The future sustainability of water supply in Kuwait

Abstract

The main natural source of water available in Kuwait is the brackish groundwater located in the Kuwait Group and the Dammam aquifers, where the salinity ranges from 4300 to 10200 mg/l and from 2500 to 10000 mg/l, respectively. Limited fresh groundwater resources in Al‐Rawdhatain and Umm Al‐Aish fields, which have a salinity of 359 ‐1737 mg/l, are also available. Most of the groundwater in Kuwait is used for irrigation, domestic purposes, small‐scale industries and for blending with distilled water. Because rainfall is seasonal and less than annual evaporation, the recharge of the groundwater from rainfall is negligible. The objective of this paper is to assess the different water resources in Kuwait in order to make an integrated management plan and to focus on future sustainability. Generally, in the State of Kuwait, there is increasing pressure on the natural water resources because of the exploitation of the aquifers at a rate exceeding that of both the groundwater recharge and population growth (from 1.4 million in 1980 to 2.55 million in 2003). This has lead to the observed decline in groundwater level and to the deterioration of water quality. In the early 1950s, a plan was endorsed in Kuwait to establish seawater desalination plants. By 2005, six desalination plants have been established, with a total capacity of distillation units of 1434.72 ×103 m³/d (315.6 MIGD). However, the gross maximum consumption for the year 2003 reached a value of 1440.17 ×103 m³/d (316.8 MIGD), which is higher than the total capacity of the available distillation units. Given the limitation of conventional water and the shortages of non‐conventional water, along with the increasing population, Kuwait must consider the recycling of wastewater for irrigation, industrial or any other unrestricted non‐potable purpose.     

The deep waters of land reform: land,water and conservation area claims in Limpopo Province,Olifants Basin,South Africa

Through investigating the reactions of commercial farmers to land and water reforms in the Trichardtsdal-Ofcolaco area, Limpopo Province, Olifants Basin, South Africa, from 1997 to 2006, it is shown that water claims are key to land redistribution processes, and that commercial farmers make strategic use of arguments for nature conservation and ecological stewardship to defend their claims to water. Given these observations, caution is warranted with respect to the implementation of land and water reforms as separate policy packages; it may be more effective to design water and conservation policies as an integral part of land reform programmes.     

Integrated Water Resources Management in the Republic of Uzbekistan

Abstract

The Uzbek socio-economic structure is characterized by the transition from a centrally-planned to a market-orientated economy, with a shifting from agricultural production to industrial development. However, the agricultural sector continues to play a significant role in a general economy of the country. The major water sector strategy is to decrease the dependence of agricultural production on climate by introducing advanced irrigation techniques and water saving methods to achieve future sustainable socio-economic development and environmental protection. Water management policy should be flexible enough to adapt to new demands. The regulation of consumption through demand management tools, such as appropriate pricing policies, has recently received greater attention in Uzbekistan. The main thesis of this paper is that allocation of water resources cannot be separated from ecological and economic considerations. The establishment of development objectives and the identification of constraints are also discussed. In the coming years, special attention will need to be paid to the control of water pollution and land salinization, water resources conservation, and acknowledging that actions to increase water productivity are as important as finding additional sources of water.     

亭子口水利枢纽工程环境保护实践

嘉陵江亭子口水利枢纽地处川北革命老区,生态环境较好,环境保护要求高;移民按照国务院471号令实施.工程建设遵循国家环境保护的基本国策,确立了建设“绿色工程”的环保目标,按照本项目的特点,科学规划,创新管理模式,采取过硬措施,满足环保投资,使环境保护与枢纽工程同时规划、同时建设、同时投入使用,见到了实效.     

水土保持在治理北京空气可吸入颗粒物PM2.5工作中的作用及思考

随着国家工业化、城镇化、现代化发展步伐的加快,统筹生态系统、经济系统和社会管理系统协调发展的任务更加艰巨,水土保持作为研究水、土两大生态基础资源,推进构建由水资源、土地资源和植被资源共同组成的区域或流域生态系统良性演进的学科,在落实科学发展的征程上作用将更大、任务将更艰巨、意义将更深远.通过分析空气中PM2.5的成因,指出了北京治理PM2.5面临的严峻挑战,提出了发挥水土保持作用治理PM2.5的微观、中观、宏观思路.     

Flux limiters fourth and sixth order high resolution method for hyperbolic conservation laws

This paper presents new fourth and six order accurate explicit finite difference scheme for hyperbolic conservation laws. The technique of obtaining high resolution, total variation non increasing oscillation free and explicit scalar difference scheme is derived by adding multi-limiters of antidiffusive flux to a first order scheme.     

利用Noether法构造KP方程新的守恒律

利用Noether法构造了KP方程新的守恒律,在KP方程允许的拉格朗日函数的情况下,利用Noether法研究了该方程的守恒律,给出了KP方程的Noether对称算子以及新的守恒向量和守恒律的分类结果.     

Energy saving effect of building envelope in summer

To explore the energy saving effect of building envelope, the experiments were carried out through a comparison of basic cubicle in summer. Experiments show that if energy efficiency measures are applied only in the external walls and windows, the energy saving cubicles have an average energy efficiency ratio of 27.75% and 27.05% when the air change rates are 1.1 and 1.4 h⁻¹ in summer, with both values being over the standard target value by 25%. And the indoor air temperature of the energy saving cubicle is below that of the basic cubicle. The daily mean temperature difference between the interior surface of insulation wall and no insulation reaches 1.47 °C, and the mean temperature difference is up to 8.52 °C between the interior surface and exterior surface of insulating glass and single glass. The two cubicles were simulated for energy consumption using VisualDOE4.0 software under real weather conditions in summer. The results show that the mean deviation is 10.02% between experimental and simulated energy efficiency ratio. The correctness and validity of simulation results of the VisualDOE4.0 software are proved.     

在水库加固工程中环境保护和水土保持的措施

文章分析了青山水库加固工程对环境保护与水土保持的影响,提出了相应措施.     

焦作市黄河流域水环境模拟及水资源保护研究

采用二维水流水质模型对焦作市黄河流域河道水环境进行了数值模拟,并计算了河道的纳污能力。结果表明:CODMn和NH3-N是最突出的超标污染物,概化的老蟒河、涝河、义井南、温县污水处理厂排污口附近的水质较差,黄沁交叉口附近的水质良好;针对目前水质情况,通过河道的纳污能力模拟计算,确定入河污染物总控制量为190.92 t/a,2010年、2020年、2030年3个水平年污染物削减量的分摊比例为2∶3∶5。