Comparative Simulation of GIS-Based Rainwater Management Solutions

Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) as a solution for sustainable rainwater management is the focus of this research. To locate the potential sites for RWH, multi-criteria analysis following analytical hierarchy process using land-use/landcover, slope, drainage density, and runoff depth has been performed. By introducing continuous soil moisture accounting procedure in the globally used SCS-CN method, discrepancies in computed runoff values have been assessed. To appraise the usefulness of revised Soil Moisture Accounting (SMA) -enhanced SCS-CN models, a number of modifications have been compared. The models’ performance has been evaluated using R², Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), Percent BIAS (PBIAS) statistical indicators, and Rank Grading System (RGS) and the best has been selected to calculate the runoff depth for RWH potential zones. The resultant suitability map classifies Gurriala catchment into three suitability zones. 33.8% of the total area has been found as least suitable, comprised mainly of forest, residential land, and water bodies, while 46.8% and 19.4% of the area is recognized as moderately suitable and high suitable respectively. Selected suitable sites have been further classified into suitability zones for enhanced RWH structures and runoff volume contributed by each RWH structure has been computed. The total runoff potential of the area is 22.47 MCM that is enough to fulfill the water demands of suburban areas as a most inexpensive solution.

     

Analyzing Water Poverty in Basins

Inadequate provision of water-related services in developing countries continues to undermine strategies for poverty alleviation. The root lies in the inability of policy makers to tackle resource development in a holistic and integrated manner. This requires a multi-faceted approach to combine physical estimates of water availability with the socio-economic drivers of poverty. It is with this in mind that the Water Poverty Index (WPI) was created. However, water resources are dynamic, and the linkages between water scarcity and poverty incorporate complex cause-effect relationships. Water poverty should thus be addressed in a more systemic way. This would allow a comprehensive understanding of the crosscutting nature of water issues and impacts. In this paper, a system approach has been adopted to develop a structured framework for a multi-dimensional evaluation of water poverty in basins. It is an attempt to assess the diverse, interacting components of catchment processes, societal pressures, and policy actions. An enhanced Water Poverty Index (eWPI) has been developed and is proposed in this study. To exemplify the utilisation of the index, and to test its applicability and validity, eWPI has been piloted in a Peruvian watershed as initial case study. Results highlight the likely utility of the tool to identify areas for improvement, and ultimately guide appropriate action towards better service delivery and sustainable management of water resources.     

Policies and Strategies to Overcome Barriers to Rainwater Harvesting for Urban Use in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian government has been working on rainwater harvesting (RWH) for more than three decades. Despite its efforts, the results are not as expected. Different barriers have posed challenges to promoting RWH in Ethiopia. This study was done to identify the main problems and obstacles, and reflect on potential solutions. As a result, absence of clear policy definitions, lack of sustainably implemented projects, poor societal perceptions of RWH, local professionals lacking proper knowledge, and initial investment costs are found to be major causes of poor outcomes. Considering the site-specific nature of water issues, the authors propose various management strategies such as policy-oriented promotion, formulation of design guidelines, proactive planning, collaborative research, and integration of RWH with cost covering practices.     

Water and the CGIAR: A Strategic Framework

Abstract

Among the many institutions addressing development issues at the international level, the 16 research centers of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) focus on the goal of reducing poverty, hunger, and malnutrition by sustainably increasing productivity of resources in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. The CGIAR has certain comparative advantages in carrying work in water at the various scales, from the farm up to global, that should be offered to the international community. This discussion paper addresses the question: what are the major water issues relevant to the CGIAR goal? The paper also presents a justification of the research needs and opportunities as well as some initial ideas for the development of a specific research agenda on each area. While other international organizations are very active in many international initiatives, the CGIAR is one of the few that could contribute much needed research information in many world areas. The CGIAR must focus more on water in relation to the plight of the poor in particular. There is a need to increase the adaptive capacity of the poor, and to manage the water supply and quality constraints. This could be achieved by focusing at the community level and by developing inexpensive, easy to use monitoring tools that would alert the communities of forthcoming problems and provide them with means to take remedial action. This action is often needed long before there is any hope of changes in policy and other macro-level interventions. The fundamental issue of water as a food requires that attention be given to the quantity and quality of water available for domestic use in poor households and communities. Health issues associated with domestic supply and with irrigation management have been important research themes in the CGIAR and demand increasing attention. Given the current composition, activitiesm and comparative advantages of the CGIAR, it is proposed that research on water management should focus on the following four broad general areas: (1) improving the efficiency of water use in agriculture through increased water productivity; (2) management of watersheds for multiple functions; (3) management of aquatic ecosystems, in particular those sharing boundaries with terrestrial ecosystems; and (4) policy and institutional aspects of water management. As the aim of water management research is to address water constraints and issues in an integrated manner, the four areas cannot be treated in isolation from each other. There is thus a need for the fifth area for achieving integration at and across different scales.     

