Management of Water, Energy and Bio-resources in the Era of Climate Change: Emerging Issues and Challenges

Urbanisation has a major impact on groundwater recharge in both quality and quantity as well as groundwater flow beneath cities. The impact is due to the import of large quantities of water as well as the extensive use of the ground for effluent discharge, waste disposal and groundwater extraction. Hence, effective management of urban aquifers has to incorporate the negative effects on groundwater resources in the underlying groundwater systems. The effect on recharge arises both from modifications to the natural infiltration system and changes in natural drainage. These changes are induced by leakage from water mains and by wastewater seepage. The resultant effect on the quality of recharge is generally adverse with urbanisation processes being the main causes of severe, but essentially diffuses pollution of groundwater and rising levels of salinity. Widespread groundwater contamination results from chlorinated hydrocarbons and other organic compounds. Additional adverse effects on a more localised basis are due to pathogenic agents in upper aquifer systems with insufficient sewage and waste-disposal infrastructure. Changing groundwater related issues could affect urban buildings and infrastructure resulting from lowering of groundwater levels by high extraction rates for water supply as well as by rising water tables. The general change in water quality can create significant problems especially in the latter situation.

Coastal saltwater intrusions threaten drinking and irrigation water resources along coastlines. On the other hand submarine groundwater discharges in nearly the same areas. The interface between saltwater and freshwater shifts over time and is mainly influenced by the seawater level and aquifer characteristics. During the last 140,000 years, seawater level fluctuation was very rapid. After a fast rising of about 120 m in the last interglacial, a slow drawdown of the same magnitude followed during the last glacial within 100,000 years. In the last 10,000 years, the water level again rose very fast and then it remained stable. Different aquifer types are influenced by these fluctuations in different ways. The two examples from North Africa and Mexico show how not only shelf platforms are flooded but also the interface in the ground water shifts over time. Both investigation areas are transboundary aquifers and the water supply of the population is affected directly by the hydrogeological development.

The shortage of water resources of good quality is becoming an important issue in hard rock and semi-arid zones and rapid declining of groundwater supplies are common (Raju and Reddy, 2007). Groundwater is the primary source of water for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses in many countries, and its contamination has been recognised as one of the most serious problems in India (Raju, 2007; Reddy et al., 2010; Raju et al 2009a). Major ion-chemistry of ground water provides the basis to investigate the weathering reactions in the basin (Das and Kaur, 2007; Raju et al., 2011). Each groundwater system, in the area, has a unique chemistry, acquired as a result of chemical alteration of meteoric water recharging the system (Back, 1966; Drever, 1997; Raju, 2012). The assessment of the suitability of groundwater for domestic water supply requires knowledge of the concentrations of inorganic constituents and their comparison with existing standards. Irrigation water quality concerns the amounts of salts present in ground water and their effects on crop growth and development. Since there is no adequate surface water supply, about 80-90 % of drinking and irrigation use is from available groundwater resources and the importance of groundwater utilization has increased at an alarming rate in parts of Panda River basin, Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh (Dey, 2010). Some parts of the study area are facing severe groundwater problems i.e. fluoride contamination which makes the water unfit for human consumption (Raju et al., 2009b). The main objective of the study is to assess spatial distribution of hydrogeochemical parameters and evaluate seasonal variation in groundwater chemistry of the upper Panda River basin, Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, India.

Ground water is treated as an important source of water due to its large volumes and its low vulnerability to pollution when compared to surface waters (USEPA, 2006). Bushehr is an arid region with low rainfall (100 mm/year) and very high evapotranspiration (3000 mm/year). Like other arid countries, ground water is the main source of water for different purposes. Pollution vulnerability assessment requires in-depth knowledge of the hydrogeological, hydrodynamic and hydrochemical characteristics of aquifers. Several methods and simulation models have been developed since the 1970s. In the last 15 years, the advent of GIS, permitting the inventory, archival, retrieval and display of spatial data and the link to numerical rating systems, has resulted in the widespread use of parametric methods, based on the hydrogeological setting: e.g. DRASTIC (Aller et al., 1987) commonly used in the USA, and SINTACS (Civita and De Maio, 2000), an Italian modification.

