Water banking, conjunctive administration, and drought: The interaction of water markets and prior appropriation in southeastern Idaho

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Sanchari; Cobourn, Kelly M.; Elbakidze, Levan

2014-08-01

Despite recognition of the potential economic benefits and increasing interest in developing marketing instruments, water markets have remained thin and slow to evolve due to high transactions costs, third party effects, and the persistence of historical institutions for water allocation. Water banks are a marketing instrument that can address these obstacles to trade, allowing irrigators within a region to exchange water in order to mitigate the short-term effects of drought. Water banks coexist with the institutions governing water allocation, which implies that rule changes, such as adoption of a system of conjunctive surface water-groundwater administration, carry implications for the economic impacts of banking. This paper assesses and compares the welfare and distributional outcomes for irrigators in the Eastern Snake River Plain of Idaho under a suite of water management and drought scenarios. We find that water banking can offset irrigators' profit losses during drought, but that its ability to do so depends on whether it facilitates trade across groundwater and surface water users. With conjunctive administration, a bank allowing trade by source realizes 22.23% of the maximum potential efficiency gains from trade during a severe drought, while a bank that allows trade across sources realizes 93.47% of the maximum potential gains. During drought, conjunctive administration redistributes welfare from groundwater to surface water producers, but banking across sources allows groundwater irrigators to recover 88.4% of the profits lost from drought at a cost of 2.2% of the profit earned by surface water irrigators.

Quantifying Changes in Accessible Water in the Colorado River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castle, S.; Thomas, B.; Reager, J. T.; Swenson, S. C.; Famiglietti, J. S.

2013-12-01

The Colorado River Basin (CRB) in the western United States is heavily managed yet remains one of the most over-allocated rivers in the world providing water across seven US states and Mexico. Future water management strategies in the CRB have employed land surface models to forecast discharges; such approaches have focused on discharge estimates to meet allocation requirements yet ignore groundwater abstractions to meet water demands. In this analysis, we illustrate the impact of changes in accessible water, which we define as the conjunctive use of both surface water reservoir storage and groundwater storage, using remote sensing observations to explore sustainable water management strategies in the CRB. We employ high resolution Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data to detect changes in reservoir storage in the two largest reservoirs within the CRB, Lakes Mead and Powell, and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) terrestrial water storage anomalies to isolate changes in basin-wide groundwater storage in the Upper and Lower CRB from October 2003 to December 2012. Our approach quantifies reservoir and groundwater storage within the CRB using remote sensing to provide new information to water managers to sustainably and conjunctively manage accessible water.

FUTURE WATER ALLOCATION AND IN-STREAM VALUES IN THE WILLAMETTE RIVER BASIN: A BASIN-WIDE ANALYSIS

EPA Science Inventory

Our research investigated the impact on surface water resources of three different scenarios for the future development of the Willamette River Basin in Oregon (USA). Water rights in the basin, and in the western United States in general, are based on a system of law that binds ...

Incorporating human-water dynamics in a hyper-resolution land surface model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vergopolan, N.; Chaney, N.; Wanders, N.; Sheffield, J.; Wood, E. F.

2017-12-01

The increasing demand for water, energy, and food is leading to unsustainable groundwater and surface water exploitation. As a result, the human interactions with the environment, through alteration of land and water resources dynamics, need to be reflected in hydrologic and land surface models (LSMs). Advancements in representing human-water dynamics still leave challenges related to the lack of water use data, water allocation algorithms, and modeling scales. This leads to an over-simplistic representation of human water use in large-scale models; this is in turn leads to an inability to capture extreme events signatures and to provide reliable information at stakeholder-level spatial scales. The emergence of hyper-resolution models allows one to address these challenges by simulating the hydrological processes and interactions with the human impacts at field scales. We integrated human-water dynamics into HydroBlocks - a hyper-resolution, field-scale resolving LSM. HydroBlocks explicitly solves the field-scale spatial heterogeneity of land surface processes through interacting hydrologic response units (HRUs); and its HRU-based model parallelization allows computationally efficient long-term simulations as well as ensemble predictions. The implemented human-water dynamics include groundwater and surface water abstraction to meet agricultural, domestic and industrial water demands. Furthermore, a supply-demand water allocation scheme based on relative costs helps to determine sectoral water use requirements and tradeoffs. A set of HydroBlocks simulations over the Midwest United States (daily, at 30-m spatial resolution for 30 years) are used to quantify the irrigation impacts on water availability. The model captures large reductions in total soil moisture and water table levels, as well as spatiotemporal changes in evapotranspiration and runoff peaks, with their intensity related to the adopted water management strategy. By incorporating human-water dynamics in a hyper-resolution LSM this work allows for progress on hydrological monitoring and predictions, as well as drought preparedness and water impact assessments at relevant decision-making scales.

A review of approaches for evapotranspiration partitioning

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Partitioning of evapotranspiration (ET) into evaporation from the soil surface (E) and transpiration (T) is challenging but important in order to assess biomass production and the allocation of increasingly scarce water resources. Generally T is the desired component with the water being used to enh...

Improving assessment of groundwater-resource sustainability with deterministic modelling: a case study of the semi-arid Musi sub-basin, South India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massuel, S.; George, B. A.; Venot, J.-P.; Bharati, L.; Acharya, S.

2013-11-01

Since the 1990s, Indian farmers, supported by the government, have partially shifted from surface-water to groundwater irrigation in response to the uncertainty in surface-water availability. Water-management authorities only slowly began to consider sustainable use of groundwater resources as a prime concern. Now, a reliable integration of groundwater resources for water-allocation planning is needed to prevent aquifer overexploitation. Within the 11,000-km2 Musi River sub-basin (South India), human interventions have dramatically impacted the hard-rock aquifers, with a water-table drop of 0.18 m/a over the period 1989-2004. A fully distributed numerical groundwater model was successfully implemented at catchment scale. The model allowed two distinct conceptualizations of groundwater availability to be quantified: one that was linked to easily quantified fluxes, and one that was more expressive of long-term sustainability by taking account of all sources and sinks. Simulations showed that the latter implied 13 % less available groundwater for exploitation than did the former. In turn, this has major implications for the existing water-allocation modelling framework used to guide decision makers and water-resources managers worldwide.

Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR) for SWOT mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chae, C. S.

2015-12-01

The objective of the SWOT (Surface Water & Ocean Topography) satellite mission is to measure wide-swath, high resolution ocean topography and terrestrial surface waters. Since main payload radar will use interferometric SAR technology, conventional microwave radiometer system which has single nadir look antenna beam (i.e., OSTM/Jason-2 AMR) is not ideally applicable for the mission for wet tropospheric delay correction. Therefore, SWOT AMR incorporates two antenna beams along cross track direction. In addition to the cross track design of the AMR radiometer, wet tropospheric error requirement is expressed in space frequency domain (in the sense of cy/km), in other words, power spectral density (PSD). Thus, instrument error allocation and design are being done in PSD which are not conventional approaches for microwave radiometer requirement allocation and design. A few of novel analyses include: 1. The effects of antenna beam size to PSD error and land/ocean contamination, 2. Receiver error allocation and the contributions of radiometric count averaging, NEDT, Gain variation, etc. 3. Effect of thermal design in the frequency domain. In the presentation, detailed AMR design and analyses results will be discussed.

Water policy sinkhole

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson, T.L.

1983-10-01

The pollution of both surface and ground waters and the withdrawal of ground water will present the US with a major water-quality and -supply problem unless changes are made in how we use water. If water is priced at market value instead of relying on federal subsidies, price signals could alter consumption patterns. Other changes that could help are removing restrictions on water transfers and allowing private ownership of waterways and appropriable rights to ground water. These steps, it is felt, would encourage responsible consumption and allocations. (DCK)

Environmental and Cultural Impact Proposed Tennessee Colony Reservoir, Trinity River, Texas. Volume V. Appendix G.

DTIC Science & Technology

1972-01-01

allocation. Pri- marily it is concerned with any land use that increases surface water runoff and soil compaction, two phenomena that decrease recharge... runoff . Forested filter strips between range and reser- voir boundary should be developed as a land use for water quality control and quail habitat. High...shown on Plates G-10 and G-11) some measures will also be necessary to prevent fertilizer pollution of the reservoir from excessive surface runoff . G

Base-flow characteristics of streams in the Valley and Ridge, the Blue Ridge, and the Piedmont physiographic provinces of Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelms, David L.; Harlow, George E.; Hayes, Donald C.

1997-01-01

Growth within the Valley and Ridge, Blue Ridge, and Piedmont physiographic provinces of Virginia has focused concern about allocation of surface-water flow and increased demands on the ground-water resources. Potential surface-water yield was determined from statistical analysis of base-flow characteristics of streams. Base-flow characteristics also may provide a relative indication of the potential ground-water yield for areas that lack sufficient specific capacity or will-yield data; however, other factors need to be considered, such as geologic structure, lithology, precipitation, relief, and the degree of hydraulic interconnection between the regolith and bedrock.

Incomplete water securitization in coupled hydro-human production sytems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van den Boom, B.; Pande, S.

2012-04-01

Due to the dynamics, the externalities and the contingencies involved in managing local water resource for production, the water allocation at basin-level is a subtle balance between laws of nature (gravity; flux) and laws of economics (price; productivity). We study this balance by looking at inter-temporal basin-level water resource allocations in which subbasins enjoy a certain degree of autonomy. Each subbasin is represented as an economic agent i, following a gravity ordering with i=1 representing the most upstream area and i=I the downstream boundary. The water allocation is modeled as a decentralized equilibrium in a coupled conceptual hydro-human production system. Agents i=1,2,...,I in the basin produce a composite good according to a technology that requires water as a main input and that is specific to the subbasin. Agent i manages her use Xi and her storage Si, conceptualizing surface and subsurface water, of water with the purpose of maximizing the utility derived from consumption Ci of the composite good, where Ci is a scalar and Xi and Si are vectors which are composed of one element for each time period and for each contingency. A natural way to consume the good would be to absorb the own production. Yet, the agent may have two more option, namely, she might get a social transfer from other agents or she could use an income from trading water securities with her contiguous neighbors. To study these options, we compare water allocations (Ci, Xi, Si) all i=1,2,...,I for three different settings. We look at allocations without water securitization (water autarky equilibrium EA) first. Next, we describe the imaginary case of full securitization (contingent water markets equilibrium ECM) and, in between, we study limited securitization (incomplete water security equilibrium EWS). We show that allocations under contingent water markets ECM are efficient in the sense that, for the prevailing production technologies, no other allocation exists that is at least good as for all the agents and that makes at least one agent better off . On the other hand, allocations under autarky EA will tend to be inefficient, meaning that other allocations may exist that would be preferred by some agents without compromising the interest of the others. By the same token, the in-between case with water securities will generally also fail to achieve full efficiency. Nonetheless, some securitization will always be at least as good as none while it will be better under conditions of water scarcity that are common in dryland area river basins. Hence water allocations under EWS will generally lead to an improvement over those under EA. It should be noted that the fully efficient equilibrium is only imaginary because it requires a separate water security for every agent, for every period and for every contingency that nature might hold. Clearly, because of dimensionality, this amount of securities will be beyond reach. Therefore, water securitization with a limited number of securities remains as the only practical option to deal with the inefficiency of water allocations under autarky. The economic theory of incomplete markets provides a useful framework to study limited water securitization. We apply the theory in the context of our water allocation framework using an institutional setting where downstream agent i may secure water from upstream agent (i-1) through an agreement that pays for (i-1)'s water savings. In this manner we identify (I-1) water securities, one for each pair of contiguous agents. Each security addresses, at the local level, the interaction of flows over time and over contingencies that might occur. Under scarcity conditions prevalent in many river basins, agents will show an interest to supply and demand such securities. In particular, downstream area can often make more productive use of water. Accordingly, in the water autarky equilibrium EA, they would be willing to pay for more water, while, at the same time, upstream users would be prepared to make water savings to the extent that the payment for the security will exceed the value of foregone production losses. Thus, although inevitably incomplete, water securitization could play a significant role in increasing the efficiency of the allocation of water resources at the basin-level. Evidence from river basins in various parts of the world suggests that gains could be sizeable. This paper dwells upon the advantages and challenges of a transdisciplinary approach that blends the laws of nature with those of economics. It aims to identify efficiency gains from water securitization while addressing the institutional difficulties of implementation due to inherent incompleteness in markets that allow trade in such securities.

Online decision support system for surface irrigation management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wenchao; Cui, Yuanlai

2017-04-01

Irrigation has played an important role in agricultural production. Irrigation decision support system is developed for irrigation water management, which can raise irrigation efficiency with few added engineering services. An online irrigation decision support system (OIDSS), in consist of in-field sensors and central computer system, is designed for surface irrigation management in large irrigation district. Many functions have acquired in OIDSS, such as data acquisition and detection, real-time irrigation forecast, water allocation decision and irrigation information management. The OIDSS contains four parts: Data acquisition terminals, Web server, Client browser and Communication system. Data acquisition terminals are designed to measure paddy water level, soil water content in dry land, ponds water level, underground water level, and canals water level. A web server is responsible for collecting meteorological data, weather forecast data, the real-time field data, and manager's feedback data. Water allocation decisions are made in the web server. Client browser is responsible for friendly displaying, interacting with managers, and collecting managers' irrigation intention. Communication system includes internet and the GPRS network used by monitoring stations. The OIDSS's model is based on water balance approach for both lowland paddy and upland crops. Considering basic database of different crops water demands in the whole growth stages and irrigation system engineering information, the OIDSS can make efficient decision of water allocation with the help of real-time field water detection and weather forecast. This system uses technical methods to reduce requirements of user's specialized knowledge and can also take user's managerial experience into account. As the system is developed by the Browser/Server model, it is possible to make full use of the internet resources, to facilitate users at any place where internet exists. The OIDSS has been applied in Zhanghe Irrigation District (Center China) to manage the required irrigation deliveries. Two years' application indicates that the proposed OIDSS can achieve promising performance for surface irrigation. Historical data of rice growing period in 2014 has been applied to test the OIDSS: it gives out 3 irrigation decisions, which is consistent with actual irrigation times and the forecast irrigation dates are well fit with the actual situations; the corresponding amount of total irrigation decreases by 15.13% compared to those without using the OIDSS.

Minnesota Water Allocation Law. Volume 1. Commentary on and Abstracts of Treaties, Legislation and Rules.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-09-01

If applicable) 8c. ADDRESS(City, State, and ZIP Code) 10. SOURCE OF FUNDING NUMBERS ELEMENT NO. NO. NO ACCESSION NO .T 11 TITLE (Include Security...Indians 1-13 Domestic Water Supply on Reservations 1-14 Ground water sources 1-16 Surface water sources 1-16 Commentary on Indian Water Resources 1-17...General’s Office - St. Paul, Minnesota 4 DATA COLLECTION AND REPORT ORGANIZATION Data collected for these volumes result from three primary sources

Integrated Water Flow Model (IWFM), A Tool For Numerically Simulating Linked Groundwater, Surface Water And Land-Surface Hydrologic Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dogrul, E. C.; Brush, C. F.; Kadir, T. N.

2006-12-01

The Integrated Water Flow Model (IWFM) is a comprehensive input-driven application for simulating groundwater flow, surface water flow and land-surface hydrologic processes, and interactions between these processes, developed by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). IWFM couples a 3-D finite element groundwater flow process and 1-D land surface, lake, stream flow and vertical unsaturated-zone flow processes which are solved simultaneously at each time step. The groundwater flow system is simulated as a multilayer aquifer system with a mixture of confined and unconfined aquifers separated by semiconfining layers. The groundwater flow process can simulate changing aquifer conditions (confined to unconfined and vice versa), subsidence, tile drains, injection wells and pumping wells. The land surface process calculates elemental water budgets for agricultural, urban, riparian and native vegetation classes. Crop water demands are dynamically calculated using distributed soil properties, land use and crop data, and precipitation and evapotranspiration rates. The crop mix can also be automatically modified as a function of pumping lift using logit functions. Surface water diversions and groundwater pumping can each be specified, or can be automatically adjusted at run time to balance water supply with water demand. The land-surface process also routes runoff to streams and deep percolation to the unsaturated zone. Surface water networks are specified as a series of stream nodes (coincident with groundwater nodes) with specified bed elevation, conductance and stage-flow relationships. Stream nodes are linked to form stream reaches. Stream inflows at the model boundary, surface water diversion locations, and one or more surface water deliveries per location are specified. IWFM routes stream flows through the network, calculating groundwater-surface water interactions, accumulating inflows from runoff, and allocating available stream flows to meet specified or calculated deliveries. IWFM utilizes a very straight-forward input file structure, allowing rapid development of complex simulations. A key feature of IWFM is a new algorithm for computation of groundwater flow across element faces. Enhancements to version 3.0 include automatic time-tracking of input and output data sets, linkage with the HEC-DSS database, and dynamic crop allocation using logit functions. Utilities linking IWFM to the PEST automated calibration suite are also available. All source code, executables and documentation are available for download from the DWR web site. IWFM is currently being used to develop hydrologic simulations of California's Central Valley (C2VSIM); the west side of California's San Joaquin Valley (WESTSIM); Butte County, CA; Solano County, CA; Merced County, CA; and the Oregon side of the Walla Walla River Basin.

Managing water and salinity with desalination, conveyance, conservation, waste-water treatment and reuse to counteract climate variability in Gaza

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenberg, D. E.; Aljuaidi, A. E.; Kaluarachchi, J. J.

2009-12-01

We include demands for water of different salinity concentrations as input parameters and decision variables in a regional hydro-economic optimization model. This specification includes separate demand functions for saline water. We then use stochastic non-linear programming to jointly identify the benefit maximizing set of infrastructure expansions, operational allocations, and use of different water quality types under climate variability. We present a detailed application for the Gaza Strip. The application considers building desalination and waste-water treatment plants and conveyance pipelines, initiating water conservation and leak reduction programs, plus allocating and transferring water of different qualities among agricultural, industrial, and urban sectors and among districts. Results show how to integrate a mix of supply enhancement, conservation, water quality improvement, and water quality management actions into a portfolio that can economically and efficiently respond to changes and uncertainties in surface and groundwater availability due to climate variability. We also show how to put drawn-down and saline Gaza aquifer water to more sustainable and economical use.

Analysis and Research on the Optimal Allocation of Regional Water Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

rui-chao, Xi; yu-jie, Gu

2018-06-01

Starting from the basic concept of optimal allocation of water resources, taking the allocation of water resources in Tianjin as an example, the present situation of water resources in Tianjin is analyzed, and the multi-objective optimal allocation model of water resources is used to optimize the allocation of water resources. We use LINGO to solve the model, get the optimal allocation plan that meets the economic and social benefits, and put forward relevant policies and regulations, so as to provide theoretical which is basis for alleviating and solving the problem of water shortage.

Quantifying the Contribution of Regional Aquifers to Stream Flow in the Upper Colorado River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masbruch, M.; Dickinson, J.

2017-12-01

The growing population of the arid and semiarid southwestern U.S. relies on over-allocated surface water resources and poorly quantified groundwater resources. In the Upper Colorado River Basin, recent studies have found that about 50 percent of the surface water at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stream gages is derived from groundwater contributions as base flow. Prior USGS and other studies for the Colorado Plateau region have mainly examined groundwater and surface water as separate systems, and there has yet to be regional synthesis of groundwater availability in aquifers that contribute to surface water. A more physically based representation of groundwater flow could improve simulations of surface-water capture by groundwater pumping, and changes of groundwater discharge to surface water caused by possible shifts in the distribution, magnitude, and timing of recharge in the future. We seek to improve conceptual and numerical models of groundwater and surface-water interactions in the Colorado Plateau region as part of a USGS regional groundwater availability assessment. Numerical modeling is used to simulate and quantify the base flow from groundwater to the Colorado River and its major tributaries. Groundwater/surface-water interactions will be simulated using the USGS code GSFLOW, which couples the Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) to the groundwater flow model MODFLOW. Initial results suggest that interactions between groundwater and surface water are important for projecting long-term changes in surface water budgets.

Fully-Integrated Simulation of Conjunctive Use from Field to Basin Scales: Development of a Surface Water Operations Module for MODFLOW-OWHM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferguson, I. M.; Boyce, S. E.; Hanson, R. T.; Llewellyn, D.

2014-12-01

It is well established that groundwater pumping affects surface-water availability by intercepting groundwater that would otherwise discharge to streams and/or by increasing seepage from surface-water channels. Conversely, surface-water management operations effect groundwater availability by altering the timing, location, and quantity of groundwater recharge and demand. Successful conjunctive use may require analysis with an integrated approach that accounts for the many interactions and feedbacks between surface-water and groundwater availability and their joint management. In order to improve simulation and analysis of conjunctive use, Bureau of Reclamation and USGS are collaborating to develop a surface-water operations module within MODFLOW One Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM), a new version of the USGS Modular Groundwater Flow Model (MODFLOW). Here we describe the development and application of the surface-water operations module. We provide an overview of the conceptual approach used to simulate surface-water operations—including surface-water storage, allocation, release, diversion, and delivery on monthly to seasonal time frames—in a fully-integrated manner. We then present results from a recent case study analysis of the Rio Grande Project, a large-scale irrigation project located in New Mexico and Texas, under varying surface-water operations criteria and climate conditions. Case study results demonstrate the importance of integrated hydrologic simulation of surface water and groundwater operations in analysis and management of conjunctive-use systems.

Vulnerability and resilience to droughts in South-West USA: carbon allocation and impact on wood and evaporative anatomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guerin, M. F.; von Arx, G.; McDowell, N. G.; Pockman, W.; Andreu-Hayles, L.; Gentine, P.

2015-12-01

Survival and distribution of conifers across the globe will depend on their adaptive potential to the new climatic conditions (warmer, more droughts, heat waves). Recent studies predicting forest evolution have mainly focused on understanding tree mortality processes (hydraulic failure, carbon starvation, biotic stresses). These explicit causes of mortality are also the result of unsuccessful adaptation on a longer period. Using a 7 years drought-irrigation experiment in New Mexico, USA, we investigated the response to water availability on structure-function interactions at the tree level. Bridging dendrology and physiology on multiple individuals of local Pinion pine, we observe a structural dynamics in i) wood anatomy ii) evaporative anatomy and a resulting functional dynamics in i) leaf water potential and ii) water use efficiency on multiple time scales (daily to interannual). These results emphasize the tight coupling between carbon allocation and the surface hydrologic cycle on longer time scales and its impact on resilience and mortality, which is not included in current generation land-surface models. figure: Wood anatomy obtained from a 5.2mm core of a Pinion Edulis from the experimental site - illustrating the variability of the water transport capacities accross years

Planning attitudes, lay philosophies, and water allocation: A preliminary analysis and research agenda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syme, Geoffrey J.; Nancarrow, Blair E.

Despite the important societal consequences of water policy, community attitudes toward planning, ethics, and equity for allocation of water have received little research attention. This preliminary research was conducted to assess the range and structure of planning attitudes and equity and ethical considerations which might be relevant to the general public's evaluation of water allocation systems. The relationship of these to priorities for water allocation were also examined. The results showed a complex structure for planning attitudes. There were also generalized but clearly defined community approaches to water allocation. A number of significant relationships between planning attitudes and philosophies of allocation were shown. Planning attitudes also related to priorities for water allocation. In practical terms the research provides some preliminary, ethically based evaluative criteria which could be applied to allocation decision-making systems. Theoretical research possibilities are also outlined.

Research on Coupling Method of Watershed Initial Water Rights Allocation in Daling River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, J.; Fengping, W.

2016-12-01

Water scarcity is now a common occurrence in many countries. The situation of watershed initial water rights allocation has caused many benefit conflicts among regions and regional water sectors of domestic and ecology environment and industries in China. This study aims to investigate the method of watershed initial water rights allocation in the perspective of coupling in Daling River Watershed taking provincial initial water rights and watershed-level governmental reserved water as objects. First of all, regarding the allocation subsystem of initial water rights among provinces, this research calculates initial water rights of different provinces by establishing the coupling model of water quantity and quality on the principle of "rewarding efficiency and penalizing inefficiency" based on the two control objectives of water quantity and quality. Secondly, regarding the allocation subsystem of watershed-level governmental reserved water rights, the study forecasts the demand of watershed-level governmental reserved water rights by the combination of case-based reasoning and water supply quotas. Then, the bilaterally coupled allocation model on water supply and demand is designed after supply analysis to get watershed-level governmental reserved water rights. The results of research method applied to Daling River Watershed reveal the recommended scheme of watershed initial water rights allocation based on coordinated degree criterion. It's found that the feasibility of the iteration coupling model and put forward related policies and suggestions. This study owns the advantages of complying with watershed initial water rights allocation mechanism and meeting the control requirements of water quantity, water quality and water utilization efficiency, which help to achieve the effective allocation of water resources.

Application of MODFLOW’s farm process to California’s Central Valley

USGS Publications Warehouse

Faunt, Claudia; Hanson, Randall T.; Schmid, Wolfgang; Belitz, Kenneth

2008-01-01

landscape processes. The FMP provides coupled simulation of the ground-water and surface-water components of the hydrologic cycle for irrigated and non-irrigated areas. A dynamic allocation of ground-water recharge and ground-water pumping is simulated on the basis of residual crop-water demand after surface-water deliveries and root uptake from shallow ground water. The FMP links with the Streamflow Routing Package SFR1) to facilitate the simulated conveyance of surface-water deliveries. Ground-water Pumpage through both single-aquifer and multi-node wells, irrigation return flow, and variable irrigation efficiencies also are simulated by the FMP. The simulated deliveries and ground-water pumpage in the updated model reflect climatic differences, differences among defined water-balance regions, and changes in the waterdelivery system, during the 1961–2003 simulation period. The model is designed to accept forecasts from Global Climate Models (GCMs) to simulate the potential effects on surface-water delivery, ground-water pumpage, and ground-water storage in response to climate change. The model provides a detailed transient analysis of changes in ground-water availability in relation to climatic variability, urbanization, and changes in irrigated agriculture.

