Water Resources Management in the Ganges Basin: A Comparison of Three Strategies for Conjunctive Use of Groundwater and Surface Water

The most difficult water resources management challenge in the Ganges Basin is the imbalance between water demand and seasonal availability. More than 80 % of the annual flow in the Ganges River occurs during the 4-month monsoon, resulting in widespread flooding. During the rest of the year, irrigation, navigation, and ecosystems suffer because of water scarcity. Storage of monsoonal flow for utilization during the dry season is one approach to mitigating these problems. Three conjunctive use management strategies involving subsurface water storage are evaluated in this study: Ganges Water Machine (GWM), Pumping Along Canals (PAC), and Distributed Pumping and Recharge (DPR). Numerical models are used to determine the efficacy of these strategies. Results for the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh (UP) indicate that these strategies create seasonal subsurface storage from 6 to 37 % of the yearly average monsoonal flow in the Ganges exiting UP over the considered range of conditions. This has clear implications for flood reduction, and each strategy has the potential to provide irrigation water and to reduce soil waterlogging. However, GWM and PAC require significant public investment in infrastructure and management, as well as major shifts in existing water use practices; these also involve spatially-concentrated pumping, which may induce land subsidence. DPR also requires investment and management, but the distributed pumping is less costly and can be more easily implemented via adaptation of existing water use practices in the basin.     

Simulation Modeling for Efficient Groundwater Management in Balasore Coastal Basin,India

The Balasore coastal groundwater basin in Orissa, India is under a serious threat of overdraft and seawater intrusion. The overexploitation resulted in abandoning many shallow tubewells in the basin. The main intent of this study is the development of a 2-D groundwater flow and transport model of the basin using the Visual MODFLOW package for analyzing the aquifer response to various pumping strategies. The simulation model was calibrated and validated satisfactorily. Using the validated model, the groundwater response to five pumping scenarios under existing cropping conditions was simulated. The results of the sensitivity analysis indicated that the Balasore aquifer system is more susceptible to the river seepage, recharge from rainfall and interflow than the horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivities and specific storage. Finally, based on the modeling results, salient management strategies are suggested for the long-term sustainability of vital groundwater resources of the Balasore groundwater basin. The most promising management strategy for the Balasore basin could be: a reduction in the pumpage from the second aquifer by 50% in the downstream region and an increase in the pumpage to 150% from the first and second aquifer at potential locations.     

Integrated Economic-Hydrologic Modelling for Groundwater Basin Management

This paper employs a modified penalty function and conjugate gradient based nonlinear programming algorithm to solve large integrated groundwater management problems.Discrete kernels are used to incorporate spatial and temporal distribution of the aquifer response due to external stresses. Significant improvements in computational speed and storage requirement are achieved owing to this unique conjugate gradient-discrete kernel combination. Simulations of the 'socially optimal' and 'open access' groundwater extraction schemes are presented as case studies of important policy implications.     

海河流域水资源综合管理对策简析

海河流域水资源匮乏,水资源短缺、水资源和水生态环境恶化已成为流域经济社会可持续发展的瓶颈.海河流域经济社会协调发展必然要求在提高水资源利用效率的同时加强水资源综合管理.这也是解决流域水资源问题的战略举措.旨在对目前海河流域水资源管理存在问题进行分析,进而提出流域水资源综合管理的对策.     

DSS Application to the Development of Water Management Strategies in Ribeiras do Algarve River Basin

Within the Project – “Developing Strategies for Regulating and Managing Water Resources and Demand in Water Deficient Regions (WSM)” funded by the EU in fifth Research Framework Program, the Ribeiras do Algarve River Basin was chosen as a case study to develop a DSS for planning purposes. Located in the southern stretch of the Portuguese territory, crucial conflicts do exist between tourist and agricultural water uses within the river basin. Additionally, there are important deficiencies in urban secondary water supply. Also inadequate irrigation methods and poor quality of water existing in some areas urge the implementation of management measures. Different ways to improve the water management situation were analysed: (a) structural options, (b) demand management options and (c) socio-economic measures. These options were analysed using a range of combinations of extreme demand and availability scenarios and ranked based on indicators reflecting the perception of the local stakeholders towards economic development and social and environmental sustainability. On a second phase, the formulation of strategies using the available options was addressed and two different strategies, resulting from a tentative timeframe of water management options combination, were applied aiming to achieve goals defined with regional stakeholders, namely: (a) on a first stage, the optimization of the domestic and irrigation water demand coverage and aquifer’s groundwater exploitation use ratio; (b) on a second stage, the determination of the water pricing increase necessary to achieve economical sustainability, aiming at cost recovery goals in accordance with the Water Framework Directive compliance.     

