The Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin stores around 960 cubic km of water, researchers have claimed in a first of its kind study after mapping the rivers, and said it will help understand signatures of droughts and floods to better manage water resources in the region.

Scientists from India, the UK, France and Bangladesh mapped the two rivers between 2003 and 2007 with the help of satellite images.

“We estimated an annual variation of 410 cubic km for surface water and 550 cubic km for soil water. This study is the first of its kind as these estimates have never before been calculated for the Basin,” researcher Fabrice Papa said.

Papa is from the Indo-French Cell for Water Sciences, a joint International Laboratory between the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science and the Institut de Recherche pour le Development in France.

The research also said that both surface and sub-surface water storage also show strong year to year variability.

“During the monsoon of 2006, which can be considered as a drought year, there was found to be a 30 per cent deficit in water storage in the basin when compared to that of the other years,” Papa was quoted as saying by Gubbi Labs.

The Ganges-Brahmaputra basin covers a large area, extending over India, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Bangladesh.

The basin houses rivers, floodplains, lakes, wetlands and the largest delta in the world, all of which contribute significantly to the regional climate; groundwater, surface water and rainfall form an interconnected cycle and are constantly affecting each other.

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