Relationship between Visitors’ Sense of Place, Recreation Behavior, and Acceptability of Resource Allocation Strategies at a Reservoir Facing a Water Crisis

Municipal drawdowns at public reservoirs can negatively impact recreational uses on site. Therefore, sustaining recreation requires understanding how users relate themselves with the reservoir and the resource therein, and how they will respond to circumstances and policies impacting the resource. Researchers use placedbased theory, particularly sense of place (SOP), to assess the user community’s perspective on the natural resource or recreation site of interest. This study utilized visitor survey data (n=282) from Canton Reservoir in Oklahoma to assess visitors’ sense of place (SOP), and to evaluate the relationship of SOP with their acceptability of alternative water allocation strategies and future intention of visiting the reservoir under depleted water conditions. Visitors had a high level of SOP with the reservoir and supported protective water allocation strategies that either favor the retention of water on-site or ensure a fair distribution between recreation and municipal use. Results suggest a positive relationship between visitors' SOP and their intended trips to the reservoir even under depleted water conditions. The findings highlight the psychological, functional, and emotional benefits associated with the recreational use of the Canton Reservoir, which will in turn help managers make more informed and balanced decisions about water conservation and allocation. Insights from this study will also contribute in literature on the sense of place and protective norms and offers several implications for the management of public reservoirs.

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

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.

Mesilla/Conejos-Médanos Basin: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Water Resources

Synthesizing binational data to characterize shared water resources is critical to informing binational management. This work uses binational hydrogeology and water resource data in the Mesilla/Conejos-Médanos Basin (Basin) to describe the hydrologic conceptual model and identify potential research that could help inform sustainable management. The Basin aquifer is primarily composed of continuous basin-fill Santa Fe Group sediments, allowing for transboundary throughflow. Groundwater flow, however, may be partially or fully restricted by intrabasin uplifts and limited recharge. The shallow groundwater in the Rio Grande alluvium receives recharge from the Rio Grande and responds to changes in water supply and demand. About 11% of Rio Grande alluvial groundwater volume is recharged annually, an amount that is less than recent withdrawals. Potentially recoverable fresh to slightly brackish groundwater was estimated at 82,600 cubic hectometers in the U.S. portion of the Basin and 69,100 cubic hectometers in the Mexican portion. Alluvial groundwater geochemistry is governed by the evaporative concentration of the Rio Grande and agricultural diversions, whereas deeper groundwater geochemistry is governed by mixing and geochemical processes. Continued refinements to storage estimates, the water budget, and deep groundwater extent and geochemistry can improve estimates of sustainable use and inform alternative water sources.

Estimation of Spatial Groundwater Recharge Using WetSpass Model For east Wasit province ,Iraq

Groundwater is an important water source, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Recharge is critical to managing and analyzing groundwater resources despite estimation difficulty due to temporal and spatial change. the study aim is to estimate annual groundwater recharge for the eastern Wasit Province, Iraq. Where suffers from a surface water shortage due to the region's high elevation above Tigris River water elevation by about 60 m. It is necessary to search for alternative water sources, such as groundwater use, especially with the increased demand for water in light of the growth of oil extraction in the region, where oil extraction requires a quantity of water three times the amount of oil extracted. The result shows the annual recharge calculated using the WetSpass model for the period (2014-2019) ranged from 0 to 65.176 mm/year at a rate of 27.117 mm/year and a standard deviation of 21.498. The simulation results reveal that the WetSpass model simulates the components of the hydrological water budget correctly. For managing and planning available water resources, a better grasp of the simulation of long-term average geographical distribution around the components of the water balance is beneficial.

Estimation of Spatial Groundwater Recharge Using WetSpass Model for East Wasit Province, Iraq

Groundwater is an important water source, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Recharge is critical to managing and analyzing groundwater resources despite estimation difficulty due to temporal and spatial change. The study aim is to estimate annual groundwater recharge for the eastern Wasit Province part, Iraq. Where suffers from a surface water shortage due to the region's high elevation above Tigris River water elevation by about 60 m, it is necessary to search for alternative water sources, such as groundwater use. The spatially distributed WetSpass model was used to estimate the annual recharge. The inputs for the model were prepared using the ARC-GIS program, which includes the topography and slope grid, soil texture grid, land use, groundwater level grid, and meteorological data grids for the study area for the period (2014-2019). The result shows that the annual recharge calculated using the WetSpass model (2014-2019) varied of 0 to 65.176 mm/year at an average of 27.117 mm/year, about 10.8%, while the rate of the surface runoff was 5.2% and Evapotranspiration formed 83.33% of the annual rainfall rate of 251.192 mm. The simulation results reveal that the WetSpass model simulates the components of the hydrological water budget correctly. For managing and planning available water resources, a best grasp of the simulation of long-range average geographical distribution around the water balance components is beneficial.