Effects of spatially distributed sectoral water management on the redistribution of water resources in an integrated water model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voisin, Nathalie; Hejazi, Mohamad I.; Leung, L. Ruby; Liu, Lu; Huang, Maoyi; Li, Hong-Yi; Tesfa, Teklu

2017-05-01

Realistic representations of sectoral water withdrawals and consumptive demands and their allocation to surface and groundwater sources are important for improving modeling of the integrated water cycle. To inform future model development, we enhance the representation of water management in a regional Earth system (ES) model with a spatially distributed allocation of sectoral water demands simulated by a regional integrated assessment (IA) model to surface and groundwater systems. The integrated modeling framework (IA-ES) is evaluated by analyzing the simulated regulated flow and sectoral supply deficit in major hydrologic regions of the conterminous U.S, which differ from ES studies looking at water storage variations. Decreases in historical supply deficit are used as metrics to evaluate IA-ES model improvement in representating the complex sectoral human activities for assessing future adaptation and mitigation strategies. We also assess the spatial changes in both regulated flow and unmet demands, for irrigation and nonirrigation sectors, resulting from the individual and combined additions of groundwater and return flow modules. Results show that groundwater use has a pronounced regional and sectoral effect by reducing water supply deficit. The effects of sectoral return flow exhibit a clear east-west contrast in the hydrologic patterns, so the return flow component combined with the IA sectoral demands is a major driver for spatial redistribution of water resources and water deficits in the US. Our analysis highlights the need for spatially distributed sectoral representation of water management to capture the regional differences in interbasin redistribution of water resources and deficits.

Development of water allocation Model Based on ET-Control and Its Application in Haihe River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

You, Jinjun; Gan, Hong; Gan, Zhiguo; Wang, Lin

2010-05-01

Traditionally, water allocation is to distribute water to different regions and sectors, without enough consideration on amount of water consumed after water distribution. Water allocation based on ET (evaporation and Transpiration) control changes this idea and emphasizes the absolute amount of evaporation and transpiration in specific area. With this ideology, the amount of ET involved the water allocation includes not only water consumed from the sectors, but the natural ET. Therefore, the water allocation consist of two steps, the first step is to estimate reasonable ET quantum in regions, then allocate water to more detailed regions and various sectors with the ET quantum according with the operational rules. To make qualified ET distribution and water allocation in various regions, a framework is put forward in this paper, in which two models are applied to analyze the different scenarios with predefined economic growth and ecological objective. The first model figures out rational ET objective with multi-objective analysis for compromised solution in economic growth and ecological maintenance. Food security and environmental protection are also taken as constraints in the optimization in the first model. The second one provides hydraulic simulation and water balance to allocate the ET objective to corresponding regions under operational rules. These two models are combined into an integrated ET-Control water allocation. Scenario analysis through the ET-Control Model could discover the relations between economy and ecology, farther to give suggestion on measures to control water use with condition of changing socio-economic growth and ecological objectives. To confirm the methodology, Haihe River is taken as a case to study. Rational water allocation is important branch of decision making on water planning and management in Haihe River Basin since water scarcity and deteriorating environment fights for water in this basin dramatically and reasonable water allocation between economy and ecology is a focus. Considering condition of water scarcity in Haihe River Basin, ET quota is taken as objective for water allocation in provinces to realize the requirement of water inflow into the Bohai Sea. Scenario analysis provides the results of water evaporation from natural water cycle and artificial use. A trade-off curve based on fulfilment of ecological and economic objectives in different scenarios discovers the competitive relation between human activities and nature.

Water Development, Allocation, and Institutions: A Role for Integrated Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, F. A.

2008-12-01

Many parts of the world suffer from inadequate water infrastructure, inefficient water allocation, and weak water institutions. Each of these three challenges compounds the burdens imposed by inadequacies associated with the other two. Weak water infrastructure makes it hard to allocate water efficiently and undermines tracking of water rights and use, which blocks effective functioning of water institutions. Inefficient water allocation makes it harder to secure resources to develop new water infrastructure. Poorly developed water institutions undermine the security of water rights, which damages incentives to develop water infrastructure or use water efficiently. This paper reports on the development of a prototype basin scale economic optimization, in which existing water supplies are allocated more efficiently in the short run to provide resources for more efficient long-run water infrastructure development. Preliminary results provide the basis for designing water administrative proposals, building effective water infrastructure, increasing farm income, and meeting transboundary delivery commitments. The application is to the Kabul River Basin in Afghanistan, where food security has been compromised by a history of drought, war, damaged irrigation infrastructure, lack of reservoir storage, inefficient water allocation, and weak water institutions. Results illustrate increases in economic efficiency achievable when development programs simultaneously address interdependencies in water allocation, development, and institutions.

SURFACE WATER WITHDRAWAL ALLOCATION AND TRADING SYSTEMS FOR TRADITIONALLY RIPARIAN AREAS. (R824804)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Shallow Alluvial Aquifer Ground Water System and Surface Water/Ground Water Interaction, Boulder Creek, Boulder, Colorado

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babcock, K. P.; Ge, S.; Crifasi, R. R.

2006-12-01

Water chemistry in Boulder Creek, Colorado, shows significant variation as the Creek flows through the City of Boulder [Barber et al., 2006]. This variation is partially due to ground water inputs, which are not quantitatively understood. The purpose of this study is (1) to understand ground water movement in a shallow alluvial aquifer system and (2) to assess surface water/ground water interaction. The study area, encompassing an area of 1 mi2, is located at the Sawhill and Walden Ponds area in Boulder. This area was reclaimed by the City of Boulder and Boulder County after gravel mining operations ceased in the 1970's. Consequently, ground water has filled in the numerous gravel pits allowing riparian vegetation regrowth and replanting. An integrated approach is used to examine the shallow ground water and surface water of the study area through field measurements, water table mapping, graphical data analysis, and numerical modeling. Collected field data suggest that lateral heterogeneity exists throughout the unconsolidated sediment. Alluvial hydraulic conductivities range from 1 to 24 ft/day and flow rates range from 0.01 to 2 ft/day. Preliminary data analysis suggests that ground water movement parallels surface topography and does not noticeably vary with season. Recharge via infiltrating precipitation is dependent on evapotranspiration (ET) demands and is influenced by preferential flow paths. During the growing season when ET demand exceeds precipitation rates, there is little recharge; however recharge occurs during cooler months when ET demand is insignificant. Preliminary data suggest that the Boulder Creek is gaining ground water as it traverses the study area. Stream flow influences the water table for distances up to 400 feet. The influence of stream flow is reflected in the zones relatively low total dissolved solids concentration. A modeling study is being conducted to synthesize aquifer test data, ground water levels, and stream flow data. The model will quantitatively assess the interaction between surface water and ground water, particularly the amount of exchange between the creek and ground water and to what extent these systems influence each other. Model sensitivity study will help identify important system parameters. A comprehensive model of the study area will serve as a tool for efficiently allocating water throughout the study area (from Boulder Creek). Water allocation is needed to prevent the eutrophication of the ponds, improve fishery management, and efficiently meet the water rights obligations in the watershed.

A review of distributed parameter groundwater management modeling methods

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gorelick, Steven M.

1983-01-01

Models which solve the governing groundwater flow or solute transport equations in conjunction with optimization techniques, such as linear and quadratic programing, are powerful aquifer management tools. Groundwater management models fall in two general categories: hydraulics or policy evaluation and water allocation. Groundwater hydraulic management models enable the determination of optimal locations and pumping rates of numerous wells under a variety of restrictions placed upon local drawdown, hydraulic gradients, and water production targets. Groundwater policy evaluation and allocation models can be used to study the influence upon regional groundwater use of institutional policies such as taxes and quotas. Furthermore, fairly complex groundwater-surface water allocation problems can be handled using system decomposition and multilevel optimization. Experience from the few real world applications of groundwater optimization-management techniques is summarized. Classified separately are methods for groundwater quality management aimed at optimal waste disposal in the subsurface. This classification is composed of steady state and transient management models that determine disposal patterns in such a way that water quality is protected at supply locations. Classes of research missing from the literature are groundwater quality management models involving nonlinear constraints, models which join groundwater hydraulic and quality simulations with political-economic management considerations, and management models that include parameter uncertainty.

A Review of Distributed Parameter Groundwater Management Modeling Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorelick, Steven M.

1983-04-01

Models which solve the governing groundwater flow or solute transport equations in conjunction with optimization techniques, such as linear and quadratic programing, are powerful aquifer management tools. Groundwater management models fall in two general categories: hydraulics or policy evaluation and water allocation. Groundwater hydraulic management models enable the determination of optimal locations and pumping rates of numerous wells under a variety of restrictions placed upon local drawdown, hydraulic gradients, and water production targets. Groundwater policy evaluation and allocation models can be used to study the influence upon regional groundwater use of institutional policies such as taxes and quotas. Furthermore, fairly complex groundwater-surface water allocation problems can be handled using system decomposition and multilevel optimization. Experience from the few real world applications of groundwater optimization-management techniques is summarized. Classified separately are methods for groundwater quality management aimed at optimal waste disposal in the subsurface. This classification is composed of steady state and transient management models that determine disposal patterns in such a way that water quality is protected at supply locations. Classes of research missing from the literature are groundwater quality management models involving nonlinear constraints, models which join groundwater hydraulic and quality simulations with political-economic management considerations, and management models that include parameter uncertainty.

Innovative Approaches to Collaborative Groundwater Governance in the United States: Case Studies from Three High-Growth Regions in the Sun Belt.

PubMed

Megdal, Sharon B; Gerlak, Andrea K; Huang, Ling-Yee; Delano, Nathaniel; Varady, Robert G; Petersen-Perlman, Jacob D

2017-05-01

Groundwater is an increasingly important source of freshwater, especially where surface water resources are fully or over-allocated or becoming less reliable due to climate change. Groundwater reliance has created new challenges for sustainable management. This article examines how regional groundwater users coordinate and collaborate to manage shared groundwater resources, including attention to what drives collaboration. To identify and illustrate these facets, this article examines three geographically diverse cases of groundwater governance and management from the United States Sun Belt: Orange County Water District in southern California; Prescott Active Management Area in north-central Arizona; and the Central Florida Water Initiative in central Florida. These regions have different surface water laws, groundwater allocation and management laws and regulations, demographics, economics, topographies, and climate. These cases were selected because the Sun Belt faces similar pressures on groundwater due to historical and projected population growth and limited availability of usable surface water supplies. Collectively, they demonstrate groundwater governance trends in the United States, and illustrate distinctive features of regional groundwater management strategies. Our research shows how geophysical realities and state-level legislation have enabled and/or stimulated regions to develop groundwater management plans and strategies to address the specific issues associated with their groundwater resources. We find that litigation involvement and avoidance, along with the need to finance projects, are additional drivers of regional collaboration to manage groundwater. This case study underscores the importance of regionally coordinated and sustained efforts to address serious groundwater utilization challenges faced by the regions studied and around the world.

Innovative Approaches to Collaborative Groundwater Governance in the United States: Case Studies from Three High-Growth Regions in the Sun Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Megdal, Sharon B.; Gerlak, Andrea K.; Huang, Ling-Yee; Delano, Nathaniel; Varady, Robert G.; Petersen-Perlman, Jacob D.

2017-05-01

Groundwater is an increasingly important source of freshwater, especially where surface water resources are fully or over-allocated or becoming less reliable due to climate change. Groundwater reliance has created new challenges for sustainable management. This article examines how regional groundwater users coordinate and collaborate to manage shared groundwater resources, including attention to what drives collaboration. To identify and illustrate these facets, this article examines three geographically diverse cases of groundwater governance and management from the United States Sun Belt: Orange County Water District in southern California; Prescott Active Management Area in north-central Arizona; and the Central Florida Water Initiative in central Florida. These regions have different surface water laws, groundwater allocation and management laws and regulations, demographics, economics, topographies, and climate. These cases were selected because the Sun Belt faces similar pressures on groundwater due to historical and projected population growth and limited availability of usable surface water supplies. Collectively, they demonstrate groundwater governance trends in the United States, and illustrate distinctive features of regional groundwater management strategies. Our research shows how geophysical realities and state-level legislation have enabled and/or stimulated regions to develop groundwater management plans and strategies to address the specific issues associated with their groundwater resources. We find that litigation involvement and avoidance, along with the need to finance projects, are additional drivers of regional collaboration to manage groundwater. This case study underscores the importance of regionally coordinated and sustained efforts to address serious groundwater utilization challenges faced by the regions studied and around the world.

Summary appraisals of the Nation's ground-water resources; Upper Colorado region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Price, Don; Arnow, Ted

1974-01-01

Options available for use of ground water in water-resources management·in the·region include conjunctive use with surface water or development of ground water as an independent supply. The latter option could be for & perennial supply or for a time-limited supply (mining ground water), depending on the need and the existing ground-water conditions. All options can be carried out so as to meet the requirements of the Colorado River Compact. The options could be implemented to optimally develop the Upper Colorado River Basin's allocation of Colorado River water while meeting the Compact commitments to the Lower Basin.

How Green Water Flows structure be a decision indicator for ecological water allocation in arid Ejina Delta, China.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, J.; Du, C.; Zhang, Y.; Liu, X.

2014-12-01

Green water flows, a key ecohydrological process, dominates the hydrological cycle in arid region. The structure of green water flows reflects the landscape water consumption characteristics and can be easily obtained by means of remote sensing approach. In arid region, limited fresh water and fragile environment resulted in sharp contradictions between economy and natural ecosystem concerning water demands. To rationally allocate economic and ecological water use, to maximize the regional freshwater use efficiency, is the route one must take for sustainable development in arid area. The pursuit of the most necessary ecological protection function and the maximum ecological water use efficiency is the key to ecological water allocation. However, we are short of simple and quick detectable variables or indexes to assess ecological water allocation decision. This paper introduced the green water flows structure as a decision variable, chose Heihe river flow allocation to downstream Ejina Delta for ecological protection as an example, put forward why and how green water flows structure could be used for ecological water allocation decision. The authors expect to provide reference for integrated fresh water resources management practice in arid region.

Water-use analysis program for the Neshaminy Creek basin, Bucks and Montgomery counties, Pennsylvania

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schreffler, Curtis L.

1996-01-01

A water-use analysis computer program was developed for the Neshaminy Creek Basin to assist in managing and allocating water resources in the basin. The program was developed for IBM-compatible personal computers. Basin analysis and the methodologies developed for the Neshaminy Creek Basin can be transferred to other watersheds. The development and structure of the water-use analysis program is documented in this report. The report also serves as a user's guide. The program uses common relational database-management software that allows for water use-data input, editing, updating and output and can be used to generate a watershed water-use analysis report. The watershed-analysis report lists summations of public-supply well withdrawals; a combination of industrial, commercial, institutional, and ground-water irrigation well withdrawals; spray irrigation systems; a combination of public, industrial, and private surface-water withdrawals; wastewater-tratement-facility dishcarges; estimates of aggregate domestic ground-water withdrawals on an areal basin or subbasin basis; imports and exports of wastewater across basin or subbasin divides; imports and exports of public water supplies across basin or subbasin divides; estimates of evaporative loss and consumptive loss from produce incorporation; industrial septic-system discharges to ground water; and ground-water well-permit allocations.

Drought Water Right Curtailment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, W.; Tweet, A.; Magnuson-Skeels, B.; Whittington, C.; Arnold, B.; Lund, J. R.

2016-12-01

California's water rights system allocates water based on priority, where lower priority, "junior" rights are curtailed first in a drought. The Drought Water Rights Allocation Tool (DWRAT) was developed to integrate water right allocation models with legal objectives to suggest water rights curtailments during drought. DWRAT incorporates water right use and priorities with a flow-forecasting model to mathematically represent water law and hydrology and suggest water allocations among water rights holders. DWRAT is compiled within an Excel workbook, with an interface and an open-source solver. By implementing California water rights law as an algorithm, DWRAT provides a precise and transparent framework for the complicated and often controversial technical aspects of curtailing water rights use during drought. DWRAT models have been developed for use in the Eel, Russian, and Sacramento river basins. In this study, an initial DWRAT model has been developed for the San Joaquin watershed, which incorporates all water rights holders in the basin and reference gage flows for major tributaries. The San Joaquin DWRAT can assess water allocation reliability by determining probability of rights holders' curtailment for a range of hydrologic conditions. Forecasted flow values can be input to the model to provide decision makers with the ability to make curtailment and water supply strategy decisions. Environmental flow allocations will be further integrated into the model to protect and improve ecosystem water reliability.

Land use and land cover changes in Zêzere watershed (Portugal)--Water quality implications.

PubMed

Meneses, B M; Reis, R; Vale, M J; Saraiva, R

2015-09-15

To understand the relations between land use allocation and water quality preservation within a watershed is essential to assure sustainable development. The land use and land cover (LUC) within Zêzere River watershed registered relevant changes in the last decades. These land use and land cover changes (LUCCs) have impacts in water quality, mainly in surface water degradation caused by surface runoff from artificial and agricultural areas, forest fires and burnt areas, and caused by sewage discharges from agroindustry and urban sprawl. In this context, the impact of LUCCs in the quality of surface water of the Zêzere watershed is evaluated, considering the changes for different types of LUC and establishing their possible correlations to the most relevant water quality changes. The results indicate that the loss of coniferous forest and the increase of transitional woodland-shrub are related to increased water's pH; while the growth in artificial surfaces and pastures leads mainly to the increase of soluble salts and fecal coliform concentration. These particular findings within the Zêzere watershed, show the relevance of addressing water quality impact driven from land use and should therefore be taken into account within the planning process in order to prevent water stress, namely within watersheds integrating drinking water catchments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An integrated model of water resources optimization allocation based on projection pursuit model - Grey wolf optimization method in a transboundary river basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Sen; Lu, Hongwei

2018-04-01

Under the effects of global change, water crisis ranks as the top global risk in the future decade, and water conflict in transboundary river basins as well as the geostrategic competition led by it is most concerned. This study presents an innovative integrated PPMGWO model of water resources optimization allocation in a transboundary river basin, which is integrated through the projection pursuit model (PPM) and Grey wolf optimization (GWO) method. This study uses the Songhua River basin and 25 control units as examples, adopting the PPMGWO model proposed in this study to allocate the water quantity. Using water consumption in all control units in the Songhua River basin in 2015 as reference to compare with optimization allocation results of firefly algorithm (FA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms as well as the PPMGWO model, results indicate that the average difference between corresponding allocation results and reference values are 0.195 bil m3, 0.151 bil m3, and 0.085 bil m3, respectively. Obviously, the average difference of the PPMGWO model is the lowest and its optimization allocation result is closer to reality, which further confirms the reasonability, feasibility, and accuracy of the PPMGWO model. And then the PPMGWO model is adopted to simulate allocation of available water quantity in Songhua River basin in 2018, 2020, and 2030. The simulation results show water quantity which could be allocated in all controls demonstrates an overall increasing trend with reasonable and equal exploitation and utilization of water resources in the Songhua River basin in future. In addition, this study has a certain reference value and application meaning to comprehensive management and water resources allocation in other transboundary river basins.

Many-objective robust decision making for water allocation under climate change.

PubMed

Yan, Dan; Ludwig, Fulco; Huang, He Qing; Werners, Saskia E

2017-12-31

Water allocation is facing profound challenges due to climate change uncertainties. To identify adaptive water allocation strategies that are robust to climate change uncertainties, a model framework combining many-objective robust decision making and biophysical modeling is developed for large rivers. The framework was applied to the Pearl River basin (PRB), China where sufficient flow to the delta is required to reduce saltwater intrusion in the dry season. Before identifying and assessing robust water allocation plans for the future, the performance of ten state-of-the-art MOEAs (multi-objective evolutionary algorithms) is evaluated for the water allocation problem in the PRB. The Borg multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (Borg MOEA), which is a self-adaptive optimization algorithm, has the best performance during the historical periods. Therefore it is selected to generate new water allocation plans for the future (2079-2099). This study shows that robust decision making using carefully selected MOEAs can help limit saltwater intrusion in the Pearl River Delta. However, the framework could perform poorly due to larger than expected climate change impacts on water availability. Results also show that subjective design choices from the researchers and/or water managers could potentially affect the ability of the model framework, and cause the most robust water allocation plans to fail under future climate change. Developing robust allocation plans in a river basin suffering from increasing water shortage requires the researchers and water managers to well characterize future climate change of the study regions and vulnerabilities of their tools. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dealing with equality and benefit for water allocation in a lake watershed: A Gini-coefficient based stochastic optimization approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, C.; Qin, X. S.; Chen, Y.; Guo, H. C.

2018-06-01

A Gini-coefficient based stochastic optimization (GBSO) model was developed by integrating the hydrological model, water balance model, Gini coefficient and chance-constrained programming (CCP) into a general multi-objective optimization modeling framework for supporting water resources allocation at a watershed scale. The framework was advantageous in reflecting the conflicting equity and benefit objectives for water allocation, maintaining the water balance of watershed, and dealing with system uncertainties. GBSO was solved by the non-dominated sorting Genetic Algorithms-II (NSGA-II), after the parameter uncertainties of the hydrological model have been quantified into the probability distribution of runoff as the inputs of CCP model, and the chance constraints were converted to the corresponding deterministic versions. The proposed model was applied to identify the Pareto optimal water allocation schemes in the Lake Dianchi watershed, China. The optimal Pareto-front results reflected the tradeoff between system benefit (αSB) and Gini coefficient (αG) under different significance levels (i.e. q) and different drought scenarios, which reveals the conflicting nature of equity and efficiency in water allocation problems. A lower q generally implies a lower risk of violating the system constraints and a worse drought intensity scenario corresponds to less available water resources, both of which would lead to a decreased system benefit and a less equitable water allocation scheme. Thus, the proposed modeling framework could help obtain the Pareto optimal schemes under complexity and ensure that the proposed water allocation solutions are effective for coping with drought conditions, with a proper tradeoff between system benefit and water allocation equity.

How much water flows? Examining water allocations using a mobile decision lab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strickert, G. E.; Gober, P.; Bradford, L. E.; Phillips, P.; Ross, J.

2016-12-01

Management of freshwater resources is a complex and multifaceted issues. Big challenges like scarcity, conflicts over water use and access, and ecosystem degradation are widespread around the world. These issues reflects ineffective past practices and signals the need for a fundamental change. Previous actions to mitigate these problems have been incremental rather than innovative, in part because of inherent conservatism in the water management community and an inability to experiment with water allocations in a safe environment. The influence of transboundary water policies was tested using a mobile decision lab which examined three theory areas: limited territorial sovereignty, absolute territorial sovereignty, and shared risk. The experiment allowed people engaged in the water sector to allocate incoming flows to different sectors: agriculture, municipal, industrial and environmental flows in two flow scenarios; slight shortage and extreme water shortage, and to pass on the remaining water to downstream regions. Mandatory sharing 50% of the natural flows between provinces (i.e. limited territorial sovereignty) achieved the most equitable allocation based on water units and points across the three regions. When there were no allocation rules (i.e. absolute territorial sovereignty) the downstream region received significantly less water (e.g. 8-11%. p < 0.001) less water to fulfill its demand. Allowing communication between up and down stream regions (i.e. shared risk) had a negligible affect on the amount of water flowing through the region. It is also notable that most participants sought a trade-off of water allocations, minimizing the allocations to agriculture and industry and prioritizing the municipal sector particularity under the severe drought scenario.

Water Market-scale Agricultural Planning: Promoting Competing Water Resource Use Efficiency Through Agro-Economics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delorit, J. D.; Block, P. J.

2017-12-01

Where strong water rights law and corresponding markets exist as a coupled econo-legal mechanism, water rights holders are permitted to trade allocations to promote economic water resource use efficiency. In locations where hydrologic uncertainty drives the assignment of annual per-water right allocation values by water resource managers, collaborative water resource decision making by water rights holders, specifically those involved in agricultural production, can result in both resource and economic Pareto efficiency. Such is the case in semi-arid North Chile, where interactions between representative farmer groups, treated as competitive bilateral monopolies, and modeled at water market-scale, can provide both price and water right allocation distribution signals for unregulated, temporary water right leasing markets. For the range of feasible per-water right allocation values, a coupled agricultural-economic model is developed to describe the equilibrium distribution of water, the corresponding market price of water rights and the net surplus generated by collaboration between competing agricultural uses. Further, this research describes a per-water right inflection point for allocations where economic efficiency is not possible, and where price negotiation among competing agricultural uses is required. An investigation of the effects of water right supply and demand inequality at the market-scale is completed to characterize optimal market performance under existing water rights law. The broader insights of this research suggest that water rights holders engaged in agriculture can achieve economic benefits from forming crop-type cooperatives and by accurately assessing the economic value of allocation.

Optimal allocation of bulk water supplies to competing use sectors based on economic criterion - An application to the Chao Phraya River Basin, Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Divakar, L.; Babel, M. S.; Perret, S. R.; Gupta, A. Das

2011-04-01

SummaryThe study develops a model for optimal bulk allocations of limited available water based on an economic criterion to competing use sectors such as agriculture, domestic, industry and hydropower. The model comprises a reservoir operation module (ROM) and a water allocation module (WAM). ROM determines the amount of water available for allocation, which is used as an input to WAM with an objective function to maximize the net economic benefits of bulk allocations to different use sectors. The total net benefit functions for agriculture and hydropower sectors and the marginal net benefit from domestic and industrial sectors are established and are categorically taken as fixed in the present study. The developed model is applied to the Chao Phraya basin in Thailand. The case study results indicate that the WAM can improve net economic returns compared to the current water allocation practices.

[Responses of Cynodon dactylon population in hydro-fluctuation belt of Three Gorges Reservoir area to flooding-drying habitat change].

PubMed

Hong, Ming; Guo, Quan-Shu; Nie, Bi-Hong; Kang, Yi; Pei, Shun-Xiang; Jin, Jiang-Qun; Wang, Xiang-Fu

2011-11-01

This paper studied the population density, morphological characteristics, and biomass and its allocation of Cynodon dactylon at different altitudinal sections of the hydro-fluctuation belt in Three Gorges Reservoir area, based on located observations. At the three altitudinal sections, the population density of C. dactylon was in the order of shallow water section (165-170 m elevation) > non-flooded section (above 172 m elevation) > deep water section (145-150 m elevation), the root diameter and root length were in the order of deep water section > shallow water section > non-flooded section, the total biomass, root biomass, stem biomass, leaf biomass, and stem biomass allocation ratio were in the order of the shallow water section > non-flooded section > deep water section, and the root biomass allocation ratio, leaf biomass allocation ratio, and underground biomass/aboveground biomass were in the order of deep water section > shallow water section > non-flooded section. The unique adaption strategies of C. dactylon to the flooding-drying habitat change in the shallow water section were the accelerated elongation growth and the increased stem biomass allocation, those in the deep water section were the increased node number of primary and secondary branches, increased number of the branches, and increased leaf biomass allocation, whereas the common strategies in the shallow and deep water sections were the accelerated root growth and the increased tillering and underground biomass allocation for preparing nutrition and energy for the rapid growth in terrestrial environment.

Soil-Water Balance (SWB) model estimates of soil-moisture variability and groundwater recharge in the South Platte watershed, Colorado

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, A. M.; Walker, E. L.; Hogue, T. S.; Ruybal, C. J.

