WWF-India released a comprehensive report on the Environmental Flow (E-flows) requirement of the river Ganga, Titled “Assessment of Environmental Flows for the Upper Ganga”.

Provision of detailed continuous long-term hydrological time series data for any river basin is critical for estimation, planning and management of its current and future water resources. Most of the river basins in India are data poor, including its iconic river – Ganga (Ganges).

WWF-India has been working in the upper Ganga river stretch since 1997. Various programmes and projects involving indicator aquatic species and local communities have been implemented. It has been a major learning experience. The overarching focus has been on the effort to improve the status of the Ganga river ecosystem.

To provide the background hydrological information for the assessment of environmental flow requirements at four selected ‘Environmental Flow’ (EF) sites, a hydrological model was set up to simulate the catchment in the present state (with water regulation infrastructure) and to generate the natural flows (without water regulation infrastructure).