Chemical constituents of ground water evolve due to the interaction with aquifer minerals and mixing of different groundwater reservoirs along the flow path in the subsurface. Consequently, geochemical properties of ground water depends on chemistry of water in the recharge area as well as on the different geochemical processes that take place in the subsurface of the locality, including the presence of possible contamination sources. The increasing contamination of ground water by nitrate is primarily from the widespread use of commercial fertilizers which is an evolving public health concern factor in many agricultural regions of the world (Gulis et al., 2002; Raju et al., 2009).

The global climate system is a consequence of and a link between the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets (cryosphere), living organisms (biosphere), and soils, sediments and rocks (geosphere). The role of glaciers as sensitive climatic indicators and natural buffers of hydrological cycle is well established. In this era of much talked about climate change and global warming, glaciers have been correctly recognized as a thermometer and a crucial freshwater resource. Glaciers release meltwater during summers and early autumn, and, therefore, act as a water resource downstream by recharging river fed aquifer and influencing runoff (Bolch et al., 2012).

Arsenic is a naturally occurring toxic metalloid and its contamination in the hydrological system has significantly received worldwide attention in the last three decades. It is widely distributed in all the components of the environment and varies by more than four orders of magnitude ranging from <0.5 μg/l to 5000 μg/l in the natural water systems. Natural systems, with climate as the controlling mechanism, play an important role in strong geochemical fractionation with quantitative elemental transportation (Raju, 2012a). Natural systems of tropical environment are, therefore, a major concern for environmental scientists (Dissanayake and Chandrajith, 1999; Smedley and Kinniburgh, 2002). The study of fluvial time series provides the key for the understanding of elemental mobilization that controls the dissolved elemental concentration in the various components of the hydrological system (Raju 2012a). Studies have shown that dissolved As concentration in river water varies at a great extent and is mainly dependent on geology, hydrology, climate as well as various anthropogenic activities (Raju 2012b; Masson et al., 2007; Elbaz-Poulichet et al., 2006; Pettine et al., 1997; McLaren and Kim, 1995). In northern India, the Ganga Alluvial Plain (GAP) is one of the most densely populated regions of the world. It is drained by several alluvial rivers and supports nearly 500 million people. The objective of this paper is to report the seasonal variation and flux of dissolved As in the Gomati river and to understand the As mobilization for its eco-toxicological potentials in the GAP.

Groundwater recharge is a critical hydrological parameter. Identification of recharge zones and recharge estimates are essential to water resources management (Scanlon and Cook, 2002; Raju et al., 2006). In recent years, the overgrowing population and climate change are putting water resources under pressure all over the world. Sustainable management of aquifers to meet human and ecosystem needs will require protection of recharge areas and their augmentation (Reddy et al., 2000).

The hydrogeochemical processes and hydrogeochemistry of the ground water vary spatially and temporally, depending on the geology and chemical characteristics of the aquifer. Fresh groundwaters flowing through different aquifers may be identified and differentiated by their characteristic salinity levels and ionic ratios (Rosenthal, 1987). Changes in chemical characteristics of ground water in different aquifers over space and time often serve as an important technique in deciphering a geochemical model of the hydrological system (Cheboterev, 1955; Hem, 1959; Back and Hanshaw, 1965; Gibbs, 1970; Srinivasamoorthy, 2005; Srinivasamoorthy et al., 2008; Dehnavi et al., 2011). An understanding of geochemical evolution of ground water is important for a sustainable development of water resources for any region; in this connection, an attempt was made to assess the hydrochemical characteristics and chemical alteration of ground water in the study area.

The ground water is the major resource for meeting the water demand of the population for drinking, agriculture and industries throughout the year. Management of the groundwater resource is most essential for achieving goal of good health and prosperity (Yadav et al., 2003; Birendra Pratap, 2006). It is essential for increasing agricultural income, improving urban governance and strengthening the social fabric. The resources management is a multi-disciplinary task. Geophysical electrical resistivity survey is one of the tools for assessment of groundwater resources and management. The occurrence, movement and control of ground water, particularly in hard rock areas, are governed by topography, lithology, structures like fractures, faults and nature of weathering (Raju et al., 1996; Raju and Reddy, 1998).