2015-12-01

Unconventional energy production in semi-arid regions places additional stress on already over-allocated water systems. Production of shale gas and oil resources in northern Colorado has rapidly increased since 2010, and is expected to continue growing due to advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. This unconventional energy production has implications for the availability of water in the South Platte watershed, where water demand for hydraulic fracturing of unconventional shale resources reached ~16,000 acre-feet in 2014. Groundwater resources are often exploited to meet water demands for unconventional energy production in regions like the South Platte basin, where surface water supply is limited and allocated across multiple uses. Since groundwater is often a supplement to surface water in times of drought and peak demand, variability in modeled recharge estimates can significantly impact projected availability. In the current work we used the Soil-Water Balance Model (SWB) to assess the variability in model estimates of actual evapotranspiration (ET) and soil-moisture conditions utilized to derive estimates of groundwater recharge. Using both point source and spatially distributed data, we compared modeled actual ET and soil-moisture derived from several potential ET methods, such as Thornthwaite-Mather, Jense-Haise, Turc, and Hargreaves-Samani, to historic soil moisture conditions obtained through sources including the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). In addition to a basin-scale analysis, we divided the South Platte watershed into sub-basins according to land cover to evaluate model capabilities of estimating soil-moisture parameters with variations in land cover and topography. Results ultimately allow improved prediction of groundwater recharge under future scenarios of climate and land cover change. This work also contributes to complementary subsurface groundwater modeling and decision support modeling in the South Platte.

Sequestration of precious and pollutant metals in biomass of cultured water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes).

PubMed

Newete, Solomon W; Erasmus, Barend F N; Weiersbye, Isabel M; Byrne, Marcus J

2016-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the overall root/shoot allocation of metal contaminants, the amount of metal removal by absorption and adsorption within or on the external root surfaces, the dose-response of water hyacinth metal uptake, and phytotoxicity. This was examined in a single-metal tub trial, using arsenic (As), gold (Au), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), uranium (U), and zinc (Zn). Iron and Mn were also used in low-, medium-, and high-concentration treatments to test their dose effect on water hyacinth's metal uptake. Water hyacinth was generally tolerant to metallotoxicity, except for Cu and Hg. Over 80 % of the total amount of metals removed was accumulated in the roots, of which 30-52 % was adsorbed onto the root surfaces. Furthermore, 73-98 % of the total metal assimilation by water hyacinth was located in the roots. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) of Cu, Hg, Au, and Zn exceeded the recommended index of 1000, which is used in selection of phytoremediating plants, but those of U, As, and Mn did not. Nevertheless, the BCF for Mn increased with the increase of Mn concentration in water. This suggests that the use of BCF index alone, without the consideration of plant biomass and metal concentration in water, is inadequate to determine the potential of plants for phytoremediation accurately. Thus, this study confirms that water hyacinth holds potential for a broad spectrum of phytoremediation roles. However, knowing whether these metals are adsorbed on or assimilated within the plant tissues as well as knowing their allocation between roots and shoots will inform decisions how to re-treat biomass for metal recovery, or the mode of biomass reduction for safe disposal after phytoremediation.

Analysing streamflow variability and water allocation for sustainable management of water resources in the semi-arid Karkheh river basin, Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masih, Ilyas; Ahmad, Mobin-ud-Din; Uhlenbrook, Stefan; Turral, Hugh; Karimi, Poolad

This study provides a comprehensive spatio-temporal assessment of the surface water resources of the semi-arid Karkheh basin, Iran, and consequently enables decision makers to work towards a sustainable water development in that region. The analysis is based on the examination of statistical parameters, flow duration characteristics, base flow separation and trend analysis for which data of seven key gauging stations were used for the period of 1961-2001. Additionally, basin level water accounting was carried out for the water year 1993-94. The study shows that observed daily, monthly and annual streamflows are highly variable in space and time within the basin. The streamflows have not been changed significantly at annual scale, but few months have shown significant trends, most notably a decline during May and June and an increase during December and March. The major causes were related to changes in climate, land use and reservoir operations. The study concludes that the water allocations to different sectors were lower than the totally available resources during the study period. However, looking at the high variability of streamflows, changes in climate and land use and ongoing water resources development planning, it will be extremely difficult to meet the demands of all sectors in the future, particularly during dry years.

Systematic impact assessment on inter-basin water transfer projects of the Hanjiang River Basin in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yanlai; Guo, Shenglian; Hong, Xingjun; Chang, Fi-John

2017-10-01

China's inter-basin water transfer projects have gained increasing attention in recent years. This study proposes an intelligent water allocation methodology for establishing optimal inter-basin water allocation schemes and assessing the impacts of water transfer projects on water-demanding sectors in the Hanjiang River Basin of China. We first analyze water demands for water allocation purpose, and then search optimal water allocation strategies for maximizing the water supply to water-demanding sectors and mitigating the negative impacts by using the Standard Genetic Algorithm (SGA) and Adaptive Genetic Algorithm (AGA), respectively. Lastly, the performance indexes of the water supply system are evaluated under different scenarios of inter-basin water transfer projects. The results indicate that: the AGA with adaptive crossover and mutation operators could increase the average annual water transfer from the Hanjiang River by 0.79 billion m3 (8.8%), the average annual water transfer from the Changjiang River by 0.18 billion m3 (6.5%), and the average annual hydropower generation by 0.49 billion kW h (5.4%) as well as reduce the average annual unmet water demand by 0.40 billion m3 (9.7%), as compared with the those of the SGA. We demonstrate that the proposed intelligent water allocation schemes can significantly mitigate the negative impacts of inter-basin water transfer projects on the reliability, vulnerability and resilience of water supply to the demanding sectors in water-supplying basins. This study has a direct bearing on more intelligent and effectual water allocation management under various scenarios of inter-basin water transfer projects.

Stochastic optimisation of water allocation on a global scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitz, Oliver; Straatsma, Menno; Karssenberg, Derek; Bierkens, Marc F. P.

2014-05-01

Climate change, increasing population and further economic developments are expected to increase water scarcity for many regions of the world. Optimal water management strategies are required to minimise the water gap between water supply and domestic, industrial and agricultural water demand. A crucial aspect of water allocation is the spatial scale of optimisation. Blue water supply peaks at the upstream parts of large catchments, whereas demands are often largest at the industrialised downstream parts. Two extremes exist in water allocation: (i) 'First come, first serve,' which allows the upstream water demands to be fulfilled without considerations of downstream demands, and (ii) 'All for one, one for all' that satisfies water allocation over the whole catchment. In practice, water treaties govern intermediate solutions. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of these two end members on water allocation optimisation with respect to water scarcity. We conduct this study on a global scale with the year 2100 as temporal horizon. Water supply is calculated using the hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB, operating at a 5 arcminutes resolution and a daily time step. PCR-GLOBWB is forced with temperature and precipitation fields from the Hadgem2-ES global circulation model that participated in the latest coupled model intercomparison project (CMIP5). Water demands are calculated for representative concentration pathway 6.0 (RCP 6.0) and shared socio-economic pathway scenario 2 (SSP2). To enable the fast computation of the optimisation, we developed a hydrologically correct network of 1800 basin segments with an average size of 100 000 square kilometres. The maximum number of nodes in a network was 140 for the Amazon Basin. Water demands and supplies are aggregated to cubic kilometres per month per segment. A new open source implementation of the water allocation is developed for the stochastic optimisation of the water allocation. We apply a Genetic Algorithm for each segment to estimate the set of parameters that distribute the water supply for each node. We use the Python programming language and a flexible software architecture allowing to straightforwardly 1) exchange the process description for the nodes such that different water allocation schemes can be tested 2) exchange the objective function 3) apply the optimisation either to the whole catchment or to different sub-levels and 4) use multi-core CPUs concurrently and therefore reducing computation time. We demonstrate the application of the scientific workflow to the model outputs of PCR-GLOBWB and present first results on how water scarcity depends on the choice between the two extremes in water allocation.

Optimum Allocation of Water to the Cultivation Farms Using Genetic Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saeidian, B.; Saadi Mesgari, M.; Ghodousi, M.

2015-12-01

The water scarcity crises in the world and specifically in Iran, requires the proper management of this valuable resource. According to the official reports, around 90 percent of the water in Iran is used for agriculture. Therefore, the adequate management and usage of water in this section can help significantly to overcome the above crises. The most important aspect of agricultural water management is related to the irrigation planning, which is basically an allocation problem. The proper allocation of water to the farms is not a simple and trivial problem, because of the limited amount of available water, the effect of different parameters, nonlinear characteristics of the objective function, and the wideness of the solution space. Usually To solve such complex problems, a meta-heuristic method such as genetic algorithm could be a good candidate. In this paper, Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used for the allocation of different amount of water to a number of farms. In this model, the amount of water transferable using canals of level one, in one period of irrigation is specified. In addition, the amount of water required by each farm is calculated using crop type, stage of crop development, and other parameters. Using these, the water production function of each farm is determined. Then, using the water production function, farm areas, and the revenue and cost of each crop type, the objective function is calculated. This objective function is used by GA for the allocation of water to the farms. The objective function is defined such that the economical profit extracted from all farms is maximized. Moreover, the limitation related to the amount of available water is considered as a constraint. In general, the total amount of allocated water should be less than the finally available water (the water transferred trough the level one canals). Because of the intensive scarcity of water, the deficit irrigation method are considered. In this method, the planning is on the basis of the optimum and limited allocation of water, and not on the basis of the each crop water requirement. According to the available literature, in the condition of water scarcity, the implementation of deficit irrigation strategy results in higher economical income. The main difference of this research with others is the allocation of water to the farms. Whilst, most of similar researches concentrate on the allocation of water to different water consumption sections (such as agriculture, industry etc.), networks and crops. Using the GA for the optimization of the water allocation, proper solutions were generated that maximize the total economical income in the entire study area. In addition, although the search space was considerably wide, the results of the implementation showed an adequate convergence speed. The repeatability test of the algorithm also proved that the algorithm is reasonably stable. In general the usage of GA algorithm can be considered as an efficient and trustable method for such irrigation planning problems. By optimum allocation of the water to the farms with different areas and crop types, and considering the deficit irrigation method, the general income of the entire area can be improved substantially.

Improved water allocation utilizing probabilistic climate forecasts: Short-term water contracts in a risk management framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sankarasubramanian, A.; Lall, Upmanu; Souza Filho, Francisco Assis; Sharma, Ashish

2009-11-01

Probabilistic, seasonal to interannual streamflow forecasts are becoming increasingly available as the ability to model climate teleconnections is improving. However, water managers and practitioners have been slow to adopt such products, citing concerns with forecast skill. Essentially, a management risk is perceived in "gambling" with operations using a probabilistic forecast, while a system failure upon following existing operating policies is "protected" by the official rules or guidebook. In the presence of a prescribed system of prior allocation of releases under different storage or water availability conditions, the manager has little incentive to change. Innovation in allocation and operation is hence key to improved risk management using such forecasts. A participatory water allocation process that can effectively use probabilistic forecasts as part of an adaptive management strategy is introduced here. Users can express their demand for water through statements that cover the quantity needed at a particular reliability, the temporal distribution of the "allocation," the associated willingness to pay, and compensation in the event of contract nonperformance. The water manager then assesses feasible allocations using the probabilistic forecast that try to meet these criteria across all users. An iterative process between users and water manager could be used to formalize a set of short-term contracts that represent the resulting prioritized water allocation strategy over the operating period for which the forecast was issued. These contracts can be used to allocate water each year/season beyond long-term contracts that may have precedence. Thus, integrated supply and demand management can be achieved. In this paper, a single period multiuser optimization model that can support such an allocation process is presented. The application of this conceptual model is explored using data for the Jaguaribe Metropolitan Hydro System in Ceara, Brazil. The performance relative to the current allocation process is assessed in the context of whether such a model could support the proposed short-term contract based participatory process. A synthetic forecasting example is also used to explore the relative roles of forecast skill and reservoir storage in this framework.

Effect of Climate Change and Transaction Costs on Performance of a Groundwater Market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, H. F.; Brown, C.

2017-12-01

With surface water resources becoming increasingly stressed, groundwater extraction, much of it unmanaged, has increased globally. Incentive-based policies, such as the cap-and-trade system, have been shown to be useful in the context of groundwater management. Previous research has shown that optimal groundwater markets (i.e. incentives-based policy) outperforms water quotas (command and control policy) with regards to both economic and environmental outcomes. In this work, we investigate whether these advantages of a water market over water quotas hold when assumptions of perfect information are violated due to climate change and hydrogeologic heterogeneity. We also assess whether the benefits of a cap-and-trade system outweigh the costs of implementing it, and how changes in future climate affect the performance a cap-and trade system. We use a sub-basin of the Republican River Basin, overlying the Ogallala aquifer in the High Plains of the United States, as a case study. We develop a multi-agent system model where individual benefits of each self-interested agent are maximized subject to bounds on irrigation requirements and water use permits. This economic model is coupled with a calibrated physically based groundwater model for the study region. Results show that permitting farmers to trade results in increased economic benefits and reduced environmental violations. However, the benefits of trading are dependent on the total allocations and the resulting level of water demand. We quantify third party impacts and environmental externalities for different water allocations, and highlight the unequal distributional effects of uniform water allocations resulting in `winners' and `losers'. The study reveals that high transaction costs can reduce the efficiency of the cap-and-trade system even below that of water quotas. Future changes in climate are shown to significantly influence the dynamics of the water market, and emphasize the need to address climate sensitivity in the setup of water markets.

Developing new scenarios for water allocation negotiations: a case study of the Euphrates River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarkeh, Mohammad Reza; Mianabadi, Ameneh; Mianabadi, Hojjat

2016-10-01

Mismanagement and uneven distribution of water may lead to or increase conflict among countries. Allocation of water among trans-boundary river neighbours is a key issue in utilization of shared water resources. The bankruptcy theory is a cooperative Game Theory method which is used when the amount of demand of riparian states is larger than total available water. In this study, we survey the application of seven methods of Classical Bankruptcy Rules (CBRs) including Proportional (CBR-PRO), Adjusted Proportional (CBR-AP), Constrained Equal Awards (CBR-CEA), Constrained Equal Losses (CBR-CEL), Piniles (CBR-Piniles), Minimal Overlap (CBR-MO), Talmud (CBR-Talmud) and four Sequential Sharing Rules (SSRs) including Proportional (SSR-PRO), Constrained Equal Awards (SSR-CEA), Constrained Equal Losses (SSR-CEL) and Talmud (SSR-Talmud) methods in allocation of the Euphrates River among three riparian countries: Turkey, Syria and Iraq. However, there is not a certain documented method to find more equitable allocation rule. Therefore, in this paper, a new method is established for choosing the most appropriate allocating rule which seems to be more equitable than other allocation rules to satisfy the stakeholders. The results reveal that, based on the new propose model, the CBR-AP seems to be more equitable to allocate the Euphrates River water among Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

Stochastic Optimization For Water Resources Allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamout, G.; Hatfield, K.

2003-12-01

For more than 40 years, water resources allocation problems have been addressed using deterministic mathematical optimization. When data uncertainties exist, these methods could lead to solutions that are sub-optimal or even infeasible. While optimization models have been proposed for water resources decision-making under uncertainty, no attempts have been made to address the uncertainties in water allocation problems in an integrated approach. This paper presents an Integrated Dynamic, Multi-stage, Feedback-controlled, Linear, Stochastic, and Distributed parameter optimization approach to solve a problem of water resources allocation. It attempts to capture (1) the conflict caused by competing objectives, (2) environmental degradation produced by resource consumption, and finally (3) the uncertainty and risk generated by the inherently random nature of state and decision parameters involved in such a problem. A theoretical system is defined throughout its different elements. These elements consisting mainly of water resource components and end-users are described in terms of quantity, quality, and present and future associated risks and uncertainties. Models are identified, modified, and interfaced together to constitute an integrated water allocation optimization framework. This effort is a novel approach to confront the water allocation optimization problem while accounting for uncertainties associated with all its elements; thus resulting in a solution that correctly reflects the physical problem in hand.

A Framework for Optimal Control Allocation with Structural Load Constraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frost, Susan A.; Taylor, Brian R.; Jutte, Christine V.; Burken, John J.; Trinh, Khanh V.; Bodson, Marc

2010-01-01

Conventional aircraft generally employ mixing algorithms or lookup tables to determine control surface deflections needed to achieve moments commanded by the flight control system. Control allocation is the problem of converting desired moments into control effector commands. Next generation aircraft may have many multipurpose, redundant control surfaces, adding considerable complexity to the control allocation problem. These issues can be addressed with optimal control allocation. Most optimal control allocation algorithms have control surface position and rate constraints. However, these constraints are insufficient to ensure that the aircraft's structural load limits will not be exceeded by commanded surface deflections. In this paper, a framework is proposed to enable a flight control system with optimal control allocation to incorporate real-time structural load feedback and structural load constraints. A proof of concept simulation that demonstrates the framework in a simulation of a generic transport aircraft is presented.

Achieving Sustainability in a Semi-Arid Basin in Northwest Mexico through an Integrated Hydrologic-Economic-Institutional Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munoz-Hernandez, A.; Mayer, A. S.

2008-12-01

The hydrologic systems in Northwest Mexico are at risk of over exploitation due to poor management of the water resources and adverse climatic conditions. The purpose of this work is to create and Integrated Hydrologic-Economic-Institutional Model to support future development in the Yaqui River basin, well known by its agricultural productivity, by directing the water management practices toward sustainability. The Yaqui River basin is a semi-arid basin with an area of 72,000 square kilometers and an average precipitation of 527 mm per year. The primary user of water is agriculture followed by domestic use and industry. The water to meet user demands comes from three reservoirs constructed, in series, along the river. The main objective of the integrated simulation-optimization model is to maximize the economic benefit within the basin, subject to physical and environmental constraints. Decision variables include the water allocation to major users and reservoirs as well as aquifer releases. Economic and hydrologic (including the interaction of the surface water and groundwater) simulation models were both included in the integrated model. The surface water model refers to a rainfall-runoff model created, calibrated, and incorporated into a MATLAB code that estimates the monthly storage in the main reservoirs by solving a water balance. The rainfall-runoff model was coupled with a groundwater model of the Yaqui Valley which was previously developed (Addams, 2004). This model includes flow in the main canals and infiltration to the aquifer. The economic benefit of water for some activities such as agricultural use, domestic use, hydropower generation, and environmental value was determined. Sensitivity analysis was explored for those parameters that are not certain such as price elasticities or population growth. Different water allocation schemes were created based on climate change, climate variability, and socio-economic scenarios. Addams L. 2004. Water resource policy evaluation using a combined hydrologic-economic-agronomic modeling framework: Yaqui Valley, Sonora, Mexico. Ph.D.dissertation, Stanford University.

Computer software tool REALM for sustainable water allocation and management.

PubMed

Perera, B J C; James, B; Kularathna, M D U

2005-12-01

REALM (REsource ALlocation Model) is a generalised computer simulation package that models harvesting and bulk distribution of water resources within a water supply system. It is a modeling tool, which can be applied to develop specific water allocation models. Like other water resource simulation software tools, REALM uses mass-balance accounting at nodes, while the movement of water within carriers is subject to capacity constraints. It uses a fast network linear programming algorithm to optimise the water allocation within the network during each simulation time step, in accordance with user-defined operating rules. This paper describes the main features of REALM and provides potential users with an appreciation of its capabilities. In particular, it describes two case studies covering major urban and rural water supply systems. These case studies illustrate REALM's capabilities in the use of stochastically generated data in water supply planning and management, modelling of environmental flows, and assessing security of supply issues.

Harmonizing human-hydrological system under climate change: A scenario-based approach for the case of the headwaters of the Tagus River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lobanova, Anastasia; Liersch, Stefan; Tàbara, J. David; Koch, Hagen; Hattermann, Fred F.; Krysanova, Valentina

2017-05-01

Conventional water management strategies, that serve solely socio-economic demands and neglect changing natural conditions of the river basins, face significant challenges in governing complex human-hydrological systems, especially in the areas with constrained water availability. In this study we assess the possibility to harmonize the inter-sectoral water allocation scheme within a highly altered human-hydrological system under reduction in water availability, triggered by projected climate change applying scenario-based approach. The Tagus River Basin headwaters, with significant disproportion in the water resources allocation between the environmental and socio-economic targets were taken as a perfect example of such system out of balance. We propose three different water allocation strategies for this region, including two conventional schemes and one imposing shift to sustainable water management and environmental restoration of the river. We combine in one integrated modelling framework the eco-hydrological process-based Soil and Water Integrated Model (SWIM), coupled with the conceptual reservoir and water allocation modules driven by the latest bias-corrected climate projections for the region and investigate possible water allocation scenarios in the region under constrained water availability in the future. Our results show that the socio-economic demands have to be re-considered and lowered under any water allocation strategy, as the climate impacts may significantly reduce water availability in the future. Further, we show that a shift to sustainable water management strategy and river restoration is possible even under reduced water availability. Finally, our results suggest that the adaptation of complex human-hydrological systems to climate change and a shift to a more sustainable water management are likely to be parts of one joint strategy to cope with climate change impacts.

Water shortage risk assessment considering large-scale regional transfers: a copula-based uncertainty case study in Lunan, China.

PubMed

Gao, Xueping; Liu, Yinzhu; Sun, Bowen

2018-06-05

The risk of water shortage caused by uncertainties, such as frequent drought, varied precipitation, multiple water resources, and different water demands, brings new challenges to the water transfer projects. Uncertainties exist for transferring water and local surface water; therefore, the relationship between them should be thoroughly studied to prevent water shortage. For more effective water management, an uncertainty-based water shortage risk assessment model (UWSRAM) is developed to study the combined effect of multiple water resources and analyze the shortage degree under uncertainty. The UWSRAM combines copula-based Monte Carlo stochastic simulation and the chance-constrained programming-stochastic multiobjective optimization model, using the Lunan water-receiving area in China as an example. Statistical copula functions are employed to estimate the joint probability of available transferring water and local surface water and sampling from the multivariate probability distribution, which are used as inputs for the optimization model. The approach reveals the distribution of water shortage and is able to emphasize the importance of improving and updating transferring water and local surface water management, and examine their combined influence on water shortage risk assessment. The possible available water and shortages can be calculated applying the UWSRAM, also with the corresponding allocation measures under different water availability levels and violating probabilities. The UWSRAM is valuable for mastering the overall multi-water resource and water shortage degree, adapting to the uncertainty surrounding water resources, establishing effective water resource planning policies for managers and achieving sustainable development.

Application of cooperative and non-cooperative games in large-scale water quantity and quality management: a case study.

PubMed

Mahjouri, Najmeh; Ardestani, Mojtaba

2011-01-01

In this paper, two cooperative and non-cooperative methodologies are developed for a large-scale water allocation problem in Southern Iran. The water shares of the water users and their net benefits are determined using optimization models having economic objectives with respect to the physical and environmental constraints of the system. The results of the two methodologies are compared based on the total obtained economic benefit, and the role of cooperation in utilizing a shared water resource is demonstrated. In both cases, the water quality in rivers satisfies the standards. Comparing the results of the two mentioned approaches shows the importance of acting cooperatively to achieve maximum revenue in utilizing a surface water resource while the river water quantity and quality issues are addressed.

An open source hydroeconomic model for California's water supply system: PyVIN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dogan, M. S.; White, E.; Herman, J. D.; Hart, Q.; Merz, J.; Medellin-Azuara, J.; Lund, J. R.

2016-12-01

Models help operators and decision makers explore and compare different management and policy alternatives, better allocate scarce resources, and predict the future behavior of existing or proposed water systems. Hydroeconomic models are useful tools to increase benefits or decrease costs of managing water. Bringing hydrology and economics together, these models provide a framework for different disciplines that share similar objectives. This work proposes a new model to evaluate operation and adaptation strategies under existing and future hydrologic conditions for California's interconnected water system. This model combines the network structure of CALVIN, a statewide optimization model for California's water infrastructure, along with an open source solver written in the Python programming language. With the flexibilities of the model, reservoir operations, including water supply and hydropower, groundwater pumping, and the Delta water operations and requirements can now be better represented. Given time series of hydrologic inputs to the model, typical outputs include urban, agricultural and wildlife refuge water deliveries and shortage costs, conjunctive use of surface and groundwater systems, and insights into policy and management decisions, such as capacity expansion and groundwater management policies. Water market operations also represented in the model, allocating water from lower-valued users to higher-valued users. PyVIN serves as a cross-platform, extensible model to evaluate systemwide water operations. PyVIN separates data from the model structure, enabling model to be easily applied to other parts of the world where water is a scarce resource.

Water balance analysis for efficient water allocation in agriculture. A case study: Balta Brailei, Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chitu, Zenaida; Villani, Giulia; Tomei, Fausto; Minciuna, Marian; Aldea, Adrian; Dumitrescu, Alexandru; Trifu, Cristina; Neagu, Dumitru

2017-04-01

Balta Brailei is one of the largest agriculture area in the Danube floodplain, located in SE of Romania. An impressive irrigation system, that covered about 53.500 ha and transferred water from the Danube River, was carried out in the period 1960-1980. Even if the water resources for agriculture in this area cover in most of the cases the volumes required by irrigation water users, the irrigation infrastructure issues as the position of the pumping stations against the river levels hinder the use of the water during low flows periods. An efficient optimization of water allocation in agriculture could avoid periods with water deficit in the irrigation systems. Hydrological processes are essentials in describing the mass and energy exchanges in the atmosphere-plant-soil system. Furthermore, the hydrological regime in this area is very dynamic with many feedback mechanisms between the various parts of the surface and subsurface water regimes. Agricultural crops depend on capillary rise from the shallow groundwater table and irrigation. For an effective optimization of irrigation water in Balta Brailei, we propose to analyse the water balance taking into consideration the water movement into the root zone and the influence of the Danube river, irrigation channel system and the shallow aquifer by combining the soil water balance model CRITERIA and GMS hydrogeological model. CRITERIA model is used for simulating water movement into the soil, while GMS model is used for simulating the shallow groundwater level variation. The understanding of the complex feedbacks between atmosphere, crops and the various parts of the surface and subsurface water regimes in the Balta Brailei will bring more insights for predicting crop water need and water resources for irrigation and it will represent the basis for implementing Moses Platform in this specific area. Moses Platform is a GIS based system devoted to water procurement and management agencies to facilitate planning of irrigation water resources. This work is financed by the European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 642258 (Moses Project).

Optimizing Irrigation Water Allocation under Multiple Sources of Uncertainty in an Arid River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Y.; Tang, D.; Gao, H.; Ding, Y.

