An Aquifer Management Case Study – The Chalk of the English South Downs

The Chalk aquifer of the English South Downs is very heavily utilised. The groundwater resources have enjoyed a formal programme of management which started in the 1950s, although a number of actions had been taken earlier in order to deal with saline intrusion and potential risk to groundwater quality from urbanisation. In the late 1950s the policy of leakage/storage boreholes was first adopted, whereby the leakage boreholes along the coast were pumped in winter to intercept fresh water discharge to the sea and to maximise the recharge potential inland, and inland storage boreholes were used, as much as possible, in the summer months only. A comprehensive monitoring programme supported by aquifer modelling has enabled a gradual increase in overall abstraction to take place without increasing groundwater degradation due to saline intrusion. There have been various pollution prevention strategies over the years, and these have been effective in protecting the groundwater despite the high population density and widespread agricultural activity within the South Downs. The management of the aquifer has clearly been successful; there are many lessons from this experience that can be applied to other regions and other aquifers.     

Public–Private Partnerships in the Water Sector: The Case of Desalination

Water Resources Management - Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have grown in popularity as a method to leverage private sector actors in the production of government services. With the...     

“Integrated Water Resources Management: A Reassessment” by Asit K. Biswas

Abstract

A hydrogeological and microbiological study was carried out in Italy in order to verify the effectiveness of a DRASTIC-based method for groundwater vulnerability assessment in carbonate (fractured-karstified) aquifers. The research was developed: (a) by the monitoring of microbial contamination of two springs from January to July 2001 and from December 2002 to March 2003; and (b) by column tests in intact soil blocks, utilizing a collection strain of Enterococcus faecalis. The comparison of the vulnerability map with the results of the microbiological experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of the new DRASTIC-based method as a predictor of groundwater microbial contamination in carbonate aquifers. The effectiveness of the new proposed approach was verified and highlights the diversified role of the diffuse infiltration of precipitations through the fracture pattern and the more or less concentrated infiltration of surface water in karst areas.     

What does Integrated Water Resources Management from Local to Global Perspective Mean? Qatar as a Case Study,the Very Rich Country with No Water

Management of water resources is a very challenging issue, particularly in regions of the world where water is almost absent. In the Gulf Region, this issue is especially complex due to harsh-arid environments and increasing anthropogenic input of pollutants from the energy industry. The emergence of nations rich in oil and gas, such as Qatar, but poor in water resources requires new and dynamic systems and plans for managing limited water resources in times of extreme growth, such plans are discussed in this paper. The State of Qatar’s average annual evaporation rate is 30 times more than precipitation and the country depends on desalinated water to meet 99 % of its municipal water needs. Additionally, increasing population growth coupled with tremendous urbanization and industrialization add more stress to the existing renewable water resources, and newly produced water, namely desalted seawater and treated wastewater. Absence of water tariff and a water pricing system along with a lack of conservation awareness places Qatar as one of the highest water consuming countries in the world. Municipal water consumption per capita per day reached 500 L/ca.d for the year 2013. Dumping of sea to build new cities and construct towers makes the area very susceptible to salt water instruction, a phenomenon that does not only affect the groundwater aquifer system but also the construction materials and building deformations. Currently, Qatar uses the most advanced technologies for treating wastewater; however, the pure treated wastewater is not considered a viable water resource and is not used in areas of critical water demand such as agriculture and landscaping. Social, religious, and local marketing views limit the current use of treated wastewater. Integrated water and wastewater management strategies are absent and the national players of the two sectors -water and wastewater-are different. Current plans for integrated water resources management (IWRM) cannot answer the basic questions, what to manage and in which scale; is it the brackish and unused groundwater or the desalinated water from the existing technologies, the supply or the demand or all? This paper tries to highlight some facts related to Qatar’s water situation as an arid Gulf State and introduces potential ideas for IWRM. The critical aspects of IWRM discussed herein are relevant to a number of nations in the global community dealing with issues of extreme water insecurity.     

Assessment of the Irrigation Advisory Services’ Recommendations and Farmers’ Irrigation Management: A Case Study in Southern Spain