Possibilities of urban flood reduction through distributed-scale rainwater harvesting

Urban flooding in Chittagong City usually occurs during the monsoon season and a rainwater harvesting(RWH) system can be used as a remedial measure. This study examines the feasibility of rain barrel RWH system at a distributed scale within an urbanized area located in the northwestern part of Chittagong City that experiences flash flooding on a regular basis. For flood modeling, the storm water management model(SWMM) was employed with rain barrel low-impact development(LID) as a flood reduction measure. The Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System(HEC-RAS) inundation model was coupled with SWMM to observe the detailed and spatial extent of flood reduction.Compared to SWMM simulated floods, the simulated inundation depth using remote sensing data and the HEC-RAS showed a reasonable match,i.e., the correlation coefficients were found to be 0.70 and 0.98, respectively. Finally, using LID, i.e., RWH, a reduction of 28.66% could be achieved for reducing flood extent. Moreover, the study showed that 10%e60% imperviousness of the subcatchment area can yield a monthly RWH potential of 0.04 e0.45 m~3 from a square meter of rooftop area. The model can be used for necessary decision making for flood reduction and to establish a distributed RWH system in the study area.     

广南县石漠化地区治水思路初探

广南县石漠化面积占全县面积的23.57%,解决好"水"问题是石漠化地区扶贫攻坚的一个重要切入点。在分析广南县石漠化现状的基础上,提出了石漠化地区"一统筹、二寻找、三利用、四突破、五结合"的治水思路和措施建议,即开展石漠化地区治水课题研究和试点,单列石漠化地区治水投入,以规划作统领整合力量进行实施,探索群众参与建设和管理的新模式,及切实加强领导。     

Optimal Sites Identification for Rainwater Harvesting in Northeastern Guatemala by Analytical Hierarchy Process

The Guatemala’s rural population have limited resources, high vulnerability to climate change, traditional agriculture practices and adversely affected by water scarcity. These problems engender the need for further economic development and imposed pressure on the existing water resources. In response, Rain Water Harvest (RWH) is the measure as an alternative source towards water shortage problem and a decrease in groundwater extraction. However, the identification of optimal sites for RWH is an important step to maximize the amount of water harvested and minimize the ecological impact. In this study, an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to determinate optimal sites using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in order to integrate spatial information. Physical and socio-economic features were main decision criteria along with six sub-criteria: potential runoff; land use; soil texture; slope; distance from agricultural land; and distance from roads. In the investigation, several different criteria with different AHP structures were utilized to assess the flexibility of structures. The result maps with respect to different criteria and AHP structurs are overlaid in a systematic scheme to identify the most suitable site for RWH project. The results identified four sites as optimally suitable and eight as highly suitable. The total 424,070.81 m³ volume of water can be potentially harvested from these optimally and highly suitable sites. The study area comprised of 770.61 km² of Guatemala northeastern region and it is suggested that the RWH system for agriculture purpose should be promoted through government and multistakeholder co-operations as an alternative water resource.     

Towards Poverty Alleviation: The Water Sector Perspectives

Given the context of diminishing water availability as a result of water pollution and inadequate development of water resources on the supply side and increasing population and expanding economic activity on the demand side, this paper reviews water-poverty interfaces and suggests ways of contributing to poverty alleviation through water sector interventions. The unequal distribution of the available water within communities and among various water users in the same country and across countries is discussed as a key issue in this context. The paper examines the causes of poverty with particular reference to the pattern of access to water supply as well as to water for various economic activities. It also considers water-related disasters such as flood, cyclone and riverbank erosion and their adverse human and natural consequences. Water deprivation is seen as both a state and a process--the former being the situation prevailing at a particular point of time and the later implying how that state has been reached and how may it evolve in future. The paper argues that the water crisis is primarily one of management, given the persisting traditional--sectorally focused and fragmented--approach. The appropriate alternative, it is argued, is integrated water resource management (IWRM), which is holistic in approach and focuses on the various uses of water and different categories of its users. It suggests ways of moving forward in terms of improved and participatory water development and management, which can contribute significantly to poverty alleviation. The second part of the paper highlights the National Water Policy of Bangladesh as a case study. The policy, adopted in 1999, broadly encompasses the various elements of IWRM. It enunciates principles and directions for water planning and utilization towards fulfilling the national goals of economic development, poverty alleviation, food security, public health and safety, decent standard of living of the people and protection of the natural environment. The policy has adopted a holistic approach and provided guidelines for participatory water management. The paper points out that a Bangladesh National Water Management Plan has been drafted within the framework of the National Water Policy with a view to improving water development and management so as to address human, economic and environmental needs of water, with special emphasis on the water needs of the poorer segments of society.     