2015-12-01

Population growth and climate change add additional pressures affecting water resources management strategies for meeting demands from different economic sectors. It is especially challenging in arid regions where fresh water is limited. For instance, in the Tailanhe River Basin (Xinjiang, China), a compromise must be made between water suppliers and users during drought years. This study presents a multi-objective irrigation water allocation model to cope with water scarcity in arid river basins. To deal with the uncertainties from multiple sources in the water allocation system (e.g., variations of available water amount, crop yield, crop prices, and water price), the model employs a interval linear programming approach. The multi-objective optimization model developed from this study is characterized by integrating eco-system service theory into water-saving measures. For evaluation purposes, the model is used to construct an optimal allocation system for irrigation areas fed by the Tailan River (Xinjiang Province, China). The objective functions to be optimized are formulated based on these irrigation areas' economic, social, and ecological benefits. The optimal irrigation water allocation plans are made under different hydroclimate conditions (wet year, normal year, and dry year), with multiple sources of uncertainty represented. The modeling tool and results are valuable for advising decision making by the local water authority—and the agricultural community—especially on measures for coping with water scarcity (by incorporating uncertain factors associated with crop production planning).

Assessing the effects of adaptation measures on optimal water resources allocation under varied water availability conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Dedi; Guo, Shenglian; Shao, Quanxi; Liu, Pan; Xiong, Lihua; Wang, Le; Hong, Xingjun; Xu, Yao; Wang, Zhaoli

2018-01-01

Human activities and climate change have altered the spatial and temporal distribution of water availability which is a principal prerequisite for allocation of different water resources. In order to quantify the impacts of climate change and human activities on water availability and optimal allocation of water resources, hydrological models and optimal water resource allocation models should be integrated. Given that increasing human water demand and varying water availability conditions necessitate adaptation measures, we propose a framework to assess the effects of these measures on optimal allocation of water resources. The proposed model and framework were applied to a case study of the middle and lower reaches of the Hanjiang River Basin in China. Two representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP4.5) were employed to project future climate, and the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrological model was used to simulate the variability of flows under historical (1956-2011) and future (2012-2099) conditions. The water availability determined by simulating flow with the VIC hydrological model was used to establish the optimal water resources allocation model. The allocation results were derived under an extremely dry year (with an annual average water flow frequency of 95%), a very dry year (with an annual average water flow frequency of 90%), a dry year (with an annual average water flow frequency of 75%), and a normal year (with an annual average water flow frequency of 50%) during historical and future periods. The results show that the total available water resources in the study area and the inflow of the Danjiangkou Reservoir will increase in the future. However, the uneven distribution of water availability will cause water shortage problems, especially in the boundary areas. The effects of adaptation measures, including water saving, and dynamic control of flood limiting water levels (FLWLs) for reservoir operation, were assessed and implemented to alleviate water shortages. The negative impacts from the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (Middle Route) in the mid-lower reaches of the Hanjiang River Basin can be avoided through the dynamic control of FLWLs in Danjiangkou Reservoir, under the historical and future RCP2.6 and RCP4.5 scenarios. However, the effects of adaptation measures are limited due to their own constraints, such as the characteristics of the reservoirs influencing the FLWLs. The utilization of storm water appears necessary to meet future water demand. Overall, the results indicate that the framework for assessing the effects of adaptation measures on water resources allocation might aid water resources management, not only in the study area but also in other places where water availability conditions vary due to climate change and human activities.

Legal institutions for the allocation of water and their impact on coal conversion operations in Kentucky. Research report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ausness, R.C.; Callahan, G.W.; Dills, S.W.

1976-08-01

Coal conversion plants require large quantities of water for cooling purposes and for use as a raw material. Three types of water allocation are presently used in the United States: riparianism, prior appropriation, and administrative permit systems. Kentucky presently has such a system of administrative allocation and this is described in the report. (GRA)

A science plan for a comprehensive assessment of water supply in the region underlain by fractured rock in Maryland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fleming, Brandon J.; Hammond, Patrick A.; Stranko, Scott A.; Duigon, Mark T.; Kasraei, Saeid

2012-01-01

The fractured rock region of Maryland, which includes land areas north and west of the Interstate 95 corridor, is the source of water supply for approximately 4.4 million Marylanders, or approximately 76 percent of the State's population. Whereas hundreds of thousands of residents rely on wells (both domestic and community), millions rely on surface-water sources. In this region, land use, geology, topography, water withdrawals, impoundments, and other factors affect water-flow characteristics. The unconfined groundwater systems are closely interconnected with rivers and streams, and are affected by seasonal and climatic variations. During droughts, groundwater levels drop, thereby decreasing well yields, and in some cases, wells have gone dry. Low ground-water levels contribute to reduced streamflows, which in turn, can lead to reduced habitat for aquatic life. Increased demand, over-allocation, population growth, and climate change can affect the future sustainability of water supplies in the region of Maryland underlain by fractured rock. In response to recommendations of the 2008 Advisory Committee on the Management and Protection of the State's Water Resources report, the Maryland Department of the Environment's Water Supply Program, the Maryland Geological Survey, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Monitoring and Non-Tidal Assessment (MANTA) Division, and the U.S. Geological Survey have developed a science plan for a comprehensive assessment that will provide new scientific information, new data analysis, and new tools for the State to better manage water resources in the fractured rock region of Maryland. The science plan lays out five goals for the comprehensive assessment: (1) develop tools for the improved management and investigation of groundwater and surface-water resources; (2) characterize factors affecting reliable yields of individual groundwater and surface-water supplies; (3) investigate impacts on nearby water withdrawal users caused by groundwater and surface-water withdrawals; (4) assess the role of streamflow and water withdrawals on the ecological integrity of streams; and (5) improve understanding of the distribution of water-quality conditions in fractured rock aquifers. To accomplish these goals, accurate data collection, review, and analysis are needed, including the study of "Research Watersheds" that can provide detailed information about the potential effects that climate change and water withdrawals may have on groundwater, streamflow, and aquatic life. The assessment planning started in 2009 and is being conducted with close interagency coordination. A Fractured Rock Aquifer Information System is currently (2012) undergoing initial development. Other major tasks that will be performed include the development of work plans for each science goal, the estimation of daily streamflow at ungaged streams, and the design and implementation of Research Watersheds. Finally, scenarios will be modeled to evaluate current water allocation permitting methodologies, investigate effects on nearby water withdrawal users caused by groundwater and surface-water withdrawals, and assess the potential impacts of climate change on water resources. Desktop and Web-based tools will be developed in order to meet the diverse research needs of the assessment. These tools, including the Fractured Rock Aquifer Information System will be continuously improved during the assessment to store relevant groundwater and surface-water data in spatially referenced databases, estimate streamflows, locate higher-yielding wells, estimate the impacts of withdrawals on nearby users, and assess the cumulative impacts of withdrawals on the aquatic resource. Tools will be developed to serve the needs of many audiences, including water resource managers, water suppliers, planners, policymakers, and other scientific investigators.

International borders, ground water flow, and hydroschizophrenia.

PubMed

Jarvis, Todd; Giordano, Mark; Puri, Shammy; Matsumoto, Kyoko; Wolf, Aaron

2005-01-01

A substantial body of research has been conducted on transboundary water, transboundary water law, and the mitigation of transboundary water conflict. However, most of this work has focused primarily on surface water supplies. While it is well understood that aquifers cross international boundaries and that the base flow of international river systems is often derived in part from ground water, transboundary ground water and surface water systems are usually managed under different regimes, resulting in what has been described as "hydroschizophrenia." Adding to the problem, the hydrologic relationships between surface and ground water supplies are only known at a reconnaissance level in even the most studied international basins, and thus even basic questions regarding the territorial sovereignty of ground water resources often remain unaddressed or even unasked. Despite the tensions inherent in the international setting, riparian nations have shown tremendous creativity in approaching regional development, often through preventive diplomacy, and the creation of "baskets of benefits," which allow for positive-sum, integrative allocations of joint gains. In contrast to the notion of imminent water wars, the history of hydropolitical relations worldwide has been overwhelmingly cooperative. Limited ground water management in the international arena, coupled with the fact that few states or countries regulate the use of ground water, begs the question: will international borders serve as boundaries for increased "flows" of hydrologic information and communication to maintain strategic aquifers, or will increased competition for shared ground water resources lead to the potential loss of strategic aquifers and "no flows" for both ground water users?

Application of the environmental Gini coefficient in allocating water governance responsibilities: a case study in Taihu Lake Basin, China.

PubMed

Zhou, Shenbei; Du, Amin; Bai, Minghao

2015-01-01

The equitable allocation of water governance responsibilities is very important yet difficult to achieve, particularly for a basin which involves many stakeholders and policymakers. In this study, the environmental Gini coefficient model was applied to evaluate the inequality of water governance responsibility allocation, and an environmental Gini coefficient optimisation model was built to achieve an optimal adjustment. To illustrate the application of the environmental Gini coefficient, the heavily polluted transboundary Taihu Lake Basin in China, was chosen as a case study. The results show that the original environmental Gini coefficient of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was greater than 0.2, indicating that the allocation of water governance responsibilities in Taihu Lake Basin was unequal. Of seven decision-making units, three were found to be inequality factors and were adjusted to reduce the water pollutant emissions and to increase the water governance inputs. After the adjustment, the environmental Gini coefficient of the COD was less than 0.2 and the reduction rate was 27.63%. The adjustment process provides clear guidance for policymakers to develop appropriate policies and improve the equality of water governance responsibility allocation.

The use of an integrated variable fuzzy sets in water resources management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Qingtai; Liu, Jia; Li, Chuanzhe; Yu, Xinzhe; Wang, Yang

2018-06-01

Based on the evaluation of the present situation of water resources and the development of water conservancy projects and social economy, optimal allocation of regional water resources presents an increasing need in the water resources management. Meanwhile it is also the most effective way to promote the harmonic relationship between human and water. In view of the own limitations of the traditional evaluations of which always choose a single index model using in optimal allocation of regional water resources, on the basis of the theory of variable fuzzy sets (VFS) and system dynamics (SD), an integrated variable fuzzy sets model (IVFS) is proposed to address dynamically complex problems in regional water resources management in this paper. The model is applied to evaluate the level of the optimal allocation of regional water resources of Zoucheng in China. Results show that the level of allocation schemes of water resources ranging from 2.5 to 3.5, generally showing a trend of lower level. To achieve optimal regional management of water resources, this model conveys a certain degree of accessing water resources management, which prominently improve the authentic assessment of water resources management by using the eigenvector of level H.

A Framework Predicting Water Availability in a Rapidly Growing, Semi-Arid Region under Future Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, B.; Benner, S. G.; Glenn, N. F.; Lindquist, E.; Dahal, K. R.; Bolte, J.; Vache, K. B.; Flores, A. N.

2014-12-01

Climate change can lead to dramatic variations in hydrologic regime, affecting both surface water and groundwater supply. This effect is most significant in populated semi-arid regions where water availability are highly sensitive to climate-induced outcomes. However, predicting water availability at regional scales, while resolving some of the key internal variability and structure in semi-arid regions is difficult due to the highly non-linearity relationship between rainfall and runoff. In this study, we describe the development of a modeling framework to evaluate future water availability that captures elements of the coupled response of the biophysical system to climate change and human systems. The framework is built under the Envision multi-agent simulation tool, characterizing the spatial patterns of water demand in the semi-arid Treasure Valley area of Southwest Idaho - a rapidly developing socio-ecological system where urban growth is displacing agricultural production. The semi-conceptual HBV model, a population growth and allocation model (Target), a vegetation state and transition model (SSTM), and a statistically based fire disturbance model (SpatialAllocator) are integrated to simulate hydrology, population and land use. Six alternative scenarios are composed by combining two climate change scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) with three population growth and allocation scenarios (Status Quo, Managed Growth, and Unconstrained Growth). Five-year calibration and validation performances are assessed with Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency. Irrigation activities are simulated using local water rights. Results show that in all scenarios, annual mean stream flow decreases as the projected rainfall increases because the projected warmer climate also enhances water losses to evapotranspiration. Seasonal maximum stream flow tends to occur earlier than in current conditions due to the earlier peak of snow melting. The aridity index and water deficit generally increase in the irrigated area. The most sensitive area is along the Boise Foothill which is the transitioning zone from water deficit to water abundant. However, these trends vary significantly between scenarios in space and time. The outcome of the study will serve as a reference for local stakeholders to make decisions on future land use.

Integrating Water Supply Constraints into Irrigated Agricultural Simulations of California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winter, Jonathan M.; Young, Charles A.; Mehta, Vishal K.; Ruane, Alex C.; Azarderakhsh, Marzieh; Davitt, Aaron; McDonald, Kyle; Haden, Van R.; Rosenzweig, Cynthia E.

2017-01-01

Simulations of irrigated croplands generally lack key interactions between water demand from plants and water supply from irrigation systems. We coupled the Water Evaluation and Planning system (WEAP) and Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) to link regional water supplies and management with field-level water demand and crop growth. WEAP-DSSAT was deployed and evaluated over Yolo County in California for corn, rice, and wheat. WEAP-DSSAT is able to reproduce the results of DSSAT under well-watered conditions and reasonably simulate observed mean yields, but has difficulty capturing yield interannual variability. Constraining irrigation supply to surface water alone reduces yields for all three crops during the 1987-1992 drought. Corn yields are reduced proportionally with water allocation, rice yield reductions are more binary based on sufficient water for flooding, and wheat yields are least sensitive to irrigation constraints as winter wheat is grown during the wet season.

Comparing administered and market-based water allocation systems through a consistent agent-based modeling framework.

PubMed

Zhao, Jianshi; Cai, Ximing; Wang, Zhongjing

2013-07-15

Water allocation can be undertaken through administered systems (AS), market-based systems (MS), or a combination of the two. The debate on the performance of the two systems has lasted for decades but still calls for attention in both research and practice. This paper compares water users' behavior under AS and MS through a consistent agent-based modeling framework for water allocation analysis that incorporates variables particular to both MS (e.g., water trade and trading prices) and AS (water use violations and penalties/subsidies). Analogous to the economic theory of water markets under MS, the theory of rational violation justifies the exchange of entitled water under AS through the use of cross-subsidies. Under water stress conditions, a unique water allocation equilibrium can be achieved by following a simple bargaining rule that does not depend upon initial market prices under MS, or initial economic incentives under AS. The modeling analysis shows that the behavior of water users (agents) depends on transaction, or administrative, costs, as well as their autonomy. Reducing transaction costs under MS or administrative costs under AS will mitigate the effect that equity constraints (originating with primary water allocation) have on the system's total net economic benefits. Moreover, hydrologic uncertainty is shown to increase market prices under MS and penalties/subsidies under AS and, in most cases, also increases transaction, or administrative, costs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulating Water Resource Disputes of Transboundary River: A Case Study of the Zhanghe River Basin, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Liang; He, Weijun; Liao, Zaiyi; Mulugeta Degefu, Dagmawi; An, Min; Zhang, Zhaofang

2018-01-01

Water resource disputes within transboundary river basin has been hindering the sustainable use of water resources and efficient management of environment. The problem is characterized by a complex information feedback loop that involves socio-economic and environmental systems. This paper presents a system dynamics based model that can simulate the dynamics of water demand, water supply, water adequacy and water allocation instability within a river basin. It was used for a case study in the Zhanghe River basin of China. The base scenario has been investigated for the time period between 2000 and 2050. The result shows that the Chinese national government should change the water allocation scheme of downstream Zhanghe River established in 1989, more water need to be allocated to the downstream cities and the actual allocation should be adjusted to reflect the need associated with the socio-economic and environmental changes within the region, and system dynamics improves the understanding of concepts and system interactions by offering a comprehensive and integrated view of the physical, social, economic, environmental, and political systems.

Water Reserves Program. An adaptation strategy to balance water in nature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez Perez, M.; Barrios, E.; Salinas-Rodriguez, S.; Wickel, B.; Villon, R. A.

2013-05-01

Freshwater ecosystems occupy approximately 1% of the earth's surface yet possess about 12% of all known animal species. By virtue of their position in the landscape they connect terrestrial and coastal marine biomes and provide and sustain ecosystem services vital to the health and persistence of human communities. These services include the supply of water for food production, urban and ind ustrial consumption, among others. Over the past century many freshwater ecosystems around the world have been heavily modified or lost due to the alteration of flow regimes (e.g. due to damming, canalization, diversion, over-abstraction). The synergistic impacts of land use change, changes in flows, chemical deterioration, and climate change have left many systems and their species very little room to adjust to change, while future projections indicate a steady increase in water demand for food and energy production and water supply to suit the needs of a growing world population. In Mexico, the focus has been to secure water for human development and maximize economic growth, which has resulted in allocation of water beyond available amounts. As a consequence episodic water scarcity severely constrains freshwater ecosystems and the services they provide. Climatic change and variability are presenting serious challenges to a country that already is experiencing serious strain on its water resources. However, freshwater ecosystems are recognized by law as legitimate user of water, and mandate a flow allocation for the environment ("water reserve" or "environmental flows"). Based on this legal provision the Mexican government through the National Water Commission (Conagua), with support of the Alliance WWF - Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte, and the Interamerican Development Bank, has launched a national program to identify and implement "water reserves": basins where environmental flows will be secured and allocated and where the flow regime is then protected before over-allocation takes place. The strategy is to identify and protect basins with an availability of water that is close to their natural flow regime and that also have a high conservation value (based on prior national conservation priority definitions such as protected areas, and biodiversity conservation gap analyses) in order to implement legal restrictions on water resource development. With such protection, these systems will be best positioned to adjust and respond to water shortages, and regime shifts. To date, 189 basins around the country were identified as potential water reserves. The next step will be the nomination of these water reserves to be integrated in the National Water Reserves Program. This program forms the core of the official Mexican government adaptation strategy towards climate prepared water management, which recognizes that water reserves are the buffer society needs to face uncertainty, and reduce water scarcity risk. The development of activities that alter the natural flow regime such as dams and levees are closely examined, and would potentially be restricted.

Optimal water resource allocation modelling in the Lowveld of Zimbabwe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mhiribidi, Delight; Nobert, Joel; Gumindoga, Webster; Rwasoka, Donald T.

2018-05-01

The management and allocation of water from multi-reservoir systems is complex and thus requires dynamic modelling systems to achieve optimality. A multi-reservoir system in the Southern Lowveld of Zimbabwe is used for irrigation of sugarcane estates that produce sugar for both local and export consumption. The system is burdened with water allocation problems, made worse by decommissioning of dams. Thus the aim of this research was to develop an operating policy model for the Lowveld multi-reservoir system.The Mann Kendall Trend and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests were used to assess the variability of historic monthly rainfall and dam inflows for the period 1899-2015. The WEAP model was set up to evaluate the water allocation system of the catchment and come-up with a reference scenario for the 2015/2016 hydrologic year. Stochastic Dynamic Programming approach was used for optimisation of the multi-reservoirs releases.Results showed no significant trend in the rainfall but a significantly decreasing trend in inflows (p < 0.05). The water allocation model (WEAP) showed significant deficits ( ˜ 40 %) in irrigation water allocation in the reference scenario. The optimal rule curves for all the twelve months for each reservoir were obtained and considered to be a proper guideline for solving multi- reservoir management problems within the catchment. The rule curves are effective tools in guiding decision makers in the release of water without emptying the reservoirs but at the same time satisfying the demands based on the inflow, initial storage and end of month storage.

Artificial intelligent techniques for optimizing water allocation in a reservoir watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Fi-John; Chang, Li-Chiu; Wang, Yu-Chung

2014-05-01

This study proposes a systematical water allocation scheme that integrates system analysis with artificial intelligence techniques for reservoir operation in consideration of the great uncertainty upon hydrometeorology for mitigating droughts impacts on public and irrigation sectors. The AI techniques mainly include a genetic algorithm and adaptive-network based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). We first derive evaluation diagrams through systematic interactive evaluations on long-term hydrological data to provide a clear simulation perspective of all possible drought conditions tagged with their corresponding water shortages; then search the optimal reservoir operating histogram using genetic algorithm (GA) based on given demands and hydrological conditions that can be recognized as the optimal base of input-output training patterns for modelling; and finally build a suitable water allocation scheme through constructing an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model with a learning of the mechanism between designed inputs (water discount rates and hydrological conditions) and outputs (two scenarios: simulated and optimized water deficiency levels). The effectiveness of the proposed approach is tested on the operation of the Shihmen Reservoir in northern Taiwan for the first paddy crop in the study area to assess the water allocation mechanism during drought periods. We demonstrate that the proposed water allocation scheme significantly and substantially avails water managers of reliably determining a suitable discount rate on water supply for both irrigation and public sectors, and thus can reduce the drought risk and the compensation amount induced by making restrictions on agricultural use water.

Impact of water allocation strategies to manage groundwater resources in Western Australia: Equity and efficiency considerations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iftekhar, Md Sayed; Fogarty, James

2017-05-01

In many parts of the world groundwater is being depleting at an alarming rate. Where groundwater extraction is licenced, regulators often respond to resource depletion by reducing all individual licences by a fixed proportion. This approach can be effective in achieving a reduction in the volume of water extracted, but the approach is not efficient. In water resource management the issue of the equity-efficiency trade-off has been explored in a number of contexts, but not in the context of allocation from a groundwater system. To contribute to this knowledge gap we conduct an empirical case study for Western Australia's most important groundwater system: the Gnangara Groundwater System (GGS). Resource depletion is a serious issue for the GGS, and substantial reductions in groundwater extraction are required to stabilise the system. Using an individual-based farm optimization model we study both the overall impact and the distributional impact of a fixed percentage water allocation cut to horticulture sector licence holders. The model is parameterised using water licence specific data on farm area and water allocation. The modelling shows that much of the impact of water allocation reductions can be mitigated through changing the cropping mix and the irrigation technology used. The modelling also shows that the scope for gains through the aggregation of holdings into larger farms is much greater than the potential losses due to water allocation reductions. The impact of water allocation cuts is also shown to impact large farms more than small farms. For example, the expected loss in net revenue per ha for a 10-ha farm is around three times the expected loss per ha for a 1-ha farm; and the expected loss per ha for a 25-ha farm is around five times the expected loss per ha for a 1-ha farm.

Optimal allocation of land and water resources to achieve Water, Energy and Food Security in the upper Blue Nile basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allam, M.; Eltahir, E. A. B.

2017-12-01

Rapid population growth, hunger problems, increasing energy demands, persistent conflicts between the Nile basin riparian countries and the potential impacts of climate change highlight the urgent need for the conscious stewardship of the upper Blue Nile (UBN) basin resources. This study develops a framework for the optimal allocation of land and water resources to agriculture and hydropower production in the UBN basin. The framework consists of three optimization models that aim to: (a) provide accurate estimates of the basin water budget, (b) allocate land and water resources optimally to agriculture, and (c) allocate water to agriculture and hydropower production, and investigate trade-offs between them. First, a data assimilation procedure for data-scarce basins is proposed to deal with data limitations and produce estimates of the hydrologic components that are consistent with the principles of mass and energy conservation. Second, the most representative topography and soil properties datasets are objectively identified and used to delineate the agricultural potential in the basin. The agricultural potential is incorporated into a land-water allocation model that maximizes the net economic benefits from rain-fed agriculture while allowing for enhancing the soils from one suitability class to another to increase agricultural productivity in return for an investment in soil inputs. The optimal agricultural expansion is expected to reduce the basin flow by 7.6 cubic kilometres, impacting downstream countries. The optimization framework is expanded to include hydropower production. This study finds that allocating water to grow rain-fed teff in the basin is more profitable than allocating water for hydropower production. Optimal operation rules for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam (GERD) are identified to maximize annual hydropower generation while achieving a relatively uniform monthly production rate. Trade-offs between agricultural expansion and hydropower generation are analysed in an attempt to define cooperation scenarios that would achieve win-win outcomes for all riparian countries.

GIS and Game Theory for Water Resource Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganjali, N.; Guney, C.

2017-11-01

In this study, aspects of Game theory and its application on water resources management combined with GIS techniques are detailed. First, each term is explained and the advantages and limitations of its aspect is discussed. Then, the nature of combinations between each pair and literature on the previous studies are given. Several cases were investigated and results were magnified in order to conclude with the applicability and combination of GIS- Game Theory- Water Resources Management. It is concluded that the game theory is used relatively in limited studies of water management fields such as cost/benefit allocation among users, water allocation among trans-boundary users in water resources, water quality management, groundwater management, analysis of water policies, fair allocation of water resources development cost and some other narrow fields. Also, Decision-making in environmental projects requires consideration of trade-offs between socio-political, environmental, and economic impacts and is often complicated by various stakeholder views. Most of the literature on water allocation and conflict problems uses traditional optimization models to identify the most efficient scheme while the Game Theory, as an optimization method, combined GIS are beneficial platforms for agent based models to be used in solving Water Resources Management problems in the further studies.

A negotiation support system for disputes between Iraq and Turkey over the Tigris-Euphrates basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zagonari, Fabio; Rossi, Claudio

2014-06-01

This paper describes a flexible prototype negotiation support system (NSS), to be used in a participatory context, based on the negotiation setting that was suggested by Turkey: bilateral negotiations between Turkey and Iraq, annual analysis, the assumption that Iraq and Syria have no inherent water rights, differences in water entitlements or needs are neglected, analysis restricted to the Tigris-Euphrates basin, current irrigation technologies in Turkey and Iraq, and negotiations on water quantity and quality that account for national dam construction plans. The analysis is based on all principles of the 1997 UN Convention that are recognised by Turkey: net benefits defined at a basin level, equitable use, non-significant harm, maintenance of water quality. The goal is to achieve a balance of interests among the parties that combines analysis of the quantity and quality of water and the net benefits. The negotiation outcomes arise from simulated dynamic interactions between the parties. We demonstrate an application of the NSS based on plausible and reasonable, but tentative, data to provide insights into water allocation rules, side-payments, water requirements of the two parties, and cooperation. Allocations should meet Iraqi non-significant harm and equitable use constraints and allocate the remaining water to Turkey for agricultural use in the feasible negotiation scenario, whereas allocations should meet Turkish maximum agricultural water demands and allocate the remaining water to Iraq for agricultural use in the unlikely cooperation scenario.

