Assessment of Impacts of Climate Change on the Water Resources of the Transboundary Jhelum River Basin of Pakistan and India

Pakistan’s economy is significantly reliant on agriculture. However, Pakistan is included in the most water-stressed countries in the world, and its water resources are considerably vulnerable to climate variability and climate change. Therefore, in the present study, the water resources of the Jhelum River basin, which provides water to 6 million hectares of land of Pakistan and hydropower production, were assessed under the scenarios A2 and B2 of HadCM3. A hydrological model, Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS), was set up, calibrated, and validated for the Jhelum basin, and then streamflow was simulated for three future periods: 2011–2040, 2041–2070, and 2071–2099. The simulated streamflow of each period was compared with the simulated streamflow of the baseline period (1971–2000) to find the changes in the following indicators: mean flow, low flow, median flow, high flow, and center-of-volume dates (CVDs). The results of the study showed an increase of 10%–15% in the mean annual flow as compared to the baseline flow at the end of this century. Winter, spring, and autumn showed an increase in streamflow at most of the sites in all three periods. However, summer (the monsoon season in the basin) showed decreased streamflow at most of the sites. Maximum increase at Azad Pattan was projected in winter in the 2080s, with about 37%–39% increase in flow under both scenarios. Low and median flows were projected to increase, but a decline in high flow was detected in the future under both scenarios. It was also concluded that half of the annual flow in the basin will pass by the Azad Pattan site one week earlier than it does now. On the whole, the Jhelum basin would face more temporal and magnitudinal variations in high, low, and mean flows relative to present conditions. This shows that without a consideration of climate change impacts, proper utilization and management of water resources in the basin will be more difficult.