Indiscriminate disposal of anthropogenic wastes and leaching of pollutants from these resulted in an ever-increasing threat to the quality of ground water resource base. Large-scale groundwater withdrawal for domestic, commercial, and industrial purposes leads to widespread decline of ground water table. For protection of groundwater from pollution (Singhal et al., 2003 and Singh et al., 1997), it is a matter of concern for the planners and decision makers to clearly characterize the groundwater renewal, quality of water and causes of its deterioration, sources of pollution, trace the movement of pollutants and containment of spreading from known sources. The characteristics of pollutants level and transport in groundwater are associated with variations in one or two parameters at one scale and several parameters at another scale. In order to understand the groundwater system (Glynn et al., 2005) and its hydro chemical and pollutant transport study for the Najafgarh drain basin area, a detailed study has been undertaken about the major ions and isotopic signatures of groundwater of the Najafgarh drain basin area of Delhi (Shivanna et al., 1998).

Near-surface geochemical prospecting studies have shown that the light hydrocarbon gases and helium can escape from the subsurface reservoirs/source rocks and migrate to the surface. Processes such as effusion and diffusion along with the secondary porosities in the rocks, sediments and soils can cause the gases to diffuse or migrate out in the atmosphere or get mixed with the ground water. Added selective references of near-surface geochemical prospecting occurrences of the surface geochemical anomalies pertaining to the seepage of natural gases indicate the possibility of hydrocarbon rich zones in the subsurface. The surface geochemical studies prove to be a cheaper and faster method to delineate potential hydrocarbon zones where detailed studies can be carried out and also these methods act as direct indicators of the micro-seepage of hydrocarbons.

Environmental issues such as climate change, global warming and energy supplies need to augment existing power generation facilities and have got the attention to develop gasification of biomass source, solar energy, wind energy etc. Biomass corresponds to various kinds of recently dead and living plant cell, anatomy, morphology and composition of which is distinct for different parts and species of plant (Shafizadeh, 1982).

Energy plays a crucial role in the socioeconomic development of the country as elsewhere in the world. The past five-year period from 2004–05 to 2008–09 witnessed the economy grow at an average rate of 8.5%, despite the worldwide financial crisis affecting the second half of the five-year period. For the expected economic growth trend (8-9%) to continue during the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017), the nation requires an annual growth of 6.5% per year in energy supply (GOI, 2011). In India, nearly half of the commercial, primary energy demand is met by coal, but the share of coal in India’s total primary energy constitutes about 38%, while the contribution of non-commercial energy such as firewood, cattle dung and agricultural waste forms about 28% of the total primary energy consumed (GOI, 2006a, b).

High levels of arsenic in the ground water are a matter of concern, especially in the Indo-Bangladesh region where over a million people are reported to be suffering from arsenic poisoning. This kind of slow, low level, inevitable poisoning has caused serious concerns about the health of all living species in these areas (Majumder et al., 2012).

It is well documented that soil, organic matter, fertilizer and pesticides from agricultural lands are transported into adjacent streams with surface runoff changing the quality of those water ways (Neuman and Dudgeon, 2002). The eroded soil particles transported over the agricultural lands include nutrients, pesticides and their residuals. Therefore, soil erosion can cause both physical and chemical impacts in adjacent aquatic systems (Merrigton et al. 2002). Even a thin film of fine sediments in aquatic systems can eliminate or reduce the sensitive taxa population of macro invertebrates, such as Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera (Evans, 1996; Leeks, 1995). However, pesticides transportation is one of the severe impacts on aquatic ecosystem compared to other chemicals such as artificial fertilizers (Liess and Schulz, 1999; Merrigton et al. 2002) altering the dynamics of macro-benthos communities in streams.

Increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) production has been a consequence of rapid population growth and urbanization in the past decade. It is startling to know that presently Delhi itself generates 8000 tonnes/day of MSW and to make the situation worse, it is projected to rise to 17,000-25,000 tonnes/day by the year 2021 (Talyan et al., 2008). The most commonly employed method for MSW management is landfill disposal. Landfill requires a close environmental engineering surveillance in its design and operation, as it is likely to generate leachate which would potentially contaminate nearby ground water and surface water (Mor et al., 2006). In spite of being economically viable, generation of heavily polluted leachate constitutes a major drawback of landfills. In the absence of leachate and landfill gas collection systems, these landfills are a major source of groundwater contamination and air pollution, including the generation of greenhouse gases (Talyan et al., 2008; Gardner et al., 1993).

