Bhadra Dam
Encyclopedia
The Bhadra Dam, which has created the Bhadra Reservoir (ಭಧ್ರಾ ಜಲಾಶಯ), is located on the Bhadra River
a tributary of Tungabhadra River
in Chikkamagaluru district in Tarikere
Taluk, in the western part of Karnataka
in South India
. The benefits derived from the reservoir storage are irrigation with gross irrigation potential of 162818 hectares (402,331.7 acre), hydro power generation of 39.2 MW (three powerhouses, located on the right and left bank main canals), drinking water supply and industrial use. The dam commissioned in 1965 is a composite earth cum masonry structure of 59.13 metres (194 ft) height with length of 1708 metres (5,603.7 ft) at the crest level, which submerges a land area of 11250.88 hectares (27,801.5 acre).
in the Western Ghats
Aroli hill range of Kudremukh
range, and flows east across the Deccan Plateau. It is joined by its tributaries, the Somavahini (drains from a crater and meets Bhadra River at Hebbe), Thadabehalla, and Odirayanahalla. The river flows through the city of Bhadravathi and the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
. The Bhadra meets the Tunga River
at Koodli
, a small town near Shivamogga. The combined river continues east as the Tungabhadra
, a major tributary of the Krishna
, which empties into the Bay of Bengal
. The Bhadra Dam is built across the Bhadra River, 1.5 kilometre (0.93205910497471 mi) from Lakkavalli
village and 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) upstream of the confluence of the Bhadra River and Tungabhadra River. Shimoga city is located 28 kilometres (17.4 mi) north of the dam. The Bhadra Dam drains a catchment area of 1968 square kilometre out of which the forest area is 717.49 hectares (1,773 acre), cultivable land is 3274.65 hectares (8,091.8 acre) and fallow land is 7258.74 hectares (17,936.7 acre). The catchment and command areas of the project lie in Chikamagalur, Shimoga and Davanagere
districts. A number of industries, urban and rural settlements dependent on assured water supply lie on the banks of the river and in the project command area; Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd, the Mysore Paper Mills and Vishweshvarayya Iron and Steel Industries are the major industrial activity noted in the command area of the project. Fishing activities have also increased on the bank of the river; 81 fish species from 8 orders with 14 families are recorded as endemic to the Bhadra River.
The Bhadra River basin receives an average annual rainfall of 2320 mm with rainfall occurring during monsoon period (June to November). The rainfall is experienced both during the Southwest Monsoon
and North East monsoon
; inflow contribution is 82 % from SW monsoon (June to September) and 18% from north-eastern monsoon (October to December). The annual yield assessed from a catchment area of 1968 square kilometre at the dam site is 84.63 BCF (billion cubic feet) in a 75% dependable year. Based on recordings taken over a period of 25 years, it has an estimated annual mean evapotranspiration
of 1,678 mm.
. The dam was built to a height of 59.13 metres (194 ft) (above the river bed level) between 1947 (start of construction) and 1965 (year of commissioning). It has a gross storage capacity of 2.025 km3, live storage of 63.00 BCF at full reservoir level and a dead storage of 8.50 BCF at RL (reservoir level) of 631.54 metres (2,072 ft). The storage created by the reservoir is according to the allocation of 61.70 BCF (1.747 km3 including direct evaporation of 0.14 km3) of water made under the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal
Award. The dam is built on a shattered rock based with a central masonry spillway. It has an earthen embankment on the left side and a rock hillock on the opposite side. The Ogee type spillway in the middle section of the river has been provided with four numbers of vertical lift gates over a width of 18.28 metres (60 ft) and designed for a discharge of 3020 cubic metre/s. In addition, two number river sluices are also provided to pass a discharge of 13300 cubic metre/s. The annual siltation load considered in the design is 10.78 million cubic feet per square kilometer of catchment area. The canal outlets provided in the dam, initially for Hydropower generation followed by irrigation, consists of the left Bank canal outlet to discharge 10.76 cubic metre/s and two right bank canal outlets to pass a discharge of 75.03 cubic metre/s. There are several islands in the reservoir area which have been developed for tourism.
