Publication

Abstract : The present study examines the trends in the annual runoff of a tropical river basin Bharathapuzha, a medium sized river in southern India under the influences of anthropogenic pressures and climate change. The examination of the temporal trends in the rainfall, temperature and river runoff was done using historical datasets. It was supplemented with the data on the land use/land cover (LU/LC) change in the basin based on the LANDSAT TM data. By using a multiple regression model, the influential factors determining the river discharge were identified. The results show that while the rainfall influences the runoff positively, new water bodies, dams and other diversions in the fluvial setup in the basin influence the river runoff negatively.