Collaborative Planning in Adaptive Flood Risk Management under Climate Change

Flood risk management (FRM) is moving towards more proactive and collaborative direction to enable adaptation to changing conditions. We present a case study on collaborative planning process, which contributed to the development of adaptive FRM in one of the largest river basins in Finland. The focus was on the possibility and acceptability of using large regulated lakes as storage for flood water in an extreme flood event to decrease flood damage at the downstream riverside towns. We defined an extreme flood event that would cause dramatic flood damage and developed tools for simulating the event with alternative regulation strategies using Watershed Simulation and Forecasting System (WSFS). We organized a stakeholder event to demonstrate the alternative lake regulation strategies, their socio-economic consequences, and to discuss their acceptability. We found that storing flood water in the lakes above the regulation limits and preparing for winter floods in advance by lowering the lakes in the autumn can minimize the total damage in the target area. The majority of stakeholders considered these actions acceptable in an extreme flood event, regardless of deliberately induced flooding of areas where no floods have occurred for over 50 years. However, lowering the lakes in the autumn on annual basis gained less support. We emphasize the importance of deliberations on the FRM procedures and responsibilities in extreme flood events with the stakeholders in advance to increase adaptive capacity and legitimacy of decisions.     

Integrated Reservoir Management System for Flood Risk Assessment Under Climate Change

Operations of existing reservoirs will be affected by climate change. Reservoir operating rules developed using historical information will not provide the optimal use of storage under changing hydrological conditions. In this paper, an integrated reservoir management system has been developed to adapt existing reservoir operations to changing climatic conditions. The reservoir management system integrates: (1) the K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) weather generator model; (2) the HEC-HMS hydrological model; and (3) the Differential Evolution (DE) optimization model. Six future weather scenarios are employed to verify the integrated reservoir management system using Upper Thames River basin in Canada as a case study. The results demonstrate that the integrated system provides optimal reservoir operation rule curves that reflect the hydrologic characteristics of future climate scenarios. Therefore, they may be useful for the development of reservoir climate change adaptation strategy.     

未来洪灾风险与适应性洪水综合管理框架

鉴于未来洪水灾害系统状态及其风险的不可预测性,提出了以社会学习过程为核心的适应性洪水综合管理模式,同时针对如何选择具有良好适应性的洪水管理策略的问题,提出了未来洪灾风险和洪水管理策略分析的情景分析概念模型.分析认为:适应性洪水综合管理的基本要求是管理措施多样化、避免不可逆转的管理措施、利益相关者的广泛参与、建立更加系统...     

Water Resources Under Climate Change in Himalayan Basins

Water Resources Management - Climate change has significant implications for glaciers and water resources in the Himalayan region. There is an urgent need to improve our current knowledge and...     

Sensitivity of the Red River Basin Flood Protection System to Climate Variability and Change

An original modeling framework for assessment of climate variation and change impacts on the performance of complex flood protection system has been implemented in the evaluation of the impact of climate variability and change on the reliability, vulnerability and resiliency of the Red River Basin flood protection system (Manitoba, Canada). The modeling framework allows for an evaluation of different climate change scenarios generated by the global climate models. Temperature and precipitation are used as the main factors affecting flood flow generation. System dynamics modeling approach proved to be of great value in the development of system performance assessment model. The most important impact of climate variability and change on hydrologic processes is reflected in the change of flood patterns: flood starting time, peak value and timing. The results show increase in the annual precipitation and the annual streamflow volume in the Red River basin under the future climate change scenarios. Most of the floods generated using three different climate models had an earlier starting time and peak time. The assessment of the performance of Red River flood protection system is based on the flood flows, the capacity of flood control structures and failure flow levels at different locations in the basin. In the Assiniboine River Basin, higher reliabilities at downstream locations are obtained indicating that Shellmouth reservoir plays an important role in reducing downstream flooding. However, a different trend was identified in the Red River Basin. The study results show that flood protection capacity of the Red River infrastructure is sufficient under low reliability criteria but may not be sufficient under high reliability criteria.     

