HYDROLOGICAL STUDIES REQUIRED FOR A WATER RESOURCES PROJECT

The terms of reference of the project not only require the development of HDAs but also highlight the
issue of integration of the design aids to produce a compact version and also to have a provision for
preparation of the hydrology chapter of a Detailed Project Report of a water resources project. It is
proposed to first prepare the configuration to produce a hydrology report and the developed system
should be an interactive system to prompt the user to provide for certain information which will be
necessary for producing the hydrology report. The inputs to the report would have to be provided as
basic inputs such as proposed project features, general characteristics of the interest areas etc. and also
the study results in a desired format that will be obtained through the developed HDA tools. The
hydrology report is to be as per the latest guidelines issued by Ministry of Water Resources/ CWC. The
Ministry of Water Resources guidelines for preparation of Hydrology Chapter for a detailed project
report (DPR) indicate that information on following aspects should be covered in the hydrology chapter
of the DPR. a) General Climate and Hydrology: This should cover general information about the region,
specific information about drainage basin, command area, floods and drainage, river geometry, ground
water recharge, reservoir area, other water usage, navigation and information on available
meteorological and hydrological data supported by inventories. Specifications of formats and details to
be provided are highlighted in the guidelines. b) Hydrological Data Requirement

This section shall discuss the type and extent of Hydrological Inputs required for the proposed plan of
development. The inputs required based on various developments are stipulated in the guidelines. c)
Compilation and processing of Basic Hydrological Data This part shall discuss the details of the specific
data collected for the purpose. The basic/ processed hydrological data should be collected, compiled
and discussed. Processing of data, adjustment of records, consistency of data will be carried out and
discussed. The processed data shall be compiled and furnished keeping in view the hydrological inputs
required for the studies for development in question. d) Preparation of Hydrologic Inputs for Simulation
This section shall cover the details and results of the analysis made for preparation of various hydrologic
inputs required for simulation studies to supplement the available data. Studies completed for water
inflows, lake evaporation, sedimentation studies to evaluate effect of depletion of reservoirs’ useful
capacity and potential evapotranspiration and rainfall in command shall be discussed. e) Preparation of
Hydrological Inputs for studies other than Simulation This part of the hydrology chapter shall include the
studies and their results relating to design flood, design flood level and tail water rating curve etc.
Studies required for design flood for safety of structures, flood storage and flood control works, design
of drainage in command area, diversion arrangements, levels for locating structures on river banks etc.
shall be discussed. f) Simulation Studies This section shall discuss the details of the simulation studies
and the conclusions arrived there from. The studies carried out for the alternative under consideration
shall be discussed in detail explaining all the factors and assumptions that have been made. g) Effect of
Project on Hydrologic Regime The guidelines stipulate that this section shall include effect on low flows,
peak flood, total runoff and sediment flows in different reaches of the river due to the project. The
information on above aspects will have to be collected/ compiled through the data inputs and studies
carried out through the developed HDA tools so as to produce the hydrology chapter of the DPR. 1.4
DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF HDA As indicated in para 1.3 above, the hydrology report
for a proposed project should cover general information, data requirements and processing, studies for
preparation of hydrological inputs, conclusions through the simulation studies and effect of the project
on hydrologic regime. It is seen that for any hydrological study the three main design parameters are: a)
Assessment of the resource potential for sizing a water resources development project b) Estimation of
design flood for the safety of any hydraulic structure c) Estimation of sediment rate so as to assess the
economic life of the project