Environmental Flows of Major Rivers in Uttar Pradesh

The "Environmental Flows of Major Rivers in Uttar Pradesh" report is a collaborative effort by the Uttar Pradesh Water Management and Regulatory Commission (UP-WAMReC), State Water Resources Agency (SWaRA), Uttar Pradesh Irrigation and Water Resources Department (UPI&WRD), and WWF-India. It provides a comprehensive assessment of the E-Flows needed to sustain the health of major rivers in Uttar Pradesh, including the Ganga and its tributaries like the Sharda, Ghaghra, Gomti, Rapti, Yamuna, and Gandak. It integrates hydrology, hydraulics, fluvial geomorphology, aquatic biodiversity, and socio-cultural factors using the Building Block Methodology (BBM). The recommended E-Flows regimes aim to support essential ecosystem services for communities and aquatic life, including the Gangetic Dolphins, and ensure the fulfillment of socio-cultural obligations valued by both the state and central government.

The report emphasizes the importance of maintaining specific water levels and flow patterns to sustain ecological functions and processes throughout wet and dry seasons. It outlines an implementation framework with technical, social, and institutional measures to support sustainable river basin management in Uttar Pradesh. The study received technical support from cGanga, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research - National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), the Peoples Science Institute (PSI-Dehradun), Terra-Aqua, and other thematic experts.