Abstract
Natural springs are the key source of water for the stream flows within non-glacial river basins and constitute the main source of drinking water and irrigation. Therefore, assessment and inventory on spring hydrology are essential for formulation of successful sustainable development plans in the region. Consequently the main objective of the study was to assess the geohydrological processes of the springs using GIS technology. The Dabka catchment constitutes a part of the Kosi Basin in the Lesser Himalaya , India in district Nainital has been selected for the case illustration. The results suggested that most of the perennial springs exist along the thrust/fault planes and fluvial deposit areas and the most of the non-perennial springs exist along the fracture/joints and shear zones. The water yield of these springs varies greatly but maximum rate was monitored for thrust and fault controlled springs. The changing pattern of the spring hydrology suggested drying up of some springs and the reduced discharge of others due to accelerated land use changes by anthropogenic and climate change factors during last 2 decades (1991–2011). Consequently, there is a decline in the flow of the main Dabka River and its streams by 35 %.
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Acknowledgments
This study constitutes part of a multidisciplinary project, “Geo-environmental Appriasal of the Dabka Watershed, Kumaun Lesser Himalaya, District Nainital: A Model Study for Sustainable Development” by Department of Science and Technology (DST) Govt. of India, (Project No. ES/11/599/01 Dated 27/05/2005). The authors are thankful to Dr. Nisha Mendiratta for the support and guidance during the course of investigation. Thanks to also due to Shri M.S. Bargali, Project Assistant for helping during the intensive field work.
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Pant, C.C., Rawat, P.K. (2015). Declining Changes in Spring Hydrology of Non-glacial River Basins in Himalaya: A Case Study of Dabka Catchment. In: Joshi, R., Kumar, K., Palni, L. (eds) Dynamics of Climate Change and Water Resources of Northwestern Himalaya. Society of Earth Scientists Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13743-8_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13743-8_13
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