2024, Vol. 7, Special Issue 5

author(s)
Madhusudan Y Khadatare, US Kadam, MS Mane, DM Mahale, SB Nandgude, KD Gharde and ST Patil

abstract
The present investigation was to study water balance for Arjuna River basin of Ratnagiri District of the Maharashtra State using ArcSWAT model. The ArcSWAT model requires four type of dataset, viz. Land Use Land Cover (LULC), Soil, topographical and hydro-meteorological data for evaluating the hydrological processes. In the present study data were procured from various sources. ArcSWAT was utilized to simulate and analyze various components of the water balance within the Arjuna River basin. These components include evapotranspiration, surface runoff, baseflow and total precipitation. Each element plays a crucial role in understanding the hydrological dynamics and water availability in the area. The study found that the river flow during January to May and December in almost all basins is less than 1 cubic meter per second, indicating minimal groundwater contribution. Also groundwater availability in the Arjuna River basin is significant during August, September, October and November, primarily due to rainfall from June to September. The ArcSWAT model, calibrated from 1996 to 2003 and validated from 2007 to 2012, demonstrated robust performance, evidenced by satisfactory R² values (0.78 during calibration and 0.67 during validation) and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency values (0.75 during calibration and 0.65 during validation).