井灌区管理自动化控制装置系统的研制与应用

在我国农村井灌区内,由于计量不准及无制约措施,容易引发一些水事纠纷,造成水费计收困难、水资源浪 费。山东省莱芜市水利与渔业局经过研制,成功开发出了射频卡节水自动计量装置,解决了农村井灌区长 期存在的水费计量不准、拖欠及人为浪费严重的现象,提高了水资源的利用率,实现了灌溉管理自动化。     

水资源可持续发展和雨水集蓄利用

人类进入 2 1世纪之际 ,水资源紧缺已成为全球性的问题。第二届全球水论坛提出 2 1世纪要实现人类的安全供水。到 2 0 2 5年要解决 31亿人的供水基本需求。任务十分艰巨。我国西北、华北和西南地区的缺水山区 ,地面水和地下水严重缺乏 (或季节性缺乏 )。这里山大沟深 ,引水困难 ,农业生产靠天吃饭 ,水平低下 ,居民饮用水长期没有保障 ,供水和粮食都缺乏安全性 ,是我国贫困最集中的地方。水是促进当地可持续发展的关键因素 ,而雨水是最有潜力的资源。近两个世纪以来的实践证明 ,雨水集蓄利用成功地为山区居民提供了可靠的生活和作物补充灌溉用水 ,在缺水山区的特定条件下是一项不可替代的措施。它具有分散解决、利用就地资源、采用适用技术、低投入 ,有利于社区和群众参与等特点 ,是符合可持续原则的综合发展模式。雨水集蓄利用的迅速发展已经对水资源学科提出了一系列新课题 ,将成为水资源科学新的生长点     

Water Scarcity and Water Use in Economic Systems in Zhangye City, Northwestern China

Water has traditionally been considered a physically scarce resource in Northwestern China, and most investigations of water scarcity focus on the finite nature of water supplies. Based on the input–output analysis, this paper establishes a number of indicators of water consumption to analyze the structural relationships between economic activities and their physical relationships with the water resources. These indicators allow us to calculate the level of total water consumed by each sector and to distinguish between direct and indirect consumption, thus, offering the possibility of tracing the source of indirect water consumption. By drawing on the water consumption in Zhangye, a city situated in Northwestern China which is characterized by water shortage, we have discussed how the “problem” of scarcity has been constructed in this area. It is shown that the expanding agriculture and the unsuitable trade structure of exports and imports are likely to be responsible for the increasing scarcity of water in Zhangye. As a result, it seems that the problem of water scarcity in Zhangye is not necessarily a given, but instead the results of poor resource use, coordination and inadequate resource management.     

Irrigation Development and Rural Poverty in Gujarat,India: A Disaggregated Analysis

Abstract

There has been renewed interest during recent times in the impact of irrigation development on rural poverty. For long, researchers asked whether irrigation development reduces the poverty of irrigators. However, the question being asked now is: does investing in irrigation—rather than in other public works—help reduce rural poverty in a region? Using Government of Gujarat's 1997 census of Below Poverty Line (BPL) households as well as the Village Amenity Survey of the same year, this paper explores the interplay between irrigation development and rural poverty in 177 predominantly rural talukas, which is an administrative unit with a population of around 100,000-150,000 people, of Gujarat state in western India. Our analysis shows that for the design of poverty-targeting programs, two variables have the highest appeal: primary education infrastructure and improved land productivity through irrigation. It also suggests that, over the long run, irrigation benefits far transcend the command areas of irrigation systems. As a result, irrigation impact studies focused at farm or command area level seriously underestimate overall livelihood impacts of irrigation development. This is because intensively irrigated areas act as magnets that attract rural poverty from their surround, especially from other dry areas. Population pressure on farm lands thus tends to get redistributed according to the carrying capacity of farm lands. Across 177 predominantly rural talukas of Gujarat, we find: a) an inverse relationship between land use intensity and land-man ratio; and b) as land productivity (output/hectare of net sown area) declines, output per rural person declines too, but far more slowly than would have been the case without the “magnet effect.”     

城市水系建设的环境重塑

为适应城市发展对水系的多功能需求,特别是对生态环境功能的需求,我国城市水系治理已开始从单纯的河道治理到水环境综合治理的转变。实现这种转变,需要相应的理论支撑,也需要在实践上进行积极的探索。本文从概念上阐述了广义水环境的内涵,分析了城市水系流动缓慢、水体交换性能差、水体自净能力弱等特点。结合我国城市化进程的主要水环境问题,指出在水系建设中重视水环境在生态、景观、文化等方面的作用对支撑城市发展的意义,并讨论了在水系建设重塑环境功能时应考虑的自然性、多样性、连续性和系统性原则。     