Predicting losing and gaining river reaches in lowland New Zealand based on a statistical methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jing; Zammit, Christian; Dudley, Bruce

2017-04-01

The phenomenon of losing and gaining in rivers normally takes place in lowland where often there are various, sometimes conflicting uses for water resources, e.g., agriculture, industry, recreation, and maintenance of ecosystem function. To better support water allocation decisions, it is crucial to understand the location and seasonal dynamics of these losses and gains. We present a statistical methodology to predict losing and gaining river reaches in New Zealand based on 1) information surveys with surface water and groundwater experts from regional government, 2) A collection of river/watershed characteristics, including climate, soil and hydrogeologic information, and 3) the random forests technique. The surveys on losing and gaining reaches were conducted face-to-face at 16 New Zealand regional government authorities, and climate, soil, river geometry, and hydrogeologic data from various sources were collected and compiled to represent river/watershed characteristics. The random forests technique was used to build up the statistical relationship between river reach status (gain and loss) and river/watershed characteristics, and then to predict for river reaches at Strahler order one without prior losing and gaining information. Results show that the model has a classification error of around 10% for "gain" and "loss". The results will assist further research, and water allocation decisions in lowland New Zealand.

A Holistic Framework for Deriving Equitable Apportionments and Resolving Conflicts in Transboundary Watercourses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyagi, H.; Gosain, A. K.; Khosa, R.

2017-12-01

Climate uncertainty & perpetually rising freshwater demands have emerged as the biggest threat to global water security. Consequently, water disputes have become more frequent & intense. If such conflicts remain unresolved for long, eventually they may cause severe socio-political damage to the riparians. The present study develops a comprehensive framework for conflict resolution & equitable allocation in transboundary Ganges watercourse with 4 stakeholder nations: China (Tibet), Nepal, India & Bangladesh. Scientific spatio-temporal information can be of great help in transboundary dispute resolution. Hence, this study employs a GIS-based semi-distributed SWAT hydrologic model for estimating water balance at different scales within the basin for present & future climate, landuse, storage & water use efficiency scenarios. The study analyses pertinent provisions of the Indian Constitution & examines the rulings of Indian water tribunals. It also critically compares various water dispute resolution mechanisms & doctrines on the barometer of equity & fairness to arrive at a procedurally & distributionally just water apportionment policy. The study makes use of Methods of Apportionments, Operations Research & Bankruptcy Rules to operationalize the chosen doctrine by devising an objective & quantifiable formulae for water allocation amongst the co-basin states for a range of flows. Furthermore, Game Theoretic and multi-optimization techniques have been used to rank the appropriateness of the above mentioned methods according to aggregate satisfaction/resentment of the stakeholders computed by equating their respective water claims with actual water shares obtained by them under different methods. Moreover, several Social Choice Theory methods have been employed to rate the performance of water allotment methods in a socio-political setting. The developed framework can thus be of great help for decision makers in effective water conflict resolution as transboundary basins cover nearly half of world's total land surface & there are high chances of water disputes in such transnational rivers.

On inclusion of water resource management in Earth system models - Part 1: Problem definition and representation of water demand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nazemi, A.; Wheater, H. S.

2015-01-01

Human activities have caused various changes to the Earth system, and hence the interconnections between human activities and the Earth system should be recognized and reflected in models that simulate Earth system processes. One key anthropogenic activity is water resource management, which determines the dynamics of human-water interactions in time and space and controls human livelihoods and economy, including energy and food production. There are immediate needs to include water resource management in Earth system models. First, the extent of human water requirements is increasing rapidly at the global scale and it is crucial to analyze the possible imbalance between water demands and supply under various scenarios of climate change and across various temporal and spatial scales. Second, recent observations show that human-water interactions, manifested through water resource management, can substantially alter the terrestrial water cycle, affect land-atmospheric feedbacks and may further interact with climate and contribute to sea-level change. Due to the importance of water resource management in determining the future of the global water and climate cycles, the World Climate Research Program's Global Energy and Water Exchanges project (WRCP-GEWEX) has recently identified gaps in describing human-water interactions as one of the grand challenges in Earth system modeling (GEWEX, 2012). Here, we divide water resource management into two interdependent elements, related firstly to water demand and secondly to water supply and allocation. In this paper, we survey the current literature on how various components of water demand have been included in large-scale models, in particular land surface and global hydrological models. Issues of water supply and allocation are addressed in a companion paper. The available algorithms to represent the dominant demands are classified based on the demand type, mode of simulation and underlying modeling assumptions. We discuss the pros and cons of available algorithms, address various sources of uncertainty and highlight limitations in current applications. We conclude that current capability of large-scale models to represent human water demands is rather limited, particularly with respect to future projections and coupled land-atmospheric simulations. To fill these gaps, the available models, algorithms and data for representing various water demands should be systematically tested, intercompared and improved. In particular, human water demands should be considered in conjunction with water supply and allocation, particularly in the face of water scarcity and unknown future climate.

Development of Regional Supply Functions and a Least-Cost Model for Allocating Water Resources in Utah: A Parametric Linear Programming Approach.

DTIC Science & Technology

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS, * WATER SUPPLIES, MATHEMATICAL MODELS, OPTIMIZATION, ECONOMICS, LINEAR PROGRAMMING, HYDROLOGY, REGIONS, ALLOCATIONS, RESTRAINT, RIVERS, EVAPORATION, LAKES, UTAH, SALVAGE, MINES(EXCAVATIONS).

Using Remote Sensing Platforms to Estimate Near-Surface Soil Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, D. G.; Shaw, J. N.; Rickman, D.; Mask, P. L.; Wersinger, J. M.; Luvall, J.

2003-01-01

Evaluation of near-surface soil properties via remote sensing (RS) could facilitate soil survey mapping, erosion prediction, fertilization regimes, and allocation of agrochemicals. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between soil spectral signature and near surface soil properties in conventionally managed row crop systems. High resolution RS data were acquired over bare fields in the Coastal Plain, Appalachian Plateau, and Ridge and Valley provinces of Alabama using the Airborne Terrestrial Applications Sensor (ATLAS) multispectral scanner. Soils ranged from sandy Kandiudults to fine textured Rhodudults. Surface soil samples (0-1 cm) were collected from 163 sampling points for soil water content, soil organic carbon (SOC), particle size distribution (PSD), and citrate dithionite extractable iron (Fed) content. Surface roughness, soil water content, and crusting were also measured at sampling. Results showed RS data acquired from lands with less than 4 % surface soil water content best approximated near-surface soil properties at the Coastal Plain site where loamy sand textured surfaces were predominant. Utilizing a combination of band ratios in stepwise regression, Fed (r2 = 0.61), SOC (r2 = 0.36), sand (r2 = 0.52), and clay (r2 = 0.76) were related to RS data at the Coastal Plain site. In contrast, the more clayey Ridge and Valley soils had r-squares of 0.50, 0.36, 0.17, and 0.57. for Fed, SOC, sand and clay, respectively. Use of estimated eEmissivity did not generally improve estimates of near-surface soil attributes.

Calculation method of water injection forward modeling and inversion process in oilfield water injection network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Long; Liu, Wei

2018-04-01

A forward modeling and inversion algorithm is adopted in order to determine the water injection plan in the oilfield water injection network. The main idea of the algorithm is shown as follows: firstly, the oilfield water injection network is inversely calculated. The pumping station demand flow is calculated. Then, forward modeling calculation is carried out for judging whether all water injection wells meet the requirements of injection allocation or not. If all water injection wells meet the requirements of injection allocation, calculation is stopped, otherwise the demand injection allocation flow rate of certain step size is reduced aiming at water injection wells which do not meet requirements, and next iterative operation is started. It is not necessary to list the algorithm into water injection network system algorithm, which can be realized easily. Iterative method is used, which is suitable for computer programming. Experimental result shows that the algorithm is fast and accurate.

A Web Application for Validating and Disseminating Surface Energy Balance Evapotranspiration Estimates for Hydrologic Modeling Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, C. A.; Aggett, G. R.; Nevo, A.; Babel, N. C.; Hattendorf, M. J.

2008-12-01

The western United States face an increasing threat from drought - and the social, economic, and environmental impacts that come with it. The combination of diminished water supplies along with increasing demand for urban and other uses is rapidly depleting surface and ground water reserves traditionally allocated for agricultural use. Quantification of water consumptive use is increasingly important as water resources are placed under growing tension by increased users and interests. Scarce water supplies can be managed more efficiently through use of information and prediction tools accessible via the internet. METRIC (Mapping ET at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration) represents a maturing technology for deriving a remote sensing-based surface energy balance for estimating ET from the earth's surface. This technology has the potential to become widely adopted and used by water resources communities providing critical support to a host of water decision support tools. ET images created using METRIC or similar remote- sensing based processing systems could be routinely used as input to operational and planning models for water demand forecasting, reservoir operations, ground-water management, irrigation water supply planning, water rights regulation, and for the improvement, validation, and use of hydrological models. The ET modeling and subsequent validation and distribution of results via the web presented here provides a vehicle through which METRIC ET parameters can be made more accessible to hydrologic modelers. It will enable users of the data to assess the results of the spatially distributed ET modeling and compare with results from conventional ET estimation methods prior to assimilation in surface and ground water models. In addition, this ET-Server application will provide rapid and transparent access to the data enabling quantification of uncertainties due to errors in temporal sampling and METRIC modeling, while the GIS-based analytical tools will facilitate quality assessments associated with the selected spatio-temporal scale of interest.

How reframing a water management issue across scales and levels impacts on perceptions of justice and injustice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patrick, M. J.; Syme, G. J.; Horwitz, P.

2014-11-01

Social justice is a key outcome of water allocation, management and governance. It is commonly expressed in water policies and strategies in terms of achieving equitable distribution of water resources. In complex multi-level systems just and unjust outcomes can result from the same water allocation decision. In some cases a just outcome at one level may cause an injustice at another level for the same or a different set of stakeholders. The manner in which a water management issue is framed and reframed across different levels within a system influences stakeholder perceptions of whether a water allocation decision is just or unjust, which in turn influences the successful adoption and implementation of such a decision. This paper utilises a case study from the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia to illustrate how reframing a water management issue across multiple scales and levels can help understand stakeholders' perceptions of justice and injustice. In this case study two scales are explored, an institutional and an organisational scale; each comprising levels at the federal, basin, state and region. The water management issue of domestic and stock dams was tracked through the various scales and levels and illustrated how reframing an issue at different levels can influence the analysis of just or equitable outcomes. The case study highlights the need to treat justice in water allocation as an ever evolving problem of the behaviour of a social system rather than the meeting of static principles of what is 'right'. This points to the importance of being attentive to the dynamic and dialogical nature of justice when dealing with water allocation issues across scales and levels of water governance.

Water Reserves Program. An adaptation strategy to prevent imbalance of water in nature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salinas-Rodriguez, S. A.; López Pérez, M.; Barrios Ordóñez, J.; Wickel, B.; Villón Bracamonte, R. A.

2013-12-01

Freshwater ecosystems occupy approximately 1% of the earth's surface yet possess about 12% of all known animal species. By virtue of their position in the landscape they connect terrestrial and coastal marine biomes and provide and sustain ecosystem services vital to the health and persistence of human communities. These services include the supply of water for food production, urban and industrial consumption, among others. Over the past century many freshwater ecosystems around the world have been heavily modified or lost due to the alteration of flow regimes (e.g. damming, canalization, diversion, over-abstraction). The synergistic impacts of land use change, changes in flows, chemical deterioration, and climate change have left many systems and their species very little room to adjust to change, while future projections indicate a steady increase imbalance in water demand for food and energy production and water supply to suit the needs of a growing world population. In Mexico, the focus has been to secure water for human development and maximize economic growth, which has resulted in allocation of water beyond available amounts, and that in many river basins has led imbalance of water in nature. As a consequence episodic water scarcity severely constrains freshwater ecosystems and the services they provide. Climatic change and variability are presenting serious challenges to a country that already is experiencing serious strain on its water resources. However, freshwater ecosystems are recognized by law as legitimate user of water, and mandate a flow allocation for the environment ('water reserve' or 'environmental flows'). Based on this legal provision the Mexican government through the National Water Commission (Conagua), with support of the Alliance WWF - Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte, and the Interamerican Development Bank, has launched a national program to identify and implement 'water reserves': basins where environmental flows will be secured and allocated, and where the flow regime is then protected before over-allocation takes place. The strategy has been to identify and protect basins with an availability of water that is close to their natural flow regime and that also have a high conservation value (based on prior national conservation priority definitions such as protected areas, and biodiversity conservation gap analyses) in order to implement legal restrictions on water resource development. With such protection, these systems will be best positioned to adjust and respond to water shortages, and regime shifts. To date, 189 basins around the country were identified as potential water reserves. The next step will be the nomination of these water reserves to be integrated in the National Water Reserves Program. This program forms the core of the official Mexican government adaptation strategy towards climate prepared water management, which recognizes that water reserves are the buffer society needs to face uncertainty, imbalance of the man-made, global changes, and thus to reduce water scarcity risk. The development of activities that alter the natural flow regime such as dams and levees are closely examined, and would potentially be restricted.

Modeling falling groundwater tables in major cities of the world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutanudjaja, E.; Erkens, G.

2015-12-01

Groundwater use and its over-consumption are one of the major drivers in the hydrology of many major cities in the world, particularly in delta regions. Yet, a global assessment to identify cities with declining groundwater table problems has not been done yet. In this study we used the global hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB (10 km resolution, for 1960-2010). Using this model, we globally calculated groundwater recharge and river discharge/surface water levels, as well as global water demand and abstraction from ground- and surface water resources. The output of PCR-GLOBWB model was then used to force a groundwater MODFLOW-based model simulating spatio-temporal groundwater head dynamics, including groundwater head declines in all major cities - mainly in delta regions - due to escalation in abstraction of groundwater to meet increasing water demand. Using these coupled models, we managed to identify a number of critical cities having groundwater table falling rates above 50 cm/year (average in 2000-2010), such as Barcelona, Houston, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Rome and many large cities in China, Libya, India and Pakistan, as well as in Middle East and Central Asia regions. However, our simulation results overestimate the depletion rates in San Jose, Tokyo, Venice, and other cities where groundwater usages have been aggressively managed and replaced by importing surface water from other places. Moreover, our simulation might underestimate the declining groundwater head trends in some familiar cases, such as Bangkok (12 cm/year), Ho Chi Minh City (34 cm/year), and Jakarta (26 cm/year). The underestimation was due to an over-optimistic model assumption in allocating surface water for satisfying urban water needs. In reality, many big cities, although they are located in wet regions and have abundant surface water availability, still strongly rely on groundwater sources due to inadequate facilities to treat and distribute surface water resources.

Modeling falling groundwater tables in major cities of the world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutanudjaja, Edwin; Erkens, Gilles

2016-04-01

Groundwater use and its over-consumption are one of the major drivers in the hydrology of many major cities in the world, particularly in delta regions. Yet, a global assessment to identify cities with declining groundwater table problems has not been done yet. In this study we used the global hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB (10 km resolution, for 1960-2010). Using this model, we globally calculated groundwater recharge and river discharge/surface water levels, as well as global water demand and abstraction from ground- and surface water resources. The output of PCR-GLOBWB model was then used to force a groundwater MODFLOW-based model simulating spatio-temporal groundwater head dynamics, including groundwater head declines in all major cities - mainly in delta regions - due to escalation in abstraction of groundwater to meet increasing water demand. Using these coupled models, we managed to identify a number of critical cities having groundwater table falling rates above 50 cm/year (average in 2000-2010), such as Barcelona, Houston, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Rome and many large cities in China, Libya, India and Pakistan, as well as in Middle East and Central Asia regions. However, our simulation results overestimate the depletion rates in San Jose, Tokyo, Venice, and other cities where groundwater usages have been aggressively managed and replaced by importing surface water from other places. Moreover, our simulation might underestimate the declining groundwater head trends in some familiar cases, such as Bangkok (12 cm/year), Ho Chi Minh City (34 cm/year), and Jakarta (26 cm/year). The underestimation was due to an over-optimistic model assumption in allocating surface water for satisfying urban water needs. In reality, many big cities, although they are located in wet regions and have abundant surface water availability, still strongly rely on groundwater sources due to inadequate facilities to treat and distribute surface water resources.

Sensitivities in a game theoretic approach to analyze allocation of water resources in the Nagobo basin, Ghana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hossler, T. H. H. H.; Caers, J.; Lakshmi, V.; Harris, J. M.

2016-12-01

Changing weather patterns, such as shorter duration of rainfall have made water sourcesunreliable for local farmers in the Nagbo basin located in Northern Ghana. Farmers are thereforestarting to use groundwater as a secondary source (and sometimes primary source) of water fortheir needs. Groundwater will therefore be most likely subject to considerable stress in the nearfuture with longer dry spells and increasing water demand from users with different interests.Strategies must be adopted to optimally allocate water between the various stakeholders in anuncertain environment. Game Theory (GT) provides a framework for analyzing watermanagement in the Nagobo Basin. GT has recently gained attention in analyzing the impact androle of stakeholders in water resources management but the hydrological and hydrogeologicalmodels fail to account for the numerous data sources and leading uncertainties of thehydrogeological cycle. In this work, we describe by means of a synthetic model a situation in theNagobo basin with a 2-players game, considering both cooperation and non-cooperation. Ahydrological model of the basin is built using the different data available (surface and subsurface).We are interested in quantifying the impact of the uncertainty of the model parameters on thegame, affecting both player's strategies and the equilibrium. In particular, the stochastic nature insupply (recharge of the aquifer) and the uncertain nature of the subsurface (externalities) are areaof focus. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out and these results will be presented as well asthe outcome of the different games.

Relationship between mid-water trawling effort and catch composition uncertainty in two large lakes (Huron and Michigan) dominated by alosines, osmerids, and coregonines

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, David M.; Claramunt, Randall M.; Schaeffer, Jeffrey S.; Yule, Daniel L.; Hrabik, Tom R.; Peintka, Bernie; Rudstam, Lars G.; Holuszko, Jeffrey D.; O'Brien, Timothy P.

2012-01-01

Because it is not possible to identify species with echosounders alone, trawling is widely used as a method for collecting species and size composition data for allocating acoustic fish density estimates to species or size groups. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, data from midwater trawls are commonly used for such allocations. However, there are no rules for how much midwater trawling effort is required to adequately describe species and size composition of the pelagic fish communities in these lakes, so the balance between acoustic sampling effort and trawling effort has been unguided. We used midwater trawl data collected between 1986 and 2008 in lakes Michigan and Huron and a variety of analytical techniques to develop guidance for appropriate levels of trawl effort. We used multivariate regression trees and re-sampling techniques to i. identify factors that influence species and size composition of the pelagic fish communities in these lakes, ii. identify stratification schemes for the two lakes, iii. determine if there was a relationship between uncertainty in catch composition and the number of tows made, and iv. predict the number of tows required to reach desired uncertainty targets. We found that depth occupied by fish below the surface was the most influential explanatory variable. Catch composition varied between lakes at depths <38.5 m below the surface, but not at depths ≥38.5 m below the surface. Year, latitude, and bottom depth influenced catch composition in the near-surface waters of Lake Michigan, while only year was important for Lake Huron surface waters. There was an inverse relationship between RSE [relative standard error = 100 × (SE/mean)] and the number of tows made for the proportions of the different size and species groups. We found for the fifth (Lake Huron) and sixth (Lake Michigan) largest lakes in the world, 15–35 tows were adequate to achieve target RSEs (15% and 30%) for ubiquitous species, but rarer species required much higher, and at times, impractical effort levels to reach these targets.

Basin Economic Allocation Model (BEAM): An economic model of water use developed for the Aral Sea Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riegels, Niels; Kromann, Mikkel; Karup Pedersen, Jesper; Lindgaard-Jørgensen, Palle; Sokolov, Vadim; Sorokin, Anatoly

2013-04-01

The water resources of the Aral Sea basin are under increasing pressure, particularly from the conflict over whether hydropower or irrigation water use should take priority. The purpose of the BEAM model is to explore the impact of changes to water allocation and investments in water management infrastructure on the overall welfare of the Aral Sea basin. The BEAM model estimates welfare changes associated with changes to how water is allocated between the five countries in the basin (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; water use in Afghanistan is assumed to be fixed). Water is allocated according to economic optimization criteria; in other words, the BEAM model allocates water across time and space so that the economic welfare associated with water use is maximized. The model is programmed in GAMS. The model addresses the Aral Sea Basin as a whole - that is, the rivers Syr Darya, Amu Darya, Kashkadarya, and Zarafshan, as well as the Aral Sea. The model representation includes water resources, including 14 river sections, 6 terminal lakes, 28 reservoirs and 19 catchment runoff nodes, as well as land resources (i.e., irrigated croplands). The model covers 5 sectors: agriculture (crops: wheat, cotton, alfalfa, rice, fruit, vegetables and others), hydropower, nature, households and industry. The focus of the model is on welfare impacts associated with changes to water use in the agriculture and hydropower sectors. The model aims at addressing the following issues of relevance for economic management of water resources: • Physical efficiency (estimating how investments in irrigation efficiency affect economic welfare). • Economic efficiency (estimating how changes in how water is allocated affect welfare). • Equity (who will gain from changes in allocation of water from one sector to another and who will lose?). Stakeholders in the region have been involved in the development of the model, and about 10 national experts, including staff from the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), have been trained in using the model. The model is publicly accessible through a web-based user interface that allows users to investigate scenarios and perform sensitivity analyses. Preliminary results suggest that: 1. At the margin, hydropower water use increases basin-wide welfare more than irrigation water use. 2. Under normal or average hydrological conditions, water scarcity is not a significant problem in the basin. 3. Under dry hydrological conditions, water scarcity is significant. Under these conditions, preliminary results suggest that cotton irrigation is less effective than other uses, particularly in Turkmenistan. 4. Investments in irrigation efficiency can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of water use for irrigation, thereby increasing the welfare of irrigation regions during dry periods.

A combined linear optimisation methodology for water resources allocation in Alfeios River Basin (Greece) under uncertain and vague system conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bekri, Eleni; Yannopoulos, Panayotis; Disse, Markus

2013-04-01

In the present study, a combined linear programming methodology, based on Li et al. (2010) and Bekri et al. (2012), is employed for optimizing water allocation under uncertain system conditions in the Alfeios River Basin, in Greece. The Alfeios River is a water resources system of great natural, ecological, social and economic importance for Western Greece, since it has the longest and highest flow rate watercourse in the Peloponnisos region. Moreover, the river basin was exposed in the last decades to a plethora of environmental stresses (e.g. hydrogeological alterations, intensively irrigated agriculture, surface and groundwater overexploitation and infrastructure developments), resulting in the degradation of its quantitative and qualitative characteristics. As in most Mediterranean countries, water resource management in Alfeios River Basin has been focused up to now on an essentially supply-driven approach. It is still characterized by a lack of effective operational strategies. Authority responsibility relationships are fragmented, and law enforcement and policy implementation are weak. The present regulated water allocation puzzle entails a mixture of hydropower generation, irrigation, drinking water supply and recreational activities. Under these conditions its water resources management is characterised by high uncertainty and by vague and imprecise data. The considered methodology has been developed in order to deal with uncertainties expressed as either probability distributions, or/and fuzzy boundary intervals, derived by associated α-cut levels. In this framework a set of deterministic submodels is studied through linear programming. The ad hoc water resources management and alternative management patterns in an Alfeios subbasin are analyzed and evaluated under various scenarios, using the above mentioned methodology, aiming to promote a sustainable and equitable water management. Li, Y.P., Huang, G.H. and S.L., Nie, (2010), Planning water resources management systems using a fuzzy-boundary interval-stochastic programming method, Elsevier Ltd, Advances in Water Resources, 33: 1105-1117. doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2010.06.015 Bekri, E.S., Disse, M. and P.C.,Yannopoulos, (2012), Methodological framework for correction of quick river discharge measurements using quality characteristics, Session of Environmental Hydraulics - Hydrodynamics, 2nd Common Conference of Hellenic Hydrotechnical Association and Greek Committee for Water Resources Management, Volume: 546-557 (in Greek).

Optimization of Water Resources and Agricultural Activities for Economic Benefit in Colorado

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LIM, J.; Lall, U.

2017-12-01

The limited water resources available for irrigation are a key constraint for the important agricultural sector of Colorado's economy. As climate change and groundwater depletion reshape these resources, it is essential to understand the economic potential of water resources under different agricultural production practices. This study uses a linear programming optimization at the county spatial scale and annual temporal scales to study the optimal allocation of water withdrawal and crop choices. The model, AWASH, reflects streamflow constraints between different extraction points, six field crops, and a distinct irrigation decision for maize and wheat. The optimized decision variables, under different environmental, social, economic, and physical constraints, provide long-term solutions for ground and surface water distribution and for land use decisions so that the state can generate the maximum net revenue. Colorado, one of the largest agricultural producers, is tested as a case study and the sensitivity on water price and on climate variability is explored.

Dynamic versus static allocation policies in multipurpose multireservoir systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tilmant, A.; Goor, Q.; Pinte, D.; van der Zaag, P.

2007-12-01

As the competition for water is likely to increase in the near future due to socioeconomic development and population growth, water resources managers will face hard choices when allocating water between competing users. Because water is a vital resource used in multiple sectors, including the environment, the allocation is inherently a political and social process, which is likely to become increasingly scrutinized as the competition grows between the different sectors. Since markets are usually absent or ineffective, the allocation of water between competing demands is achieved administratively taking into account key objectives such as economic efficiency, equity and maintaining the ecological integrity. When crop irrigation is involved, water is usually allocated by a system of annual rights to use a fixed, static, volume of water. In a fully-allocated basin, moving from a static to a dynamic allocation process, whereby the policies are regularly updated according to the hydrologic status of the river basin, is the first step towards the development of river basin management strategies that increase the productivity of water. More specifically, in a multipurpose multireservoir system, continuously adjusting release and withdrawal decisions based on the latest hydrologic information will increase the benefits derived from the system. However, the extent to which such an adjustment can be achieved results from complex spatial and temporal interactions between the physical characteristics of the water resources system (storage, natural flows), the economic and social consequences of rationing and the impacts on natural ecosystems. The complexity of the decision-making process, which requires the continuous evaluation of numerous trade-offs, calls for the use of integrated hydrologic-economic models. This paper compares static and dynamic management approaches for a cascade of hydropower-irrigation reservoirs using stochastic dual dynamic programming (SDDP) formulations. As its name indicates, SDDP is an extension of SDP that removes the curse of dimensionality found in discrete SDP and can therefore be used to analyze large-scale water resources systems. For the static approach, the multiobjective (irrigation-hydropower) optimization problem is solved using the constraint method, i.e. net benefits from hydropower generation are maximized and irrigation water withdrawals are additional constraints. In the dynamic approach, the SDDP model seeks to maximize the net benefits of both hydropower and irrigation crop production. A cascade of 8 reservoirs in the Turkish and Syrian parts of the Euphrates river basin is used as a case study.

