Fig. 3. Schematic diagram explaining the land-atmosphere feedback and changes in monsoon rainfall in response to river-interlinking.

The perturbations in the land water management leading from the inter-basin water transfer impact the spatial pattern of rainfall on the distant basins. The intra-basin land-to-atmosphere connection happens in the form of soil moisture contributing to the moisture content of the air through evapotranspiration (high evapotranspiration during high soil moisture (SM)) while also causing surface cooling. The supplied moisture by evapotranspiration can lead to recycled precipitation in the same basin or can get transported to faraway regions by the wind, which can then change the precipitation patterns of the region. Evaporative cooling changes the thermal contrast between ocean and land or in between different land regions changing wind patterns and, subsequently, the moisture transport and rainfall.