Management of Watersheds and Water Resources Planning

ABSTRACT

Siltation of reservoirs is a consequence of poor management of watersheds. Four case studies have been highlighted in this study to indicate the reasons for increased siltation, such as population growth, deforestation, extensive agricultural operations, cattle grazing and soil erosion. Nizamsagar and Sriramsagar are reservoirs heavily silted due to lack of proper management practices in the watershed. Machkund and Tungabhadra are reservoirs in which siltation has been contained through systematic management of the watersheds. Procedures needed for managing watersheds in water resources projects have been derived based on the four case studies     

An Approach for Supporting Problem Structuring in Water Resources Management and Planning

The watershed committees in Brazil often face difficulties to find out consensus solution for problems in water resources management and planning, due to multiple participants with different backgrounds, differences of opinion, conflict of interests and differences in perceiving and interpretation of problem and solution. This situation results in conflicts and consequently put activities of committees at risk. The Problem Structuring Methods – PSMs are techniques to structure problems and analyze similar type of problems. PSMs offer a way of representing the situation to provide clarity to participants in understanding the problem and lead to converging on potential agreeable actions for at least partial resolutions. This paper presents a group decision approach for supporting water resources management and planning, based on the use of the PSM Strategic Options Development and Analysis – SODA, which performs the cognitive mapping of individuals. The approach promotes a common understanding about a complex situation under investigation, assisting the group in identification of a course of actions for solving the problem. The approach is intended to support Brazilian watershed committees and it was applied to the committee of the Paraíba River watershed in northeastern Brazil. Using this approach, the committee identified inadequate watershed management as a major issue that must be undertaken in order to achieve mitigation of watershed degradation.     

Planning for Regional Water System Sustainability Through Water Resources Security Assessment Under Uncertainties

A leader-follower relationship in multiple layers of decision makers under uncertainties is a critical challenge associated with water resources security (WRS). To address this problem, a credibility-based chance-constrained hierarchical programming model with WRS assessment is developed for regional water system sustainability planning. This model can deal with the sequential decision-making problem with different goals and preferences, and reflect uncertainties presented as fuzzy sets. The effectiveness of the developed model is demonstrated through a real-world water resources management system in Beijing, China. A leader-follower interactive solution algorithm based on satisfactory degree is utilized to improve computational efficiency. Results show the that: (a) surface water, groundwater, recycled water, and off water would account for 27.01, 27.44, 23.11, and 22.44% of the total water supplies, respectively; (b) the entire pollutant emissions and economic benefits would consequently decrease by 31.53 and 22.88% when the statue changes from quite safe to extremely far from safe; and (c) a high credibility level would correspond to low risks of insufficient water supply and overloaded pollutant emissions, which lowers economic benefits and pollutant emissions. By contrast, a low credibility level would decrease the limitations of constraints, which leads to high economic benefits and pollutant emissions, but system risk would be increased. These findings can aid different decision makers in identifying the desired strategies for regional water resources management under multiple uncertainties, and support the in-depth analysis of the interrelationships among water security, system efficiency, and credibility level.     

An Operational Definition of Water Demand Management

An operational definition of water demand management is proposed with five components: (1) reducing the quantity or quality of water required to accomplish a specific task; (2) adjusting the nature of the task so it can be accomplished with less water or lower quality water; (3) reducing losses in movement from source through use to disposal; (4) shifting time of use to off-peak periods; and (5) increasing the ability of the system to operate during droughts. This definition brings out the drivers of water saving and permits the tracking of gains by the source of the saving. It is applicable to nations at different stages of economic development. It also shows how goals of greater water use efficiency are linked to those of equity, environmental protection and public participation. Taken together, these goals make water demand management less a set of techniques than a concept of governance.     

Development of a Combined Index to Evaluate Sustainability of Water Resources Systems

It is necessary to assess water resources sustainability for development and management of a large-scale water resources system with various components such as reservoirs, inter-basin water transfer, and consumers and stakeholders in various sectors including drinking, industry, fish farming, agriculture, and environment. For this purpose, in the present study, a spatially-distributed model was developed based on the system dynamics approach. Then, a set of individual indexes were utilized to evaluate the behavior of a water resources system by considering quantitative/qualitative environmental, economic, and water productivity aspects. Each of the individual indexes was computed for all system nodes. A combined index was further developed and applied to evaluate the system sustainability. To evaluate the efficiency of the combined index and ensure its proper performance, the new method was compared with the well-known multi-criteria decision making method. The results indicated that the combined index was 15.315 for sustainable development with implementation of an integrated water management policy, while the index for the current condition was 15.361. For other management policies that were not based on the integrated management concept, the values of the combined index were higher than those for the current condition.

