Optimization of Retention Ponds to Improve the Drainage System Elasticity for Water-Energy Nexus

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the optimization of retention ponds for energy production by a low-head hydropower converter towards smart water grids and new flood adaptation solutions. Flood drainage systems are infrastructures essential in urban areas to control floods, which include retention ponds that can be used as innovative solutions adapted to climate changes and smart water grids to produce energy in a near future and to improve the drainage system elasticity. A catchment-scale water/energy management model is used for designing solutions by defining the characteristics of the urban area and the hydropower converters. The study area is based on Alcântara zone, in a district of Lisbon, a specific down-town zone close to the Tagus river, which has the backwater sea tidal influence. A solution based on the catchment of this area for extreme values of runoff induced by a significant climate changes event in these last years is analysed and then optimized in terms of energy production for different characteristic parameters. Finally, results are shown and discussed to reveal the most suitable solutions.     

Water,Energy and Environment Nexus: The California Experience

The paper addresses the local and inter-state connections between water, energy and the environment. Using California and the western USA as a case study, the paper highlights the difficulties of balancing the needs of diverse stakeholders and protecting valuable resources while providing reliable and safe supplies of both water and energy to agricultural, industrial and residential customers. The investigation of these complex relationships is necessary to inform local and national policy decisions regarding the management of water, energy and the environment.     

The Water-Economy Nexus: a Composite Index Approach to Evaluate Urban Water Vulnerability

Resource scarcity is a driving force behind water conservation and reuse as urban areas seek strategies to adapt to population growth and environmental challenges. Although there are numerous indicators that examine urban water resource and demand characteristics, these approaches do not tie together how aspects like economic health, environmental conditions, and population growth correlate with local water conservation to demonstrate a city’s ability to cope with water resource vulnerability. This research develops a conceptual framework for the Water-Economy Index (WEI) which characterizes social, economic, and environmental dynamics of water reuse and conservation. The application specifically utilizes a principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate how hydro-economic indicators (including water demand intensity, demand for recycled water, economic productivity of water, unemployment, and allocations of water resources) are correlated and can impact sustainability goals. The PCA method aggregates indicators into three groups: socio-economic, water allocation, and socio-environmental indicators. The most influential indicators within each group are economic productivity of water, wastewater reuse, and consumptive water demand, respectively. The WEI ranks of 49 cities are compared to identify shared traits across individual indicators and to demonstrate the application of the WEI for benchmarking. The results provide insight into the complex relationship between the characteristics of an urban area’s water demand and socio-economic performance.

     

Investigating Energy Flow in Water-Energy Storage for Hydropower Generation in Water Distribution Systems

Quantifying excess energy using an energy balance model is the key to designing and operating an energy-efficient water distribution system (WDS). Excess energy, which can be recovered instantly or stored in a water-energy storage is the basis to estimate hydropower potential in the system. For a given WDS with its demand, how the excess energy can be managed efficiently to design a water-energy storage to maximize hydropower generation is the focus of this paper. A single-objective optimization model has been developed to optimize the dimensions for up to six water-energy storages for maximizing hydropower generation while minimizing the pumping energy. While the ratio of total energy recovered to total pumping energy is found to be about 40% for all water-energy configurations, the recovered specific energy ranges from 0.116 kWh/m³ to 0.121 kWh/m³ showing the potential use of WDS as an energy storage. Results show that hydropower generation increases with the increase of number of storages up to a certain number representing the constraints of constant drinking water demand and storage dimensions. In-pipe turbines with pump operation for minimizing pumping energy can offer the optimal solution for WDS energy management. A higher number of storages with in-pipe turbines offers uniformity in pressure distribution resulting increase in system robustness.

     

Water-Food-Energy: Nexus and Non-Nexus Approaches for Optimal Cropping Pattern

Given the water-food-energy interconnections, integrated planning, policy and management using the nexus approach are required for the food production system. In this study the nexus and non-nexus approaches are compared to propose an optimal cropping patternthat considers water, energy and economic parameters. Linear optimization was applied to compare i) the nexus approach utilizing an objective function to maximize a water-food-energy nexus index and 2) the non-nexus approach utilizing three objective functions for water use, energy use, and agricultural net return. The study showed that the nexus approach is the best. Applying it through a water-food-energy nexus index provides a holistic method for identifying an optimal cropping pattern that reduces water and energy consumption and increases the agricultural net return.     

