An integrated basin-scale indicator framework for assessing spatial imbalance in water availability and use: Evidence from India
- 1International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, India
- 2Corresponding author.
Abstract
Understanding basin-scale water-resource dynamics is essential for sustainable water-resources planning and management. However, existing national-scale assessments often evaluate rainfall, surface water, groundwater, storage infrastructure, and land-use dynamics separately, limiting a comprehensive understanding of basin-development status and water-resource conditions. Therefore, this study developed an integrated basin-scale indicator framework to assess water availability, utilization, groundwater stress, residual water, and basin-development status across 22 major river basins of India using nationally reported datasets on rainfall, surface water, groundwater, reservoir storage, sedimentation, and land use. The proposed framework integrates rainfall partitioning, groundwater processes, storage infrastructure, water utilization, land-use dynamics, and environmental-flow sensitivity within a common water-accounting structure. At the national scale, average annual rainfall of 1141 mm generates about 611 mm of basin water resources, of which 211 mm and 86 mm are utilized as surface water and groundwater, respectively, while approximately 314 mm (51.4%) remains as residual water. Considerable heterogeneity was observed across river basins. High-rainfall basins such as the Brahmaputra, Barak, and west-flowing river systems of the Western Ghats exhibited large residual-water fractions (>75%, reaching nearly 100% in some basins) and relatively low utilization, whereas basins such as Krishna, Cauvery, Pennar, and Indus showed intensive utilization, elevated groundwater stress, and limited residual-water availability. The Ganga basin, despite receiving moderate rainfall (∼1020 mm), was identified as a closing basin characterized by intensive conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater.The analysis further demonstrated that India's water resources are increasingly influenced by long-term human interventions in addition to hydro-climatic variability. Progressive reservoir sedimentation increased cumulative storage losses from 9.5% in 2000 to 16.6% in 2023, while expansion of irrigated agriculture has relied increasingly on groundwater development. The area-based assessment indicated that approximately 85% (range ∼ 78–86% across sensitivity and threshold scenarios) of the national river-basin area falls under critical to very critical water-stress conditions, whereas only about 15% remains under safe to very safe conditions. The study demonstrates that basin conditions are governed not only by hydrological availability but also by groundwater development, storage infrastructure, land-use change, and water-utilization patterns. The proposed framework provides a transparent and operationally relevant approach for integrated basin-scale water assessment and can support evidence-based water-resources planning and prioritization in India and other regions facing fragmented water-information systems and increasing pressure on water resources.
Related
- Indicator-based hydrological resilience framework for urban stormwater management systems
- TEPI: A transferable street-level framework for assessing urban thermal equity under data constraints
- From data availability to evidence sufficiency. PIH MS as an auditable framework for diagnosing hydrogeological knowledge gaps in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
- From conceptualization to empirical validation: Developing a framework for assessing local water governance using the Fuzzy Delphi method and confirmatory factor analysis
- Ecological responsibility, wellbeing, and transformative reach: a three-dimensional framework for assessing ecovillages as social innovations toward sustainability
BibTeX
@article{sahoo2026integrated,
title = {{An integrated basin-scale indicator framework for assessing spatial imbalance in water availability and use: Evidence from India}},
author = {Debi Prasad Sahoo and Kaushal Kishor Garg and Aiendrila Dey and Nagarjuna Reddy and Sourav Roy and Israr Majeed and Niranjan Padhan and Nagaraju Budama and Venkataradha Akuraju and K.H. Anantha and Ramesh Singh and Himanshu Pathak},
journal = {Ecological Indicators},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.ecolind.2026.115743},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2026.115743},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - An integrated basin-scale indicator framework for assessing spatial imbalance in water availability and use: Evidence from India
AU - Debi Prasad Sahoo
AU - Kaushal Kishor Garg
AU - Aiendrila Dey
AU - Nagarjuna Reddy
AU - Sourav Roy
AU - Israr Majeed
AU - Niranjan Padhan
AU - Nagaraju Budama
AU - Venkataradha Akuraju
AU - K.H. Anantha
AU - Ramesh Singh
AU - Himanshu Pathak
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Ecological Indicators
DO - 10.1016/j.ecolind.2026.115743
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2026.115743
AB - Understanding basin-scale water-resource dynamics is essential for sustainable water-resources planning and management. However, existing national-scale assessments often evaluate rainfall, surface water, groundwater, storage infrastructure, and land-use dynamics separately, limiting a comprehensive understanding of basin-development status and water-resource conditions. Therefore, this study developed an integrated basin-scale indicator framework to assess water availability, utilization, groundwater stress, residual water, and basin-development status across 22 major river basins of India using nationally reported datasets on rainfall, surface water, groundwater, reservoir storage, sedimentation, and land use. The proposed framework integrates rainfall partitioning, groundwater processes, storage infrastructure, water utilization, land-use dynamics, and environmental-flow sensitivity within a common water-accounting structure. At the national scale, average annual rainfall of 1141 mm generates about 611 mm of basin water resources, of which 211 mm and 86 mm are utilized as surface water and groundwater, respectively, while approximately 314 mm (51.4%) remains as residual water. Considerable heterogeneity was observed across river basins. High-rainfall basins such as the Brahmaputra, Barak, and west-flowing river systems of the Western Ghats exhibited large residual-water fractions (>75%, reaching nearly 100% in some basins) and relatively low utilization, whereas basins such as Krishna, Cauvery, Pennar, and Indus showed intensive utilization, elevated groundwater stress, and limited residual-water availability. The Ganga basin, despite receiving moderate rainfall (∼1020 mm), was identified as a closing basin characterized by intensive conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater.The analysis further demonstrated that India's water resources are increasingly influenced by long-term human interventions in addition to hydro-climatic variability. Progressive reservoir sedimentation increased cumulative storage losses from 9.5% in 2000 to 16.6% in 2023, while expansion of irrigated agriculture has relied increasingly on groundwater development. The area-based assessment indicated that approximately 85% (range ∼ 78–86% across sensitivity and threshold scenarios) of the national river-basin area falls under critical to very critical water-stress conditions, whereas only about 15% remains under safe to very safe conditions. The study demonstrates that basin conditions are governed not only by hydrological availability but also by groundwater development, storage infrastructure, land-use change, and water-utilization patterns. The proposed framework provides a transparent and operationally relevant approach for integrated basin-scale water assessment and can support evidence-based water-resources planning and prioritization in India and other regions facing fragmented water-information systems and increasing pressure on water resources.
SN - 1470-160X
SN - 1872-7034
ER -