How much water remains? Incorporating publicly available irrigation data to improve meso-scale hydrological model performance in dryland environments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Voit
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Budget ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Hydrological Models ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Modelling Process ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Meso Scale ◽  
Irrigation Practices

<p>Being responsible for about 70% of the world’s freshwater use, agricultural irrigation practices have a strong impact on water budgets in dryland environments and will increase to do so, as an increase in irrigated areas worldwide is expected. In semi-arid catchments, irrigation can account for a substantial proportion of the water budget, especially during the dry season. Consequently, due to the limited water resources, these catchments rely on adequate water management practices. Water withdrawal from groundwater, river flow or reservoirs for irrigation purposes alter the overall hydrological balance. Being aware of such important impacts on the regional (meso-scale) water budget, hydrological models should improve their capability to account for them, including typical operational data availability and constraints. Thus, the answers on water management issues should be addressed, such as, how do these withdrawals alter the rivers’ flow regime and water yield? How do they affect sustainability of regional water resources, both in a seasonal and long-term time scale? Can public irrigation data be used to improve the performance of a catchment model?</p><p>To account for this particular anthropogenic interference with the hydrological cycle a novel irrigation module is introduced to improve meso-scale hydrological models’ performance for such hydro-climatic conditions. We implemented this module into WASA-SED, a hydro-sedimentological model tailored for semi-arid catchments on the meso-scale, now enabling to account for irrigation practices in the modelling process. The module allows to represent water abstraction from different sources (ground water, river, reservoirs), inter- and intra- basin transfers and seasonality of irrigation schemes. As a test case, a semi-arid catchment with excellent irrigation data in the Rio Sao Francisco basin, Brazil, was chosen to investigate exemplarily the impact of irrigation operations on the low river flows in the dry season. Using publicly available irrigation data as input for this module, it could be shown, that including irrigation practices into the modelling process helps to improve the model’s performance.</p><p>Furthermore, modelling results can be used to estimate the real water withdrawal rates, as there is uncertainty about how much water the users actually withdraw, because irrigation data from the Brazilian authorities shows the maximum withdrawal rates, as defined in contracts for water use for river water, but not the actually used water rates, which might be different (less or sometimes even more) than the contracts’ maximum rates. Whether the users withdraw more or less water than officially granted is uncertain. The model’s results can be used to estimate realistic withdrawal rates as well as to predict further irrigation potential in the given catchment. Likewise, the effect of exploiting different sources for irrigation water (i.e., rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater) can be analysed in terms of their reliability and effect on the river system.</p>

scholarly journals Effects of model calibration on hydrological and water resources management simulations under climate change in a semi-arid watershed

2020 ◽  
Vol 163 (3) ◽  
pp. 1247-1266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hagen Koch ◽  
Ana Lígia Chaves Silva ◽  
Stefan Liersch ◽  
José Roberto Gonçalves de Azevedo ◽  
Fred Fokko Hattermann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Arid Regions ◽  
Discharge Data ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Semi Arid

AbstractSemi-arid regions are known for erratic precipitation patterns with significant effects on the hydrological cycle and water resources availability. High temporal and spatial variation in precipitation causes large variability in runoff over short durations. Due to low soil water storage capacity, base flow is often missing and rivers fall dry for long periods. Because of its climatic characteristics, the semi-arid north-eastern region of Brazil is prone to droughts. To counter these, reservoirs were built to ensure water supply during dry months. This paper describes problems and solutions when calibrating and validating the eco-hydrological model SWIM for semi-arid regions on the example of the Pajeú watershed in north-eastern Brazil. The model was calibrated to river discharge data before the year 1983, with no or little effects of water management, applying a simple and an enhanced approach. Uncertainties result mainly from the meteorological data and observed river discharges. After model calibration water management was included in the simulations. Observed and simulated reservoir volumes and river discharges are compared. The calibrated and validated models were used to simulate the impacts of climate change on hydrological processes and water resources management using data of two representative concentration pathways (RCP) and five earth system models (ESM). The differences in changes in natural and managed mean discharges are negligible (< 5%) under RCP8.5 but notable (> 5%) under RCP2.6 for the ESM ensemble mean. In semi-arid catchments, the enhanced approach should be preferred, because in addition to discharge, a second variable, here evapotranspiration, is considered for model validation.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Acceptance of Sustainable Practices in Water Management for the Intensive Agriculture of the Costa de Hermosillo (Mexico)

Agronomy ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
Claudia Ochoa-Noriega ◽  
Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz ◽  
José A. Aznar-Sánchez ◽  
Belén López-Felices
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Intensive Agriculture ◽  
Sustainable Practices ◽  
Surface Water Resources ◽  
Alternative Water ◽  
High Level