     

实施最严格水资源管理制度做好宽城水资源规划

宽城县以中央一号文件精神为契机,结合自身县情和水资源现状,实施最严格的水资源管理制度,以水资源配置、节约和保护为重点,强化用水需求和用水过程管理,通过科学规划、政策支持、项目带动等手段,创新改进水资源管理模式,不断提高水资源管理水平.     

Defining a Topographic Index Threshold to Delineate Hydrologically Sensitive Areas for Water Resources Planning and Management

Hydrologically sensitive areas (HSAs) are runoff-generating areas often targeted for effective water resources planning and management actions. Commonly, HSAs can be mapped as areas in a landscape with a topographic index (TI) greater than a threshold level. This study explored the impact of a gradient of different TI threshold values for delineating HSAs using two popular TIs: a topographic wetness index (TWI) and a soil topographic index (STI). The resultant HSAs for each TI were compared to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100-year floodplain map in New Jersey and its five water regions. Spatial comparison indicators were used to assess the spatial similarity between the HSAs delineated and the FEMA floodplain map. Such comparisons identified the threshold that delineated HSAs whose spatial distributions were most consistent with the FEMA floodplain at each spatial scale for each TI. For example, the identified threshold for using a TWI to delineate HSAs was 10.5 at the state level; however, this threshold varied by the water region. The HSAs delineated approximate the spatial extent of runoff-contributing areas to the 100-year flood relevant for water resources planning and management actions for flood hazard mitigation.

     

Sustainability Issues in Water Management

In the 1992 Rio World Summit on Environment and Development/UNCED), water resources are indicated to remain at the core of sustainable development and, thus, they are to be managed and developed on a sustainable basis. Sustainability is a philosophical concept and thus difficult to measure. Yet, we need to describe it on rather precise terms to assess whether our water management practices are sustainable and to ensure sustainability in decision making for management. To this end, a number of sustainability criteria have been defined, based on quantifiable measures, without overlooking immeasurable aspects of sustainable development. This paper considers economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability as the basic criteria to be pursued in evaluating how effective our water management plans are in achieving sustainability. On the other hand, actual case studies are needed to test the usefulness of selected criteria by using computer-based interactive optimization and simulation models with associated databases embedded into a decision support system (DSS). The study herein intends to present such a case study based on economic, social and environmental criteria to assess sustainability in management of the Gediz River Basin in Turkey. Various management scenarios developed for the basin are evaluated within a DSS while ensuring multi-stakeholder involvement in defining the three sustainability criteria. The case study is a result of the analyses carried out in SMART (Sustainable Management of Scarce Resources in the Coastal Zone) and OPTIMA (Optimization for Sustainable Water Resources Management) projects funded respectively by the 5^th and 6^th Framework Programmes of the European Union.     

A Landscape Planning and Management Tool for Land and Water Resources Management: An Example Application in Northern Ethiopia

Land and water degradation due to on-site soil/nutrient loss and off-site pollution/sedimentation are serious environmental problems. Landscape planning and management tools are essential to implement best management practices targeted at locations where they are needed most. Although many soil/water-landscape studies have been published in the last 2 decades, progress in developing operational tools for supporting landscape planning to minimize land and water degradation in developing regions is still modest. Some of the existing tools are data demanding and/or complicated to be useful to data scarce regions. Some require detailed understanding of the hydrological and modelling processes and thus less applicable to local stakeholders involved in land use planning and management. A user-friendly LAndscape Planning and MAnagement Tool (LAPMAT) developed to facilitate land management decision-making. LAPMAT is a menu-oriented interactive graphical user interface that can aid decision makers identify hotspot areas of soil erosion and evaluate the effects of alternative land use management practices at a catchment scale. The modelling framework and its interfaces are designed to guide the user through a series of menus that: 1) allow input model parameters, adjusting coefficients, visualizing input parameters and executing the model; 2) enable changing land use and management practices and re-evaluating potential consequences; 3) allow viewing results in tabular, graphical or map form side-by-side; and 4) (re)-evaluating the respective impacts of management/conservation options. The framework has been applied to assess the severity of soil erosion and simulate the impact of different land management practices using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) adjusted for sediment delivery ratio in an example catchment of northern Ethiopia. The results showed average sediment yield rate of 55 t ha^?1 y^?1. Conservation measures targeted at high soil loss areas and gullies gave the maximum reduction in sediment yield by about 80 %. Since LAPMAT allows users handle the selection of management/planning options and provide fast and responsive outputs, it can assist in effective multi-stakeholder negotiations over land-use planning where the minimization of land/water degradation is the ultimate goal.     