气候变化对黄河水资源的影响及其适应性管理

气候变化将直接影响降水、蒸散发和径流等水文要素,并在一定程度上改变水资源量及其时空分布,进一步影响水资源利用格局及水安全形势。气候变化对水资源安全的影响是国际上普遍关心的全球性问题,也是我国可持续发展面临的重大战略问题。黄河作为中华民族的母亲河,在全球气候变化的条件下,水资源的供需矛盾日益尖锐。结合黄河的水资源特点,研究和评价了气候变化情景下黄河水资源的脆弱性,并从配置、利用、调度、管理方面系统地提出了适应性对策:探讨有序适应的黄河流域水资源优化配置方案;完善水沙调控体系,探讨高效输沙模式;合理开发非常规水资源;优化调整梯级水库运用方式;实施最严格的水资源管理制度;积极实施外流域调水。     

A Shift Towards Integrated and Adaptive Water Management in South Korea: Building Resilience Against Climate Change

Water Resources Management - There is growing evidence that the global meteorological cycle, on which most countries depend for water security, is deviating from traditional patterns due to climate...     

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 Influences on Stream-Flow Variability in the Past and Under Potential Climate Change in a Central European Mining Region

Water Resources Management - Robust assessments of stream-flow volume and variability under current and potential future conditions are essential for sustainable water resources planning and...     

Climate Change Risk Management in Transnational River Basins: The Rhine

Climate change is likely to have an impact on the discharge of the European river Rhine. To base adaptation strategies, to deal with these changing river discharges, on the best scientific and technical knowledge, it is important to understand potential climate impacts, as well as the capacity of social and natural systems to adapt. Both are characterized by large uncertainties, at different scales, that range from individual to local to regional to international. This review paper addresses three challenges. Dealing with climate change uncertainties for the development of adaptation strategies is the first challenge. We find that communication of uncertainties in support of river basin adaptation planning generally only covers a small part of the spectrum of prevailing uncertainties, e.g. by using only one model or scenario and one approach to deal with the uncertainties. The second challenge identified in this paper is to overcome the current mismatch of supply of scientific knowledge by scientists and the demand by policy makers. Early experiences with ‘assess-risk-of-policy’ approaches analysis of options, starting from the resilience of development plans, suggests that this approach better responds to policy makers’ needs. The third challenge is to adequately capture the transnational character of the Rhine river basin in research and policy. Development and implementation of adaptation options derived from integrated analysis at the full river basin level, rather than within the boundaries of the riparian countries, can offer new opportunities, but will also meet many practical challenges.     

气候变化条件下山东省未来水资源情势预估

利用山东省实测降水资料、政府水资源公报数据,采用小波分析、数理统计等方法,预估了山东省未来水资源情势。结果表明:从目前到2030年左右,山东省降水将处于相对枯水期,受降水量减少和极端降水强度增大的影响,当地水资源量将减少、水资源开发利用难度将增大;黄河水和长江水等客水资源受到干流上游来水量减少、脆弱性增强、调蓄工程不完善、水价成本高等因素限制,未来情势不容乐观;目前山东省非常规水资源利用潜力较大,应在增大非常规水资源利用力度的同时,做好建设节水型社会、完善现代水网工程、提高水利工程调蓄能力等工作。     

洪水管理、风险评估和洪泛区区划

洪水风险评估包括洪峰、洪量、水位和洪水过程.从安全角度来看,洪水风险评估对于水电工程、防洪工程的设计和运行是十分重要的.洪水管理旨在最大限度地减少洪泛区的洪灾损失,因此根据洪水发生的量级和频率进行洪水风险评估、制作洪水风险图对于洪水管理至关重要.目前在印度采取的主要防洪措施有:进行堤坝溃决风险分析、发布洪水预警、制作洪水风险图或洪灾风险图等.根据洪灾风险评估确定不同的保险费用,并据此推行防洪保险计划,可能非常有助于洪泛区的区划工作.地形等高线图是进行洪泛区区划的前提条件.根据这些图集和洪水风险评估,洪泛区能够按照区划进行开发活动的分类管理.     