黑河中游盆地地下水流建模的若干问题

针对建立地下水流概念模型和数学模型时往往忽视井孔描述和井流特征分析等问题,以黑河中游盆地地下水流建模为例,重点剖析了目前国际上应用最广的MODFLOW软件在模拟混合抽水井时的不妥之处,并采用符合地下水流机理的“渗流-管流耦合模型”来解决混合抽水井和观测孔的模拟问题;采用分别对“点泉”、“面泉”进行描述的方法来解决泉流量的模拟问题;提出了“滞后入渗补给权系数”及各时段入渗补给量的确定方法来解决河流、渠系、降雨滞后补给潜水的描述问题。同时,建立了包含达西流-非达西流的地下水三维不稳定流数学模型。     

A Modeling Method to Evaluate the Management Strategy of Urban Storm Runoff

Design of treatment strategy considering the behavior of pollutant with respect to runoff hydrograph is important for effective management of storm runoff. In this study, a mathematical model for storm runoff management was developed. The model determines the storm runoff management strategy and the associated probability under the constraint of regulatory discharge limit, and can quantify the volume or fraction of a storm runoff that should be treated. The model application was demonstrated for total suspended solids (TSS) and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) in urban storm runoff. The samples were collected from 15 storm runoff events in six impervious sites in Beijing urban area, and. For TSS, the probability that the whole runoff can be discharged without treatment was 46 %, and the whole runoff should be intercepted for treatment was 31 %. While under the constraint of the discharge limit for BaP, the dominant strategy was that the whole runoff should be intercepted for treatment, with a probability of 88 %. Compared with the treatment strategies, it was noted that the need for runoff treatment was more for BaP than TSS. This was because the pollution level of TSS was lower than BaP from the aspect of compliance with discharge limit. Because the most seriously contaminated and toxic pollutant should be taken as the primary indicator for runoff treatment, the treatment option for the study area should follow the strategies for BaP. This methodology may be applied for other pollutants in different watersheds.     

A Modeling System for the Evaluation of Water Resources Management Strategies in Thessaly,Greece

A modeling system was developed to evaluate the sustainability of water resources management strategies in the two major basins of Thessaly Region in Greece, namely the Pinios River and the Lake Karla basins. The intense and extensive agriculture of water demanding crops, such as cotton, and the absence of reasonable water resources management have lead to a remarkable water demand increase, which is usually fulfilled by the over-exploitation of groundwater resources. This unsustainable practice has deteriorated the already disturbed water balance and accelerated water resources degradation. The modeling system consists of a hydrological model, a reservoir operation model and methods for the estimation of water demands. The study area was sub-divided into sub-basins and water balance analyses were performed for each sub-basin and each control node of the system for a number of water resources management strategies. Four strategies of hydro-technical project development were coupled with two strategies of groundwater withdrawal and three water demand strategies. In total, more than 24 water management strategies were evaluated. The results showed that, under the existing water resources management, the water deficit of the Pinios River and Lake Karla basins is very large. However, the development of proposed hydro-technical projects in the Pinios River basin coupled with water demand management measures, like improvement of existing water distribution systems, change of irrigation methods, and changes of crop cultivation could alleviate the problem and lead to sustainable and ecological use of water resources in the study area.     

Partial Wavelet Coherence to Evaluate Scale-dependent Relationships Between Precipitation/Surface Water and Groundwater Levels in a Groundwater System

Water Resources Management - Identifying the scale-dependent control of various surface factors on a groundwater system is a challenge due to the potential interdependence between these factors....     

A System Dynamics Model to Evaluate Temporary Water Transfers in the Mexican Conchos Basin

The flows of the Rio Conchos are of vital economic importance not only to the agricultural sector in the Mexican side of the Rio Grande basin but also for meeting Mexico’s obligation to deliver water to the United States. During the previous decade, a severe drought dramatically decreased the basin’s runoff, generating serious economic, social, and political problems in both countries. A System Dynamics (SD) model designed to serve as a decision-support system (DSS) for water managers has been created. This DSS is a lumped semi-distributed model operating on a monthly basis. This DSS incorporates the most important elements of the Conchos basin’s water resources system: main rivers, irrigation distribution canals, reservoirs, aquifer, and the three Irrigation Districts. The DSS simulates different short and long term scenarios combining inside and outside Irrigation Districts (IDs). Also, different short scenarios are implemented to investigate the benefits of water transfer from México to the United States. This study has prompted awareness with regards to the degree of complexity and uncertainty of the water right allocation process to different economic variables such as crop yield, production costs, crop prices, subsidies, and water distribution efficiencies.     