Nanoparticles (NPs) have been reportedly found in the environment (Brar et al., 2010; Kumar et al., 2012; Sundaram and Kumar, 2012) and found to pose risks to ecological systems and to the human being (Nowack et al., 2012). During the use of wastewater effluent as potential irrigation water, plants may also receive NPs from water and might accumulate. Further, biosolids (i.e., sludge from wastewater) are also being used as fertilizer and through this route also plant might get exposed to NPs. Considering this pollution route and subsequent potential of exposures to humans, there is a need of testing protocols for assessing risk to human and other communities (Nowack et al., 2012; Kumar, 2012; OECD, 2012).

Arunachal Pradesh is located in north-east India in the transition zone between the Himalayan and Indo-Burmese region, and has 8.37 million ha geographical area (Sinha, 2008). It is situated between 26° 30′ and 29° 30′ N latitude and 91° 30′ and 97° 30′ E longitude (Fig. 1). The entire territory forms a complex hill system with varying elevations ranging from 50 m in the foot-hills and gradually ascending to about 7000 m. It is mostly hilly and mountainous covered with highly varied and dense vegetation (Kaul and Haridasan, 1987), which support fairly large populations of most taxonomic groups (Zoological Survey of India, 2006b). During last one decade several new species of vertebrates and invertebrates have been discovered from the state (Mishra and Datta, 2007; Sureshan, 2010).

Last six decades have seen an increasing awareness in the world towards the surrounding environment. Apart from air, water and soil pollution, noise pollution, which we often ignore, has been perceived to be an important aspect in determining the quality of our environment and life. This environmental menace of noise pollution, mainly associated with urban and industrial areas, has attracted the attention of environmentalists all over the world. Almost all the activities of the modern civilization contribute their shares to the noise environment. A major factor contributing to acoustic environment in cities is the transport noise which originates from road (i.e., vehicular), air and rail traffic. Road traffic noise differs from air, and rail traffic in the way that it is spread throughout the city and continuous in nature. Road traffic noise problems arose in cities due to population increase stemming from accelerated growth, internal migration, and the increasing number of vehicles, which pour into and add to the already overcrowded streets.

Among a large number of manmade chemicals, organochlorines such as aldrin, dieldrin, DDT and its derivatives (DDD, DDE), HCH (BHC), and PCBs are of great concern due to their highly bioaccumulative nature and toxic biological effects. These chemicals are persistent in nature, biomagnify in the food web and impose various toxic effects in marine organisms (Tanabe et al., 1997). Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), also existing as typical persistent toxic substances (PTS), have been of increasing concern in the world due to their salient features of persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity (Willett et al., 1998; Quan et al., 2003; Wong et al., 2005).

Ozone (O₃) is generated as an air pollutant in the troposphere in a photochemical reaction by the action of sunlight on volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen emitted by vehicles and industry. O₃ concentration in troposphere is rising at an annual rate of 0.5 % (IPCC, 2007) over its background concentration of 10–20 ppb. According to IPCC 4^th assessment report (2007), current tropospheric O₃ concentrations over the northern hemisphere in summers are about 30–40 ppb and are expected to rise upto 70 ppb in 2100. Elevated levels of O₃ present in troposphere are phytotoxic and directly affects plants by reacting with apoplastic leaf components and forming reactive oxygen species (ROS) like hydroxyl (OH⁻), peroxyl (OH²⁻) and superoxide (O₂ ⁻) radicals (Fiscus et al., 2005). This oxidative burst causes loss of photosynthetic activity and reduced growth and yield of crops (Fiscus et al., 2005). Economic crop losses due to O₃ were equivalent to $17-$82 million in US, 310 million euros in Netherlands and $ 2 billion in China (Mauzerall and Wang, 2001). In India also O₃ phytotoxic impacts on growth and yield of several crops were reported (Varshney and Rout, 1998, Tiwari et al., 2005; Mina et al., 2010). O₃ also influences plant’s susceptibility to biotic stress such as pathogens which causes diseases. Plants have innate mechanisms to protect them from various abiotic and biotic stresses. However the dual stress imposed by O₃ and pathogen affects tolerance of crop and leads to altered host pathogen interaction (Fuhrer, 2003). Alteration in pathogenesis potential of pest due to O₃ exposure is of ecological and economical importance.

Global warming marked by spiraling concentration of CO₂ in earth’s atmosphere is one of the most serious environmental concerns facing mankind. One of the most effective methods to mitigate the challenge of the rising levels of CO₂ is sequestration of CO₂ by microorganism inter-amos others since some microbes are capable of fixing atmospheric carbon dioxide into valuable products.

