Reimagining the past – use of counterfactual trajectories in socio-hydrological modelling: the case of Chennai, India

Srinivasan, V.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-785-2015

Articles | Volume 19, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-785-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Special issue:

Predictions under change: water, earth, and biota in the anthropocene...

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-785-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 2

Research article

|

05 Feb 2015

Research article |

| 05 Feb 2015

Reimagining the past – use of counterfactual trajectories in socio-hydrological modelling: the case of Chennai, India

V. Srinivasan

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Final revised paper (published on 05 Feb 2015)
Preprint (discussion started on 05 Nov 2013)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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RC C6203: 'Review', Anonymous Referee #1, 11 Nov 2013
- AC C7813: 'Agree largely with these comments', Veena Srinivasan, 09 Feb 2014
RC C6495: 'Coevolution of water security in a developing city', Patricia Gober, 29 Nov 2013
- AC C7814: 'Two schools of socio-hydrology', Veena Srinivasan, 09 Feb 2014
RC C6784: 'Referee comment', Anonymous Referee #3, 17 Dec 2013
- AC C7816: 'Model presentation improvements', Veena Srinivasan, 09 Feb 2014
EC C7938: 'Editor comment', Murugesu Sivapalan, 18 Feb 2014

Short summary

The paper models the socio-hydrologic system in a developing city -- Chennai, India -- using "counterfactual trajectories" to understand what might have happened if different decisions had been made 50 years ago. A key contribution is the inclusion of two-way feedbacks between the human, engineered, and hydrological systems. Households are allowed to adapt to decisions made by the water utility. This influences how they use water and consequently how much water is available in the aquifer.