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Soil erosion is a serious environmental issue in the Gomal River catchment shared by Pakistan and Afghanistan. The river segment between the Gomal Zam dam and a diversion barrage (~40 km) brings a huge load of sediments that negatively affects the downstream irrigation system, but the sediment sources have not been explored in detail in this sub-catchment. The analysis of flow and sediment data shows that the significant sediment yield is still contributing to the diversion barrage despite the Gomal Zam dam construction. However, the sediment share at the diversion barrage from the sub-catchment is much larger than its relative size. A spatial assessment of erosion rates in the sub-catchment with the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) shows that most of the sub-catchment falls into very severe and catastrophic erosion rate categories (>100 t h−1y−1). The sediment entry into the irrigation system can be managed both by limiting erosion in the catchment and trapping sediments into a hydraulic structure. The authors tested a scenario by improving the crop management factor in RUSLE as a catchment management option. The results show that improving the crop management factor makes little difference in reducing the erosion rates in the sub-catchment, suggesting other RUSLE factors, and perhaps slope is a more obvious reason for high erosion rates. This research also explores the efficiency of a proposed settling reservoir as a sediment load management option for the flows diverted from the barrage. The proposed settling reservoir is simulated using a computer-based sediment transport model. The modeling results suggest that a settling reservoir can reduce sediment entry into the irrigation network by trapping 95% and 25% for sand and silt particles, respectively. The findings of the study suggest that managing the sub-catchment characterizing an arid region and having steep slopes and barren mountains is a less compelling option to reduce sediment entry into the irrigation system compared to the settling reservoir at the diversion barrage. Managing the entire catchment (including upstream of Gomal Zam dam) can be a potential solution, but it would require cooperative planning due to the transboundary nature of the Gomal river catchment. The output of this research can aid policy and decision-makers to sustainably manage sedimentation issues in the irrigation network.
Muhammad Bhatti; Muhammad Ashraf; Arif Anwar. Soil Erosion and Sediment Load Management Strategies for Sustainable Irrigation in Arid Regions. Sustainability 2021, 13, 3547 .
AMA StyleMuhammad Bhatti, Muhammad Ashraf, Arif Anwar. Soil Erosion and Sediment Load Management Strategies for Sustainable Irrigation in Arid Regions. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (6):3547.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMuhammad Bhatti; Muhammad Ashraf; Arif Anwar. 2021. "Soil Erosion and Sediment Load Management Strategies for Sustainable Irrigation in Arid Regions." Sustainability 13, no. 6: 3547.
The Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS) lacks a system for measuring canal inflows, storages, and outflows that is trusted by all parties, transparent, and accessible. An earlier attempt for telemetering flows in the IBIS did not deliver. There is now renewed interest in revisiting telemetry in Pakistan’s IBIS at both national and provincial scales. These investments are typically approached with an emphasis on hardware procurement contracts. This paper describes the experience from field installations of flow measurement instruments and communication technology to make the case that canal flows can be measured at high frequency and displayed remotely to the stakeholders with minimal loss of data and lag time between measurement and display. The authors advocate rolling out the telemetry system across IBIS as a data as a service (DaaS) contract rather than as a hardware procurement contract. This research addresses a key issue of how such a DaaS contract can assure data quality, which is often a concern with such contracts. The research findings inform future telemetry investment decisions in large-scale irrigation systems, particularly the IBIS.
Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Arif A. Anwar; Muhammad Azeem Ali Shah. Revisiting Telemetry in Pakistan’s Indus Basin Irrigation System. Water 2019, 11, 2315 .
AMA StyleMuhammad Tousif Bhatti, Arif A. Anwar, Muhammad Azeem Ali Shah. Revisiting Telemetry in Pakistan’s Indus Basin Irrigation System. Water. 2019; 11 (11):2315.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMuhammad Tousif Bhatti; Arif A. Anwar; Muhammad Azeem Ali Shah. 2019. "Revisiting Telemetry in Pakistan’s Indus Basin Irrigation System." Water 11, no. 11: 2315.
