The Water Yield Pattern for Annual and Monthly Scales Through a Unifying Catchment Water Balance Model

Long-term scheduling and short-term decision-making for water resources management often require understanding the relationship of water yield pattern between the annual and monthly scales. As the water yield pattern mainly depends on land cover/use and climate, a unifying catchment water balance model with factors has been adopted to derive a theoretical water yield pattern with annual and monthly scales. Two critical values at the parameters ε=1-√2/2 and ϕ=1.0 are identified. The parameter ε referring to the water storage (land use/cover) and evaporation (climate) changes can make more contribution than ϕ for water yield when ϕ>1.0, especially with ε<1-√2/2. But there is less contribution made by ε when ϕ<1.0. The derived theoretical water yield patterns have also been validated by the observed data or the simulated data through the hydrological model. Due to the bias of the soil moisture data, a lot of the estimated parameter ε values are over its theoretical range, especially for the monthly scale in humid basins. The performance of the derived theoretical water yield pattern at annual scale is much better than that at monthly scale while there are only a few data sets from the arid basin at every months fall within their theoretical ranges. Even the relative contributions of ε is found to be bigger than those of ϕ due to ε<1-√2/2 and ϕ>1.0, there are no significant linear relationships between annual and monthly parameters ε and ϕ. Our results not only validate the derived theoretical water yield pattern with the estimated parameter directly by the observed or simulated data rather than the calibrated parameter, but also can guide for further understanding physical of water balance to conversion time scales for the combing long-term and short-term water resources management.

A Narrative-Driven Role-Playing Game for Raising Flood Awareness

In the framework of a water resources management class in the Technical University of Crete, a narrative-driven role-playing game (RPG) was planned and tested in the classroom, with the intent to raise awareness among the students on how floods can have an impact on the everyday lives of different citizens. During this game, the students had the opportunity to act as different stakeholders. In order to assess the impact of this game on participants’ thoughts of who might be affected by a flood event, two questionnaires were used, one before and one after the game. The results show that there was very positive feedback from the participants on how this RPG helped them realize the different implications a flood event might have on citizens and decision makers. The community-based aspect that was chosen for this RPG implementation showed the difficulties the specific roles would face as single individuals and as a community in general. Using a similar approach can help any stakeholder understand the challenges in a more direct way than with traditional lecturing and presentations.

Durban Community's Experiences of Class-Based Urinary Diversion Toilets

The aim of this chapter is to look at the integrated water resources management (IWRM)-related institutional shift in governance of water and sanitation in Durban and the extent to which class is considered in providing rural inhabitants with facilities they regard as sub-standard. The key finding is that rural communities remain uncomfortable with nearly 90,000 UD toilets constructed by eThekwini Municipality, despite current efforts being made to relieve them of the most hated chores of emptying vaults when they fill up. In a study conducted in rural areas of Durban through interviews with 70 households and focus group discussions, communities continue to reject UDs on the grounds of lack of equity, proximity to areas with flush toilets, lack of communication, and lack of sustainable institutional mechanisms associated with this project.

Projection of land use to 2030 and its impacts on water availability in a brazilian sub-basin: A LCM and SWAT approach

Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) can result in significant changes in a hydrographic ba- sin flow regime. Future projections about LULC and its interference with water availability help to identify extreme events in advance and help propose appropriate management measures. Thus, this study aimed to make the LULC projection for the year 2030 for the Alto Rio Grande (ARG) sub- basin, located in Southeastern Brazil. This region was chosen because of its intense water resources use and for having recently faced water scarcity as result of prolonged droughts and inadequate water resources management. To identify the LULC trend for the year 2030, the Land Change Modeler (LCM) was used, the map obtained was inserted in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model previously calibrated and validated for the region’ environmental and climatic conditions. The ARG sub-basin was affected by heavy rains in 2011, which resulted in changes in the landscape due to landslides. This particularity of the region contributed to the projection of LULC for the year 2030 to present an increase in forest and pastures to the agricultural areas detriment. When evaluating the impacts of these changes in water availability, it was observed that the SWAT model presented, for the same rainfall conditions, a reduction in peak streamflows of up to 59% and a reduction in the average monthly flow of up to 63% in 2030 in relation to the LULC observed in 2017. Thus, this study provides an important contribution by identifying a considerable reduction in water availability. These results will help to formulate strategies for water resources management and the adoption of measures to promote water security in the region.

Evaluation of Lithological Effect on Aquifer Transmissivity and Conductivity in Parts of Rivers State, Nigeria using Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES)

Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) was used to evaluate the effect of lithology on aquifer transmissivity and conductivity in parts of Rivers State, Nigeria. A total of 10 Vertical Electrical Sounding were conducted at ten locations. The VES data were collected using ABEM terrameter SAS 300B and processed using Win-Resist Software and Microsoft Excel Sheet. The effect of the lithology on aquifer transmissivity and conductivity were analyzed. Result from the Vertical Electrical Sounding revealed a four to six geoelectric layers. The aquifer resistivity values range from 39.40Ωm to 17290.7Ωm. Results of the aquifer conductivity values range from 0.005 to 2.538cm/s with the highest value dominating in the central part of the study area suggesting large grain sands that can permeate groundwater flow while the transmissivity values range from 0.22587cm/s2 to 132.487 cm/s2 with average of 19.1587cm/s2. Area with high transmissivity is identified with high groundwater potential permeable with groundwater flow is seen in the central part of the study area with range of 110 to 135 cm/s2 indicating a thick sandy aquifer. Result from the nearby borehole in correlation with the VES point showed an agreement with the VES data at Ogale Eleme and Elelenwo location. The result of the study can be applied in ground water resources management, hydrological studies and provides valuable information for town planner.