Hydro-economic Modeling in River Basin Management: Implications and Applications for the European Water Framework Directive

Economic ideas and processes are becoming increasingly integrated with more traditional engineering and hydrologic models of water management problems. Combining economic management concepts and performance indicators with an engineering-level of understanding of a hydrologic system can provide results and insights more directly relevant for water management decisions and policies. When such models are developed and used with involvement of stakeholders, they can become a basis for shared understanding of water problems as a foundation for negotiated management and policy solutions. When implemented with optimization software, integrated hydro-economic models also can suggest promising innovative solutions for policy-makers to consider. Their applications to river basin management problems are reviewed. Economic and integrated economic-engineering-hydrologic modeling is then discussed in the context of the evolving European Water Framework Directive. Relevant items are cost recovery and water pricing, cost-effectiveness of water management measures, and public participation in decision processes.     

Combined Management of Groundwater Resources and Water Supply Systems at Basin Scale Under Climate Change

Water stress conditions associated with population growth, climate change, and groundwater contamination, represent a significant challenge for all stakeholders in the water sector. Increasing the resilience of Water Supply Systems (WSSs) becomes of fundamental importance: along with an adequate level of service, sustainability targets must be ensured. A long-term management strategy is strictly connected to a holistic approach, based on analyses at different scales. To this end, both groundwater modeling tools and water management models, with different spatial and temporal scales, are routinely and independently employed. Here, we propose a coupled approach combining: i) groundwater models (MODFLOW) to investigate different stress scenarios, involving climate change and anthropic activities; ii) water management models (Aquator), to assess the water resources availability and the best long-term management strategy for large-scale WSS. The management models are implemented starting from input and output flows derived by groundwater models: this leads to establish a comprehensive framework usually not defined in management models and including a quantitative characterization of the aquifer. The proposed methodology, general and applicable to any study area, is here implemented to the WSS of Reggio Emilia Province, and its main groundwater resource, the Enza aquifer, considering three different stress scenarios for groundwater models (BAU, ST1, and ST2), and for management strategies (BAU, BAU_RV2, ST2). Among the key results, we observe that coupling the two model types: i) allows evaluating water resources availability in connection with management rules; ii) leads to examining more realistic operation choices; iii) permits planning of infrastructures at basin scale.

     

Management of High Groundwater Level Aquifer in the Taipei Basin

Groundwater pumpings have been prohibited by the government since 1970 due to the overexploitation and severe land subsidence in the Taipei Basin. Declining water levels were gradually recovered back. Nowadays, high groundwater levels are developed in the Taipei Basin. This may cause safety problems such as seepage of underground facility, and liquefaction by the strong earthquake jeopardizing millions of people’s lives and properties in the metropolitan area of Taipei. To reduce the associated risks, the study aims to formulate a management strategy to rationally reduce the groundwater level declining trend and sustainable utilization of groundwater resources in the Taipei Basin. A hydrogeologic model of Taipei Basin using MODFLOW-96 was setup to evaluate water budget and safe yield of the aquifer. The simulated water budget indicates that the groundwater annual storage increases about 17 million cubic meters in the main (Jingmei) aquifer. The average groundwater safe yield of the Taipei Basin estimated by the Hill method is about 54 million cubic meters per year. Moreover, with consideration of the reduction of liquefaction risks the revised average safe yield is about 126 million cubic meters per year. To effectively use and manage groundwater resources, restriction order on the use of groundwater resources in the Taipei Basin need to be revised. The implementation of groundwater management index coupled with an upper limit of the average groundwater level set as −7.5 m below the surface for avoiding earthquake caused liquefaction is suggested to manage the groundwater level for safe-use of groundwater resources in the Taipei Basin.     