Submergence
The reservoir created by the dam submerged 27 villages. The reservoir submergence extends to water stretch of 13 kilometres (8.1 mi)/s upstream of the dam.
During the flood season, flooding of the Bhadravathi town have been experienced when large flows were released from the dam.
Irrigation benefits
The Left Bank Canal is designed to carry a discharge of 10.76 cubic metre/s, starting from the tail race of the left bank powerhouse provides irrigation facilities over its total length of 77 kilometres (47.8 mi). The Right Bank canal, originating from the tail race channel of the right bank powerhouse provides irrigation facilities through its length of the main canal of 103 kilometres (64 mi) designed to carry a discharge of 75.03 cubic metre/s and its branch canal system of 284.9 kilometres (177 mi). Gross command area from the project is 162818 hectares (402,331.7 acre), cultivable command is 121500 hectares (300,232.8 acre) and irrigated command and cropped area is 105570 hectares (260,868.9 acre). The soils encountered in the Right Bank Canal irrigation command consisted of Black Cotton Soils
8.5% and Red soil
93.5%, while on the Left Bank Canal command it comprises Black Cotton Soils 7.0% and Red soil 93%.
The irrigation component of the project was planned to provide an annual cropping intensity of 200 percent to irrigate semi-dry crops in nearly 60 percent of the command area dominated by red loamy soils. Irrigated area spreads over Chitradurga
, Shivamogga, Chikmagalur and Bellary
districts comprising predominantly red loamy soils except in some portions of the right bank canal area which consist of Black Cotton soils. However, the actual cropping was predominately rice and also sugarcane and permanent gardens; 90% area on the left bank canal system and 60% area of the right bank canal system was dominated by rice. This practice resulted in heavy demand on water causing serious concerns on the irrigation system itself. Consequently, National Water Management Project (NWMP) was launched with the objective to "rehabilitate and provide more equitable, predictable and reliable irrigation service which could improve agricultural productivity and farm income". This project has resulted in substantial improvements in both the area brought under irrigation and consequent agricultural crop production.
Power benefits
The water stored in the reservoir is diverted through the right and left bank power houses into the respective irrigation canal systems. The right bank powerhouse utilises the irrigation releases for power generation from two units of Kaplan-type turbine generators and one unit of 6MW capacity. The left bank powerhouse at the river bed utilizes the irrigation releases to generate power from two units of 12 MW capacity each and another power house on the left bank canal of one unit of 2 MW capacity. The three power stations together have a power generation capacity of 39.2 MW.
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The Bhadra River flows through the Bhadra Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary and the Bhadra Reservoir is on its northern border. The sanctuary has rich avifauna such as Junglefowl
, red spurfowl
, Painted Bush-quail, emerald dove
, southern Green Imperial Pigeon
, great black woodpecker
, Malabar Parakeet and hill myna
. Reptiles reported in the river and the reservoir are the Marsh crocodiles and monitor lizards. Common otter
and the Smooth Indian Otter
, Gaur
s, leopards are also commonly sighted fauna in the reserve. The wildlife can be viewed by taking a boat ride in the reservoir when Tyavarekoppa Lion and Tiger Safari and the Sakkrebyle Elephant camp can also be visited.
Marsh crocodiles are found all along the Bhadra River and more so after the river enters the sanctuary area and further flows through midst of the undisturbed moist deciduous forests till it joins the back waters of the reservoir of the Bhadra Dam.
Vegetation
The back water of the reservoir extends into the forest reserve which has "moist deciduous forest of the Tectona
-Dillenia
-Lagerstroemia series with patches of dry deciduous forest of the Anogeissus
–Tectona
-Terminalia
type forests occurring in the northern fringes". A key ecological feature of the forest is the presence of five species of bamboos, three are profusely found in the reserve forests.
Ecology
A study on ecological impact on native fish, fish habitat and riverine fisheries carried out by the Department of Studies in Environmental Science, University of Mysore
in the downstream reaches of the Bhadra River indicate adverse changes in the hydrological regime and water quality which have affected fish catches (and livelihood of people dependent on fisheries), particularly, large fishes are affected. Thus, from ecological considerations maintaining a minimum river flow by releasing minimum water from the reservoir to the downstream of the river became essential.