The apportionment of waters of the Indus River System between the provinces of Pakistan is widely hailed as a historic agreement. This agreement (herein referred to as the Accord) was signed into effect in 1991, just over 25 years ago. The Accord lacks a clearly stated objective and hence it is difficult to review the Accord against its objective. This paper presents a detailed thematic review of the Accord and interprets the literature and data sets that have become available over the last 25 years. Although the Accord leaves room for interpretation, which is often biased to a particular perspective, an obvious starting point that has been highlighted in the literature is to improve water accounting in the Indus basin and to clarify and document the Operating Rules. Over the next 25 years, demographic change, socioeconomic change, and climate change in the Indus Basin will place this Accord under increased scrutiny.
Arif A. Anwar; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. Pakistan’s Water Apportionment Accord of 1991: 25 Years and Beyond. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 2018, 144, 05017015 .
AMA StyleArif A. Anwar, Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. Pakistan’s Water Apportionment Accord of 1991: 25 Years and Beyond. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. 2018; 144 (1):05017015.
Chicago/Turabian StyleArif A. Anwar; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. 2018. "Pakistan’s Water Apportionment Accord of 1991: 25 Years and Beyond." Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 144, no. 1: 05017015.
Tonny T. De Vries; Arif A. Anwar; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. Canal Operations Planner. III: Minimizing Inequity with Delivery Performance Ratio Relaxation. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 2017, 143, 04017038 .
AMA StyleTonny T. De Vries, Arif A. Anwar, Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. Canal Operations Planner. III: Minimizing Inequity with Delivery Performance Ratio Relaxation. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering. 2017; 143 (9):04017038.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTonny T. De Vries; Arif A. Anwar; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. 2017. "Canal Operations Planner. III: Minimizing Inequity with Delivery Performance Ratio Relaxation." Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 143, no. 9: 04017038.
Online inventory of tube-wells in a canal command through digital photography.Farmer Organization engaged in groundwater monitoring as an institution.Automatic recording instruments for monitoring groundwater levels and quality. Due to extensive groundwater development in the recent past, Pakistan now faces enormous challenges of groundwater management as it struggles to ensure food security for its rapidly growing population. These management challenges require a re-balancing of surface and groundwater monitoring objectives and approaches in the country. This article presents the current status of the groundwater monitoring and management in Pakistan. A compelling case is presented for optimization of material resources in improving groundwater level and quality data by proposing to use farmer organizations as a source of crowd sourced groundwater information. The authors showcase new methods to collect groundwater data and demonstrate use of automatic recording instruments for groundwater monitoring in a tertiary canal command area in the Pakistans Punjab. The results suggest that the potential for broader impact by engaging farmer organization and expanding monitoring networks is attractive. A common concern about long term deployment of automatic instruments is that the observation wells are not purged before extracting water quality samples. The authors address this concern through a field experiment by utilizing capabilities of automatic recording instruments.
Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Arif Anwar; Muhammad Aslam. Groundwater monitoring and management: Status and options in Pakistan. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 2017, 135, 143 -153.
AMA StyleMuhammad Tousif Bhatti, Arif Anwar, Muhammad Aslam. Groundwater monitoring and management: Status and options in Pakistan. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. 2017; 135 ():143-153.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMuhammad Tousif Bhatti; Arif Anwar; Muhammad Aslam. 2017. "Groundwater monitoring and management: Status and options in Pakistan." Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 135, no. : 143-153.
Equity of water distribution is an oft-repeated and stated aim of the warabandi irrigation systems prevalent in Pakistan and parts of India. The Canal Operations Plan is one tool used to operationalize equitable distribution of water. These plans are created for every canal system every crop season. This companion paper applies operations research tools to this problem and explicitly minimizes inequity as measured by the Gini index of the cumulative depth of water supplied. The results are analyzed and compared with those obtained from the models of the companion paper that maximize delivery performance ratio (DPR) and conclude that the linear programme-delivery performance ratio (LP-DPR) model given in the companion paper is overall slightly superior to the linear programme-inequity (LP-INEQ) model presented in this paper. This paper highlights that a performance indicator of equity such as the Gini may not fully capture the sense of fairness from a farmer’s perspective. Application of this research is demonstrated through an engineering application in the preparation of a canal operations plan for the summer 2016 and winter 2016–2017 crop season.
Arif A. Anwar; Tonny T. De Vries; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. Canal Operations Planner. II: Minimizing Inequity. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 2016, 142, 04016058 .
AMA StyleArif A. Anwar, Tonny T. De Vries, Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. Canal Operations Planner. II: Minimizing Inequity. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering. 2016; 142 (12):04016058.
