African Journal of Geography and Regional Planning

African Journal of Geography and Regional Planning ISSN 3627-8945 Vol. 6 (4), pp. 001-015, April, 2019. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Coupling law and technology for water allocations among riparian states

Singh Amardeep¹* and A. K. Gosain²

¹Central Soil and Materials Research Station, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016, India.

²Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016, India.

Accepted 09 February, 2019

Abstract

The problem of sharing the waters of trans-boundary watercourses has traditionally been viewed as one lying exclusively within the domain of legal doctrines. However, lack of information about the sustainable futuristic scenarios of possible water allocations acts as a deterrent in resolving the conflicts pertaining to trans-boundary watercourses. It is increasingly being felt that technology, in the form of simulation modeling, has a very significant role to play in this context. However, law and technology so far stand isolated in their respective spheres. This study is an attempt to use technology to bridge the information gap that usually persists for law enforcing agencies. The legal doctrines consist of a broad series of guidelines. The present work is an attempt to support a legal doctrine by devising a set of quantifiable formulae for water allocations among the riparian states by taking the case study of an Indian interstate river basin. The potential role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based hydrological modeling in bringing about an effective resolution of the problems pertaining to the sharing of interstate rivers has been demonstrated. The hydrological model used for the study is Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The study shows that simulation modeling can play a very significant role in conflict resolution by generating a series of scenarios or options for the stakeholders, so as to enable them to take sound rational decisions.

Key words:  Legal doctrines, scenario generation, simulation modeling, trans-boundary watercourses, water allocations.