Modern Optimization Methods in Water Resources Planning,Engineering and Management

Mathematical (analytical, numerical and optimization) models are employed in many disciplines including the water resources planning, engineering and management. These models can vary from a simple black-box model to a sophisticated distributed physics-based model. Recently, development and employment of modern optimization methods (MOMs) have become popular in the area of mathematical modeling. This paper overviews the MOMs based on the evolutionary search which were developed over mostly the last 30 years. These methods have wide application in practice from finance to engineering and this paper focuses mostly on the applications in the area of water resources planning, engineering and management. Although there are numerous optimization algorithms, the paper outlines the ones that have been widely employed especially in the last three decades; such as the Genetic Algorithm (GA), Ant Colony (AC), Differential Evolution (DE), Particle Swarm (PS), Harmony Search (HS), Genetic Programming (GP), and Gene Expression Programming (GEP). The paper briefly introduces theoretical background of each algorithm and its applications and discusses the merits and, if any, shortcomings. The wide spectrum of applications include, but not limited to, flood control and mitigation, reservoir operation, irrigation, flood routing, river training, flow velocity, rainfall-runoff processes, sediment transport, groundwater management, water quality, hydropower, dispersion, and aquifers.     

河流健康检测:水可持续发展评估和河流可持续发展指数

水是最重要的资源之一,随着人口和经济增长,水资源短缺和退化对社会经济发展和环境保护构成了日益严重的威胁。为人类各种竞争性用水提供充足的淡水资源已成为更具挑战和关键的问题。维护和恢复河流健康系统已经成为环境和水资源管理的重要目标。为了解这些挑战,实现未来水管理的可持续发展,有必要对河流健康进行综合评估。河流健康评估工具已经发展到测量河道的生态状况和自然资本。基于将河流健康测量延伸至包含水资源的社会经济价值,本文提出一个用于评估河流可持续性的指标框架,讨论了可持续发展指标如何用于评估水可持续性发展的具体问题,介绍了我们所采用的可持续发展评估的过程分析方法,以及由此方法得到的中国黄河下游可持续发展综合指数。该方法提供了一种系统方式,以纳入可持续发展的所有领域,并可生成一套定制指标。本文认为可持续发展指标框架为评估河流的可持续性提供了透明和参与的基础。这种评估为关键问题识别提供了信息和概貌,尤其对支撑政策制定很有帮助。     

水利规划

以重点水利规划体系为目标,加强重点水利规划编制工作 □全国水资源综合规划水资源配置阶段取得重要成果,初步形成了全国水资源配置关键成果和总体方案; □新一轮流域综合规划修编的全面部署工作已具备条件; □全国城乡饮水安全规划编制工作已完成,全国农村饮水安全规划于2006年8月经国务院第148次常务会议审议并原则通过;     

Environmentally-Sensitive Water Resources Planning

In this paper, the traditional problem of matching supplies to competing demands, referred to as water resources planning (WRP), is re-visited. With the pressure of continuing growth in the world's population, efficient development and management of available water resources are of greater importance than ever before. It is equally important in today's world that the environmental implications of any activity should be minimised. The aim of this research is to develop a methodology for including environmental considerations in the WRP process. This is achieved by weighting the costs of the various water resource options (both constructional and operating) to reflect their environmental impacts, prior to their inclusion in an economic planning model. The effect of such a weighting procedure is to encourage the selection of environmentally-friendly schemes at the expense of environmentally-damaging ones. The objective function of the combined methodology is to minimise the total environmentally-adjusted costs, discounted to a base year. A comprehensive planning tool named ENRES has been developed to carry out this task. The model allows the environmental impact assessment of all development options, either source components or transfer structures, to be undertaken prior to running the allocation procedure which is carried out by means of an optimisation technique. With the help of all the facilities provided, the model can be used in a planning exercise both with and without environmental considerations. In this way, it is possible to quantify the cost of environmental impacts in the planning process.     