Recreation
The reservoir is also a popular venue for water sports activities like sailing
, kayaking
, water-cycling, water-trampoline and sport fishing.
Bhadra River
The Bhadra River is a river in Karnataka state in southern India.The Bhadra originates at Gangamoola near Kudremukha, Western Ghats range, and flows east across the southern part of Deccan Plateau, joined by its tributaries the Somavahini near Hebbe, Thadabehalla, and Odirayanahalla. It flows...
a tributary of Tungabhadra River
Tungabhadra River
The Tungabhadra River is a sacred river in southern India that flows through the state of Karnataka to Andhra Pradesh, where it serves as the chief tributary of the Krishna River...
in Chikkamagaluru district in Tarikere
Tarikere
Tarikere is a taluk in Chikmagalur district in the state of Karnataka of India. The headquarters of Tarikere taluk is a town of the same name. The town has derived its name from number of water tanks by which the town is surrounded namely, Chikkere, Doddakere, Dalavikere,...
Taluk, in the western part of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
. The benefits derived from the reservoir storage are irrigation with gross irrigation potential of 162818 hectares (402,331.7 acre), hydro power generation of 39.2 MW (three powerhouses, located on the right and left bank main canals), drinking water supply and industrial use. The dam commissioned in 1965 is a composite earth cum masonry structure of 59.13 metres (194 ft) height with length of 1708 metres (5,603.7 ft) at the crest level, which submerges a land area of 11250.88 hectares (27,801.5 acre).
Geography
The Bhadra River rises at SamseSamse
Samse is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India. It is located in the Mudigere taluk of Chikmagalur district in Karnataka.Watch a breaktaking view of the landscape on the way to Samsehttp://www.weedioh.com/Video.aspx?VideoId=2527...
in the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
Aroli hill range of Kudremukh
Kudremukh
Kudremukh also spelled Kuduremukha is a mountain range in Chikkamagaluru district, in Karnataka, India. It is also the name of a small hill station town situated near the mountain, about 48 kilometers from Karkala and about 20 kilometers from Kalasa...
range, and flows east across the Deccan Plateau. It is joined by its tributaries, the Somavahini (drains from a crater and meets Bhadra River at Hebbe), Thadabehalla, and Odirayanahalla. The river flows through the city of Bhadravathi and the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is 38 km. northwest of Chikmagalur town in Karnataka state.It extends between 13º 25' and 13º 50' N latitude to 75º 15' and 75º 50' E longitude. The elevation gradient...
. The Bhadra meets the Tunga River
Tunga River
The Tunga River is a river in Karnataka state, southern India. The river is born in the Western Ghats on a hill known as Varaha Parvata at a place called Gangamoola. From here, the river flows through two districts in Karnataka - Chikmagalur District and Shimoga District. It is 147 km long and...
at Koodli
Koodli
Koodli is a small town in Shimoga District, in the Indian state of Karnataka.Koodli is the place where two rivers, the Tunga River and Bhadra River, meet to give rise to the Tungabhadra River.- Significance :...
, a small town near Shivamogga. The combined river continues east as the Tungabhadra
Tungabhadra River
The Tungabhadra River is a sacred river in southern India that flows through the state of Karnataka to Andhra Pradesh, where it serves as the chief tributary of the Krishna River...
, a major tributary of the Krishna
Krishna River
The Krishna River , is one of the longest rivers in central-southern India, about . It is also referred to as Krishnaveni in its original nomenclature...