Comprehensive Understanding of Urban Water Supply Management: Towards Sustainable Water-socio-economic-health-environment Nexus

Water Resources Management - The majority of the cities across the developing countries have saddled water supply and quality management issues. Unfortunately, even cities with adequate water...     

Comprehensive Development in Reservoir Watersheds: The Japanese Experience

This paper discusses comprehensive development in reservoir watersheds, the most important aspect relating to dam construction in Japan. The discussion of the subject deals with reliably obtaining the understanding of the residents unavoidably relocated by the reservoir, with measures to rehabilitate and resettle people and with comprehensive development within the reservoir area. The Act on Special Measures for Reservoir Area Development, which was enacted to guarantee the smooth completion of dam projects, played an important role in this scheme. Details are explained by introducing examples encountered in Japan.     

A New Integrated Portfolio Based Water-Energy-Environment Nexus in Wetland Catchments

Water Resources Management - Increasing demand of vital resources such as water and energy will impose some overwhelming environmental degradation, particularly on wetlands as the most vulnerable...     

Bridging Science and Policy in Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Using the Q-Nexus Model for Informing Policy Making

Water, energy and food (WEF) systems are highly interconnected and they directly and indirectly affect one another. Science based tools that quantify the direct and indirect interconnections between water, energy and food systems are essential for informing effective WEF policy-making. The Q-Nexus Model is a mathematically-based quantitative WEF nexus assessment tool that serves as platform to quantify, simulate and optimize water, energy and food as interconnected systems of resources. This paper presents a generic scenario-based framework of using Q-Nexus Model for informing about the nexus effects that need to be reflected in the WEF planning and policy-making settings. Firstly, the technical features of the Q-Nexus Model and its capability to evaluate the direct and indirect quantitative effects are introduced. Secondly, the use of the Q-Nexus Model to quantify and simulate numerous key challenges and policy options are then presented. At the practical level, a numerical experiment is presented, and results are discussed. Lastly, the conclusions and further developments are presented.     

Flood Hydrology and Geomorphology of Monsoon-dominated Rivers: The Indian Peninsula

ABSTRACT

The rivers of the southern part of the Indian Peninsula are monsoonal in nature and the hydrological characteristics of these rivers djffer markedly from those of Himalayan rivers. The rivers are subjected to severe floods during the monsoon season. In the last few decades, several large-magnitude floods (peak floods between 10,000 and 80,000 m³/s) have been recorded. In general, floods caused by precipitation from Bay of Bengal depressions include the peak flood of record. Analyses of the systematic, historical, and paleoflood records indicate that, in recent decades, the frequency of high-magnitude floods has increased significantly. Hydraulic estimates reveal that high flows are capable of bedrock erosion and transportation of coarse material.

Such large floods are important, not only from the standpoint of geomorphic work, but also in terms of social impact. Floods in the peninsular region are responsible for colossal loss of human life, crops, and property. In recent years, various measures offlood control and management have been adopted. However, flooding in such large rivers profoundly challenges flood-hazard management, because of the inadequacy of conventional data and high spatio-temporal variability of floods. To understand flood hazards and environmental change it is imperative that engineers and hydrologists utilize historical and paleoflood records to improve risk analyses as well as to estimate probable maximum flood on rivers such as these in a highly flood-prone region.     

The conservation of Indian freshwater resources

India has considerable wetland resources. Many are increasingly subject to disturbance from a variety of anthropogenic pressures. The article outlines the distribution of Indian wetlands, indicates the nature of anthropogenic pressures on them, and discusses governmental responses, both financial and legislative and at the State and national level, to conserve and manage them.     

The Effect and Reform of Water Pricing: The Israeli Experience

Water pricing in Israel led the water situation to become almost disastrous. This was true for both quantity and quality issues. This paper deals with a proposed price reform and its implication for two issues. The first is the optimal timing to switch to a backstop technology--desalinating water in this case. Economic analysis shows that combining both demand and supply management can postpone desalinization projects by more than 20 years. The second issue deals with changing the price block schedule in order to compensate farmers for a given price change. Increasing the marginal price of water to its real value damages the marginal users. The paper tries to calculate and proposes a new price block schedule that will leave the farmers as well off as they were before the change.     

Experience in constructing The Zagorsk pumped-storage station

Translated from Gidrotekhnicheskoe Stroitel'stvo, No. 1, pp. 18–23, January, 1994.     

