Development of an environmental DSS for the Yamuna River, India

Yamuna is a river of major importance in India, originating in the Himalaya, passing the capital of India, New Delhi, before it enters the Ganges River. The conditions in the Yamuna river is threathened by water usage from an increasing population and from increasing levels of pollution loads to the Yamuna River from the catchment area.

A decision support system (DSS) has been established for optimizing water resource allocation and management of water quality in the Yamuna river system. It consist primarily of two modeling elements.:

• A broad-scale catchment model for analysis of the impact of water allocation scenarios within the catchment and effect of water transfers from neighboring catchments.
• A detailed river water quality model for the main part of the Yamuna River System covering Yamuna River, Hindon River and Eastern Yamuna Canal.

The catchment model was calibrated on data covering a 10 years period. The river water quality model was primarily calibrated on a non-monsoon period from 2009. 

The DSS was developed for use by managers without special modeling skills.

Based on data on e.g. population development, water demands and sewage treatment alternatives, it will inform about water deficiencies, pollution loads from various sources, and the water quality conditions in the Yamuna River in time and space displayed in a transparent GIS.