Seeing beyond borders: a game theoretic approach to anticipate the effect of satellite monitoring data on transboundary freshwater allocation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muller, M. F.; Gorelick, S.; Muller-Itten, M. C.

2015-12-01

The allocation of transboundary freshwater resources is a ubiquitous challenge with direct repercussions on the political stability of the concerned region. Under the right conditions, the need to share scarce water resources can act as a catalyst for dialogue between otherwise hostile neighbors. Yet the strategic reluctance of the involved parties to share water diversion and use data remains a major barrier that raises the probability of conflict. In that context, high-quality satellite data are progressively available to monitor water resources beyond political boundaries. These datasets have an increasing role to play in the allocation of shared waters. We develop a game theoretical framework to predict their effect on transboundary water negotiations. We consider repetitions of a game between two countries that have a water allocation agreement for transboundary river flow. The upstream country can observe the available flow in any given year and decide whether or not to provide her neighbor with the agreed upon river discharge. The downstream country cannot observe the initially available flow. He only observes the water allocated provided by his upstream neighbor and can take actions to impose a sanction on her if he can confidently determine that the agreement has been breached. In that context, satellite monitoring data will affect the informational advantage of the upstream country and increase her probability of either abiding by the agreement or being caught when breaching it. We find that the informed equilibrium will produce a lower probability of conflict, but changes in both players' positions regarding equitable allocation may destabilize the existing agreement in the short term.

Joint optimization of regional water-power systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pereira-Cardenal, Silvio J.; Mo, Birger; Gjelsvik, Anders; Riegels, Niels D.; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Karsten; Bauer-Gottwein, Peter

2016-06-01

Energy and water resources systems are tightly coupled; energy is needed to deliver water and water is needed to extract or produce energy. Growing pressure on these resources has raised concerns about their long-term management and highlights the need to develop integrated solutions. A method for joint optimization of water and electric power systems was developed in order to identify methodologies to assess the broader interactions between water and energy systems. The proposed method is to include water users and power producers into an economic optimization problem that minimizes the cost of power production and maximizes the benefits of water allocation, subject to constraints from the power and hydrological systems. The method was tested on the Iberian Peninsula using simplified models of the seven major river basins and the power market. The optimization problem was successfully solved using stochastic dual dynamic programming. The results showed that current water allocation to hydropower producers in basins with high irrigation productivity, and to irrigation users in basins with high hydropower productivity was sub-optimal. Optimal allocation was achieved by managing reservoirs in very distinct ways, according to the local inflow, storage capacity, hydropower productivity, and irrigation demand and productivity. This highlights the importance of appropriately representing the water users' spatial distribution and marginal benefits and costs when allocating water resources optimally. The method can handle further spatial disaggregation and can be extended to include other aspects of the water-energy nexus.

Quantitative assessment of the impact of an inter-basin surface-water transfer project on the groundwater flow and groundwater-dependent eco-environment in an oasis in arid northwestern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Xiaobin; Wu, Jichun; Nie, Huijun; Guo, Fei; Wu, Jianfeng; Chen, Kouping; Liao, Penghui; Xu, Hongxia; Zeng, Xiankui

2018-06-01

Inter-basin water transfer projects (IBWTPs) can involve basins as water donors and water receivers. In contrast to most studies on IBWTPs, which mainly impact the surface-water eco-environment, this study focuses on the impacts of an IBWTP on groundwater and its eco-environment in a water donor basin in an arid area, where surface water and groundwater are exchanged. Surface water is assumed to recharge groundwater and a groundwater numerical simulation model was constructed using MODFLOW. The model was used to quantitatively evaluate the impact of an IBWTP located in the upstream portion of Nalenggele River (the biggest river in the Qaidam basin, Northwest China). The impact involved decrease in spring flow, drawdown of groundwater, reduction in oasis area, and an increase in species replacement of oasis vegetation in the midstream and downstream of the river. Results show that the emergence sites of springs at the front of the oasis will move 2-5 km downstream, and the outflow of springs will decrease by 42 million m3/a. The maximum drawdown of groundwater level at the front of the oasis will be 3.6 m and the area across which groundwater drawdown exceeds 2.0 m will be about 59.02 km2, accounting for 2.71% of the total area of the oasis. Under such conditions, reeds will gradually be replaced by Tamarix, shrubs, and other alternative plant species. These findings have important implications for the optimization of water resource allocation and protection of the eco-environment in arid regions.

Scale Issues in Modeling the Water Resources Sector in National Economic Models: A Case study of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strzepek, K. M.; Kirshen, P.; Yohe, G.

2001-05-01

The fundamental theme of this research was to investigate tradeoffs in model resolution for modeling water resources in the context of national economic development and capital investment decisions.. Based on a case study of China, the research team has developed water resource models at relatively fine scales, then investigated how they can be aggregated to regional or national scales and for use in national level planning decisions or global scale integrated assessment models of food and/or environmental change issues. The team has developed regional water supply and water demand functions.. Simplifying and aggregating the supply and demand functions will allow reduced form functions of the water sector for inclusion in large scale national economic models. Water Supply Cost functions were developed looking at both surface and groundwater supplies. Surface Water: Long time series of flows at the mouths of the 36 major river sub-basins in China are used in conjunction with different basin reservoir storage quantities to obtain storage-yield curves. These are then combined with reservoir and transmission cost data to obtain yield-cost or surface water demand curves. The methodology to obtain the long time series of flows for each basin is to fit a simple abcd water balance model to each basin. The costs of reservoir storage have been estimated by using a methodology developed in the USA that relates marginal storage costs to existing storage, slope and geological conditions. USA costs functions have then been adjusted to Chinese costs. The costs of some actual dams in China were used to "ground-truth" the methodology. Groundwater: The purpose of the groundwater work is to estimate the recharge in each basin, and the depths and quality of water of aquifers. A byproduct of the application of the abcd water balance model is the recharge. Depths and quality of aquifers are being taken from many separate reports on groundwater in different parts of China; we have been unable to find any global or regional datasets of groundwater.. Combining Surface and Groundwater Supply Functions Water Demand Curves. Water Use data is reported on political regions. Water Supply is reported and modeled on river basin regions. It is necessary to allocate water demands to river basins. To accomplish this China's 9 major river basins were divided into 36 hydroeconomic regions. The counties were then allocated to one of the 36-hydroeconomic zones. The county-level water use data was aggregated to 5 major water use sectors: 1)industry; 2)urban municipal and vegetable gardens: 3) major irrigation; 4) Energy and 5)Other agriculture (forestry, pasture; fishery). Sectoral Demand functions that include price and income elasticity were developed for the 5 sectors for each of the 9 major river basin. The supply and demand curves were aggregated at a variety of geographical scales as well as levels of economic sectoral aggregation. Implications for investment and sustainable development policies were examined for the various aggregation using partial and general equilibrium modeling of the Chinese economy. These results and policy implications for China as well as insights and recommendation for other developing countries will be presented.

Integration of Palmer Drought Severity Index and remote sensing data to simulate wetland water surface from 1910 to 2009 in Cottonwood Lake area, North Dakota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Huang, Shengli; Dahal, Devendra; Young, Claudia; Chander, Gyanesh; Liu, Shuguang

2011-01-01

Spatiotemporal variations of wetland water in the Prairie Pothole Region are controlled by many factors; two of them are temperature and precipitation that form the basis of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Taking the 196 km2 Cottonwood Lake area in North Dakota as our pilot study site, we integrated PDSI, Landsat images, and aerial photography records to simulate monthly water surface. First, we developed a new Wetland Water Area Index (WWAI) from PDSI to predict water surface area. Second, we developed a water allocation model to simulate the spatial distribution of water bodies at a resolution of 30 m. Third, we used an additional procedure to model the small wetlands (less than 0.8 ha) that could not be detected by Landsat. Our results showed that i) WWAI was highly correlated with water area with an R2 of 0.90, resulting in a simple regression prediction of monthly water area to capture the intra- and inter-annual water change from 1910 to 2009; ii) the spatial distribution of water bodies modeled from our approach agreed well with the water locations visually identified from the aerial photography records; and iii) the R2 between our modeled water bodies (including both large and small wetlands) and those from aerial photography records could be up to 0.83 with a mean average error of 0.64 km2 within the study area where the modeled wetland water areas ranged from about 2 to 14 km2. These results indicate that our approach holds great potential to simulate major changes in wetland water surface for ecosystem service; however, our products could capture neither the short-term water change caused by intensive rainstorm events nor the wetland change caused by human activities.

Studying strategic interaction under environmental and economic uncertainties among water users in the Zambezi River Basin - From descriptive analysis to institutional design for better transboundary management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, L.; Siegfried, T. U.; Bernauer, T.

2009-12-01

The Zambezi River Basin (ZRB) is one of the largest freshwater catchments in Africa and worldwide. Consumptive water use in the ZRB is currently estimated at 15 - 20 percent of total runoff. This suggests many development possibilities, particularly for irrigated agriculture and hydropower production. The key drivers in the basin are population development on the demand side as well as uncertain impacts from climate change for supply. Development plans of the riparian countries suggest that consumptive water use might increase up to 40 percent of total runoff by 2025. This suggests that expanding water use in the Zambezi basin could become a source of disputes among the eight riparian countries. We study the surface water allocation in the basin by means of a couple hydrological-economic modeling approach. A conceptual lumped-parameter rainfall-runoff model for the ZRB was constructed and calibrated on the best available runoff data for the basin. Water users are modeled based on an agent-based framework and implemented as distributed sequential decision makers that act in an uncertain environment. Given the current non-cooperative status quo, we use the stochastic optimization technique of reinforcement learning to model the individual agents’ behavior. Their goals include the maximization of a) their long-term reward as conditioned on the state of the multi-agent system and b) the immediate reward obtained from operational decisions of reservoirs and water diversions under their control. We feed a wide range of water demand drivers as well as climate change predictions into the model and assess agents’ responses and the resulting implications for runoff at key points in the water catchment, including Victoria Falls, Kariba reservoir, Kafue Gorge, and Cahora Bassa reservoir in the downstream. It will be shown that considerable benefits exist if the current non-cooperative regime is replaced by a basin-wide, coordinated allocation strategy that regulates water storage and allocation in this complex multi-reservoir river basin. Benefits increase along the river towards the downstream, which suggests the establishment of an upstream-downstream compensation approach. The latter considers tradeoffs from water and hydropower exchanges during respective seasons and locations of peak demand.

Constraining uncertainties in water supply reliability in a tropical data scarce basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaune, Alexander; Werner, Micha; Rodriguez, Erasmo; de Fraiture, Charlotte

2015-04-01

Assessing the water supply reliability in river basins is essential for adequate planning and development of irrigated agriculture and urban water systems. In many cases hydrological models are applied to determine the surface water availability in river basins. However, surface water availability and variability is often not appropriately quantified due to epistemic uncertainties, leading to water supply insecurity. The objective of this research is to determine the water supply reliability in order to support planning and development of irrigated agriculture in a tropical, data scarce environment. The approach proposed uses a simple hydrological model, but explicitly includes model parameter uncertainty. A transboundary river basin in the tropical region of Colombia and Venezuela with an approximately area of 2100 km² was selected as a case study. The Budyko hydrological framework was extended to consider climatological input variability and model parameter uncertainty, and through this the surface water reliability to satisfy the irrigation and urban demand was estimated. This provides a spatial estimate of the water supply reliability across the basin. For the middle basin the reliability was found to be less than 30% for most of the months when the water is extracted from an upstream source. Conversely, the monthly water supply reliability was high (r>98%) in the lower basin irrigation areas when water was withdrawn from a source located further downstream. Including model parameter uncertainty provides a complete estimate of the water supply reliability, but that estimate is influenced by the uncertainty in the model. Reducing the uncertainty in the model through improved data and perhaps improved model structure will improve the estimate of the water supply reliability allowing better planning of irrigated agriculture and dependable water allocation decisions.

18 CFR 367.28 - Methods of allocation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Methods of allocation... Instructions § 367.28 Methods of allocation. Indirect costs and compensation for use of capital must be allocated to projects in accordance with the service company's applicable and currently effective methods of...

18 CFR 367.28 - Methods of allocation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Methods of allocation... Instructions § 367.28 Methods of allocation. Indirect costs and compensation for use of capital must be allocated to projects in accordance with the service company's applicable and currently effective methods of...

Allocating responsibility for environmental risks: A comparative analysis of examples from water governance.

PubMed

Doorn, Neelke

2017-03-01

The focus of the present study is on the allocation of responsibilities for addressing environmental risks in transboundary water governance. Effective environmental management in transboundary situations requires coordinated and cooperative action among diverse individuals and organizations. Currently, little insight exists on how to foster collective action such that individuals and organizations take the responsibility to address transboundary environmental risks. On the basis of 4 cases of transboundary water governance, it will be shown how certain allocation principles are more likely to encourage cooperative action. The main lesson from these case studies is that the allocation of responsibilities should be seen as a risk distribution problem, including considerations of effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:371-375. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

78 FR 34427 - 2012 Tax Information for Use In The Revenue Shortfall Allocation Method

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-07

... Information for Use In The Revenue Shortfall Allocation Method AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT... of American Railroads (AAR), for use in the Revenue Shortfall Allocation Method (RSAM). DATES... revised in Simplified Standards for Rail Rate Cases--Taxes in Revenue Shortfall Allocation Method, EP 646...

Curtailing Agricultural Pumping in an Era of Extended Drought: Infusing Science and Leagality into a Common Hydrologic Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carroll, R. W. H.; Pohll, G.; Benedict, J.; Felling, R.

2016-12-01

Many arid and semi-arid agricultural systems of the Great Basin in the western United States depend on supplemental groundwater pumping to augment diminished surface water flows during periods of drought. As droughts become longer and more severe in the region, unprecedented drawdown in these aquifer systems has occurred with legal and environmental implications on both surface and groundwater. The Walker River in the Great Basin supports extensive agriculture in the region and is the sole perennial stream to one of the few desert terminal lakes in North America. Continuous declines in the lake have spurred extensive research into management options to balance demands of agriculture and increase water deliveries to the lake. Smith and Mason Valleys are important agricultural centers within the Walker Basin. In 2015 the region entered its fifth year of drought and both valleys were the focus of curtailment orders to restrict the use of supplemental groundwater rights. To aid management decisions, hydrologic models were developed that simulate complex feedbacks between surface diversions, crop consumptive needs, groundwater recharge, return flow, and groundwater-surface water interactions. Demand-driven pumping that incorporates priority dates and maximum duty allocations are directly input to the hydrologic model to allow an assessment of groundwater curtailment options under a variety of drought scenarios to meet targeted water levels and downstream conveyance of surface water in a legally defensible framework. Hydrologic results using a sliding scale approach to priority based curtailment are presented in the arena of stakeholder participation and response.

Availability of high-magnitude streamflow for groundwater banking in the Central Valley, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kocis, Tiffany N.; Dahlke, Helen E.

2017-08-01

California’s climate is characterized by the largest precipitation and streamflow variability observed within the conterminous US This, combined with chronic groundwater overdraft of 0.6-3.5 km3 yr-1, creates the need to identify additional surface water sources available for groundwater recharge using methods such as agricultural groundwater banking, aquifer storage and recovery, and spreading basins. High-magnitude streamflow, i.e. flow above the 90th percentile, that exceeds environmental flow requirements and current surface water allocations under California water rights, could be a viable source of surface water for groundwater banking. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the magnitude, frequency, duration and timing of high-magnitude streamflow (HMF) for 93 stream gauges covering the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Tulare basins in California. The results show that in an average year with HMF approximately 3.2 km3 of high-magnitude flow is exported from the entire Central Valley to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta often at times when environmental flow requirements of the Delta and major rivers are exceeded. High-magnitude flow occurs, on average, during 7 and 4.7 out of 10 years in the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin-Tulare Basins, respectively, from just a few storm events (5-7 1-day peak events) lasting for 25-30 days between November and April. The results suggest that there is sufficient unmanaged surface water physically available to mitigate long-term groundwater overdraft in the Central Valley.

Game Theoretic Modeling of Water Resources Allocation Under Hydro-Climatic Uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, C.; Lall, U.; Siegfried, T.

2005-12-01

Typical hydrologic and economic modeling approaches rely on assumptions of climate stationarity and economic conditions of ideal markets and rational decision-makers. In this study, we incorporate hydroclimatic variability with a game theoretic approach to simulate and evaluate common water allocation paradigms. Game Theory may be particularly appropriate for modeling water allocation decisions. First, a game theoretic approach allows economic analysis in situations where price theory doesn't apply, which is typically the case in water resources where markets are thin, players are few, and rules of exchange are highly constrained by legal or cultural traditions. Previous studies confirm that game theory is applicable to water resources decision problems, yet applications and modeling based on these principles is only rarely observed in the literature. Second, there are numerous existing theoretical and empirical studies of specific games and human behavior that may be applied in the development of predictive water allocation models. With this framework, one can evaluate alternative orderings and rules regarding the fraction of available water that one is allowed to appropriate. Specific attributes of the players involved in water resources management complicate the determination of solutions to game theory models. While an analytical approach will be useful for providing general insights, the variety of preference structures of individual players in a realistic water scenario will likely require a simulation approach. We propose a simulation approach incorporating the rationality, self-interest and equilibrium concepts of game theory with an agent-based modeling framework that allows the distinct properties of each player to be expressed and allows the performance of the system to manifest the integrative effect of these factors. Underlying this framework, we apply a realistic representation of spatio-temporal hydrologic variability and incorporate the impact of decision-making a priori to hydrologic realizations and those made a posteriori on alternative allocation mechanisms. Outcomes are evaluated in terms of water productivity, net social benefit and equity. The performance of hydro-climate prediction modeling in each allocation mechanism will be assessed. Finally, year-to-year system performance and feedback pathways are explored. In this way, the system can be adaptively managed toward equitable and efficient water use.

Ecological effects and potential risks of the water diversion project in the Heihe River Basin.

PubMed

Zhang, Mengmeng; Wang, Shuai; Fu, Bojie; Gao, Guangyao; Shen, Qin

2018-04-01

To curb the severe ecological deterioration in the lower Heihe River Basin (HRB) in northwest China, a water diversion project was initiated in 2000. A comprehensive analysis of the ecological effects and potential risks associated with the project is needed. We assessed the hydrological and ecological achievements, and also analyzed the potential problems after the project was completed. We found that since the project began the hydrological regime has changed, with more than 57.82% of the upstream water being discharged to the lower reaches on average. As a result, the groundwater level in the lower reaches has risen; the terminal lake has gradually expanded to a maximum area in excess of 50km 2 since 2010, and there has been a significant recovery of vegetation in the riparian zone and the Ejin core oases, which represents the initial rehabilitation of the degraded downstream environment. Additionally, the economy of Ejin has developed spectacularly, with an annual growth rate of 28.06%. However, in the middle reaches, the average groundwater level has continuously declined by a total of 5.8m and significant degradation of the vegetation has occurred along the river course. The discrepancy in the water allocation between the middle and lower reaches has intensified. This highlights the inability of the current water diversion scheme to realize further ecological restoration and achieve sustainable development throughout the whole basin. In future water management programs, we recommend that water allocation is coordinated by considering the basin as an integrated entity and to scientifically determine the size of the midstream farmland and downstream oasis; restrict non-ecological water use in the lower reaches, and jointly dispatch the surface water and groundwater. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem Services Mapping for Sustainable Agricultural Water Management in California's Central Valley.

PubMed

Matios, Edward; Burney, Jennifer

2017-03-07

Accurate information on agricultural water needs and withdrawals at appropriate spatial and temporal scales remains a key limitation to joint water and land management decision-making. We use InVEST ecosystem service mapping to estimate water yield and water consumption as functions of land use in Fresno County, a key farming region in California's Central Valley. Our calculations show that in recent years (2010-2015), the total annual water yield for the county has varied dramatically from ∼0.97 to 5.37 km 3 (all ±17%; 1 MAF ≈ 1.233 km 3 ), while total annual water consumption has changed over a smaller range, from ∼3.37 to ∼3.98 km 3 (±20%). Almost all of the county's water consumption (∼96% of total use) takes place in Fresno's croplands, with discrepancy between local annual surface water yields and crop needs met by surface water allocations from outside the county and, to a much greater extent, private groundwater irrigation. Our estimates thus bound the amount of groundwater needed to supplement consumption each year (∼1.76 km 3 on average). These results, combined with trends away from field crops and toward orchards and vineyards, suggest that Fresno's land and water management have become increasingly disconnected in recent years, with the harvested area being less available as an adaptive margin to hydrological stress.

A dynamic model of soil salinity and drainage generation in irrigated agriculture: A framework for policy analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinar, Ariel; Aillery, Marcel P.; Moore, Michael R.

1993-06-01

This paper presents a dynamic model of irrigated agriculture that accounts for drainage generation and salinity accumulation. Critical model relationships involving crop production, soil salinity, and irrigation drainage are based on newly estimated functions derived from lysimeter field tests. The model allocates land and water inputs over time based on an intertemporal profit maximization objective function and soil salinity accumulation process. The model is applied to conditions in the San Joaquin Valley of California, where environmental degradation from irrigation drainage has become a policy issue. Findings indicate that in the absence of regulation, drainage volumes increase over time before reaching a steady state as increased quantities of water are allocated to leaching soil salts. The model is used to evaluate alternative drainage abatement scenarios involving drainage quotas and taxes, water supply quotas and taxes, and irrigation technology subsidies. In our example, direct drainage policies are more cost-effective in reducing drainage than policies operating indirectly through surface water use, although differences in cost efficiency are relatively small. In some cases, efforts to control drainage may result in increased soil salinity accumulation, with implications for long-term cropland productivity. While policy adjustments may alter the direction and duration of convergence to a steady state, findings suggest that a dynamic model specification may not be necessary due to rapid convergence to a comon steady state under selected scenarios.

Allometric growth and allocation in forests: a perspective from FLUXNET.

PubMed

Wolf, Adam; Field, Christopher B; Berry, Joseph A

2011-07-01

To develop a scheme for partitioning the products of photosynthesis toward different biomass components in land-surface models, a database on component mass and net primary productivity (NPP), collected from FLUXNET sites, was examined to determine allometric patterns of allocation. We found that NPP per individual of foliage (Gfol), stem and branches (Gstem), coarse roots (Gcroot) and fine roots (Gfroot) in individual trees is largely explained (r2 = 67-91%) by the magnitude of total NPP per individual (G). Gfol scales with G isometrically, meaning it is a fixed fraction of G ( 25%). Root-shoot trade-offs were manifest as a slow decline in Gfroot, as a fraction of G, from 50% to 25% as stands increased in biomass, with Gstem and Gcroot increasing as a consequence. These results indicate that a functional trade-off between aboveground and belowground allocation is essentially captured by variations in G, which itself is largely governed by stand biomass and only secondarily by site-specific resource availability. We argue that forests are characterized by strong competition for light, observed as a race for individual trees to ascend by increasing partitioning toward wood, rather than by growing more leaves, and that this competition stronglyconstrains the allocational plasticity that trees may be capable of. The residual variation in partitioning was not related to climatic or edaphic factors, nor did plots with nutrient or water additions show a pattern of partitioning distinct from that predicted by G alone. These findings leverage short-term process studies of the terrestrial carbon cycle to improve decade-scale predictions of biomass accumulation in forests. An algorithm for calculating partitioning in land-surface models is presented.

Linear Quadratic Tracking Design for a Generic Transport Aircraft with Structural Load Constraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burken, John J.; Frost, Susan A.; Taylor, Brian R.

2011-01-01

When designing control laws for systems with constraints added to the tracking performance, control allocation methods can be utilized. Control allocations methods are used when there are more command inputs than controlled variables. Constraints that require allocators are such task as; surface saturation limits, structural load limits, drag reduction constraints or actuator failures. Most transport aircraft have many actuated surfaces compared to the three controlled variables (such as angle of attack, roll rate & angle of side slip). To distribute the control effort among the redundant set of actuators a fixed mixer approach can be utilized or online control allocation techniques. The benefit of an online allocator is that constraints can be considered in the design whereas the fixed mixer cannot. However, an online control allocator mixer has a disadvantage of not guaranteeing a surface schedule, which can then produce ill defined loads on the aircraft. The load uncertainty and complexity has prevented some controller designs from using advanced allocation techniques. This paper considers actuator redundancy management for a class of over actuated systems with real-time structural load limits using linear quadratic tracking applied to the generic transport model. A roll maneuver example of an artificial load limit constraint is shown and compared to the same no load limitation maneuver.

Motion-Based Piloted Simulation Evaluation of a Control Allocation Technique to Recover from Pilot Induced Oscillations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Craun, Robert W.; Acosta, Diana M.; Beard, Steven D.; Leonard, Michael W.; Hardy, Gordon H.; Weinstein, Michael; Yildiz, Yildiray

2013-01-01

This paper describes the maturation of a control allocation technique designed to assist pilots in the recovery from pilot induced oscillations (PIOs). The Control Allocation technique to recover from Pilot Induced Oscillations (CAPIO) is designed to enable next generation high efficiency aircraft designs. Energy efficient next generation aircraft require feedback control strategies that will enable lowering the actuator rate limit requirements for optimal airframe design. One of the common issues flying with actuator rate limits is PIOs caused by the phase lag between the pilot inputs and control surface response. CAPIO utilizes real-time optimization for control allocation to eliminate phase lag in the system caused by control surface rate limiting. System impacts of the control allocator were assessed through a piloted simulation evaluation of a non-linear aircraft simulation in the NASA Ames Vertical Motion Simulator. Results indicate that CAPIO helps reduce oscillatory behavior, including the severity and duration of PIOs, introduced by control surface rate limiting.

