Climate Change and Its Impacts on Irrigation and Groundwater Resources

Northwest Bangladesh is one of the most water stressed regions of the country. All the rivers and channels of the area dry up during the dry season and make the people completely dependent on groundwater. Cultivation of dry season rice which is the lifeline of the livelihood of the region completely relies of groundwater supply. Prolonged absence of groundwater within the operating range of shallow tube-wells during the dry season is a growing concern in the area. It is anticipated that climate change will aggravate the situation in near future.This book discusses probable changes in the climate and their impacts on irrigation and groundwater resources in the area. Groundwater hydrographs are analyzed and correlated with meteorological drought, climate models are applied to project the future change of climate, changes in irrigation demands are calculated under projected climate, and the impacts of changing irrigation demand on groundwater resources are discussed. It is expected that the research works presented in this book will be beneficial to a number of stakeholders to improve their understanding on climate change and its impacts on water resources in Northwest Bangladesh.