Mexico, as many countries, relies on its aquifers to provide at least 60% of all irrigation water to produce crops every year. Often, the water withdrawal goes beyond what the aquifer can be replenished by the little rainfall. Mexico is a country that has experienced a successful process of regional development based on the adoption of intensive agricultural systems. However, this development has occurred in an unplanned way and displays shortcomings in terms of sustainability, particularly in the management of water resources. This study analysed the case of Costa de Hermosillo, which is one of the Mexican regions in which this model of intensive agriculture has been developed and where there is a high level of overexploitation of its groundwater resources. Based on the application of a qualitative methodology involving different stakeholders (farmers, policymakers, and researchers), the main barriers and facilitators for achieving sustainability in water resources management have been identified. A series of consensus-based measures were contemplated, which may lead to the adoption of sustainable practices in water management. Useful lessons can be drawn from this analysis and be applied to other agricultural areas where ground and surface water resources are overexploited, alternative water sources are overlooked, and where stakeholders have conflicting interests in water management.

scholarly journals On the use of high resolution satellite imagery to estimate irrigation volumes and its impact in land surface modeling

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Etchanchu ◽  
Vincent Rivalland ◽  
Stéphanie Faroux ◽  
Aurore Brut ◽  
Gilles Boulet
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Hydrological Models ◽  
Irrigation Scheme ◽  
Available Water Content ◽  
Irrigation Practices

Abstract. Irrigation is a major issue for water resources management agencies as it is the main component of human fresh water consumption. However, irrigation can be monitored at plot scale but not at larger scales, i.e. from river basin to global scale. Hence, simulating the irrigation process in models is of great interest, not only to forecast the water availability, but also to provide realistic lower boundary conditions for atmosphere and climate models. This process is relatively well represented in agronomical or agro-hydrological models, designed for crop and water management at the plot scale. But this kind of model is not adapted for water management at the basin scale or even larger scale, due to their complexity. Land Surface Models (LSMs) are used for this purpose. However, irrigation is not well represented in LSMs. These models use basic decision rules to estimate irrigation volumes. Most of the time, it only consists in triggering an irrigation event when the soil moisture in the root zone drops below a fixed threshold. This threshold is unique at global scale, being independent of the crop type or the common irrigation practices in the simulated area. Then an irrigation amount is applied based on the volume needed to replenish the soil reservoir to a fixed level. There is no consideration about actual agricultural practices. These simple irrigation schemes do not have the flexibility needed to adapt to the wide variety of crops and irrigation practices encountered at large scales. The present study aims at developing and evaluating an irrigation scheme very similar to the one used in agronomical or agro-hydrological models for the SURFEX-ISBA LSM developed by Meteo-France. Particularly, it allows adapting the triggering threshold spatially and temporally and relating it to the actual phenology of the crop and to the irrigation practices. But increasing the flexibility of a model also means that it needs more input information to constrain it. High-resolution remote sensing products, like those derived from Sentinel-2, can provide part of this information spatially. This study thus presents a method to determine irrigation parameters, and particularly the triggering soil moisture threshold, from high-resolution remotely sensed leaf area index. This method is compared to three other experiments: a reference simulation with the current irrigation scheme of SURFEX-ISBA, a second experiment designed to show the contribution of remotely sensed irrigation period determination in the current scheme and a third which uses a single threshold over the season. The comparison is done on several maize plots in southwestern France. The results show that the method using remote sensing to modulate the triggering soil moisture threshold shows the best performances in estimating annual irrigation volumes. Indeed, it shows a bias around 10 mm per year and a RMSE around 30 mm whereas the standard scheme shows a bias around 50 mm per year and a RMSE around 60 mm. The sensitivity to the estimation of the soil maximal available water content is then performed. It shows that all the experiments are very sensitive when the maximal available water content in the soil is low. Finally, the impact on evapotranspiration is evaluated. It shows small differences between experiments and with the measured evapotranspiration. This study thus shows the potential of using high resolution remote sensing products to improve the irrigation simulation in LSMs. Indeed, it allows increasing the realism of the irrigation scheme while keeping it generic enough to simulate at regional to global scale.

scholarly journals Greywater as an Alternative Solution for a Sustainable Management of Water Resources—A Review

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 665
Author(s):  
Hanen Filali ◽  
Narcis Barsan ◽  
Dalila Souguir ◽  
Valentin Nedeff ◽  
Claudia Tomozei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Arid Areas ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Proper Treatment ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Semi Arid

In this paper, a comprehensive review on greywater is presented. Emphasis is given to the techniques used to treat and recover greywater, and special emphasis is placed on the risk of the existence of the novel coronavirus “SARS-CoV-2” in greywater and the possibility of its spread via the reuse of this water. In general, greywater is considered wastewater collected from domestic sources, with the exclusion of toilet water (which is considered as blackwater). Greywater represents 50 to 80% of the total volume of wastewater all over the world. This review provides various aspects related to greywater, such as origins, characteristics, and existing guidelines for greywater proper treatment and reuse. Several approaches and techniques have been developed to study the performance of different greywater treatment systems. These methods are critically discussed in this article. In the context of sustainable development, water management, and taking into account the scarcity of water resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas, the use of treated greywater is one of the alternatives methods that can reduce the burden of withdrawals from the resource. In addition, some successful examples of greywater valuation experiences in Tunisia were examined.

