Mathematical Modeling of Fish Stocking, Carrying Capacity of Water Body and Yield Calculation of Reservoirs Related to Hydroelectric Projects in Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand is one of the newly formed states of India and is growing at a rate of above 9%.  To sustain this pace of growth rate, power is one of the main components.  There are approximately 44 dams proposed in Uttarakhand and many of them have been either completed, some are under construction and for some the work is yet to start.  The essential part of these hydroelectric projects is to have a water reservoir.  In district Uttarkashi, three major dams have already been constructed on river Ganges (Bhagirathi) at Tehri, Uttarkashi and Maneri out of proposed 14 dams.  Presently these water reservoirs are not being used for any fisheries related developments.  The present work is a step forward towards developing fisheries in these water bodies and the initial step is to assess the potential of commercial fisheries in these water bodies.  Mathematical modeling has been used perfectly for smaller ponds but in there are very few to almost no examples where this has been used for bigger reservoirs of hydroelectric project in India.   A mathematical approach towards this assessment is being worked out for reservoirs of hydroelectric projects in Uttarakhand especially in district Tehri and Uttarkashi of Uttarakhand.  The present study sites are two locations in district Uttarkashi – Maneri –Bhali Phase I (located in village Maneri) reservoir and Maneri Bhali Phase II reservoir (located in Uttarkashi).  The calculations are based on the already measured parameters like total surface area of reservoir, growth rate of fishes, nutrition available or to be added etc.  Important parameters for this study is the choice of fish species based on their ecological niches, use of different strata of water bodies by the species and inter species competition.  Another very important parameter i.e. amount of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) available in the reservoir and the impact of wind speed, light, pH, Temperature, dissolved carbon dioxide and chemical oxygen demand (COD) has been assessed by using the model of Mwegoha et al (2010) which is essentially a model used in ponds.  The present study would establish a mathematical model towards assessing the stocking capacity of the reservoir and yield calculation.  This model would be an important tool to develop commercial fisheries in the existing reservoirs and will be eventually helpful in helping increasing the economic activity for local population in rural hilly regions of Uttarakhand.