The Local Irrigation Advisory Services (LIAS) carry out essential work to achieve an efficient use of irrigation water at field and irrigation scheme level, which is crucial in Mediterranean irrigation systems. However, it is unusual to find agronomic and economic assessments of LIAS advice. In this work, the LIAS operating in the Genil–Cabra Irrigation Scheme (southern Spain) was evaluated during the first 5 years of its advice. Acceptance by farmers of the LIAS recommendations was evaluated by using agronomic indicators, such as ARIS (Annual Relative Irrigation Supply). ARIS_LIAS (actual irrigation applied v. recommendation of LIAS) with values ranging from about 0.23 for wheat and sunflower, and 0.94 for maize, also detecting a high variability between farmers, which indicated a scant acceptance of the LIAS recommendations. The economic evaluation of irrigation was made through two economic indicators, Irrigation Water Productivity (IWP) and Irrigation Water Benefit (IWB). IWP values varied significantly between different crops: around 0.23 € m⁻³ in wheat, sunflower and maize, about 0.53 € m⁻³ in cotton and sugar beet, and values higher than 2.0 € m⁻³ in garlic, for optimal irrigation schedules. For IWB, trends were similar, emphasizing the low IWB values in wheat and sunflower (average values of 0.06 and 0.13 € m⁻³, respectively). Consideration of these economic indicators by LIAS could not only help to obtain more suitable and economically profitable irrigation schedules, but also contribute towards a greater acceptance of advisory services by farmers, by shifting the emphasis from maximizing production to maximizing irrigation profitability.     

Risk and uncertainty analysis for dam overtopping – Case study: The Doroudzan Dam,Iran

There is a growing tendency to assess the safety levels of existing dams by using mathematical and statistical methods. In this study, the application of risk and uncertainty analysis to dam overtopping is presented for Doroudzan Reservoir located at the south part of Iran. The main objective of the overtopping analysis of dams is estimating the height of water in the reservoir under various inflows and comparing the computed results with the dam crest elevation. Hence, the main steps of this study include univariate flood frequency analysis of annual maximum inflows to estimate the peak flows in various return periods, generate inflow hydrographs based on the estimated peak flows, and route the hydrographs through the reservoir to compute the maximum height of the water in reservoir. In this study, the spillway discharge coefficient, quantile of peak flows, and initial water surface level are subject to uncertainty, and the Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS) and Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) are applied to perform the uncertainty analysis. In addition to inflows, the effect of different wind speeds on the probability of overtopping has been considered. The results demonstrated that both increasing water level and wind speed have significant impact on the risk of overflowing.     

Integrated Surface–Subsurface Modeling of Fuxianhu Lake Catchment, Southwest China

This paper describes an integrated surface–subsurface modeling study of the Fuxianhu Lake catchment (southwest China). Pollution threats to this important water resource have led to the need to evaluate transport pathways and the overall water balance of the catchment. Catchment inputs to the lake include river inflows, direct overland flow and groundwater discharge, which are incorporated into a mathematical model of the system. Surface runoff and groundwater recharge are estimated using a parsimonious soil–vegetation modeling approach, while groundwater flow is based on the MODFLOW-2005 code. Overland flow and stream discharge are coupled to the groundwater regime through the soil layer and are routed through the catchment to account for surface water flow pathways. The model is tested using the V-catchment benchmark problem and is compared to existing models to demonstrate accuracy and capability. Application of the model to the Fuxianhu catchment provides for the first-order approximation of the average catchment water balance, which comprises such components as evapotranspiration losses (37% of rainfall), surface runoff to the lake (37% of rainfall), and groundwater discharge to the lake (8% of rainfall), amongst others. The computationally efficient approach to surface–subsurface modeling adopted in this investigation presents as an alternative to more complex methods, and allows for the rapid assessment of flow pathways at the catchment scale. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Towards Adaptation to Climate Change: Water for Rice in the Coastal Wetlands of Doñana,Southern Spain

Rice production in coastal wetlands provides critical ecosystem services that range from flood control to wildlife habitat. In the Iberian Peninsula rice was introduced in the 10th Century. Today Iberian rice accounts for about one quarter of the total rice production of the European Union, almost exclusively cultivated in the coastal wetlands of Spain, with permanent flooding. The intensive water management required to produce rice stands at a crucial point since freshwater supply is deteriorating at an unprecedented rate. Here we explore flexible adaptation options to climate change in the Doñana wetlands - a world heritage and biodiversity site - from two points of view: What are the policy options for agricultural water management in view of climate change? How can informed stakeholders contribute to better adaptation? The first question is addressed by simulating water availability to farmers with the WAAPA model under a range of adaptation policy options derived from the view of the local communities. The second question was addressed by means of participatory research. Adaptation options are framed according to the local environmental, social and policy context. Results suggest that perception on the potential role of new water infrastructure and farming subsidies dominates the view of local communities. The choices of the stakeholders that could be simulated with the hydrological model, were quantified in terms of additional water availability for the rice farming, therefore providing a quantitative measure to the qualitative solutions. Information provided during the study shaped the final adaptation options developed. Our research contributes to the definition of sustainable rice production in Europe.     