, which empties into the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
. The Bhadra Dam is built across the Bhadra River, 1.5 kilometre (0.93205910497471 mi) from Lakkavalli
Lakkavalli
Lakkavalli is a small town / Hobli in Tarikere Taluk of Chikmagalur district, Karnataka state, southern India. Lakkavalli is the site of a dam across the Bhadra River; the dam is used for irrigation and power production and agriculture. The bio diversity of the place is well known since the...
village and 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) upstream of the confluence of the Bhadra River and Tungabhadra River. Shimoga city is located 28 kilometres (17.4 mi) north of the dam. The Bhadra Dam drains a catchment area of 1968 square kilometre out of which the forest area is 717.49 hectares (1,773 acre), cultivable land is 3274.65 hectares (8,091.8 acre) and fallow land is 7258.74 hectares (17,936.7 acre). The catchment and command areas of the project lie in Chikamagalur, Shimoga and Davanagere
Davanagere
Davangere or Davanagere is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Davangere district which lies at the centre of the state of Karnataka. The city is located on National Highway 4 at a distance of about 265 km from the state capital, Bangalore...
districts. A number of industries, urban and rural settlements dependent on assured water supply lie on the banks of the river and in the project command area; Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd, the Mysore Paper Mills and Vishweshvarayya Iron and Steel Industries are the major industrial activity noted in the command area of the project. Fishing activities have also increased on the bank of the river; 81 fish species from 8 orders with 14 families are recorded as endemic to the Bhadra River.
The Bhadra River basin receives an average annual rainfall of 2320 mm with rainfall occurring during monsoon period (June to November). The rainfall is experienced both during the Southwest Monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
and North East monsoon
Climate of India
Analyzed according to the Köppen system, the climate of India resolves into six major climatic subtypes; their influences give rise to desert in the west, alpine tundra and glaciers in the north, humid tropical regions supporting rain forests in the southwest, and Indian Ocean island territories...
; inflow contribution is 82 % from SW monsoon (June to September) and 18% from north-eastern monsoon (October to December). The annual yield assessed from a catchment area of 1968 square kilometre at the dam site is 84.63 BCF (billion cubic feet) in a 75% dependable year. Based on recordings taken over a period of 25 years, it has an estimated annual mean evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration is a term used to describe the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land surface to atmosphere. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the air from sources such as the soil, canopy interception, and waterbodies...
of 1,678 mm.
Project features
The Bhadra Dam project was the irrigation scheme to be undertaken by the National Water Management Project (NWMP), with the aim of increasing agricultural prosperity, particularly for rice productionRice production in India
Rice production in India is an important part of the national economyIndia is one of the world's largest producer of white rice, accounting for 20% of all world rice production. Rice is India's preeminent crop, and is the staple food of the people of the eastern and southern parts of the country...
. The dam was built to a height of 59.13 metres (194 ft) (above the river bed level) between 1947 (start of construction) and 1965 (year of commissioning). It has a gross storage capacity of 2.025 km3, live storage of 63.00 BCF at full reservoir level and a dead storage of 8.50 BCF at RL (reservoir level) of 631.54 metres (2,072 ft). The storage created by the reservoir is according to the allocation of 61.70 BCF (1.747 km3 including direct evaporation of 0.14 km3) of water made under the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal
Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal
The Krishna River is the second biggest river in peninsular India. It originates near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra from the statue of a cow in a temple...
Award. The dam is built on a shattered rock based with a central masonry spillway. It has an earthen embankment on the left side and a rock hillock on the opposite side. The Ogee type spillway in the middle section of the river has been provided with four numbers of vertical lift gates over a width of 18.28 metres (60 ft) and designed for a discharge of 3020 cubic metre/s. In addition, two number river sluices are also provided to pass a discharge of 13300 cubic metre/s. The annual siltation load considered in the design is 10.78 million cubic feet per square kilometer of catchment area. The canal outlets provided in the dam, initially for Hydropower generation followed by irrigation, consists of the left Bank canal outlet to discharge 10.76 cubic metre/s and two right bank canal outlets to pass a discharge of 75.03 cubic metre/s. There are several islands in the reservoir area which have been developed for tourism.
Submergence
The reservoir created by the dam submerged 27 villages. The reservoir submergence extends to water stretch of 13 kilometres (8.1 mi)/s upstream of the dam.
During the flood season, flooding of the Bhadravathi town have been experienced when large flows were released from the dam.