Potential reduction in drinking water consumption at the headquarters of the Regional Electoral Court of Pernambuco - TRE/PE

Water conservation in buildings includes not only reducing the demand for potable water, but also adopting alternative sources for activities with less noble purposes. Public buildings under the jurisdiction of the Federal, State, and Municipal governments are required to promote actions aimed at the rational use and conservation of water, according to the responsibility established in the Environmental Agenda in Public Administration.In light of the above, this study aims to analyze the potential for reducing drinking water consumption at the headquarters building of the Electoral Regional Court of Pernambuco - TRE/PE through the use of alternative water sources, such as rainwater and condensed water from air conditioners. The methodology began with the characterization of the study site and the consumption of potable water.Subsequently, the technical and economic feasibility of rainwater and condensate water use was investigated, as well as a comparison between the proposed measures. The results obtained indicate that the techniques studied are beneficial, presenting significant potential for reducing the consumption of potable water that would be used for toilet flushing, 63% for rainwater use and 62% for condensate water.In addition, they can also provide annual financial savings of R$8,216.01 and R$8,045.74, respectively. Thus, besides reducing drinking water consumption, the proposed measures also promote the minimization of financial costs, whose capital can be used in the search for continuous improvement of services provided to society.

Reliability analysis of complex water distribution systems: the role of the network connectivity and tanks

A reliable water distribution network (WDN) can provide an adequate supply service to customers under both normal and abnormal working conditions. The WDN reliability analysis, therefore, is a keystone to improve the supply service efficiency. Strategies for reliability analysis are usually proved on small WDNs, which do not compare with large real complex systems in terms of number of water tanks, pressure reduction valves, variable speed pumps, controlled devices and possible alternative water supply schemes. The topological changes due to pipeline interruptions impact on emptying–filling of water tanks and network pressure status. This work proposes a two-level procedure for mechanical reliability assessment, suited for large real WDNs. It leverages a path/connectivity-based approach to set up reliability indicators for global-level analysis and local screening of the most critical scenarios. The employed advanced hydraulic model includes the automatic detection of topological changes and the robust modelling of water level in tanks using the generalized global gradient algorithm. The extended period simulation enables the reliability assessment of alternative water supply schemes and the sensitivity of tanks and controlled devices to single failure events. The procedure is demonstrated on a real complex network, being consistent with the ongoing digital transition in the WDN management sector.

Human-wildlife conflicts and drought in the greater Calakmul Region, Mexico: implications for tapir conservation

Wildlife conservation efforts in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor have focused on reducing negative interactions between humans and charismatic species. In recent years, droughts have increased in frequency and intensity in southeastern Mexico exacerbating conflicts with wildlife as they compete with humans for limited water. In the Yucatan Peninsula, Greater Calakmul Region of southeastern Mexico, Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) are increasingly encroaching into local villages (ejidos) in search of water. This behavior could increase tapir mortality from hunting by Calakmul ejidos residents. We evaluated the trends between annual precipitation and tapir sightings near or within Calakmul ejidos from 2008 to 2019 to determine if the frequency of reported conflicts increased relative to decreased precipitation. In addition, with community participation, from 2016 to 2018 we monitored one of the ejidos where human-tapir conflicts were reported to be increasing to better describe the nature of conflicts. We did not find any relationship between the number of tapir sightings reported and annual precipitation. However, more tapirs were documented near ejidos in 2019, which is one of the years with the lowest rainfall (626.6 mm) in the last decade. Tapirs were reported as the most common wildlife species observed at waterholes (35.4%) and apiaries (32.1%). Our findings suggested that water scarcity has increased tapirs’ incursions into human-populated areas and subsequently the potential for human-tapir conflicts. We recommend that managers consider developing alternative water sources that could mitigate human-tapir conflicts and contribute to the long-term viability of other wildlife species that inhabit the Greater Calakmul Region of southeastern Mexico.