流域水资源管理理论框架探讨

目前流域水资源管理尚缺乏一个统一的理论体系，在管理的实践中常常带有不同程度的盲目性，影响了流域水资源管理的有效性和合理性。通过采用概念界定的分析方法，对水资源、管理和水资源管理等概念进行了新的界定，阐明了管理与保护、开发和利用的关系，以及实现保护、开发和利用的管理体制、管理运行和管理机制的关系。分析表明，管理与保护、开发和利用之间是一种层次关系；保护、开发和利用之间，以及管理体制、管理运行和管理机制之间是一种相互依存、相互制约的关系。由此勾画出的流域水资源管理的理论框架，为实现水资源的可持续利用奠定了理论基础。     

建立一体化水质监测管理体系服务珠江流域水资源管理

随着珠江流域人口的增长和工业化进程的加速,水资源相对越来越匮乏,而流域环境污染又使水质性缺水现象雪上加霜,水资源短缺和水污染加重已直接制约着经济的发展,影响人民身体健康和社会安定。水的流域特性决定了水资源的管理和保护必须以流域为单元进行,作为流域水资源管理的基     

Simulation-Optimization Modeling of Conjunctive Use of Surface Water and Groundwater

Water resources management in semiarid regions with low precipitation and high potential of evapotranspiration is a great challenge for managers and decision makers. In those regions, both sources of water should be managed conjunctively so as to minimize shortages of water in dry seasons. In conjunctive use, the difficulty increases as one must represent the response of both systems interactions, and develop management strategies that simultaneously address surface water and aquifer regulation. This paper focuses on the simulation-optimization for conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater on a basin-wide scale, the Najafabad plain in west-central Iran. A trained artificial neural network model is developed as a simulator of surface water and groundwater interaction while a genetic algorithm is developed as the optimization model. The main goal of the simulation-optimization model is to minimize shortages in meeting irrigation demands for three irrigation systems subject to constraints on the control of cumulative drawdown of the underlying water table and maximum capacity of surface irrigation systems. To achieve the main goal, three scenarios are presented. Results of the proposed model demonstrate the importance of the conjunctive use approach for planning the management of water resources in semiarid regions.     

New Water Management Strategies Needed for the 21st Century

ABSTRACT

Past failures in interregional transfer of water management strategies have revealed the need to develop new ones, effective enough to meet various forms of water inadequacy and based on fundamental interrelations between land and water. A point of departure is the recognition that man is forced to manipulate his environment to reach self-reliance for rapidly growing populations. It is therefore necessary to strike a balance between the benefits intended and the unavoidable feedbacks on the resource base without endangering its long-term productivity. An important component is the concept of environmentally sound management of land and water resources. The article particularly stresses the differences between zones with different climates, based on a three-dimensional problem matrix.     

淮河流域水质管理模型

淮河流域水质管理模型作为分析研究淮河流域水污染规律的工具 ,以淮河入洪泽湖河口以上流域为研究区域。在深入分析研究区域内水文气象、自然地理、河道和水流特性以及水污染特点的基础上 ,利用Mike 11,MIKEBASIN和ArcView软件研制和开发水质管理模型 ,为有效实施水污染防治和水资源管理提供依据。简要介绍模型的结构 ,主要参数的确定 ,模型的结果和模型的应用情况     

Water Resource Management in the Mediterranean Basin

In arid and semi-arid regions of the M editerranean, fresh water resources are finite and most of the economically viable development of these resources has already been implemented. The situation has worsened further owing to the increasing population and the associated expansion of urbanization and economic activities, all of which require more water and thus impose a tremen dous strain on this already limited and fragile water resource. Following the traditional technique of increasing supply is questionable. The alternative option is to manipulate the demand side for all water use sectors, particularly the agricultural one, which accounts for up to 80% of water consumption. In the Mediterranean region there is no question about the crucial im portance of integrated demand management aiming at efficiency, equity and long-term water security, using the tools that the legal and econ omic policy, scientific and technological advancement have made available.     

Water Resources Management Strategies for Adaptation to Climate-Induced Impacts in South Africa

This paper focuses on the development of a framework for strategy considerations for water resources management in South Africa to meet the development goals in the municipal and agricultural sectors. The north western part of South Africa experiences severe periods of drought and according to the climate change projections, will be most vulnerable to future climate induced water supply stress. A framework for selecting appropriate strategies is presented. A series of potential adaptation strategies most suitable for long term adaptation are discussed. These include both supply and demand side strategies. Barriers and obstacles to implementing these strategies include human and financial resource deficiencies at local municipal and community levels.