Reservoir Operations or Climate Extremes: Which Poses the Greater Threat to Natural Flow Regimes in the Western Ghats Rivers in India?

Reservoir Operations or Climate Extremes: Which Poses the Greater Threat to Natural Flow Regimes in the Western Ghats Rivers in India? | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 25 March 2026 V1 Latest version Share on Reservoir Operations or Climate Extremes: Which Poses the Greater Threat to Natural Flow Regimes in the Western Ghats Rivers in India? Authors : Akshay Kadu 0000-0002-6152-5922 [email protected] , Ashmita Sengupta , Basudev Biswal , Roshni Arora , and Bellie Sivakumar Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.177446758.83009238/v1 109 views 66 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract Maintaining natural streamflow variability along the drainage network is crucial for preserving ecological integrity, species diversity, and their abundance. Unplanned reservoir releases and climate change can alter the natural streamflow regime. A systematic assessment of streamflow alterations under reservoir operations and climate change scenarios along the river, across varying spatial scales, can offer crucial insights into the ecological vulnerability of the region. In this study, we analysed alterations to the natural streamflow regime driven by reservoir releases and an extreme future climate scenario (SSP5-8.5) in three nested basins of the Western Ghats, a recognised biodiversity hotspot in India. The objective was to assess whether reservoir operations or extreme climate conditions have a greater influence on natural flows and how the impacts vary across spatial scales. Our results indicate that reservoir operations after 2015 have substantially disrupted the natural streamflow regime, with effects that were largely consistent across all study basins. In contrast, under the projected extreme climate change scenario, alterations were comparatively lower and exhibited greater variability across basin scales. The largest basin showed minimal streamflow alteration, suggesting a higher resilience of larger basins to future climate change. Overall, our findings highlight that the reservoir operations in the study region need to be immediately regulated as they pose a threat to the natural streamflow regime, higher than that under the extreme climate change scenario. Supplementary Material File (westernghats_ecologicalflowalteration.pdf) Download 1.51 MB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 25 March 2026 Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords climate change ecological flow hydrological alterations natural stream regime Authors Affiliations Akshay Kadu 0000-0002-6152-5922 [email protected] Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Stantec ResourceNet Pvt. Ltd View all articles by this author Ashmita Sengupta Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation View all articles by this author Basudev Biswal Indian Institute of Technology Bombay View all articles by this author Roshni Arora The Nature Conservancy View all articles by this author Bellie Sivakumar Indian Institute of Technology Bombay View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 109 views 66 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Akshay Kadu, Ashmita Sengupta, Basudev Biswal, et al. Reservoir Operations or Climate Extremes: Which Poses the Greater Threat to Natural Flow Regimes in the Western Ghats Rivers in India?. Authorea . 25 March 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.177446758.83009238/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. 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