水利施工物资供应管理与施工经济效益

水利施工的物资管理直接影响产品的质量、成本、效益。管理是降耗增效的关键所在 ,管理是一门边缘科学 ,是资源。所以我们要向管理要效益。根据不利施工的特点制定相应的物资管理制度和灵活的经营手段 ,保证实践我们的“产品合格用户满意”的质量目标 ,从而实践以最少的投入获得最大经济效益的目的。1　水利施工的特点①施工点多 ,各项目部分分散在全省各地十几个施工点。与基地最近几公里 ,最远几百公里。②作业线长 ,单项施工作业线从几公里到几十公里。③施工项目类型多 ,土方、石方、砼、金属结构等。施工综合性强 ,技术含量高。④中小…     

Interbasin Water Transfers: The Brazilian Experience and International Case Comparisons

This paper critically examines Brazil’s transbasin diversion experiences and two select, large-scale transbasin projects outside of Brazil. Rather than simply compare Brazil’s experiences with international cases, the authors explore the historical context of the projects, focusing on the water resources and environmental regulatory and institutional frameworks in place during the initial proposals and how they influenced the projects’ development and completion rates. Huge investments, the lengthy time span between the date of the initial project proposals and the start of construction, the need to garner public and political support, and more recently, the need to fulfill national and regional environmental laws are major factors underlying heated public debates about the proposed projects. After a broad discussion about the subject, the authors examine a recently approved large-scale Brazilian project, the Sao Francisco river transbasin diversion. This river diversion project is considered crucial to the economic development of Brazil’s semi-arid northeastern region. Despite the fact that this government-funded project was debated for several decades among the various stakeholders, it was approved under Brazil’s newly formed water resources regulatory and environmental framework, which enabled improvements in various key technical aspects of the project, and greater involvement of various key social players.     

水利施工中周转材料管理与提高施工经济效益

周转材料其定义是 :在施工生产中能经几年或多次使用而仍保持其物资形态 ,其价值随使用年限或使用次数转移到产品成本中去的耐用消耗材料。如跳板 ,模板 ,脚手架等。周转材料在施工生产中起到人力、机械设备能力不能完成的 ,辅助提高人力、机械设备能力 ,提高施工进度 ,改进施工方法 ,保证产品设计形态的作用。是某些产品质量的保证。需用周转材料的施工项目 ,周转材料是组织施工生产的前提。没有完备的周转材料作保证 ,就没有生产的手段和方法 ,谈不上施工生产。一般中型企业周转材料的价值都在百万元以上 ,是不可忽视的资产。1　水利施工…     

Potable Water for All: The Egyptian Experience with Rural Water Supply

ABSTRACT

Egypt during 1952–1960 achieved a more rapid and proportionately larger improvement in potable water supply for its rural population than any other developing country. The way in which this was done laid the groundwork for later difficulties in maintenance and extension of services. Similar problems arose in the Fayoum project in 1953–1964. A program for basic village services initiated in 1979 applied some of the lessons learned in the earlierprogram, but raised new environmental issues. The early change in water service was not followed by striking reductions in prevalence of childhood disease.     

故县水电厂安全生产经验谈

安全生产是电力企业发展的基础,安全工作是电力企业发展永恒的话题,本文介绍故县水电厂在安全生产工作中的一系列行之有效的措施。     

Kariba Reservoir: Experience and lessons learned

The Kariba Reservoir is a large, tropical reservoir created nearly half a century ago on the Zambezi River in Zambia and Zimbabwe. It has a complex sociopolitical history, being designed during a period when human rights, social justice and equity in relation to colonial subjects were secondary concerns, as well as a period in which environmental management was an emerging discipline. Many of the management issues that have arisen over time were not foreseen when the dam was being planned. This paper examines several of these issues, including population increase in the basin, the need for ecological manipulations to optimize ecosystem functioning, and environmental problems such as eutrophication, microbial pollution, hyacinth invasion, and issues arising from pest control. The institutional arrangements also are critiqued, with a focus on how forced relocation of indigenous communities in the course of water resource development can lead to long‐lasting, trans‐generational social traumas. It is concluded that reservoir planning must explicitly address community needs, with equity issues in the sharing of water resource development benefits being clearly considered, and that post‐project integrated watershed management efforts must be part of reservoir planning.