Irrigation benefits
The Left Bank Canal is designed to carry a discharge of 10.76 cubic metre/s, starting from the tail race of the left bank powerhouse provides irrigation facilities over its total length of 77 kilometres (47.8 mi). The Right Bank canal, originating from the tail race channel of the right bank powerhouse provides irrigation facilities through its length of the main canal of 103 kilometres (64 mi) designed to carry a discharge of 75.03 cubic metre/s and its branch canal system of 284.9 kilometres (177 mi). Gross command area from the project is 162818 hectares (402,331.7 acre), cultivable command is 121500 hectares (300,232.8 acre) and irrigated command and cropped area is 105570 hectares (260,868.9 acre). The soils encountered in the Right Bank Canal irrigation command consisted of Black Cotton Soils
Vertisol
In both the FAO and USA soil taxonomy, a vertisol is a soil in which there is a high content of expansive clay known as montmorillonite that forms deep cracks in drier seasons or years. Alternate shrinking and swelling causes self-mulching, where the soil material consistently mixes itself, causing...
8.5% and Red soil
Ultisols
Ultisols, commonly known as red clay soils, are one of twelve soil orders in the United States Department of Agriculture soil taxonomy. They are defined as mineral soils which contain no calcareous material anywhere within the soil, have less than 10% weatherable minerals in the extreme top layer...
93.5%, while on the Left Bank Canal command it comprises Black Cotton Soils 7.0% and Red soil 93%.
The irrigation component of the project was planned to provide an annual cropping intensity of 200 percent to irrigate semi-dry crops in nearly 60 percent of the command area dominated by red loamy soils. Irrigated area spreads over Chitradurga
Chitradurga
Chitradurga is a town in the southern part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is also the headquarters of Chitradurga district. Chitradurga was also known by the names Chitradurg, Chitrakaladurga, Chittaldurg. Chittaldrug was the name officially used by the British Govt.-Geography:Chitradurga is...
, Shivamogga, Chikmagalur and Bellary
Bellary
Bellary is a historic city in Bellary District in Karnataka state, India.-Origins of the city's name:There are several legends about how Bellary got its name....
districts comprising predominantly red loamy soils except in some portions of the right bank canal area which consist of Black Cotton soils. However, the actual cropping was predominately rice and also sugarcane and permanent gardens; 90% area on the left bank canal system and 60% area of the right bank canal system was dominated by rice. This practice resulted in heavy demand on water causing serious concerns on the irrigation system itself. Consequently, National Water Management Project (NWMP) was launched with the objective to "rehabilitate and provide more equitable, predictable and reliable irrigation service which could improve agricultural productivity and farm income". This project has resulted in substantial improvements in both the area brought under irrigation and consequent agricultural crop production.
Power benefits
The water stored in the reservoir is diverted through the right and left bank power houses into the respective irrigation canal systems. The right bank powerhouse utilises the irrigation releases for power generation from two units of Kaplan-type turbine generators and one unit of 6MW capacity. The left bank powerhouse at the river bed utilizes the irrigation releases to generate power from two units of 12 MW capacity each and another power house on the left bank canal of one unit of 2 MW capacity. The three power stations together have a power generation capacity of 39.2 MW.
Environment and ecology
FaunaJunglefowl
Junglefowl are the four living species of bird from the genus Gallus in the Gallinaceous bird order, which occur in India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and Indonesia....
, red spurfowl
Red Spurfowl
The Red Spurfowl is a member of the pheasant family and is endemic to India. It is a bird of forests, and is quite secretive despite its size. It has a distinctive call and is often hard to see except for a few seconds when it flushes from the undergrowth. It appears reddish and like a long-tailed...
, Painted Bush-quail, emerald dove
Emerald Dove
The Common Emerald Dove is a pigeon which is a widespread resident breeding bird in the tropical and sub-tropical parts of the Indian Subcontinent and east through Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, to northern and eastern Australia. The dove is also known by the names of Green Dove and...