The Impacts of Climate Variability and Future Climate Change in the Nile Basin on Water Resources in Egypt

This paper describes the application of hydrologic models of the Blue Nile and Lake Victoria sub-basins to assess the magnitude of potential impacts of climate change on Main Nile discharge. The models are calibrated to simulate historical observed runoff and then driven with the temperature and precipitation changes from three general circulation model (GCM) climate scenarios. The differences in the resulting magnitude and direction of changes in runoff highlight the inter-model differences in future climate change scenarios. A 'wet' case, 'dry' case and composite case produced +15 (+12), -9 (-9) and + 1(+7) per cent changes in mean annual Blue Nile (Lake Victoria) runoff for 2025, respectively. These figures are used to estimate changes in the availability of Nile water in Egypt by making assumptions about the runoff response in the other Nile sub-basins and the continued use of the Nile Waters Agreement. Comparison of these availability scenarios with demand projections for Egypt show a slight surplus of water in 2025 with and without climate change. If, however, water demand for desert reclamation is taken into account then water deficits occur for the present-day situation and also 2025 with ('dry' case GCM only) and without climate change. A revision of Egypt's allocation of Nile water based on the recent low-flow decade-mean flows of the Nile (1981-90) shows that during this period Egypt's water use actually exceeded availability. The magnitude of 'natural' fluctuations in discharge therefore has very important consequences for water resource management regardless of future climate change.     

A Method for Predicting Long-Term Municipal Water Demands Under Climate Change

Water Resources Management - The accurate forecast of water demand is challenging for water utilities, specifically when considering the implications of climate change. As such, this is the first...     

Optimal Water Allocation of Surface and Ground Water Resources Under Climate Change with WEAP and IWOA Modeling

Water Resources Management - The water evaluation and planning (WEAP) approach and the invasive weed optimization algorithm (IWOA) are herein employed to determine the optimal operating policies in...     

洪水风险管理和洪水资源化浅议

洪水风险管理是治水方略的新发展 ,洪水资源化是洪水风险管理的重要内容。洪水资源化存在的风险主要有 :水库应急泄洪风险 ;垮坝风险 ;动用蓄滞洪区的风险 ;引洪水补源和灌溉时 ,缩短灌区灌溉设施寿命的风险 ;洪水上滩时污染滩区的风险。对此 ,提出了弱化风险的管理对策 :加强防洪调度 ,提高水库调度技术 ;加强水沙污的统一调度 ;加强工程管理 ,消除病险水库 ;加强信息化建设 ,及时获知水情信息 ;建立蓄滞洪区的洪水保险机制和风险补偿机制     

Water Conflict Management between Agriculture and Wetland under Climate Change: Application of Economic-Hydrological-Behavioral Modelling

Water Resources Management - Water resources at the basin level are affected by climate change in the form of available water scarcity and multiple droughts leading to conflicts among different...     

Sustainability of Small Reservoirs and Large Scale Water Availability Under Current Conditions and Climate Change

Semi-arid river basins often rely on reservoirs for water supply. Small reservoirs may impact on large-scale water availability both by enhancing availability in a distributed sense and by subtracting water for large downstream user communities, e.g. served by large reservoirs. Both of these impacts of small reservoirs are subject to climate change. Using a case-study on North-East Brazil, this paper shows that climate change impacts on water availability may be severe, and impacts on distributed water availability from small reservoirs may exceed impacts on centralised water availability from large reservoirs. Next, the paper shows that the effect of small reservoirs on water availability from large reservoirs may be significant, and increase both in relative and absolute sense under unfavourable climate change.