Discussion of “Investigating the Vulnerability of dry-Season Water Supplies to Climate Change: A Case Study of the Gwangdong Reservoir Drought Management System, Korea” by Donghoon Cha; Sangeun Lee; and Heekyung Park

Cha et al. (Water Resources Management, 26(18):4183–4201 2012) improved the method used to measure the vulnerability of a reservoir water supply that arises due to water scarcity in a dry season. Water supply vulnerability is expected to increase due to climate change. The authors showed that the Gwangdong Reservoir Drought Management Model (GRDM2), developed in a previous study and based on the adaptation mechanism, is useful to estimate the vulnerability of water supplies. The authors assumed 48 future scenarios, consisting of a combination of 6 future inflow scenarios and 8 future water requirement scenarios, of the Gwangdong reservoir drought management system. They computed damage cost of water scarcity in dry seasons until the 2050s. Simulation results showed that severe damage may take place from the 2020s and damage four times greater than in the 2009 water scarcity event may occur in the 2050s. As a result, GRDM2 was reported to be useful to measure the magnitude of climate change vulnerability, concentrating on damage of water scarcity in a dry season.     

Some Foci of Integrated Water Resources Management in the“South” which are oft- forgotten by the “North”: A perspective from southern Africa

Following some definitions of IWRM within a context of integrated catchment management, and a summary of the major goals and strategies as well as scale considerations in IWRM, this paper highlights some differences between IWRM in Lesser Developed Countries (LDCs), i.e. the so-called “South”, and Developed Countries (DCs), i.e. the so-called “North”, by outlining characteristics of DCs and LDCs which shape their respective needs in IWRM. Thereafter inherent problems in regard to IWRM in LDCs are identified. This is followed by examples from four case studies in southern African catchments which focus on some of the uniquenesses of IWRM issues in LDCs which, in the author's experiences, are often forgotten by theorists and practitioners from the “North”,viz.that

The Compensation Mechanism and Water Quality Impacts of Agriculture-Urban Water Transfers: A Case Study in China’s Chaobai Watershed

Water transfer from agriculture to urban uses will likely become increasingly common worldwide. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of converting paddy rice to dry land crops (PPRDC) on local farmers’ income in China’s Chaobai watershed and to analyze the responses of surface water quality to the change in cropping system. An on-site investigation of 485 households and water quality data from 1999 to 2008 are presented in this study. The cost of cultivation as a percentage of the total revenue was 22.3 % for rice and 30.1 % for corn, and the calculated compensation level (CCOM) should be 6172.3 Yuan?ha^?1. PPRDC provided farms with stable income without regard to drought and flood: thus, farmers responded positively to PPRDC, and 76.7 % of farmers expected to continue PPRDC. Inflow water quality was improved in terms of total nitrogen (TN) and nitrate (NO₃–N) because of the reduction in fertilizer and pesticides after PPRDC, but there was no significant change in total phosphorus (TP). PPRDC not only reallocates water resource to different users but also improves water quality through crop adjustment. A dynamic compensation mechanism based on changing crop price is required for the future water transfer project.     

Trends in the distribution and abundance of Hexagenia spp. in Saginaw Bay,Lake Huron, 1954–2012: Moving towards recovery?

Since at least the 1940s, multiple anthropogenic disturbances to the Laurentian Great Lakes have had detrimental effects on benthic habitats and biota including decimating the environmentally sensitive burrowing mayfly genus Hexagenia around the mid-1950s. While remediation efforts have facilitated recovery of some populations, benthic surveys in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron in the last 50 years have only occasionally discovered Hexagenia nymphs. Recently, adult Hexagenia swarms have been reported near the bay; therefore, we corroborated the local presence of Hexagenia adults and evaluated the current status of Saginaw Bay Hexagenia nymphs. We quantified adults during mayfly emergence events in 2010 at three Tawas City, Michigan, USA area locations, and found > 17 Hexagenia/m²/site. We quantified nymphs from Ponar grab samples collected at 57 sites in Saginaw Bay between 2009 and 2012, and found 1.5 nymphs/m² overall with nymphs present at 15.8% of sites sampled, their greatest documented distribution in Saginaw Bay since 1956. Additionally, we mapped bay sediment composition and related sampling site abiotic conditions with both Hexagenia presence and abundance using Zero-Inflated Poisson regression. Model results indicate that the probability of observed Hexagenia absence being true absence is positively related to both sediment sandiness and surficial dissolved oxygen concentration while Hexagenia abundance is greatest where surficial temperatures are ~ 18.6 °C and is also related to sediment sand content. The documentation of nearby adults and in bay nymphs may indicate the beginning of a Hexagenia return to Saginaw Bay, and, therefore, a possible improvement of the ecosystem's benthic health.     

