Harshadeep, Nagaraja RaoSadoff, ClaudiaBlackmore, Donald J.Wu, XunO'Donnell, AnnaJeuland, MarcLee, SylviaWhittington, Dale2016-04-252016-04-252013-03Water Policyhttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/24120This paper summarizes the results of the Ganges Strategic Basin Assessment (SBA), a 3-year, multi-disciplinary effort undertaken by a World Bank team in cooperation with several leading regional research institutions in South Asia. It begins to fill a crucial knowledge gap, providing an initial integrated systems perspective on the major water resources planning issues facing the Ganges basin today, including some of the most important infrastructure options that have been proposed for future development. The SBA developed a set of hydrological and economic models for the Ganges system, using modern data sources and modeling techniques to assess the impact of existing and potential new hydraulic structures on flooding, hydropower, low flows, water quality and irrigation supplies at the basin scale. It also involved repeated exchanges with policymakers and opinion makers in the basin, during which perceptions of the basin could be discussed and examined. The study’s findings highlight the scale and complexity of the Ganges basin. In particular, they refute the broadly held view that upstream water storage, such as reservoirs in Nepal, can fully control basin wide flooding. In addition, the findings suggest that such dams could potentially double low flows in the dry months. The value of doing so, however, is surprisingly unclear and similar storage volumes could likely be attained through better groundwater management. Hydropower development and trade are confirmed to hold real promise (subject to rigorous project level assessment with particular attention to sediment and seismic risks) and, in the near to medium term, create few significant tradeoffs among competing water uses. Significant uncertainties, including climate change, persist, and better data would allow the models and their results to be further refined.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOFLOODINGWATER QUALITYUPSTREAM DAMSSURFACE WATER SYSTEMGROUNDWATER STORAGEFLOOD PLAINFLOWBASIN BOUNDARIESRIVER BEDSFLOOD CONTROL BENEFITSSNOWDAMSSEDIMENT BUILDDOWNSTREAM IRRIGATIONFLOOD WATERSENVIRONMENTAL COSTSHYDROLOGYAQUIFERWATER SUPPLYRESERVOIRSSURFACE WATERFLOOD MANAGEMENTFLOOD PROTECTIONEMBANKMENT FAILUREDAM CONSTRUCTIONGROUNDWATER AQUIFERSFLOOD PEAKASSET MANAGEMENTRIVER COMMISSIONPEAK FLOWSWATER RESOURCESWATER SYSTEMWATER STORAGESTREAMBASIN STATESSALINE INTRUSIONWATER MANAGEMENTLARGE DAMSRIPARIAN COUNTRIESRIVER SYSTEMBASINSFLOODSWATERBASIN COMMUNITIESWATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENTRAINFALLDRAINAGERIVER BEDGLACIERSTRIBUTARIESAQUIFERSIRRIGATION WATERIRRIGATORSRUNOFFANNUAL RAINFALLCOASTAL AREASLARGE-SCALE INFRASTRUCTUREBASIN PLANSEMBANKMENTSANNUAL AVERAGE FLOWBASINLEAKAGEWATERSHED MANAGEMENTSTORAGE CAPACITYWATER TRANSFERRIVER BASIN MANAGEMENTHYDROPOWER POTENTIALBASIN DEVELOPMENTGROUNDWATER USECLIMATE CHANGERIVER CHANNELDROUGHTHYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENTWATER USESFRESHWATERRIVER BASINBASIN MANAGEMENTMAIN RIVERWATER POLICYINTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENTOPERATION OF DAMSHYDROPOWERSEDIMENT MANAGEMENTBASIN COMMITTEESDECISION MAKINGRIVERSANNUAL FLOWWATER RESOURCES PLANNINGSURFACE WATER IRRIGATIONCLIMATE CHANGESWATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENTSURFACE WATER FOR IRRIGATIONLOW FLOWSDOWNSTREAM ECOSYSTEMSFLOWS FOR IRRIGATIONDAMINTERNATIONAL RIVERSWATER AVAILABILITYMAJOR RIVERSFLOW AUGMENTATIONMAIN RIVER SYSTEMRIVER BASIN ORGANIZATIONFLOOD PLAINSENGINEERINGIRRIGATIONWATERSHEDRIVER FLOWSDOWNSTREAM AGRICULTUREGROUNDWATERMETERSREGIONAL DEVELOPMENTBASIN SCALEFLOOD CONTROLHYDROPOWER GENERATIONAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYRIVER SYSTEMSWATER INFRASTRUCTUREBASIN ORGANIZATIONDOWNSTREAM COUNTRIESGROUNDWATER RESOURCESNEW DAMSGROUNDWATER MANAGEMENTEVAPORATIONWATERSUPSTREAM DAMBASIN COUNTRIESUPSTREAM STORAGESURFACE WATER STORAGEENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONSRIPARIANAVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALLTRIBUTARYEMBANKMENTHYDRAULIC STRUCTURESREMOTE SENSINGRIVERJournal ArticleIWA Publishing10.1596/24120