Watershed-Runoff Modeling Using Semi-distributed SWAT-CUP Model in the Hasdeo River Basin, Chhattisgarh, India

The present research has estimated surface runoff and measured the stimulated hydrological response at the ungauged watershed boundary of the Hasdeo River. The watershed boundary of Hasdeo river basin covers an area of around 9633 km2. The coalfields, namely Mand-Raigarh, Chirimiri, Hasdo-Arand, Korba, Sendurgarh and Sohagpur coalfield (eastern part) falls inside the Hasdeo watershed boundary. These coalfields have active coal mines and play a significant role in the country’s coal production. The physically based semi-distributed soil and water assessment tool model (SWAT) has been used to model the hydrological processes in the Hasdeo river watershed basin. The watershed outlet has been taken near Deoraha village, which falls in the Janjgir–Champa district of Chhattisgarh state. Calibration and validation of the model have been done by splitting the observed discharge data into two datasets in the SWAT model. The calibration has been done for the period 1994–2008 and validated for the period 2009–2018 on a monthly basis. The flow output has been calibrated using the SUFI-2 algorithm approach in SWAT-CUP. The p-factor and r-factor values for the calibration and validation periods obtained at Deoraha are 0.96, 1.68 and 0.96, 2.69, respectively. The performance of the SWAT model has been statistically assessed using the coefficient of determination value (R2), Nash–Sutcliff efficiency value (NSE) and percent of bias (PBIAS). The coefficient of determination value (R2) was 0.76 and 0.75, Nash and Sutcliffe efficiency value (NSE) was 0.75 and 0.70 for the calibrated and validated periods, respectively, which indicates that the results obtained are satisfactory. Similarly, the percent bias (PBIAS) value for the calibrated and validated models was − 6.2 and − 7.8, respectively. Based on the results obtained for stimulated and observed flow, it can be concluded that these results can be used to develop sustainable water management and development in the Hasdeo river watershed boundary.