Chicago/Turabian StyleArif A. Anwar; Tonny T. De Vries; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. 2016. "Canal Operations Planner. II: Minimizing Inequity." Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 142, no. 12: 04016058.
A key operational objective for the management of the Indus Basin Irrigation System of Pakistan is the distribution of water among tertiary canals in a transparent and equitable manner. Decisions on canal operations are disseminated as a Canal Operation Plan, or a Rotational Program, for each crop season for every canal system. The current practice for developing these plans is qualitative based on heuristics that have remain unchanged since the early development of this vast irrigation system. This paper uses operations research tools to develop a Canal Operations Planner. Allocation cost is defined as a function of the delivery performance ratio and maximizing this function. The performance of the modules is evaluated using spillage and the Gini index as a measure of equity. Two models, namely; linear programme-delivery performance ratio (LP-DPR) and non linear programme-delivery performance ratio (NLP-DPR) are presented and the results are compared to performance under current canal planning and operational practice. Both models improve the equity when compared to existing operations. The NLP-DPR model outperforms the LP-DPR both on equity and minimizing spillage.
Arif A. Anwar; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Tonny T. De Vries. Canal Operations Planner. I: Maximizing Delivery Performance Ratio. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 2016, 142, 04016057 .
AMA StyleArif A. Anwar, Muhammad Tousif Bhatti, Tonny T. De Vries. Canal Operations Planner. I: Maximizing Delivery Performance Ratio. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering. 2016; 142 (12):04016057.
Chicago/Turabian StyleArif A. Anwar; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Tonny T. De Vries. 2016. "Canal Operations Planner. I: Maximizing Delivery Performance Ratio." Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 142, no. 12: 04016057.
In this research we explore the potential of precision surface irrigation to improve irrigation performance under the warabandi system prevalent in the Indus Basin Irrigation System. Data on field dimensions, field slopes along with characteristic soil infiltration properties and outlet discharge were collected through a survey of a sample tertiary unit of Maira Branch Canal, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The performance of all fields in the tertiary unit was analysed and reported in aggregate, with detailed results of one field presented for illustration. The objective is to determine the optimum field layout, defined as the number of border strips, for the observed field characteristics to maximize performance. The results indicate that performance improvement is relatively easily achievable through changes in field layout within current irrigation services. Estimated application efficiency is sensitive to the selected depth of application, and it is important that a practical depth of application is selected. We recommend a depth of application of 50 mm and show how this is achievable and leads to a low quarter distribution uniformity of 0.750 and an application efficiency of 80 %. We also explore the feasibility of a 10-day warabandi rather than the 7-day warabandi and show that there is no significant change in the performance under a 10-day warabandi.
Arif A. Anwar; Waqas Ahmad; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Zia Ul Haq. The potential of precision surface irrigation in the Indus Basin Irrigation System. Irrigation Science 2016, 34, 379 -396.
AMA StyleArif A. Anwar, Waqas Ahmad, Muhammad Tousif Bhatti, Zia Ul Haq. The potential of precision surface irrigation in the Indus Basin Irrigation System. Irrigation Science. 2016; 34 (5):379-396.
Chicago/Turabian StyleArif A. Anwar; Waqas Ahmad; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Zia Ul Haq. 2016. "The potential of precision surface irrigation in the Indus Basin Irrigation System." Irrigation Science 34, no. 5: 379-396.
SUMMARYThis paper evaluates 30-year (2013–2042) projections of the selected climatic parameters in cotton/wheat agro-climatic zone of Pakistan. A statistical bias correction procedure was adopted to eliminate the systematic errors in output of three selected general circulation models (GCM) under A2 emission scenario. A transfer function was developed between the GCM outputs and the observed time series of the climatic parameters (base period: 1980–2004) and applied to GCM future projections. The predictions detected seasonal shifts in rainfall and increasing temperature trend which in combination can affect the crop water requirements (CWR) at different phonological stages of the two major crops (i.e. wheat and cotton). CROPWAT model is used to optimize the shifts in sowing dates as a climate change adaptation option. The results depict that with reference to the existing sowing patterns, early sowing of wheat and late sowing of cotton will favour decreased CWR of these crops.
Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Khaled S. Balkhair; Amjad Masood; Saleem Sarwar. OPTIMIZED SHIFTS IN SOWING TIMES OF FIELD CROPS TO THE PROJECTED CLIMATE CHANGES IN AN AGRO-CLIMATIC ZONE OF PAKISTAN. Experimental Agriculture 2016, 54, 201 -213.
AMA StyleMuhammad Tousif Bhatti, Khaled S. Balkhair, Amjad Masood, Saleem Sarwar. OPTIMIZED SHIFTS IN SOWING TIMES OF FIELD CROPS TO THE PROJECTED CLIMATE CHANGES IN AN AGRO-CLIMATIC ZONE OF PAKISTAN. Experimental Agriculture. 2016; 54 (2):201-213.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMuhammad Tousif Bhatti; Khaled S. Balkhair; Amjad Masood; Saleem Sarwar. 2016. "OPTIMIZED SHIFTS IN SOWING TIMES OF FIELD CROPS TO THE PROJECTED CLIMATE CHANGES IN AN AGRO-CLIMATIC ZONE OF PAKISTAN." Experimental Agriculture 54, no. 2: 201-213.
Braided reaches of large rivers in alluvial plains show major morphological changes, particularly the external bank erosion, due to the flood events. This paper highlights the bank erosion and channel evolution induced by eleven different flood events in a 7-km long reach of the River Chenab, Pakistan. The impact of floods on river bank erosion and channel evolution is analyzed under low and high flow conditions. Flood-induced changes, for river’s external banks and channel evolution, were assessed by processing Landsat ETM+ images in ArcGIS tool, and their inter-relationship is evaluated through regression analysis. The results revealed that the major morphological changes were triggered by the flood events occurred during the high flow or Monsoon season (July–September), whereas the flood events of similar magnitude occurring during low flow season (October–March) did not induce such changes. Mostly, the erosion remained limited to the middle part of the reach, where the branch channel flows along the bank. The average annual bank erosion rates are much higher as compared with a global scale. Data analysis showed a strong correlation between the mean high flows and total bank erosion indicating that Monsoon seasonal flows and floods are responsible for bank erosion. The present study further identifies the river bank locations highly susceptible to erosion by developing the correlation between bank erosion and branch channel progression. Strong correlation for bank erosion could be established with the shift of branch channels position flowing along the banks in braided reaches of sand bed rivers. However, the presence of sand bars along the river banks resulted in reduced erosion that weakens this relationship. The findings of the present study can help develop better understanding about the bank erosion process and constitute a key element to inform and improve river bank management.
Muhammad Ashraf; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Abdul Sattar Shakir. River bank erosion and channel evolution in sand-bed braided reach of River Chenab: role of floods during different flow regimes. Arabian Journal of Geosciences 2016, 9, 1 -10.
AMA StyleMuhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Tousif Bhatti, Abdul Sattar Shakir. River bank erosion and channel evolution in sand-bed braided reach of River Chenab: role of floods during different flow regimes. Arabian Journal of Geosciences. 2016; 9 (2):1-10.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMuhammad Ashraf; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Abdul Sattar Shakir. 2016. "River bank erosion and channel evolution in sand-bed braided reach of River Chenab: role of floods during different flow regimes." Arabian Journal of Geosciences 9, no. 2: 1-10.
AT Marala barrage, two canals, i.e. Marala Ravi Link Canal (MRLC) and Upper Chenab Canal (UCC) off-take from left side of the River Chenab. MRLC has a very old history of experiencing sedimentation issues. Several attempts have been made to counterfoil or minimize this problem in the recent past. Two remarkable measures are the remodeling of MRLC in 2000–2001 (intervention-1) and the shifting of the confluence point of a heavily sediment-laden upstream tributary of the Chenab River by construction of a spur dike in 2004 (intervention-2). This paper investigates the effectiveness of these structural interventions as sedimentation control measures. The baseline period is selected from 1997 to 2000 and the impact is analyzed for two post-intervention time steps, i.e. evaluation period-1 ranging from 2001 to 2004 and evaluation period-2 from 2005 to 2011. Results obtained from double mass analysis revealed that sediment load increased by 33 and 8 % due to intervention-1, while decreased by 12 and 22 % due to intervention-2 in MRLC and UCC, respectively. The results suggest that monsoon floods are mainly responsible for sediment loading in the canals (66 % for UCC and 73 % for MRLC), supported by the finding that effective discharge (1900 m3 s−1) is almost twice the mean annual river discharge. The discharge classes between 900 and 2900 m3 s−1 are mainly responsible for major proportion (89 % in MRLC and 86 % in UCC) of the total sediment load over the 15-year study period. The intervention-1 could not minimize the sediment entry into the canals; rather it aggravated the situation. The intervention-2, however, proved a useful structural measure in this regard.
