Earth & Life (http://www.geofinds.com), (2006-12-4), 1(4): 1-17.

 

  
   

Conceptual Framework of Decision Support System for Watershed Management in India

Dhore K. A. 1, Khare D. 1, Garg P. K. 2, Jat M. K. 2

 

1. Department of Water Resources Development and Management, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, UA, India- 247 667 (email: kishddwt@iitr.ernet.in )

2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, UA, India- 247 667

 

Abstract  Watershed management is one of the promising approaches for the management of natural resources in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. Effective watershed management requires the integration of theory, data, simulation models and expert judgement to solve the practical problems. This provides a scientific basis for the decision making at watershed level. Decision makers need more users’ friendly decision support systems (DSS) to understand and evaluate the alternative approaches. A DSS is a suite of computer programs with components consisting of database, simulation models, decision models, and user interfaces that assist the decision makers in evaluating the economic and hydrological impacts of competing the watershed management alternatives. A DSS can assess and present information geographically, or spatially, through the use of a geographic information system (GIS). One of the technical challenges in developing spatial decision support systems (SDSS) is the linking models for various aspects of complex watershed systems to estimate the effect of management alternatives. This paper provides a conceptual framework for a watershed management decision support system. A typical watershed decision problem has been discussed for studying the impact of land use scenario on water resources of the area.

Key words: Decision Support System, Watershed Management, Models, Land Use, GIS

1. Introduction

Watershed management in India is being adopted increasingly as an integration of technologies within the natural boundaries of a drainage area to optimally develop the land, water and biomass resources. The success of a watershed management program lies in identifying and adopting the appropriate interventions and assessing their impacts on environment (Wani et al., 2002). In order to adopt the best management practices, it is necessary to carry out the analysis of a watershed as an ecosystem at appropriate scale. The result of watershed analysis sets the range for subsequent decision-making processes, including planning, project development and regulatory compliance.

  
 

1

  
 

TO  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17    Contents of Vol. 1 No. 4