Payments for Ecosystem Services for watershed water resource allocations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Yicheng; Zhang, Jian; Zhang, Chunling; Zang, Wenbin; Guo, Wenxian; Qian, Zhan; Liu, Laisheng; Zhao, Jinyong; Feng, Jian

2018-01-01

Watershed water resource allocation focuses on concrete aspects of the sustainable management of Ecosystem Services (ES) that are related to water and examines the possibility of implementing Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) for water ES. PES can be executed to satisfy both economic and environmental objectives and demands. Considering the importance of calculating PES schemes at the social equity and cooperative game (CG) levels, to quantitatively solve multi-objective problems, a water resources allocation model and multi-objective optimization are provided. The model consists of three modules that address the following processes: ① social equity mechanisms used to study water consumer associations, ② an optimal decision-making process based on variable intervals and CG theory, and ③ the use of Shapley values of CGs for profit maximization. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology for realizing sustainable development was examined. First, an optimization model with water allocation objective was developed based on sustainable water resources allocation framework that maximizes the net benefit of water use. Then, to meet water quality requirements, PES cost was estimated using trade-off curves among different pollution emission concentration permissions. Finally, to achieve equity and supply sufficient incentives for water resources protection, CG theory approaches were utilized to reallocate PES benefits. The potential of the developed model was examined by its application to a case study in the Yongding River watershed of China. Approximately 128 Mm3 of water flowed from the upper reach (Shanxi and Hebei Provinces) sections of the Yongding River to the lower reach (Beijing) in 2013. According to the calculated results, Beijing should pay USD6.31 M (¥39.03 M) for water-related ES to Shanxi and Hebei Provinces. The results reveal that the proposed methodology is an available tool that can be used for sustainable development with resolving PES amounts among different regions under social and environmental constraints by considering the characteristics of social equity and CGs.

The benefit of using additional hydrological information from earth observations and reanalysis data on water allocation decisions in irrigation districts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaune, Alexander; López, Patricia; Werner, Micha; de Fraiture, Charlotte

2017-04-01

Hydrological information on water availability and demand is vital for sound water allocation decisions in irrigation districts, particularly in times of water scarcity. However, sub-optimal water allocation decisions are often taken with incomplete hydrological information, which may lead to agricultural production loss. In this study we evaluate the benefit of additional hydrological information from earth observations and reanalysis data in supporting decisions in irrigation districts. Current water allocation decisions were emulated through heuristic operational rules for water scarce and water abundant conditions in the selected irrigation districts. The Dynamic Water Balance Model based on the Budyko framework was forced with precipitation datasets from interpolated ground measurements, remote sensing and reanalysis data, to determine the water availability for irrigation. Irrigation demands were estimated based on estimates of potential evapotranspiration and coefficient for crops grown, adjusted with the interpolated precipitation data. Decisions made using both current and additional hydrological information were evaluated through the rate at which sub-optimal decisions were made. The decisions made using an amended set of decision rules that benefit from additional information on demand in the districts were also evaluated. Results show that sub-optimal decisions can be reduced in the planning phase through improved estimates of water availability. Where there are reliable observations of water availability through gauging stations, the benefit of the improved precipitation data is found in the improved estimates of demand, equally leading to a reduction of sub-optimal decisions.

A Decision Support System For The Real-Time Allocation Of The Water Resource Of The Tarim River Basin, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, J.; Wang, G.; Liu, R.

2008-12-01

The Tarim River Basin is the longest inland river in China. Due to water scarcity, ecologically-fragile is becoming a significant constraint to sustainable development in this region. To effectively manage the limited water resources for ecological purposes and for conventional water utilization purposes, a real-time water resources allocation Decision Support System (DSS) has been developed. Based on workflows of the water resources regulations and comprehensive analysis of the efficiency and feasibility of water management strategies, the DSS includes information systems that perform data acquisition, management and visualization, and model systems that perform hydrological forecast, water demand prediction, flow routing simulation and water resources optimization of the hydrological and water utilization process. An optimization and process control strategy is employed to dynamically allocate the water resources among the different stakeholders. The competitive targets and constraints are taken into considered by multi-objective optimization and with different priorities. The DSS of the Tarim River Basin has been developed and been successfully utilized to support the water resources management of the Tarim River Basin since 2005.

Dynamic equilibrium strategy for drought emergency temporary water transfer and allocation management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jiuping; Ma, Ning; Lv, Chengwei

2016-08-01

Efficient water transfer and allocation are critical for disaster mitigation in drought emergencies. This is especially important when the different interests of the multiple decision makers and the fluctuating water resource supply and demand simultaneously cause space and time conflicts. To achieve more effective and efficient water transfers and allocations, this paper proposes a novel optimization method with an integrated bi-level structure and a dynamic strategy, in which the bi-level structure works to deal with space dimension conflicts in drought emergencies, and the dynamic strategy is used to deal with time dimension conflicts. Combining these two optimization methods, however, makes calculation complex, so an integrated interactive fuzzy program and a PSO-POA are combined to develop a hybrid-heuristic algorithm. The successful application of the proposed model in a real world case region demonstrates its practicality and efficiency. Dynamic cooperation between multiple reservoirs under the coordination of a global regulator reflects the model's efficiency and effectiveness in drought emergency water transfer and allocation, especially in a fluctuating environment. On this basis, some corresponding management recommendations are proposed to improve practical operations.

Effect of surface sealants on microleakage of Class II restorations after thermocycling and long-term water storage.

PubMed

Lima, Adriano Fonseca; Soares, Giulliana Panfiglio; Vasconcellos, Pedro Henrique; Ambrosano, Gláucia Maria; Marchi, Giselle Maria; Lovadino, José Roberto; Aguiar, Flávio Henrique

2011-06-01

To evaluate interface degradation leading to marginal microleakeage in Class II restorations that had received an application of surface sealant at the tooth/restoration interface or not. Eighty bovine incisors were used, and the teeth were split obliquely, 10 mm from the amelodentinal proximal junction, and finished with water abrasive papers to obtain a smooth, flat incisal surface. Cavities were made to simulate Class II preparations (8 mm high, 4 mm wide and 1.5 mm deep), and the restorations were performed with a composite resin. Teeth were then randomly allocated into 8 groups according to the surface sealant (none, Fortify, Single Bond 2, or Scothbond MP Plus) and aging process (none or thermocycling and storage for 6 months). Microleakage was then evaluated using a dye penetration method immediately after the restoration or after aging. The samples were triturated and assessed by spectrophotometer. Microleakage was statistically similar in all groups when assessed immediately after the restorative procedure. After aging, teeth sealed with Fortify presented better results than the other groups. Aging causes interface degradation and increased microleakage. Surface sealant can reduce these effects and decrease microleakage in Class II restorations.

76 FR 40448 - 2010 Tax Information for Use in the Revenue Shortfall Allocation Method

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-08

... Information for Use in the Revenue Shortfall Allocation Method AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board. ACTION... Railroads (AAR), for use in the Revenue Shortfall Allocation Method (RSAM). DATES: Comments are due by... Allocation Method, EP 646 (Sub-No. 2) (STB served Nov. 21, 2008). RSAM is intended to measure the average...

Estimated anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the land surface of the conterminous United States--1992, 1997, and 2002

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sprague, Lori A.; Gronberg, Jo Ann M.

2013-01-01

Anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus to each county in the conterminous United States and to the watersheds of 495 surface-water sites studied as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program were quantified for the years 1992, 1997, and 2002. Estimates of inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus from biological fixation by crops (for nitrogen only), human consumption, crop production for human consumption, animal production for human consumption, animal consumption, and crop production for animal consumption for each county are provided in a tabular dataset. These county-level estimates were allocated to the watersheds of the surface-water sites to estimate watershed-level inputs from the same sources; these estimates also are provided in a tabular dataset, together with calculated estimates of net import of food and net import of feed and previously published estimates of inputs from atmospheric deposition, fertilizer, and recoverable manure. The previously published inputs are provided for each watershed so that final estimates of total anthropogenic nutrient inputs could be calculated. Estimates of total anthropogenic inputs are presented together with previously published estimates of riverine loads of total nitrogen and total phosphorus for reference.

Simulated effects of groundwater withdrawals from aquifers in Ocean County and vicinity, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cauller, Stephen J.; Voronin, Lois M.; Chepiga, Mary M.

2016-10-21

Rapid population growth since the 1930s in Ocean County and vicinity, New Jersey, has placed increasing demands upon the area’s freshwater resources. To examine effects of groundwater withdrawals, a three-dimensional groundwater-flow model was developed to simulate the groundwater-flow systems of five area aquifers: the unconfined Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system and Vincentown aquifer, and three confined aquifers— the Rio Grande water-bearing zone, the Atlantic City 800-foot sand, and the Piney Point aquifer. The influence of withdrawals is evaluated by using transient groundwater-flow model simulations that incorporate three withdrawal schemes. These are (1) no-withdrawal conditions; (2) 2000–03 withdrawal conditions, using reported monthly withdrawals at all production wells from January 2000 through December 2003; and (3) maximum-allocation withdrawal conditions using the maximum withdrawal allowed by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection permits at each well. Particle tracking analysis, using results from model simulations, delineated particle flow paths from production wells to the point of recharge, and estimated particle travel times.Compared with no-withdrawal conditions, 2000–03 withdrawal conditions reduced the amount of groundwater flow out of the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system into streams, increased the net flow of water into other layers, reduced net flow into or out of storage, and reduced flow from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system to constant head cells.Freshwater discharging to the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary from streams and groundwater is essential to maintaining the ecology of the bay. Examination of selected stress periods indicates that simulated base flow in streams flowing into the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary is reduced by as much as 49 cubic feet per second for 2000 to 2003 withdrawal conditions when compared with no-withdrawal conditions.In the three confined aquifers, water levels during periods of low recharge and high withdrawals, and high recharge and low withdrawals, were examined to determine seasonal effects on the confined flow systems. The simulated potentiometric surface of the Rio Grande water-bearing zone and the Atlantic City 800-foot sand during selected stress periods indicates substantial declines from no-withdrawal conditions to 2000–03 conditions as a result of groundwater withdrawals. Cones of depression in Toms River Township, Seaside Heights and Seaside Park Boroughs, and Barnegat Light Borough developed in the potentiometric surface of the Piney Point aquifer in response to withdrawals.Maximum-allocation withdrawals decreased flow out of the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system to constant head cells, increased flow out of the aquifer system to adjacent and lower layers, and reduced groundwater discharge to streams when compared with 2000–03 withdrawal conditions. Increases in withdrawals from the Rio Grande water-bearing zone, the Atlantic City 800-foot sand, and the Piney Point aquifer result in an increase in simulated net groundwater flow into these aquifers. Base-flow reduction from 2000–03 conditions to maximum-allocation conditions of 25 to 29 cubic feet per second in all streams draining to the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor also is indicated. Potentiometric surfaces of the Rio Grande water-bearing zone, Atlantic City 800-foot sand, and the Piney Point aquifer during two stress periods of simulated maximum-allocation withdrawal conditions indicated the expansion of several cones of depression developed during 2000–03 withdrawals.Simulation of average 2000–03 withdrawal conditions indicated the extent to which the groundwater-flow system is susceptible to potential saltwater intrusion into near-shore wells. Travel time from recharge to discharge location ranged from 11 to approximately 50,700 years in near-shore Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system wells. Those in Seaside Heights Borough, in Island Beach State Park (Berkeley Township), and in Ship Bottom Borough have particle travel times from 140 to 12,000 years and flow paths that originated under Barnegat Bay or the Atlantic Ocean from the simulation of average maximum-allocation withdrawal conditions.Travel time along flow paths to wells screened in the Rio Grande water-bearing zone and the Atlantic City 800-foot sand from recharge to discharge point ranged from nearly 530 years to greater than 3.73 million years from the simulation of average 2000–03 withdrawal conditions. Particle tracking indicated that most wells screened in these aquifers derived a large part of their recharge from the Oswego River Basin, with a small portion of flow originating either beneath Barnegat Bay or to the east beneath the Atlantic Ocean. Travel time along flow paths that start beneath either Barnegat Bay or the Atlantic Ocean ranged from 2,300 to approximately 134,000 years from the simulation of average maximum-allocation withdrawal conditions."

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA: A sunbelt city rapidly outgrowing its aquifer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Turin, H.J.; Gaume, A.N.; Bitner, M.J.

1997-02-01

Albuquerque, New Mexico, is located along the Rio Grande in central New Mexico, at an elevation of 5280 feet. Albuquerque`s climate reflects its high desert setting; average annual precipitation in the basin is only 8 to 10 inches. The Albuquerque metropolitan area is part of the rapidly growing {open_quotes}sunbelt{close_quotes} region of the southwestern United States and is undergoing rapid development. The municipal, industrial, and residential water needs of the entire population are currently met by groundwater, while agricultural needs within the basin are met by surface water diverted from the Rio Grande. While the city is blessed with an extremelymore » productive aquifer, current metropolitan area annual groundwater extractions of 170,000 acre-feet far exceed the sustainable yield of the aquifer. Continued drawdown will lead to greater pumping costs, ground surface subsidence problems, and eventual aquifer depletion. At the same time, industrial and non-point-source contamination and naturally occurring arsenic levels are raising concerns about groundwater quality. New Mexico water law has required the City to acquire surface water rights and allocations on the Rio Grande sufficient to offset estimated losses from the river induced by the City`s groundwater extraction. It has become increasingly clear that the induced recharge had been greatly overestimated, and that the City is thus not actually consuming its surface water as intended. The City, in cooperation with local, state, and federal agencies, has explored a variety of conjunctive use proposals, all designed to permit the City to use its surface water more directly. The City Council is presently considering a strategy calling for full use of the city`s surface water resources and creation of a groundwater drought reserve. Implementation of this strategy will require regulatory approval and major capital investment, both of which require political support.« less

Establishing Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Wasteload Allocations (WLAs) for Storm Water Sources and NPDES Permit Requirements Based on Those WLAs

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The memoranda clarify existing EPA regulatory requirements for, and provide guidance on, establishing wasteload allocations (WLAs) for storm water discharges in total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) approved or established by EPA.

Water Use for Unconventional Energy Development: How Much, What Kind, and to What Reaction?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grubert, E.

2017-12-01

Water resources—access to water, protection of water, and allocation of water in particular—are a major priority for Americans, but water use for the energy sector has not previously been well characterized. Water use and management associated with unconventional energy development is of special interest, in part because it is often new to the locations and contexts where it occurs. This presentation focuses on three major questions about water use for unconventional energy development, drawing on both engineering and anthropological research. First, using results from a recent study of water use for energy in the entire United States, how much water does the US use for unconventional energy resources, and how does that compare with water use for more mature fuel cycles? Second, based on that same study, what kind of water is used for these unconventional energy resource fuel cycles? Specifically, where does the water come from, and what is its quality? Finally, drawing on recent case studies in the US and elsewhere, what has the reaction been to these water uses, and why does that matter? Case studies focused on oil and natural gas resources illustrate societal reactions to issues of both water management, particularly related to induced seismicity associated with produced water injection, and water allocation, particularly related to hydraulic fracturing. Overall, recent work finds that public concern about water used for unconventional energy resources is often better explained by observed or anticipated local impacts and the uncertainty surrounding these impacts than by specifics about quantities, allocation, and management techniques. This work provides both quantitative and qualitative characterization of water management and allocation for unconventional energy development.

Optimality versus stability in water resource allocation.

PubMed

Read, Laura; Madani, Kaveh; Inanloo, Bahareh

2014-01-15

Water allocation is a growing concern in a developing world where limited resources like fresh water are in greater demand by more parties. Negotiations over allocations often involve multiple groups with disparate social, economic, and political status and needs, who are seeking a management solution for a wide range of demands. Optimization techniques for identifying the Pareto-optimal (social planner solution) to multi-criteria multi-participant problems are commonly implemented, although often reaching agreement for this solution is difficult. In negotiations with multiple-decision makers, parties who base decisions on individual rationality may find the social planner solution to be unfair, thus creating a need to evaluate the willingness to cooperate and practicality of a cooperative allocation solution, i.e., the solution's stability. This paper suggests seeking solutions for multi-participant resource allocation problems through an economics-based power index allocation method. This method can inform on allocation schemes that quantify a party's willingness to participate in a negotiation rather than opt for no agreement. Through comparison of the suggested method with a range of distance-based multi-criteria decision making rules, namely, least squares, MAXIMIN, MINIMAX, and compromise programming, this paper shows that optimality and stability can produce different allocation solutions. The mismatch between the socially-optimal alternative and the most stable alternative can potentially result in parties leaving the negotiation as they may be too dissatisfied with their resource share. This finding has important policy implications as it justifies why stakeholders may not accept the socially optimal solution in practice, and underlies the necessity of considering stability where it may be more appropriate to give up an unstable Pareto-optimal solution for an inferior stable one. Authors suggest assessing the stability of an allocation solution as an additional component to an analysis that seeks to distribute water in a negotiated process. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimizing multiple reliable forward contracts for reservoir allocation using multitime scale streamflow forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Mengqian; Lall, Upmanu; Robertson, Andrew W.; Cook, Edward

2017-03-01

Streamflow forecasts at multiple time scales provide a new opportunity for reservoir management to address competing objectives. Market instruments such as forward contracts with specified reliability are considered as a tool that may help address the perceived risk associated with the use of such forecasts in lieu of traditional operation and allocation strategies. A water allocation process that enables multiple contracts for water supply and hydropower production with different durations, while maintaining a prescribed level of flood risk reduction, is presented. The allocation process is supported by an optimization model that considers multitime scale ensemble forecasts of monthly streamflow and flood volume over the upcoming season and year, the desired reliability and pricing of proposed contracts for hydropower and water supply. It solves for the size of contracts at each reliability level that can be allocated for each future period, while meeting target end of period reservoir storage with a prescribed reliability. The contracts may be insurable, given that their reliability is verified through retrospective modeling. The process can allow reservoir operators to overcome their concerns as to the appropriate skill of probabilistic forecasts, while providing water users with short-term and long-term guarantees as to how much water or energy they may be allocated. An application of the optimization model to the Bhakra Dam, India, provides an illustration of the process. The issues of forecast skill and contract performance are examined. A field engagement of the idea is useful to develop a real-world perspective and needs a suitable institutional environment.

Multi-objective analysis of the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater in a multisource water supply system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieira, João; da Conceição Cunha, Maria

2017-04-01

A multi-objective decision model has been developed to identify the Pareto-optimal set of management alternatives for the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater of a multisource urban water supply system. A multi-objective evolutionary algorithm, Borg MOEA, is used to solve the multi-objective decision model. The multiple solutions can be shown to stakeholders allowing them to choose their own solutions depending on their preferences. The multisource urban water supply system studied here is dependent on surface water and groundwater and located in the Algarve region, southernmost province of Portugal, with a typical warm Mediterranean climate. The rainfall is low, intermittent and concentrated in a short winter, followed by a long and dry period. A base population of 450 000 inhabitants and visits by more than 13 million tourists per year, mostly in summertime, turns water management critical and challenging. Previous studies on single objective optimization after aggregating multiple objectives together have already concluded that only an integrated and interannual water resources management perspective can be efficient for water resource allocation in this drought prone region. A simulation model of the multisource urban water supply system using mathematical functions to represent the water balance in the surface reservoirs, the groundwater flow in the aquifers, and the water transport in the distribution network with explicit representation of water quality is coupled with Borg MOEA. The multi-objective problem formulation includes five objectives. Two objective evaluate separately the water quantity and the water quality supplied for the urban use in a finite time horizon, one objective calculates the operating costs, and two objectives appraise the state of the two water sources - the storage in the surface reservoir and the piezometric levels in aquifer - at the end of the time horizon. The decision variables are the volume of withdrawals from each water source in each time step (i.e., reservoir diversion and groundwater pumping). The results provide valuable information for analysing the impacts of the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater. For example, considering a drought scenario, the results show how the same level of total water supplied can be achieved by different management alternatives with different impact on the water quality, costs, and the state of the water sources at the end of the time horizon. The results allow also the clear understanding of the potential benefits from the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater thorough the mitigation of the variation in the availability of surface water, improving the water quantity and/or water quality delivered to the users, or the better adaptation of such systems to a changing world.

Cost Allocation of Multiagency Water Resource Projects: Game Theoretic Approaches and Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lejano, Raul P.; Davos, Climis A.

1995-05-01

Water resource projects are often jointly carried out by a number of communities and agencies. Participation in a joint project depends on how costs are allocated among the participants and how cost shares compare with the cost of independent projects. Cooperative N-person game theory offers approaches which yield cost allocations that satisfy rationality conditions favoring participation. A new solution concept, the normalized nucleolus, is discussed and applied to a water reuse project in southern California. Results obtained with the normalized nucleolus are compared with those derived with more traditional solution concepts, namely, the nucleolus and the Shapley value.

Active control using control allocation for UAVs with seamless morphing wing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zheng-jie; Sun, Yin-di; Yang, Da-qing; Guo, Shi-jun

2012-04-01

In this paper, a small seamless morphing wing aircraft of MTOW=51 kg is investigated. The leading edge (LE) and trailing edge (TE) control surfaces are positioned in the wing section in span wise. Based on the studying results of aeroelastic wing characteristics, the controller should be designed depending on the flight speed. Compared with a wing of rigid hinged aileron, the morphing wing produces the rolling moment by deflecting the flexible TE and LE surfaces. An iteration method of pseudo-inverse allocation and quadratic programming allocation within the constraints of actuators have be investigated to solve the nonlinear control allocation caused by the aerodynamics of the effectors. The simulation results will show that the control method based on control allocation can achieve the control target.

Active control using control allocation for UAVs with seamless morphing wing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zheng-jie; Sun, Yin-di; Yang, Da-qing; Guo, Shi-jun

2011-11-01

In this paper, a small seamless morphing wing aircraft of MTOW=51 kg is investigated. The leading edge (LE) and trailing edge (TE) control surfaces are positioned in the wing section in span wise. Based on the studying results of aeroelastic wing characteristics, the controller should be designed depending on the flight speed. Compared with a wing of rigid hinged aileron, the morphing wing produces the rolling moment by deflecting the flexible TE and LE surfaces. An iteration method of pseudo-inverse allocation and quadratic programming allocation within the constraints of actuators have be investigated to solve the nonlinear control allocation caused by the aerodynamics of the effectors. The simulation results will show that the control method based on control allocation can achieve the control target.

Studying the effect on system preference by varying coproduct allocation in creating life-cycle inventory.

PubMed

Curran, Mary Ann

2007-10-15

How one models the input and output data for a life-cycle assessment (LCA) can greatly affect the results. Although much attention has been paid to allocation methodology by researchers in the field, specific guidance is still lacking: Earlier research focused on the effects of applying various allocation schemes to industrial processes when creating life-cycle inventories. To determine the impact of different allocation approaches upon product choice, this study evaluated the gas- and water-phase emissions during the production, distribution, and use of three hypothetical fuel systems (data that represent conventional gasoline and gasoline with 8.7 and 85% ethanol were used as the basis for modeling). This paper presents an explanation of the allocation issue and the results from testing various allocation schemes (weight, volume, market value, energy, and demand-based) when viewed across the entire system. Impact indicators for global warming, ozone depletion, and human health noncancer (water impact) were lower for the ethanol-containing fuels, while impact indicators for acidification, ecotoxicity, eutrophication, human health criteria, and photochemical smog were lower for conventional gasoline (impacts for the water-related human health cancer category showed mixed results). The relative ranking of conventional gasoline in relation to the ethanol-containing fuels was consistent in all instances, suggesting that, in this case study, the choice of allocation methodology had no impact on indicating which fuel has lower environmental impacts.

Coupled SWAT-MODFLOW Model Development for Large Basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aliyari, F.; Bailey, R. T.; Tasdighi, A.

2017-12-01

Water management in semi-arid river basins requires allocating water resources between urban, industrial, energy, and agricultural sectors, with the latter competing for necessary irrigation water to sustain crop yield. Competition between these sectors will intensify due to changes in climate and population growth. In this study, the recently developed SWAT-MODFLOW coupled hydrologic model is modified for application in a large managed river basin that provides both surface water and groundwater resources for urban and agricultural areas. Specific modifications include the linkage of groundwater pumping and irrigation practices and code changes to allow for the large number of SWAT hydrologic response units (HRU) required for a large river basin. The model is applied to the South Platte River Basin (SPRB), a 56,980 km2 basin in northeastern Colorado dominated by large urban areas along the front range of the Rocky Mountains and agriculture regions to the east. Irregular seasonal and annual precipitation and 150 years of urban and agricultural water management history in the basin provide an ideal test case for the SWAT-MODFLOW model. SWAT handles land surface and soil zone processes whereas MODFLOW handles groundwater flow and all sources and sinks (pumping, injection, bedrock inflow, canal seepage, recharge areas, groundwater/surface water interaction), with recharge and stream stage provided by SWAT. The model is tested against groundwater levels, deep percolation estimates, and stream discharge. The model will be used to quantify spatial groundwater vulnerability in the basin under scenarios of climate change and population growth.

Mind the Roots: Phenotyping Below-Ground Crop Diversity and Its Influence on Final Yield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nieters, C.; Guadagno, C. R.; Lemli, S.; Hosseini, A.; Ewers, B. E.

2017-12-01

Changes in global climate patterns and water regimes are having profound impacts on worldwide crop production. An ever-growing population paired with increasing temperatures and unpredictable periods of severe drought call for accurate modeling of future crop yield. Although novel approaches are being developed in high-throughput, above-ground image phenotyping, the below-ground plant system is still poorly phenotyped. Collection of plant root morphology and hydraulics are needed to inform mathematical models to reliably estimate yields of crops grown in sub-optimal conditions. We used Brassica rapa to inform our model as it is a globally cultivated crop with several functionally diverse cultivars. Specifically, we use 7 different accessions from oilseed (R500 and Yellow Sarson), leafy type (Pac choi and Chinese cabbage), a vegetable turnip, and two Wisconsin Fast Plants (Imb211 and Fast Plant self-compatible), which have shorter life cycles and potentially large differences in allocation to roots. Bi-weekly, we harvested above and below-ground biomass to compare the varieties in terms of carbon allocation throughout their life cycle. Using WinRhizo software, we analyzed root system length and surface area to compare and contrast root morphology among cultivars. Our results confirm that root structural characteristics are crucial to explain plant water use and carbon allocation. The root:shoot ratio reveals a significant (p < 0.01) difference among crop accession. To validate the procedure across different varieties and life stages we also compared surface area results from the image-based technology to dry biomass finding a strong linear relationship (R2= 0.85). To assess the influence of a diverse above-ground morphology on the root system we also measured above-ground anatomical and physiological traits such as gas exchange, chlorophyll content, and chlorophyll a fluorescence. A thorough analysis of the root system will clarify carbon dynamics and hydraulics at the whole-plant level, improving final yield predictions.