Continually rising concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere is increasing concerns over how to manage global warming. Quantification of sources and sinks of these gases have been carried out, but there remains incoherence among the estimates due to different nature of sources and processes related therewith. This renders inter-comparison and further utilization of available assessments quite incomparable. Except major point sources like thermal power plants, cement manufacturing, etc. which have been quantified confidently (Matthews et al., 2008), fugitive and sensitive sources/sinks still need proper quantification. Agriculture is one such system which plays dominating role in the global fluxes of CH₄ and N₂O, as their biggest emitter. Substantial inputs of energy, machinery, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in the modern agriculture bear embodied emissions in addition to much focused direct emissions from soil (Lal, 2004a). At the same time, agricultural soils may reportedly act as considerable carbon sink (Lal, 2004b). Therefore it becomes essential to integrate all inputs-outputs to estimate the actual impact.

The study of climate change has become the most intriguing aspect of scientific research all over the world. Particular attention has been paid to analyze the regional changes under well debated global warming, i.e. changes in air temperature, with less focus on the impact of climate change on other weather elements including rainfall. While global warming has been attributed to anthropogenic impacts by many scientists, changes in rainfall amounts are still without determining clear causal relationships. Teleconnections viz., El Niño and North Atlantic Oscillation etc. and respective changes in cyclogenesis frequencies are possible causes. The consequences of climate variability and climate change are potentially more significant for the poor in developing countries than for those living in more prosperous nations. Vulnerability to the impacts of climate change is a function of exposure to climate variables, sensitivity to those variables and the adaptive capacity of the affected community. Climate variability can cause abrupt disruptions, such as floods, droughts or tropical storms. These disruptions can take a major toll on a country’s economy if a significant part of economic activity is sensitive to the weather and climate.

The western Himalayas and adjoining north Indian region receives almost 1/3^rd of its annual precipitation during winter season (December, January and February – DJF) due to eastward moving low-pressure synoptic weather systems, called Western Disturbances (WDs) in Indian meteorological parlance (Pisharoty and Desai, 1956; Rao and Srinivasan, 1969; Singh, 1979; Kalsi, 1980; Kalsi and Haldar, 1992; Dimri and Mohanty, 2009). Mohanty et al. (1998) carried out a brief survey of the frequency and track of the WDs and their impact on the quantum of precipitation and other climatological parameters at some sites in the north India. Further the Himalayan mountain ranges, having different altitudes and orientations, cause the prevailing weather conditions to be complex. Surface weather elements like precipitation and temperature are highly dependent upon local topography and local atmospheric circulations (Dimri, 2004).

Dal Lake is located in Srinagar in the Jammu and Kashmir State of India. It is one of the foremost tourist attractions in the Himalayan valley as well as a lifeline for the local population. It provides fish, aquatic vegetables and drinking water. It has been plagued for the last 20 years by a thin red film during the period of June-August, when the tourist influx is at its peak. This phenomenon is attributed to a rare Euglena species Euglena shafiqii (Shafiq-ur-Rehman, 1998), which is now recognized and listed by the International Water Environment Renovation Research Team, Japan and the Society of Protozoologists. The lake frequently receives large quantities of wastes from the surrounding human settlements, hotels, and runoff from agricultural and Dachigam sanctuary catchment lands/area. All these activities make lake pollution prone. Our earlier observations have shown presence of some heavy metals in significant amount in the red-bloomed waters of the lake (Shafiq-ur-Rehman, 2009). The raised concentrations of heavy metals in lakes have also been reported from different parts of the world (Yalcin and Sevinc, 2001; Szymannowska et al., 1999; Elmaci, 2007). There are many spectrophotochemical techniques based on a range of physical principles encompassing the spectral range from Infrared to the X-Ray region (Wobrauschek, 1998). In the case when X-rays are used for elemental analysis their energy can range from 110 eV to about 130 keV (Be to Bk). Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence (TXRF) is an upcoming trace elemental analysis technique having several advanced analytical features (Klockenkaemper and von Bohlen, 2001). Moreover, TXRF holds several analytical advantages of non-destruction and versatility of sample, capability to analyze multi-elements, and is less time consuming. It has comparatively high detection limits due to high background reduction produced by the absorption and scattering of X-ray beam by the sample and matrix (Misra and Mudher, 2002). In the present study TXRF was applied to determine the concentration of trace elements present in Dal Lake water besides the red-bloom Euglena shafiqii which appears in the lake in certain months of the year.