Satellite time series analysis of vegetation dynamics for water resources management in semi-arid regions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Behling ◽  
Sigrid Roessner ◽  
Saskia Foerster
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Arid Regions ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Semi Arid

&lt;p&gt;One of the consequences of global climate change is the more frequent occurrence of extreme weather conditions. Semi-arid regions are especially vulnerable since evapotranspiration significantly exceeds precipitation for most of the year and rainfall occurrence is dominantly sporadic and highly variable in amount and spatial extent. Consequently, these regions suffer from droughts of increasing duration and severity, occasionally interrupted by strong rainfall events generating high surface runoff and in part highly destructive floods. In semi-arid regions water retention capability is often further reduced by changes of the original vegetation cover due to conversion into farmland and intensification of land use. The result is widespread land degradation by a decrease in permanent vegetation cover and an increase in soil erosion. Under such conditions sustainable water resources management is of key importance, however, reliable long-term observations describing the water cycle and the resulting water budget are missing for many regions of the world. This situation requires new approaches in improving seasonal forecast for relevant water resources parameters as well as spatiotemporally explicit understanding the of influence of water and land use management on the long-term development of water availability and land surface conditions.&amp;#160;&lt;br&gt;The German collaborative research project &amp;#8216;Seasonal water resources management in semi-arid regions: Transfer of regionalized global information to practice&amp;#8217; (SaWaM) aims at the development of methods allowing the use of global data for deriving information needed for regional water resources management in semi-arid regions by integrating meteorological, hydrological and ecosystem sciences and supported by satellite remote sensing analysis. The performance, practical applicability and transferability of the developed methods are assessed in several semi-arid regions including Brazil, Iran and Sudan. Here, we present our work on the analysis of the seasonal and long-term vegetation dynamics at different spatial and temporal scales using satellite time series data of different spatial and temporal resolution (MODIS and Sentinel-2). &amp;#160;Our goal is linking the derived vegetation dynamics to changes in meteorological conditions, water availability and land use. In this context we put emphasis on the spatiotemporal analysis of bioproductivity related to different land use types and climatic conditions to identify and characterize hotspots of water usage in form of irrigated agriculture as a basis for further evaluation of the underlying water management practices.&lt;br&gt;We perform time series analysis of satellite-derived vegetation indices (VI) using various statistical aggregates, such as maximum, mean and temporal duration related to variable time periods (hydrological year, dry and wet season, growing patterns) as well as additive time series decomposition. Thus, we analyze long-term trends, seasonal deviations from long-term average conditions, and break points in the time series related to land use and water management changes. Moreover, we compare the derived spatiotemporal VI dynamics against the dynamics of hydrometeorological conditions (e.g. precipitation, evapotranspiration, temperature) as well as land use patterns in order to evaluate the impact of hydrometeorological drought conditions on different land use types and water management practices. &amp;#160;In conclusion, we present prototypes for information products supporting decision making of the local experts in the target regions.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Seasonal Water Crises and Social Dilemmas in Semi-Arid Areas of the Lake Zone of Tanzania

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 213-226
Author(s):  
L. M Laizer ◽  
R.W Gibson ◽  
E Lukonge
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Common Property ◽  
Social Dilemmas ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Arid Areas ◽  
Informal Governance ◽  
Economic Resource ◽  
Lake Zone ◽  
Semi Arid

The absence of formal institutions regulating water resources indicated a need to examine how informal governance works in semi-arid areas of the Lake Zone of Tanzania. Ostrom’s theory of common property resources was adapted to develop a questionnaire administered to 162 households using five different water sources (lake/dam, ponds near lake/dam, ponds, wells and waterholes) along with focus group discussions (6), key informant interviews (33) and field observations. The results indicated that communities do not have water management systems where water is abundant (lake/dam and ponds near these water sources). Conversely, where water is scarce (ponds, wells and water holes), communal water management occurs. However, such communal water governances are location specific and limited and, though they appear to function well at preventing water exhaustion, they fail to resolve the complex social dilemmas in that ecological system. Thus, most water resources are dominated by households with sound economic resource base, they take deliberate efforts to establish private wells in wetlands to intercept underground resources, raising issues of equity, contamination of underground water resources and human safety. Sandy river beds seemed to represent the worst ‘tragedy’ of unmanaged common resources, often being located in ‘no-man’s land’ between districts or regions, with uncontrolled competition resulting in enormous water holes dug by local resource users from both sides, and exhaustion by those with the deepest waterholes and access to engine-driven pumps. There are two water main crises: (1) too little is available to meet the current demand during an annual prolonged dry season (6-7 months) and (2) increasing social dilemmas on how to manage the little available. How external interventions could address these issues is discussed.