Muhammad Ashraf; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Abdul Sattar Shakir; Adnan Ahmad Tahir; Afzal Ahmad. Sediment control interventions and river flow dynamics: impact on sediment entry into the large canals. Environmental Earth Sciences 2015, 74, 5465 -5474.
AMA StyleMuhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Tousif Bhatti, Abdul Sattar Shakir, Adnan Ahmad Tahir, Afzal Ahmad. Sediment control interventions and river flow dynamics: impact on sediment entry into the large canals. Environmental Earth Sciences. 2015; 74 (7):5465-5474.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMuhammad Ashraf; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Abdul Sattar Shakir; Adnan Ahmad Tahir; Afzal Ahmad. 2015. "Sediment control interventions and river flow dynamics: impact on sediment entry into the large canals." Environmental Earth Sciences 74, no. 7: 5465-5474.
A large proportion of Pakistan's irrigation water supply is taken from the Upper Indus River Basin (UIB) in the Himalaya-Karakoram-Hindukush range. More than half of the annual flow in the UIB is contributed by five of its snow and glacier-fed sub-basins including the Astore (Western Himalaya - south latitude of the UIB) and Hunza (Central Karakoram - north latitude of the UIB) River basins. Studying the snow cover, its spatio-temporal change and the hydrological response of these sub-basins is important so as to better manage water resources. This paper compares new data from the Astore River basin (mean catchment elevation, 4100 m above sea level; m asl afterwards), obtained using MODIS satellite snow cover images, with data from a previously-studied high-altitude basin, the Hunza (mean catchment elevation, 4650 m asl). The hydrological regime of this sub-catchment was analyzed using the hydrological and climate data available at different altitudes from the basin area. The results suggest that the UIB is a region undergoing a stable or slightly increasing trend of snow cover in the southern (Western Himalayas) and northern (Central Karakoram) parts. Discharge from the UIB is a combination of snow and glacier melt with rainfall-runoff at southern part, but snow and glacier melt are dominant at the northern part of the catchment. Similar snow cover trends (stable or slightly increasing) but different river flow trends (increasing in Astore and decreasing in Hunza) suggest a sub-catchment level study of the UIB to understand thoroughly its hydrological behavior for better flood forecasting and water resources management.
Adnan Ahmad Tahir; Pierre Chevallier; Yves Arnaud; Muhammad Ashraf; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. Snow cover trend and hydrological characteristics of the Astore River basin (Western Himalayas) and its comparison to the Hunza basin (Karakoram region). Science of The Total Environment 2015, 505, 748 -761.
AMA StyleAdnan Ahmad Tahir, Pierre Chevallier, Yves Arnaud, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. Snow cover trend and hydrological characteristics of the Astore River basin (Western Himalayas) and its comparison to the Hunza basin (Karakoram region). Science of The Total Environment. 2015; 505 ():748-761.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAdnan Ahmad Tahir; Pierre Chevallier; Yves Arnaud; Muhammad Ashraf; Muhammad Tousif Bhatti. 2015. "Snow cover trend and hydrological characteristics of the Astore River basin (Western Himalayas) and its comparison to the Hunza basin (Karakoram region)." Science of The Total Environment 505, no. : 748-761.
Muhammad Tousif Bhatti; Muhammad Latif. Assessment of water quality of a river using an indexing approach during the low-flow season. Irrigation and Drainage 2011, 60, 103 -114.
AMA StyleMuhammad Tousif Bhatti, Muhammad Latif. Assessment of water quality of a river using an indexing approach during the low-flow season. Irrigation and Drainage. 2011; 60 (1):103-114.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMuhammad Tousif Bhatti; Muhammad Latif. 2011. "Assessment of water quality of a river using an indexing approach during the low-flow season." Irrigation and Drainage 60, no. 1: 103-114.