Advances in surface water hydrology research in India

India has a growing water crisis fueled by global warming and a rising population. There is an urgent need for accurate water availability assessments and sustainable water management strategies for urban and rural areas. This can be achieved by developing novel decision-making tools for effective water resource management by improving the hydrological models and our understanding of hydrological processes. The changing climate adds complexity to hydrological processes, necessitating accurate modelling and impact assessments to build climate change-resilient water resource systems. This review examines the advancements in hydrological process understanding and surface hydrological modelling in India from 2019 to 2023. Recent years have witnessed substantial contributions from the Indian hydrology community, which include quantifying climate change impacts on water and carbon cycle at a basin scale, improvements in hydrological modelling and forecasting extremes, the introduction of novel physics-based data-driven approaches, urban flood modelling and the development of first-ever state-of-the-art flood early warning system among other notable climate services. In addition, the idea of studying natural systems as coupled human-natural systems has gained prominence in India. This review aims to provide insights into recent developments in surface water hydrology in India and highlight the potential future avenues of research that can uplift water resources management in India.