Scenario-Based Hydrological Modeling for Designing Climate-Resilient Coastal Water Resource Management Measures: Lessons from Brahmani River, Odisha, Eastern India

The ease of access and abundant resources of coastal zones attracts diverse anthropogenic interferences, and because of the complexity of coastal zone management, has resulted in the misuse and abuse of these sensitive ecosystems [3]. [...] Considering this information need, in this study we used the Participatory Coastal Land-Use Management (PCLM) approach to design future scenarios and simulate future water quality in Odisha, with the goal of aiding water resource management planning of the Brahmani River in the coastal aquifers of Odisha. [...] Study Area Kendrapara is one of the densely populated districts of India’s Odisha state, and is situated on the central coastal plain zone of the state, on the eastern coast of India (Figure 2). [...] The coastlines of the district are dominated by Aeolian and sandy soils espe- cially in the Rajnagar and Rajkanika blocks of the district. [...] Nearly 94% of the population resides in rural areas of the district, and agriculture is the mainstay of the locals with 70% de- pendence on agriculture.