Abstract:
The Hydrology Project Phase II — partly funded through a World Bank loan — is targeted at improving the availability of "good" hydrological data in the 13 States of India in which it is active — including Punjab. Good management of the water resources of Punjab demands good knowledge of the hydrological processes, and a clear understanding of the nature and possible severity of dry and wet periods. This requires strengthening of the information data-base in order to extend any scientific investigations made in parts of the region into a full understanding of how the complete region behaves, and so how resources can be developed or managed to maximise the benefit for all. The importance of good spatial data with long (and representative) time series cannot be under-estimated for this work. This is what we are seeking to lay the foundations for. In addition to the tasks of data collection and validation, we are also looking to develop more advanced data products to assist users, where value is added to the basic data by presenting expert evaluation of the data as well. In the past this has been sometimes done through analysis in Yearbooks, and we hope to develop this type of approach for the electronic data released as well.