A Rural Water Poverty Analysis in China Using the DPSIR-PLS Model

Water poverty assessment is a complex problem involving multiple systems such as water resources, the economy, society, and the environment. Thus, it is necessary to employ a comprehensive model comprising a set of interdisciplinary indicators that encompass water-related aspects, as well as a conceptual framework to organize all indicators and variables. Firstly, we develop water poverty indicators for rural areas of China by introducing the Driving forces–Pressures–States–Impacts–Responses (DPSIR) model, based on causality. Then, the indicator system and structural equation model (SEM) are combined, and the partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) tests the hypothesis based on the causal relationship of the DPSIR model. Secondly, the weight of each variable is obtained using the modified model and structural equation software, and water poverty scores are calculated for each area. Exploratory spatial analysis of the results suggests that the distribution of water poverty in China’s rural areas displays low–low and high–high clustering. Policy makers should take advantage of the water resource situation in eastern and central regions to help the northwest, southwest, and southeast regions alleviate problems of water poverty.     

新疆水贫困与城市化的协调关系研究

建立了新疆水贫困和城市化评价指标体系,运用主客观相结合的综合赋权法确定各指标权重,构建耦合协调度模型,分析了新疆2000—2014年水贫困与城市化的耦合协调发展水平。结果显示:新疆的水贫困指数逐渐增大,水资源条件在不断改善;城市化综合发展指数也在逐渐增加,城市化水平不断提高;水贫困与城市化的耦合协调度由濒临失调逐渐发展为中级协调。     

Rainwater Harvesting: An Alternative to Safe Water Supply in Nigerian Rural Communities

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is an economical small-scale technology that has the potential to augment safe water supply with least disturbance to the environment, especially in the drier regions. In Nigeria, less than half of the population has reasonable access to reliable water supply. This study in northeastern Nigeria determined the rate of water consumption and current water sources before estimating the amount of rainwater that can potentially be harvested. A survey on 200 households in four villages namely, Gayama, Akate, Sidi and Sabongari established that more than half of them rely on sources that are susceptible to drought, i.e. shallow hand-dug wells and natural water bodies, while only 3% harvest rainwater. Taraba and Gombe states where the villages are located have a mean annual rainfall of 1,064 mm and 915 mm respectively. Annual RWH potential per household was estimated to be 63.35 m³ for Taraba state and 54.47 m³ for Gombe state. The amount could meet the water demand for the village of Gayama although the other three villages would have to supplement their rainwater with other sources. There is therefore sufficient rainwater to supplement the need of the rural communities if the existing mechanism and low involvement of the villagers in RWH activities could be improved.     

我国水土保持小流域综合治理的回顾与展望

近30年来,小流域综合治理在理论、实践、技术、体制、机制等方面不断创新和发展,现已成为我国水土保持生态建设的一条重要技术路线,为改善我国水土流失地区生态与环境、发展农村经济、促进经济社会可持续发展做出了显著的贡献.小流域综合治理要以水土资源的可持续利用和生态与环境的可持续维护为目标,进一步满足经济社会发展多样化的需求,大力推进规模化治理,创新治理开发机制,把人工治理与发挥大自然的自我生态修复能力结合起来,实现水土保持工作在更高层次上的推进和加强.     

Tourism leads to wealth but increased vulnerability: a double-edged sword in Lijiang,South-West China

Tourism development in Lijiang, China, has helped lift many people out of poverty but has also led to increased pollution and water scarcity, which climate change is predicted to exacerbate. A shift towards tourism and cash crops has reduced the diversity of crops and livestock used by agrarian households. These effects are explored in two villages between 2008 and 2013 using a multi-method approach. It is found that local water governance does not follow any of the best practice principles outlined in the international literature. Improved water governance is urgently needed to reduce household vulnerability in the Lijiang area.     

A Scenario-Driven Assessment of the Economic Feasibility of Rainwater Harvesting Using Optimized Storage

Water Resources Management - Regional water scarcity has given rise to the search for sustainable means of water supply. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) has been receiving unprecedented attention as...     

我国水资源承载力分析及分区管控对策

从地表水、地下水和用水总量3个方面对我国水资源承载状况（不超载、临界超载和超载）进行评价,以地表水、地下水和用水总量承载状况的最差评价结果作为综合评价结果。在此基础上分析城市群、经济区、能源基地和粮食主产区的水资源承载力,最终提出分区管控对策。结果表明：水资源超载区和临界超载区涉及全国53%的国土面积、近60%的人口和GDP,水资源量仅占全国的28%;地表水超载与临界超载单元有151个,主要分布在海河、辽河、黄河中下游支流、淮河中游水系、西北内陆河局部河段;地下水超载与临界单元有107个,超采的地下水主要用于农业灌溉和城市发展。重要城市群、经济区、能源基地几乎全部分布在水资源超载或临界超载地区,17个粮食主产区中有14个在水资源超载和临界超载地区。基于水资源承载能力分析结果,提出超载区“补水”,临界区“控水”,不超载区“保水”的分区管控对策。