Modeling of Water Resources Allocation and Water Quality Management for Supporting Regional Sustainability under Uncertainty in an Arid Region

In this study, a scenario-based interval-stochastic fraticle optimization with Laplace criterion (SISFL) method is developed for sustainable water resources allocation and water quality management (WAQM) under multiple uncertainties. SISFL can tackle uncertainties presented as interval parameters and probability distributions; meanwhile, it can also quantify artificial fuzziness such as risk-averse attitude in a decision-making issue. Besides, it can reflect random scenario occurrence under the supposition of no data available. The developed method is applied to a real case of water resources allocation and water quality management in the Kaidu-kongque River Basin, where encounter serve water deficit and water quality degradation simultaneously in Northwest China. Results of water allocation pattern, pollution mitigation scheme, and system benefit under various scenarios are analyzed. The tradeoff between economic activity and water-environment protection with interval necessity levels and Laplace criterions can support policymakers generating an effective and robust manner associated with risk control for WAQM under multiple uncertainties. These discoveries avail local policymakers gain insight into the capacity planning of water-environment to satisfy the basin’s integrity of socio-economic development and eco-environmental sustainability.     

Water Resources of Turkey: Potential,Planning, Development and Management

Turkey is a country with considerable water resources in a region where scarcity of water makes it a strategic item. In the second half of the 20th century important efforts have been made in the planning and development of these resources. However, less than one-half of the potential has so far been developed. The rapid growth of population and the expansion of irrigated agriculture and industry are stressing the water resources both quantitatively and qualitatively. The completion of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) and several other projects requires a considerable part of Turkey's financial and technical resources to be devoted to water resources development.     

水资源管理与水环境管理

１水资源管理与水环境管理处在不同决策层次水资源管理要从掌握水的自然属性和商品属性规律出发提高资源利用率，实现社会、经济、环境效益最大化和水资源的可持续利用．所谓水的自然属性，可概括为“三流”和生态效应．“三流”为：（１）流量，指水量大小和时空分布；（２）流态，指流速、流势和水位；（３）流质，指污染物、营养盐、泥沙浓度与盐度．生态效应：指水资源时空变化带来的生态系统和构成变化．“水多水少”的传统水患，与“水浑水脏”的新问题，以及“某些流域水资源开发利用率过大”、“某个水利工程的不利生态影响”都是不…     

水资源管理与水利资产管理

水资源管理是自然资源管理，属于总体规划，合理配置的管理；水利资产管理是在整体规划的基础上，开发利用形成资产的管理。要根据我国水资源的开发利用状况和水利资产的具体情况进行管理。     

An Informetric Profile of Water Resources Management Literatures

The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the global performance and to assess the current trends in research of water resource management. The methods of informetric analysis were used to survey water resource management related articles in the Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) during the past decades. The publication records, subjects, journals, countries, institutes, authors, citations and keywords were analyzed respectively for each paper. The number of papers related to water resource management in 2012 was approximately 8 times that of the year 2000 and hundreds of times more than early 1990s. Water resource management related papers were distributed unevenly by countries. The USA, P.R. China, Australia and UK were the top contributing countries, also present normalized by dividing with population that published most SCI papers as well as SSCI papers. The largest water resource management research center is located in the USA according to the number of publications and citations, with P.R. China becoming more proficient in water resource management according to the data from country and institute. In addition, the quality of papers produced by developed countries is more advanced than developing countries. All these efforts contributed to the indication in trends of water resource management research on a global scale. Earlier water resource management research appeared and was originally concentrated on engineering, irrigation and geography. Issues gradually transferred to management, economics and regime recently.     

Comparisons of Risk-based Decision Rules for the Application of Water Resources Planning and Management

Water resources planning and management are plagued with various uncertainties in that any chosen management alternative always has the possibility to be inferior to other competing alternatives. To facilitate risk-based decision making, the minimax expected opportunity loss (EOL) rule is applied for alternative selection. Two existing risk measures as well as EOL are compared and their implications in risk-based decision making are examined. It is shown that EOL can reflect more accurately the relative merit of two competing alternatives without suffering the pessimism and the counter-intuition of the other two risk measures considered herein. The minimax EOL rule is demonstrated through an application to a river basin management decision for improving the navigation. The results show that the correlation between outcomes of competing alternatives and decision maker’s acceptable risk are important in decision making under uncertainty.     

Water Resources Management and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Cameroon

Cameroon is blessed with abundant water resources. Rapid population increase, unplanned urbanisation, intensive industrial and socio-economic development have led to poor and unsustainable management of these resources. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a promising approach in ensuring sustainable management of Cameroon’s water resources. It entails management of water for various purposes and not for a single purpose which therefore involves different stake holders aiming at achieving sustainable water resources management. This paper seeks to evaluate recent efforts to implement in IWRM in Cameroon by examining the institutional framework for IWRM in Cameroon, conditions for the implementation of IWRM and proposes reforms for improving IWRM in Cameroon. The paper concludes that reforms such as public participation at local council levels, recognition of water as both an economic and a social good, putting IWRM within the larger context of Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) and the exploitation of mathematical models within hydrological basins will improve IWRM in Cameroon.