Assessment of Stream Flow of Hidkal Dam Catchment Area in Krishna Basin of India Using SIMHYD Model

A study was conducted to predict the stream flow from a catchment area of Hidkal dam situated in Krishna basin of India. The SimHYD model was selected to setup the stream flow model under limited data conditions. Daily rainfall, potential evapotranspiration (PET) and observed discharges were used as input data to setup the model. Sensitivity analysis was carried out to identify the more sensitive parameter and fixed final parameter values. A genetic algorithm was used for calibration and validation of the model with object function of Nash -Sutcliffe Equation (NSE). The performance of model during calibration and validation with monthly stream flow (m3/s) was found to be very good in terms of NSE, R2. The NSE and correlation coefficient were found to be 0.77 and 0.93 during calibration period and 0.90 and 0.95 during validation period respectively. The was a very good agreement between monthly observed and simulated stream flows of catchment area of Hidkal Dam. The NSE value of model during calibration period with daily runoff was found to be satisfactory at 0.51. It was observed that good agreement between observed and simulated daily runoff (in mm) with a correlation coefficient is 0.74. NSE and correlation coefficient during validation period using daily data are found to be 0.80 and 0.9 respectively. This study concluded that the SimHYD model can be used for assessment of stream flow with limited data.