scholarly journals Groundwater Recharge for Drought and Endangered Species Protection

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Miller ◽  
Anita Milman ◽  
Madison Burson ◽  
John Tracy ◽  
Michael Kiparsky

San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) developed its H2Oaks aquifer storage and recovery project in response to pumping restrictions set on its primary source of water supply, the Edwards Aquifer. The H2Oaks project pumps water from the Edwards Aquifer during wet years and transports it to the H2Oaks project site, where it is injected into the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer for storage. Stored water is withdrawn to meet municipal demand when restrictions on Edwards Aquifer pumping are in place. Although created for the purpose of securing supplies for SAWS, the H2Oaks project became a centerpiece for regional water management. Storage is used during drought to mitigate impacts on pumping while ensuring minimum springflows needed to protect endangered species in the Edwards aquifer. Currently, the project stores over 176,000 acre-feet of water. This case study traces the development of the H2Oaks project from the passage of the Edwards Aquifer Act to the project’s current implementation. The H2Oaks project demonstrates the potential for groundwater recharge projects to store water as protection against drought conditions. It also demonstrates how storage by one entity can support water management needs across the broader community of water users.

Author(s):  
James K. Adamson ◽  
G. Thomas LaVanchy ◽  
Brandon Stone ◽  
James A. Clark ◽  
Stuart J. Dykstra ◽  
...  

AbstractThere are sparse hydrogeological data and insufficient hydrogeological knowledge in many areas of the world reliant on groundwater. Nicaragua’s Pacific coast is one such region that is also experiencing water scarcity resulting from increasing demand on groundwater resources and climate change. The primary source of water in the region is the aquifer system associated with the Brito Formation, which is a marine sedimentary stratum of mostly sandstone that blankets 75 km of coastline in southwest Nicaragua. This study focused on the Tola municipality with the objective to advance a conceptual understanding of the hydrogeology and to support sustainable water development. Results demonstrate a heterogeneous aquifer system with regional flow characteristics and other factors that influence groundwater availability and water quality. Primary porosity is low, and secondary porosity is the primary mechanism of aquifer storage and is influenced by geological structure and diagenesis processes. Groundwater recharge is spatially and temporally heterogeneous and direct recharge is low. Infiltration of streamflow and runoff, especially early in the rainy season, is thought to be a large component of groundwater recharge. Climate, flow and recharge dynamics, and low storage capacity make the Brito Formation a sensitive resource and vulnerable to drought, increased abstraction, and climate change. This assessment provides data and insights useful for informing future studies and investments within the region and may be applicable in other Central American and Caribbean nations with coastal sandstone aquifers.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Zeeshan Bhatti ◽  
Aitazaz Ahsan Farooque ◽  
Nicholas Krouglicof ◽  
Wayne Peters ◽  
Bishnu Acharya ◽  
...  

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Elshaikh ◽  
Shi-hong Yang ◽  
Xiyun Jiao ◽  
Mohammed Elbashier

This study aims to offer a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of policies and institutional arrangements on irrigation management performance. The case study, the Gezira Scheme, has witnessed a significant decrease in water management performance during recent decades. This situation led to several institutional changes in order to put the system on the right path. The main organizations involved in water management at the scheme are the Ministry of Irrigation & Water Resources (MOIWR), the Sudan Gezira Board (SGB), and the Water Users Associations (WUAs). Different combinations from these organizations were founded to manage the irrigation system. The evaluation of these organizations is based on the data of water supply and cultivated areas from 1970 to 2015. The measured data were compared with two methods: the empirical water order method (Indent) that considers the design criteria of the scheme, and the Crop Water Requirement (CWR) method. Results show that the MOIWR period was the most efficient era, with an average water surplus of 12% compared with the Indent value, while the most critical period (SGB & WUAs) occurred when the water supply increased by 80%. The other periods of the Irrigation Water Corporation (IWC), (SGB & MOIWR), and (WUAs & MOIWR) had witnessed an increase in water supply by 29%, 63%, and 67% respectively. Through these institutional changes, the percentage of excessive water supply jumped from 12% to 80%. Finally, the study provides general recommendations associated with institutional arrangements and policy adoption to improve irrigation system performance.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Ward ◽  
Peter Dillon ◽  
Agnes Grandgirard

Many cities are experiencing mature urban water economies, characterised by limited opportunities for future water impoundments, rising incremental supply and infrastructure costs, intensified competition and increased interdependencies between diverse water uses. Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is currently promoted as one option to augment existing supplies and in many jurisdictions is assuming increasing importance in the portfolio of urban water management strategies. Consistent with trends in international water policy development, Australian water reform has emphasised institutional and governance approaches promoting voluntary transfers of water through market exchange. The reform process has made substantial advances in addressing the constraints and tensions associated with mature rural water economies, with limited influence in urban water systems. What remains unclear is the degree of alignment of new water management technologies such as ASR operations with explicit water reform directives of market development and the capacity of subsequent urban water legislation to provide consistent and coherent ASR guidelines. The paper describes a systematic approach to align the hydrological characteristics of an aquifer with economic and policy interpretations central to the development and management of ASR. The paper introduces a schema to identify the elements of the urban terrestrial water cycle specific to ASR, the development of a typology to characterise the aquifer potential for ASR, and identify and determine the nature of property rights for each system element according to the principles of robust separation of water rights.


2020 ◽  
pp. 251484862093471
Author(s):  
Laura Imburgia ◽  
Henny Osbahr ◽  
Sarah Cardey ◽  
Janet Momsen

Genuine inclusive participation in the self-governance of communal irrigation systems remains a challenge. This article analyses the mechanisms of participation in irrigation water users’ associations (WUAs) with focus on women as leaders of those organizations by drawing on cases from a comparative, multicase mixed-method study in Ethiopia and Argentina. After having being a topic for decades in gender and development debates, in many irrigated areas of the world, WUAs continue to be male dominated at all levels, especially in influential positions. Findings in this article suggest that despite large socio-economic and cultural differences, the current water management systems in both research locations reinforce problems of unequal gender participation; women have more obstacles and constraints in establishing equal access in membership, participation, and decision making in irrigation management. The lack of inclusive participation and the low representation of women in leadership roles lead to WUAs being poorly rooted in their community of users. Incomplete social rootedness of WUAs jeopardizes their effectiveness and equality in water management and, as a result, affects long-term sustainability. Through analysis of empirical data of communal small-scale irrigation systems in both countries, the article discusses who participates, how and why they participate, and the reasons for low numbers of women in leadership roles within the WUAs. Finally, the article reflects on possible enabling conditions that could foster inclusive participation, increase the quantity and capacity of women in management and leadership roles, and the benefits this may bring to sustainable irrigation systems.


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