/WR004i004p00709
[18]
Macfariane, D., & Bredin, I. (2017). Buffer Zone Guidelines for Rivers, Wetlands and Estuaries. Part 1: Technical Manual. Water Research Commission, WRC Report No. TT 715-1-17, Water Research Commission, Water & Sanitation Department, Republic of South Africa.
[19]
Mah, D. Y. S., Kuok, K. K. K., & Teo, F. Y. (2015). Case Study of Exploited Riparian Corridors: Rapid Assessment of Ecological Health for Riparian Buffer Width. International Journal of River Basin Management, 14, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/15715124.2015.1068177
[20]
Montgomery, D. R., & Wohl, E. E. (2003). Rivers and Riverine Landscapes. Development in Quarterly Science, 1, 221-246. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1571-0866(03)01011-X
[21]
Nienhuis, P., Buijse, A. D., Leuven, R. S. E. W., Smits, A. J. M., Nooij, R., & Samborska, E. M. (2002). Ecological Rehabilitation of the Lowland Basin of the River Rhine (NW Europe). Hydrobiologia, 478, 53-72. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1335-1_4
[22]
Palmer, M., Hondula, K., & Koch, B. (2014). Ecological Restoration of Streams and Rivers: Shifting Strategies and Shifting Goals. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 45, 247-269. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-120213-091935
[23]
Pichon, C. L., éTales, Gorges, G., Baudry, J., & Boët, P. (2016). Using a Continuous Riverscape Survey to Examine the Effects of the Spatial Structure of Functional Habitats on Fish Distribution. Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 31, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/02705060.2015.1035345
[24]
Resop, J. P., Lehmann, L., & Cully Hession, W. (2019). Drone Laser Scanning for Modeling Riverscape Topography and Vegetation: Comparison with Traditional Aerial Lidar. Drones, 3, 35-49. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones3020035
[25]
Richardson, J. S., Naiman, R. J., Swanson, F. J., & Hibbs, D. E. (2005). Riparian Communities Associated with Pacific Northwest Headwater Streams: Assemblages, Processes and Uniqueness. Journal of American Water Resources Association, 41, 935-948. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.2005.tb03778.x
[26]
Richardson, J., Naiman, R., & Bisson, P. (2012). How Did Fixed-Width Buffers Become Standard Practice for Protecting Freshwaters and Their Riparian Areas from Forest Harvest Practices? Freshwater Sciences, 31, 232-238. https://doi.org/10.1899/11-031.1
[27]
Savita, Mathur, P. K., Sharma, L. K., & Kumar, M. (2018). Forestry Interventions for Ganga Rejuvenation: A Geospatial Analysis for Prioritizing Sites. Indian Forester, 144, 1127-1135.
[28]
Singh, J. S., Rawat, Y. S., & Chaturvedi, O. P. (1984). Replacement of Oak Forest with Pine in the Himalaya Affects the Nitrogen Cycle. Nature, 311, 54-56. https://doi.org/10.1038/311054a0
[29]
Singh, O., Kar, S. K., & Reddy, N. M. (2023). Impact of Forestry Interventions on Groundwater Recharge and Sediment Control in the Ganga River Basin. Open Journal of Forestry, 13, 13-31.
[30]
Skidmore, P., & Wheaton, J. (2022). Riverscapes as Natural Infrastructure: Meeting Challenges of Climate Adaptation and Ecosystem Restoration. Anthropocene, 38, Article ID: 100334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2022.100334
[31]
Smucker, N. J., & Detenbeck, N. E. (2014). Meta-Analysis of Lost Ecosystem Attributes in Urban Streams and the Effectiveness of Out-of-Channel Management Practices. Restoration Ecology, 22, 741-748. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12134
[32]
Springgay, E., Ramirez, S. C., Janzen, S., & Brito, V. V. (2019). Forest-Water Nexus: An International Perspective. Forests, 10, 915. https://doi.org/10.3390/f10100915
[33]
Symmank, L., Natho, S., Scholz, M. et al. (2020). The Impact of Bioengineering Techniques for Riverbank Protection on Ecosystem Services of Riparian Zones. Ecological Engineering, 158, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2020.106040
[34]
Torgersen, C., Pichon, C. L., Fullerton, A. H., Dugdale, S. J., Duda, J. J., Giovannini, F., Tales, E., Belliard, J., Branco, P., Bergeron, N. E., Roy, M. L., Tonolla, D., Lamouroux, N., Capra, H., & Baxter, C. V. (2021). Riverscape Approaches in Practice: Perspectives and Applications. Biological Reviews, 97, 481-504. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12810
[35]
VT, ANR Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (2004). Vermont Stream Geomorphic Assessment Phase 3 Handbook. DEC River Management Program. http://www.watershedmanagement.vt.gov/rivers/htm/rv_geoassess.htm
[36]
Wang, L. X., Liu, H. M., Liu, Y. H., Liang, C. Z., Wang, W., Liu, D. W., & Friedrich, R. (2014). Introduction to the Concept, Foundation and Focuses of Riverscape Ecology. Wetland Science, 12, 228-234.
[37]
Ward, J. V. (1998). The Four-Dimensional Nature of Lotic Ecosystems. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 8, 2-8. https://doi.org/10.2307/1467397
[38]
Ward, J. V., Tockner, K., Arscott, D. B., & Claret, C. (2002). Riverine Landscape Diversity. Freshwater Biology, 47, 517-539. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2427.2002.00893.x
[39]
Wiens (2002). Riverine Landscapes: Taking Landscape Ecology into the Water. Freshwater Biology, 47, 501-515. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2427.2002.00887.x
[40]
Williams, G. P. (1986). River Meanders and Channel Size. Journal of Hydrology, 88, 147-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(86)90202-7
[41]
Wohl, E., Lane, S., & Wilcox, A. (2015). The Science and Practice of River Restoration. Water Resources Research, 51, 5974-5997. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR016874
[42]
Wu, J. G. (2013). Landscape Sustainability Science: Ecosystem Services and Human Well-Being in Changing Landscapes. Landscape Ecology, 28, 999-1023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-013-9894-9
[43]
Zhou, T., Ren, W., Peng, S., Liang, L., Ren, S., & Wu, J. (2013). A Riverscape Transect Approach to Studying and Restoring River Systems: A Case Study from Southern China. Ecological Engineering, 65, 147-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2013.08.005