New advanced designed systems to ensure safeguard of the territory and preservation of water resources for irrigation

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Cinalberto Bertozzi ◽  
Fabio Paglione
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Land Reclamation ◽  
Land Area ◽  
Water Board ◽  
Management Schemes ◽  
Innovative Techniques ◽  
River Po ◽  
Crop Irrigation

The Burana Land-Reclamation Board is an interregional water board operating in three regions and five provinces. The Burana Land-Reclamation Board operates over a land area of about 250,000 hectares between the Rivers Secchia, Panaro and Samoggia, which forms the drainage basin of the River Panaroand part of the Burana-Po di Volano, from the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines to the River Po. Its main tasks are the conservation and safeguarding of the territory, with particular attention to water resources and how they are used, ensuring rainwater drainage from urban centres, avoiding flooding but ensuringwater supply for crop irrigation in the summer to combat drought. Since the last century the Burana Land-Reclamation Board has been using innovative techniques in the planning of water management schemes designed to achieve the above aims, improving the management of water resources while keeping a constant eye on protection of the environment.

MODERN HYDROGRAPHIC AND WATER MANAGEMENT ZONING OF UKRAINE’S TERRITORY – IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WFD-2000/60/EC

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.K. Khilchevskyi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basins ◽  
River Basin Management ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Main Function ◽  
River Basin Management Plans ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
The Crimea ◽  
Sea Coast

In contrast to the hydrological and hydrochemical zoning, hydrographic and water management zoning of Ukraine (2016) was created on a basin basis, taking into account the boundaries of river basins, and not physiographic zoning. The main function of hydrographic and water management zoning is water management. Primary is hydrographic zoning, and water management - based on it. The description of modern hydrographic zoning of the territory of Ukraine, approved in 2016 by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and included in the Water Code of Ukraine is given. Hydrographic zoning is carried out for the development and implementation of river basin management plans. On the territory of Ukraine nine areas of river basins are allocated: Dnipro; Dnister; Danube; Southern Bug; Don; Vistula; rivers of the Crimea; rivers of the Black Sea coast; rivers of the Azov Sea coast 13 sub-basins are allocated in four river basins district. The water management zoning is described - the division of hydrographic units into water management areas, which is carried out for the development of water management balances. In the regions of the river basins in the territory of Ukraine allocated 132 water management areas, 59 of which are located in the Dnipro basin. About 9,000 bodies of surface water allocated for monitoring in Ukraine. Approved zoning is the implementation of the provisions of the EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60 / EC in the management of water resources in Ukraine. Modern hydrographic and water management zoning of the territory of Ukraine approximates the management of water resources of the state to European requirements.

Water Governance and Management in Indus Basin - Challenges & Threats

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marium Sara Minhas Bandeali
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
The State ◽  
Indus Basin

Water governance and management are important challenges for the River Indus Basin in Pakistan. Water governance refers to social, political and economic factors that influence water management. The water scarcity and water security are a major concern for the state to control its water resources. The study aims to give Sindh water policy by exploring the challenges to Indus Basin in managing water resources and to identify opportunities Indus Basin can look to improve water management. Interviews were conducted from water experts and analysts having 5 years’ experience or more in the water sector of Pakistan through a semi-structured self-developed questionnaire using purposive sampling technique and transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The findings show that increasing population, climatic change and rising demand of water are major challenges Indus is facing and Indus with time is getting water-scarce therefore need strong institutions, civil society and legislatures to ensure equitable distribution of water and maintain the ecosystem. The study emphasizes that water governance and management are necessary for sustainable use of water. Pakistan, the water stress country needs to address ‘governance’ at a wider scale to solve problems in the Indus Basin for the livelihood of people. The research will benefit the state, water experts, institutions as well as civil society to promote efficient use of water in Indus Basin.

Urban Water Resources Toolbox - Integrating Groundwater into Urban Water Management

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (0) ◽  
pp. 9781780402437-9781780402437 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Wolf ◽  
B. Morris ◽  
S. Burn
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Management
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