Selection of Preferred Floodplains for the Renaturalization of Hydrologic Functions: A Case Study of the Paraíba do Sul River Basin,Brazil

The primary goal of this study is to identify floodplains that are in large river basins and could potentially undergo renaturalization of their hydrologic functions. The study area is the Paraíba do Sul River Basin (55,400 km²), which is located in southeastern Brazil. The field work included the application of geoprocessing techniques (ArcGIS 10 and ENVI 4.7) for the delineation and individualization of the floodplain, and the following characteristics were surveyed: area, perimeter, circularity index and urbanization index. Discriminant and cluster analyses (SPSS 15) were performed, and 77 floodplains were found that exhibited a wide variation in area (0.13 to 1,540 km²) and perimeter (1.8 to 4,200 km), low circularity indices (<0.52), and a low average urbanization index (18.9 %). The floodplains were grouped according to how well the renaturalization of their hydrologic functions could be managed and categorized as follows: a) low management potential (9 units); b) medium management potential (15 units); and c) high management potential (52 units). The discriminant analysis correctly classified 100 % of the cases, which indicates that the model has a high predictive ability and can accurately classify the management potential of floodplains.     

Groundwater Protection,Risk Awareness,Knowledge Transfer and Public Health: The Role of “Future Custodians”

A survey of young adults was conducted at several 3rd level agricultural institutions across Ireland over a 6-month period. The results from the agri-student survey were compared and contrasted with those of an identical survey of private well owners. Students (n?=?246) scored significantly lower than well owners (n?=?245) in two developed metrics, namely “groundwater source awareness” and “groundwater contamination awareness” (p?n?=?476). Clusters comprised four predictors: presence of an elderly householder (predictor importance = 0.91), residence within the household during well design (predictor importance = 0.55), presence of an infant or young child (≤5 years) in the household (predictor importance = 0.48) previous instance of gastrointestinal illness or symptoms within the household (predictor importance = 0.31) The results of this research may be used to inform future risk management, communication and knowledge transfer policies, which are currently required to ensure the safeguarding of private groundwater supplies both in Ireland and further afield.     

Toward Resurrection Ecology: Daphnia mendotae and D. retrocurva in the Coastal Region of Lake Superior,among the First Successful Outside Invaders?

In Lake Superior, almost all embayment and coastal species depend on overwintering stages. Diapausing eggs from sediments provide a long-term record of species presence in addition to furnishing individuals for genetic characterization and experimental studies (resurrection ecology). Here we begin to clarify the historical development of present day species distributions in Lake Superior by examining species composition in time and space around the Keweenaw Peninsula. Keweenaw Bay sediments document the relatively recent increased abundance (perhaps arrival) of Daphnia mendotae and D. retrocurva in coastal assemblages, two species previously assumed to be characteristic of late summer assemblages. Ephippial eggs are confirmed to species by hatching experiments and genetic characterization. The timing of D. mendotae and D. retrocurva appearance coincides roughly with initial ship traffic through the St. Marys River, suggesting colonization from the lower Great Lakes at that time. An alternative hypothesis is that run-off from forest clearance altered coastal waters and encouraged Daphnia development. Eutrophication and increased abundance of planktivorous fishes, particularly perch and smelt, may also have contributed to Daphnia species succession in the Keweenaw Waterway, whereas recent interactions with Bythotrephes in Keweenaw Bay may be pushing assemblages towards dominance of D. mendotae and Holopedium. Contact between D. mendotae and resident D. dentifera in the Keweenaw Waterway led to hybridization. In the waterway, hybrids were more common in the past, yet hybridization continues in small ponds and embayments near regions of species contact.     

Stability Analysis of Stakeholders’ Cooperation in Inter-Basin Water Transfer Projects: a Case Study

Water Resources Management - This study investigates the conflict resolution among different stakeholders in a water transfer project. The portion of the Beheshtabad Water Transfer Project in Iran...     

Implementing the European “Floods Directive”: the Case of the Po River Basin

The European “Floods Directive” 2007/60/EC (FD) asks Member States to develop flood risk maps on the bases of most appropriate and advanced tools, with particular attention on limiting required economic efforts. The question arises on how these tools should be selected so as to supply all the knowledge that is required to develop Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs). By analysing the implementation of the FD in the Po River Basin (Italy), the paper describes and compares two different approaches for flood risk assessment: the expert driven-qualitative approach vs. the quantitative approach based on damage models. The comparison shows, as expected, that quantitative approaches supply more useful knowledge for the development of FRMPs (and for flood risk management in general) with respect to qualitative approaches. However, they still present limits which prevent their adoption without critically consider the peculiarities of the investigated area in terms of available knowledge on hazard, exposure and vulnerability. Accordingly, considerations are supplied on how effectiveness of quantitative approaches can be maximized, towards flood risk management objectives.