, southern Green Imperial Pigeon
Green Imperial Pigeon
The Green Imperial Pigeon is a pigeon which is a widespread resident breeding bird in tropical southern Asia from India east to Indonesia. It has a number of subspecies, of which the distinctive Celebes form, Chestnut-naped Imperial Pigeon .This is a forest species; it builds a stick nest in a...
, great black woodpecker
Black Woodpecker
The Black Woodpecker, Dryocopus martius, is a large woodpecker, 45–50 cm long with a 64–84 cm wingspan. Body weight is approximately 300-400 grams on average. It is easily the largest woodpecker in its range...
, Malabar Parakeet and hill myna
Gracula
Gracula is a genus of mynas, tropical members of the starling family of birds. Until recently only two species were recognised, G. religiosa and G. ptilogenys; earlier still all Gracula were considered to belong to a very variable species commonly called Hill Myna. But three additional subspecies...
. Reptiles reported in the river and the reservoir are the Marsh crocodiles and monitor lizards. Common otter
River Otter
Not to be confused with the animal Otter or the River Ottery in CornwallThe River Otter rises in the Blackdown Hills just inside the county of Somerset, near Otterford, then flows south for some 32 km through East Devon to the English Channel at the western end of Lyme Bay, part of...
and the Smooth Indian Otter
Smooth-coated Otter
The Smooth-coated Otter is a species of otter, the only extant representative of the genus Lutrogale. The species is found from southern Pakistan and parts of the India east to Southeast Asia, and there is a disjunct population in Iraq...
, Gaur
Gaur
The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
s, leopards are also commonly sighted fauna in the reserve. The wildlife can be viewed by taking a boat ride in the reservoir when Tyavarekoppa Lion and Tiger Safari and the Sakkrebyle Elephant camp can also be visited.
Marsh crocodiles are found all along the Bhadra River and more so after the river enters the sanctuary area and further flows through midst of the undisturbed moist deciduous forests till it joins the back waters of the reservoir of the Bhadra Dam.
Vegetation
The back water of the reservoir extends into the forest reserve which has "moist deciduous forest of the Tectona
Tectona
Tectona is a genus of tropical hardwood trees in the mint family, Lamiaceae. The three species, often collectively called teak, are native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia and Thailand, and are commonly found as a component of monsoon forest vegetation...
-Dillenia
Dillenia
Dillenia is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Dilleniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of southern Asia, Australasia, and the Indian Ocean islands....
-Lagerstroemia series with patches of dry deciduous forest of the Anogeissus
Anogeissus
Anogeissus is a genus of trees native to South Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa, belonging to family Combretaceae. The genus has eight species, five native to South Asia, two endemic to the southern Arabian Peninsula, and one native to Africa. Anogeissus latifolia, known as dhaora, is one of...
–Tectona
Tectona
Tectona is a genus of tropical hardwood trees in the mint family, Lamiaceae. The three species, often collectively called teak, are native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia and Thailand, and are commonly found as a component of monsoon forest vegetation...
-Terminalia
Terminalia (plant)
Terminalia is a genus of large trees of the flowering plant family Combretaceae, comprising around 100 species distributed in tropical regions of the world. This genus gets it name from Latin terminus, referring to the fact that the leaves appear at the very tips of the shoots.Trees of this genus...
type forests occurring in the northern fringes". A key ecological feature of the forest is the presence of five species of bamboos, three are profusely found in the reserve forests.
Ecology
A study on ecological impact on native fish, fish habitat and riverine fisheries carried out by the Department of Studies in Environmental Science, University of Mysore
University of Mysore
The University of Mysore , is a public university in India. The University founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore, and was conceptualized on the basis of a report on educational progress in the United States and Australia, submitted by Messrs Thomas Denham and...
in the downstream reaches of the Bhadra River indicate adverse changes in the hydrological regime and water quality which have affected fish catches (and livelihood of people dependent on fisheries), particularly, large fishes are affected. Thus, from ecological considerations maintaining a minimum river flow by releasing minimum water from the reservoir to the downstream of the river became essential.
Recreation
The reservoir is also a popular venue for water sports activities like sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
, kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
, water-cycling, water-trampoline and sport fishing.