Identification of water scarce regions of kunthipuzha river basin using water allocation tool

Abstract Water scarcity and consequent droughts are of serious concern for almost all countries around the world. Since climate change is expected to exacerbate the already existing water stresses, the improvement of water efficiency against water scarcity and drought is very much important. The study aims at pin pointing the water stressed areas in Kunthipuzha River basin so that management practices can be suggested for the identified areas to minimize the water scarcity problems. To contribute towards this goal, Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model is used, which is a Decision Support System (DSS) to assess water availability and investigate the impacts of different water allocation scenarios (water demand management strategies) aimed at meeting various sectorial water demands. The results from the study revealed that out of 13 sub basins of Kunthipuzha, 2 comes under severely stressed, 2 under moderately stressed and 3 under lowly stressed regions. The results derived can be used in future to work out feasible management practices for mitigating the water scarcity problems.