August 2015 Proposed Total Maximum Daily Load Document and Appendices for Vermont Segments of Lake Champlain

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

These documents provide allocations of phosphorus loads to Lake Champlain to meet water quality criteria, describe basis for allocation for future growth, & describe how implementation measures were simulated to determine that allocations can be achieved

Implementation of MAR within the Rio Grande Basin of Central New Mexico, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marley, Robert; Blandford, T. Neil; Ewing, Amy; Webb, Larry; Yuhas, Katherine

2014-05-01

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has identified the Rio Grande basin within Central New Mexico as one of several regions where water supplies are over-allocated and future conflicts over the inadequate resource are highly likely. Local water providers have consistently identified managed aquifer recharge (MAR) as an important tool to provide conjunctive management of surface-water, groundwater, and reclaimed water sources in order to extend the useful life of existing water sources. However, MAR projects have been slow to take root partly due to rigorous demonstration requirements, groundwater quality protection concerns, and ongoing water right uncertainties. At first glance the several thousand meters of unconsolidated basin-fill sediments hosting the regional aquifer appear to provide an ideal environment for the subsurface storage of surplus water. However, the basin has a complex structural and depositional history that impacts the siting and overall effectiveness of MAR systems. Several recharge projects are now in various stages of implementation and are overcoming site specific challenges including source water and ambient groundwater compatibility, low-permeability sediments and compartmentalization of the aquifer by extensive faulting, well clogging, and overall water quality management. This presentation will highlight ongoing efforts of these water providers to develop full-scale recharge facilities. The performance of natural in-channel infiltration, engineered infiltration galleries, and direct injection systems designed to introduce from 500 to 5,000 mega-liters per annum to target intervals present from 150 to 600 meters below ground surface will be described. Source waters for recharge operations include inter-basin transferred surface water and highly treated reclaimed water sources requiring from minor to extensive treatment pre-recharge and post-recovery. Operational complexities have raised concerns related to long-term operation and maintenance and overall economic sustainability of these projects. Further, potential reduction in surface water return flows as a result of recharge operations and impacts to other water users during recovery of the stored water must be considered. Proposed rules for long-term storage, estimating water losses, and eventual water recovery as they relate to water rights administration within stream-connected aquifer systems will also be outlined during the presentation.

Options and Consequences: Water Banking/Leasing Issues Explored for the Rio Grande in Southern New Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brookshire, D. S.; Coursey, D.; Dimint, A.; Tidwell, V.

2004-12-01

Since 1950, the demand for water has more than doubled in the United States. Historically, growing demands have been met by increasing reservoir capacity and through groundwater mining, often at the expense of environmental and cultural concerns. The future is expected to hold much the same. Demand for water will continue to increase particularly in response to the expanding urban sector, while growing concerns over the environment are prompting interest in allocating more water for in-stream uses. So, where will this water come from? Virtually all water supplies are allocated. Providing for new uses requires a reduction in the amount of water dedicated to existing uses. The water banking/leasing model is formulated within a system dynamics context using the object oriented commercial software package, Powersimä Studio 2003. System dynamics provides a unique mathematical framework for integrating the natural and social processes important to managing natural resources and can provide an interactive interface for engaging the public in the decision process. These system level models focus on capturing the broad structure of the system, specifically the feedback and time delays between interacting subsystems. The spatially aggregated models are computationally efficient allowing simulations to be conducted on a PC in a matter of seconds to minutes. By employing interactive interfaces, these models can be taken directly to the public or decision maker. To demonstrate the water banking/leasing model, application has been made to potential markets on the Rio Grande. Specifically, the model spans the reach between Elephant Butte Reservoir (central New Mexico) and the New Mexico/Texas state line. Primary sectors in the model include climate, surface and groundwater, riparian and aquatic habitat, watershed processes, water quality, water demand (residential, commercial, industrial, institution, and agricultural), economics, policy, and legal institutions. Within the model the basin is divided into four distinct but interacting reaches and a monthly time-step is employed. River operations and water demand trends have been calibrated to historical data.

Quantification and Multi-purpose Allocation of Water Resources in a Dual-reservoir System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salami, Y. D.

2017-12-01

Transboundary rivers that run through separate water management jurisdictions sometimes experience competitive water usage. Where the river has multiple existing or planned dams along its course, quantification and efficient allocation of water for such purposes as hydropower generation, irrigation for agriculture, and water supply can be a challenge. This problem is even more pronounced when large parts of the river basin are located in semi-arid regions known for water insecurity, poor crop yields from irrigation scheme failures, and human population displacement arising from water-related conflict. This study seeks to mitigate the impacts of such factors on the Kainji-Jebba dual-reservoir system located along the Niger River in Africa by seasonally quantifying and efficiently apportioning water to all stipulated uses of both dams thereby improving operational policy and long-term water security. Historical storage fluctuations (18 km3 to 5 km3) and flows into and out of both reservoirs were analyzed for relationships to such things as surrounding catchment contribution, dam operational policies, irrigation and hydropower requirements, etc. Optimum values of the aforementioned parameters were then determined by simulations based upon hydrological contributions and withdrawals and worst case scenarios of natural and anthropogenic conditions (like annual probability of reservoir depletion) affecting water availability and allocation. Finally, quantification and optimized allocation of water was done based on needs for hydropower, irrigation for agriculture, water supply, and storage evacuation for flood control. Results revealed that water supply potential increased by 69%, average agricultural yield improved by 36%, and hydropower generation increased by 54% and 66% at the upstream and downstream dams respectively. Lessons learned from this study may help provide a robust and practical means of water resources management in similar river basins and multi-reservoir systems.

A generalized fuzzy credibility-constrained linear fractional programming approach for optimal irrigation water allocation under uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chenglong; Guo, Ping

2017-10-01

The vague and fuzzy parametric information is a challenging issue in irrigation water management problems. In response to this problem, a generalized fuzzy credibility-constrained linear fractional programming (GFCCFP) model is developed for optimal irrigation water allocation under uncertainty. The model can be derived from integrating generalized fuzzy credibility-constrained programming (GFCCP) into a linear fractional programming (LFP) optimization framework. Therefore, it can solve ratio optimization problems associated with fuzzy parameters, and examine the variation of results under different credibility levels and weight coefficients of possibility and necessary. It has advantages in: (1) balancing the economic and resources objectives directly; (2) analyzing system efficiency; (3) generating more flexible decision solutions by giving different credibility levels and weight coefficients of possibility and (4) supporting in-depth analysis of the interrelationships among system efficiency, credibility level and weight coefficient. The model is applied to a case study of irrigation water allocation in the middle reaches of Heihe River Basin, northwest China. Therefore, optimal irrigation water allocation solutions from the GFCCFP model can be obtained. Moreover, factorial analysis on the two parameters (i.e. λ and γ) indicates that the weight coefficient is a main factor compared with credibility level for system efficiency. These results can be effective for support reasonable irrigation water resources management and agricultural production.

Evaluation of Water Rights to Reveal Hidden Patterns and Trends in Water Resources Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grantham, T.; Viers, J. H.

2013-12-01

California's current water management challenges are strongly influenced by the legacy of 19th century legal doctrines, which aim to maximize the appropriation of available water for human uses and benefits. As a consequence and over time, most of the water flowing through the state's rivers and streams has been dedicated through water rights to human uses, limiting potential for sustainable water management and climate change adaptation. This history is recorded in a database of water rights, which contains approximately 50,000 records of diversion and storage projects dating from the early 19th century to the present day. Although water rights records are rarely considered in regional water budgeting, information on the location, age, purpose, and face values of water rights offer insight into the spatial and temporal dimensions of water-use pressures and can be used to identify opportunities for management interventions. Using the state water rights database, we calculated cumulative face-value rights at the HUC12-watershed scale and compared water appropriation volumes with modeled predictions of surface water availability. Total annual allocations of current water rights exceed 340 million-acre feet (4 x 1011 m3), approximately five times the state's mean annual runoff. The total volume of face-value water rights is 25 to 1,000% of annual water availability in major river basins (greater than 400 km2), with the greatest degree of appropriation observed in tributaries to the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and coastal streams in southern California. Trends in water rights appropriation since 1900 indicate periods of rapid demand growth between 1925-1940, 1950-1960, and 1975-1985, which mirror major dam building eras. We illustrate how information on the spatial distribution of water rights, appropriation volumes, and priority of use, can guide strategic planning for re-allocating water for environmental benefits and other management objectives. We also describe how this effort can improve reporting and processing of, and access to, state water rights data for improved decision-making and management of water resources.

Water resources planning and management : A stochastic dual dynamic programming approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goor, Q.; Pinte, D.; Tilmant, A.

2008-12-01

Allocating water between different users and uses, including the environment, is one of the most challenging task facing water resources managers and has always been at the heart of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). As water scarcity is expected to increase over time, allocation decisions among the different uses will have to be found taking into account the complex interactions between water and the economy. Hydro-economic optimization models can capture those interactions while prescribing efficient allocation policies. Many hydro-economic models found in the literature are formulated as large-scale non linear optimization problems (NLP), seeking to maximize net benefits from the system operation while meeting operational and/or institutional constraints, and describing the main hydrological processes. However, those models rarely incorporate the uncertainty inherent to the availability of water, essentially because of the computational difficulties associated stochastic formulations. The purpose of this presentation is to present a stochastic programming model that can identify economically efficient allocation policies in large-scale multipurpose multireservoir systems. The model is based on stochastic dual dynamic programming (SDDP), an extension of traditional SDP that is not affected by the curse of dimensionality. SDDP identify efficient allocation policies while considering the hydrologic uncertainty. The objective function includes the net benefits from the hydropower and irrigation sectors, as well as penalties for not meeting operational and/or institutional constraints. To be able to implement the efficient decomposition scheme that remove the computational burden, the one-stage SDDP problem has to be a linear program. Recent developments improve the representation of the non-linear and mildly non- convex hydropower function through a convex hull approximation of the true hydropower function. This model is illustrated on a cascade of 14 reservoirs on the Nile river basin.

Assessing Cumulative Impacts of Coal Bed Methane Development on Surface Water Quality and its Suitability for Irrigation in the Powder River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawson, H. E.

2003-12-01

This paper presents a mass balance approach to assessing the cumulative impacts of discharge from Coal Bed Methane (CBM) wells on surface water quality and its suitability for irrigation in the Powder River Basin. Key water quality parameters for predicting potential effects of CBM development on irrigated agriculture are sodicity, expressed as sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and salinity, expressed as electrical conductivity (EC). The assessment was performed with the aid of a spreadsheet model, which was designed to estimate steady-state SAR and EC at gauged stream locations after mixing with CBM produced water. Model input included ambient stream water quality and flow, CBM produced water quality and discharge rates, conveyance loss (quantity of water loss that may occur between the discharge point and the receiving streams), beneficial uses, regulatory thresholds, and discharge allocation at state-line boundaries. Historical USGS data were used to establish ambient stream water quality and flow conditions. The resultant water quality predicted for each stream station included the cumulative discharge of CBM produced water in all reaches upstream of the station. Model output was presented in both tabular and graphical formats, and indicated the suitability of pre- and post-mixing water quality for irrigation. Advantages and disadvantages of the spreadsheet model are discussed. This approach was used by federal agencies to support the development of the January 2003 Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for the Wyoming and Montana portions of the Powder River Basin.

Biomass Allocation of Stoloniferous and Rhizomatous Plant in Response to Resource Availability: A Phylogenetic Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Xie, Xiu-Fang; Hu, Yu-Kun; Pan, Xu; Liu, Feng-Hong; Song, Yao-Bin; Dong, Ming

2016-01-01

Resource allocation to different functions is central in life-history theory. Plasticity of functional traits allows clonal plants to regulate their resource allocation to meet changing environments. In this study, biomass allocation traits of clonal plants were categorized into absolute biomass for vegetative growth vs. for reproduction, and their relative ratios based on a data set including 115 species and derived from 139 published literatures. We examined general pattern of biomass allocation of clonal plants in response to availabilities of resource (e.g., light, nutrients, and water) using phylogenetic meta-analysis. We also tested whether the pattern differed among clonal organ types (stolon vs. rhizome). Overall, we found that stoloniferous plants were more sensitive to light intensity than rhizomatous plants, preferentially allocating biomass to vegetative growth, aboveground part and clonal reproduction under shaded conditions. Under nutrient- and water-poor condition, rhizomatous plants were constrained more by ontogeny than by resource availability, preferentially allocating biomass to belowground part. Biomass allocation between belowground and aboveground part of clonal plants generally supported the optimal allocation theory. No general pattern of trade-off was found between growth and reproduction, and neither between sexual and clonal reproduction. Using phylogenetic meta-analysis can avoid possible confounding effects of phylogeny on the results. Our results shown the optimal allocation theory explained a general trend, which the clonal plants are able to plastically regulate their biomass allocation, to cope with changing resource availability, at least in stoloniferous and rhizomatous plants. PMID:27200071

The Advanced Surface Force Fleet: A Proposal for an Alternate Surface Force Structure and Its Impact in the Asian Pacific Theater

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

B. THE PROSPECTIVE 2040 7TH FLEET FORCES Based on the current and planned naval forces allocated to 7th Fleet, it is assumed that the Navy’s 2040...approximately 15 percent of The Advanced Surface Force Fleet, or 20 ships, are allocated to 7th Fleet. Furthermore, 12 of The Advanced Surface...production, personnel support for cleanup and recovery efforts, berthing capability, and medical support.90 After determining the critical missions

Improved ant colony optimization for optimal crop and irrigation water allocation by incorporating domain knowledge

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

An improved ant colony optimization (ACO) formulation for the allocation of crops and water to different irrigation areas is developed. The formulation enables dynamic adjustment of decision variable options and makes use of visibility factors (VFs, the domain knowledge that can be used to identify ...

Simulating Energy, Water and Carbon Fluxes at the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beltran-Przekurat, A. B.; Pielke, R. A.; Morgan, J. A.; Burke, I. C.

2005-12-01

Coupled atmospheric-biospheric models are a particularly valuable tool for studying the potential effects of land-use and land-cover changes on the near-surface atmosphere since the atmosphere and biosphere are allowed to dynamically interact through the surface and canopy energy balance. GEMRAMS is a coupled atmospheric-biospheric model comprised of an atmospheric model, RAMS, and an ecophysiological process-based model, GEMTM. In the first part of this study, the soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer (SVAT) scheme, LEAF2, from RAMS, coupled with GEMTM, are used to simulate energy, water and carbon fluxes over different cropping systems (winter wheat and irrigated corn) and over a mixed C3/C4 shortgrass prairie located at the USDA-ARS Central Plains Experimental Range near Nunn, Colorado, the LTER Shortgrass Steppe site. The new SVAT scheme, GEMLEAF, is forced with air temperature and humidity, wind speed and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). Calculated canopy temperature and relative humidity, soil moisture and temperature and PAR are used to compute sunlit/shaded leaf photosynthesis (for C3 and C4 plant types) and respiration. Photosynthate is allocated to leaves, shoots, roots and reproductive organs with variable partition coefficients, which are functions of soil water conditions. As water stress increases, the fraction of photosynthate allocated to root growth increases. Leaf area index (LAI) is estimated from daily leaf biomass growth, using the vegetation-prescribed specific leaf area. Canopy conductance, computed and based on photosynthesis and relative humidity, is used to calculate latent heat flux. Simulated energy and CO2 fluxes are compared to observations collected using Bowen ratio flux towers during two growing seasons. Seasonality of the fluxes reflecting different plant phenologies agrees well with the observed patterns. In the second part of this study, simulations for two clear days are performed with GEMRAMS over a model domain centered at the SGS site. Simulated spatial differences in the energy fluxes can be associated with the highly heterogeneous landscape in this area.

From Global Reconnaissance to Sample Return: A Proposal for a Post-2009 Strategy to Follow the Water on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clifford, S. M.; George, J. A.; Stoker, C. R.; Briggs, G.

2003-01-01

Since the mid-1990's, the stated strategy of the Mars Exploration Program has been to Follow the Water. Although this strategy has been widely publicized, its degree of influence -- and the logic behind its current implementation (as reflected in mission planning, platform and instrument selection, and allocation of spacecraft resources) remains unclear. In response to this concern, we propose an integrated strategy for the post-2009 exploration of Mars that identifies the scientific objectives, rationale, sequence of missions, and specific investigations, that we believe provides the maximum possible science return by pursuing the most direct, cost-effective, and technically capable approach to following the water. This strategy is based on the orbital identification, high-resolution surface investigation, and ultimate sampling of the highest priority targets: near-surface liquid water and massive ground ice (potentially associated with the discharge of the outlflow channels or the relic of a former ocean). The analysis of such samples, in conjunction with the data acquired by the necessary precursor investigations (to identify the locations and characterize the environments of the optimum sampling sites), is expected to address a majority of the goals and high priority science objectives identified by MEPAG.

Unchartered innovation? Local reforms of national formal water management in the Mkoji sub-catchment, Tanzania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehari, Abraham; Koppen, Barbara Van; McCartney, Matthew; Lankford, Bruce

Tanzania is currently attempting to improve water resources management through formal water rights and water fees systems, and formal institutions. The water rights system is expected to facilitate water allocation. The water fees system aims at cost-recovery for water resources management services. To enhance community involvement in water management, Water User Associations (WUAs) are being established and, in areas with growing upstream-downstream conflicts, apex bodies of all users along the stressed river stretch. The Mkoji sub-catchment (MSC) in the Rufiji basin is one of the first where these formal water management systems are being attempted. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of these systems in the light of their expected merits and the consequences of the juxtaposition of contemporary laws with traditional approaches. The study employed mainly qualitative, but also quantitative approaches on social and technical variables. Major findings were: (1) a good mix of formal (water fees and WUAs) and traditional (rotation-based water sharing, the Zamu) systems improved village-level water management services and reduced intra-scheme conflicts; (2) the water rights system has not brought abstractions into line with allocations and (3) so far, the MSC Apex body failed to mitigate inter-scheme conflicts. A more sophisticated design of allocation infrastructure and institutions is recommended.

The relationship between prevalence of active trachoma, water availability and its use in a Tanzanian village.

PubMed

Polack, Sarah; Kuper, Hannah; Solomon, Anthony W; Massae, Patrick A; Abuelo, Carolina; Cameron, Ewen; Valdmanis, Vivian; Mahande, Michael; Foster, Allen; Mabey, David

2006-11-01

This study aimed to establish the relationship between the prevalence of active trachoma in children, water availability and household water use in a village in Tanzania. Nine hundred and fourteen children aged 1-9 years were examined for signs of trachoma. Data were collected on time taken to collect water, amount of water collected and other trachoma risk factors. In a sub-study, 99 randomly selected households were visited twice daily on two consecutive days to document patterns of water use. The prevalence of active trachoma in the children examined was 18.4% (95% CI 15.9-20.9). Active trachoma prevalence increased with increasing water collection time (OR 2.25; 95% CI 1.13-4.46) but was unrelated to the amount of water collected. In the sub-study, active trachoma prevalence was substantially lower in children from households where more water was used for personal hygiene (P for trend < or =0.01), independent of the total amount of water used. The allocation of water to hygiene was predicted by lower water collection time. The key element in the relationship between water availability and trachoma is the allocation of water within households. Collection time may influence both the quantity of water collected and its allocation within the household.

A decision support system to find the best water allocation strategies in a Mediterranean river basin in future scenarios of global change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Vasto-Terrientes, L.; Kumar, V.; Chao, T.-C.; Valls, A.

2016-03-01

Global change refers to climate changes, but also demographic, technological and economic changes. Predicted water scarcity will be critical in the coastal Mediterranean region, especially for provision to mid-sized and large-sized cities. This paper studies the case of the city of Tarragona, located at the Mediterranean area of north-eastern Spain (Catalonia). Several scenarios have been constructed to evaluate different sectorial water allocation policies to mitigate the water scarcity induced by global change. Future water supply and demand predictions have been made for three time spans. The decision support system presented is based on the outranking model, which constructs a partial pre-order based on pairwise preference relations among all the possible actions. The system analyses a hierarchical structure of criteria, including environmental and economic criteria. We compare several adaptation measures including alternative water sources, inter-basin water transfer and sectorial demand management coming from industry, agriculture and domestic sectors. Results indicate that the most appropriate water allocation strategies depend on the severity of the global change effects.

A Method for Optimal Allocation between Instream and Offstream Uses in the Maipo River in Central Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Génova, P. P.; Olivares, M. A.

2016-12-01

Minimum instream flows (MIF) have been established in Chile with the aim of protecting aquatic ecosystems. In practice, since current water law only allocates water rights to offstream water uses, MIF becomes the only instrument for instream water allocation. However, MIF do not necessarily maintain an adequate flow for instream uses. Moreover, an efficient allocation of water for instream uses requires the quantification of the benefits obtained from those uses, so that tradeoffs between instream and offstream water uses are properly considered. A model of optimal allocation between instream and offstream uses is elaborated. The proposed method combines two pieces of information. On one hand, benefits of instream use are represented by qualitative recreational benefit curves as a function of instream flow. On the other hand, the opportunity cost given by lost benefits of offstream uses is employed to develop a supply curve for instream flows. We applied this method to the case of the Maipo River, where the main water uses are recreation, hydropower production and drinking water. Based on available information we obtained the qualitative benefits of various recreational activities as a function of flow attributes. Then we developed flow attributes curves as a function of instream flow for a representative number of sections in the river. As a result we obtained the qualitative recreational benefit curve for each section. The marginal cost curve for instream flows was developed from the benefit functions of hydropower production interfering with recreation in the Maipo River. The purpose of this supply curve is to find a range of instream flow that will provide a better quality condition for recreation experience at a lower opportunity cost. Results indicate that offstream uses adversely influence recreational activities in the Maipo River in certain months of the year, significantly decreasing the quality of these in instream uses. As expected, the impact depends of the magnitude of diverted flows, and therefore these impacts can be reduced restricting the amount of water extracted from the river. Accordingly, it is possible to define the optimum amount of water to be allocated to each use for each month such that instream flows are appropriate for recreation and the loss of hydropower production benefits is lowest.

A Multiple-player-game Approach to Agricultural Water Use in Regions of Seasonal Drought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Z.

2013-12-01

In the wide distributed regions of seasonal drought, conflicts of water allocation between multiple stakeholders (which means water consumers and policy makers) are frequent and severe problems. These conflicts become extremely serious in the dry seasons, and are ultimately caused by an intensive disparity between the lack of natural resource and the great demand of social development. Meanwhile, these stakeholders are often both competitors and cooperators in water saving problems, because water is a type of public resource. Conflicts often occur due to lack of appropriate water allocation scheme. Among the many uses of water, the need of agricultural irrigation water is highly elastic, but this factor has not yet been made full use to free up water from agriculture use. The primary goal of this work is to design an optimal distribution scheme of water resource for dry seasons to maximize benefits from precious water resources, considering the high elasticity of agriculture water demand due to the dynamic of soil moisture affected by the uncertainty of precipitation and other factors like canopy interception. A dynamic programming model will be used to figure out an appropriate allocation of water resources among agricultural irrigation and other purposes like drinking water, industry, and hydropower, etc. In this dynamic programming model, we analytically quantify the dynamic of soil moisture in the agricultural fields by describing the interception with marked Poisson process and describing the rainfall depth with exponential distribution. Then, we figure out a water-saving irrigation scheme, which regulates the timetable and volumes of water in irrigation, in order to minimize irrigation water requirement under the premise of necessary crop yield (as a constraint condition). And then, in turn, we provide a scheme of water resource distribution/allocation among agriculture and other purposes, taking aim at maximizing benefits from precious water resources, or in other words, make best use of limited water resource.

Social Justice and Water Issues in the 21st Century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyer, E. W.; Fowler, L.

2014-12-01

Water resources are critical to human and ecosystem health. Population growth, land use changes, and environmental changes are intensifying stresses on water resources throughout the world. Increasing and competing demands for water require decision-making about water management and allocation to support multiple and competing uses. Further, climatic variability and periods of floods and drought are threats to humans, ecosystems, and economies. Inequalities in the distribution of water resources and access to safe and affordable water abound, greatly affecting communities. Here, we provide examples aiming to bridge the gap between social justice and environmental science literacy through college-level course work in watershed hydrology and management and in water law and policy. Examples are drawn considering water use, water pollution, and water governance. For example, we explore relationships between water governance (e.g., via land ownership and policy), land use (e.g., food production), water use (e.g., irrigation of agricultural lands), water pollution (e.g., pollution of surface and ground waters with agricultural nutrient runoff), and societal well-being (e.g., effects on communities). Course outcomes include increased social awareness, increased knowledge of water resources, and increased scientific literacy.

A Multi-layer Dynamic Model for Coordination Based Group Decision Making in Water Resource Allocation and Scheduling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Wei; Zhang, Xingnan; Li, Chenming; Wang, Jianying

Management of group decision-making is an important issue in water source management development. In order to overcome the defects in lacking of effective communication and cooperation in the existing decision-making models, this paper proposes a multi-layer dynamic model for coordination in water resource allocation and scheduling based group decision making. By introducing the scheme-recognized cooperative satisfaction index and scheme-adjusted rationality index, the proposed model can solve the problem of poor convergence of multi-round decision-making process in water resource allocation and scheduling. Furthermore, the problem about coordination of limited resources-based group decision-making process can be solved based on the effectiveness of distance-based group of conflict resolution. The simulation results show that the proposed model has better convergence than the existing models.

Behavior of Agricultural water users induced hydro-climatic cycle change in Heihe River Basin, in the northwest of china

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, F.; Deng, X.; Cai, X.; Zhang, X.; Zhang, Q.

2017-12-01

Water allocation unbalance is the most important driving force of ecological degradation in the Heihe River Basin, where it seems the lifeblood of environment and human society. Water commute complex and frequent in soil, atmosphere, surface and ground face. The balance analysis of Water's transformation based on the WRF (Weather Research Forecasting) and SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) simulations, puts forward the application of land governance in arid and semi-arid region. In this study, we designed an irrigation scheme using local field experiences and incorporated the irrigation scheme into WRF/Noah-MP model. Then, to test the effects of irrigation scheme on performance of WRF/Noah-MP model, we carried out two simulations with the Heihe watershed, Northwest China, as a case study area. Firstly, the irrigation simulation is meanly about 860 mm across all of 671 cropland grid cells within the Heihe watershed and gradually increases from about 500 mm nearby the foot of Qilian Mountain to the maximum about 1500 mm in the middle and lower reach of Heihe River. Both of regional mean value and spatial heterogeneity are close to ground measurements. Secondly, the irrigation simulation dramatically reduced the mean bias of specified humidity to -0.47 g kg-1 (accounting for 6.0% of observation) and RMSE of temperature to 0.47 °C, respectively, since the irrigation enhanced the surface latent heat and weakened sensible heat to atmosphere. Thirdly, Across the 8 agricultural sites, the correlation coefficient and RMSE increased from 0.75 to 0.80. Finally, we found the surface runoff will increase by 0.46% with SWAT model at irrigation months. Therefore, the irrigation may led to expansion of cultivated land through transformation from groundwater to surface water at some degree. Water authorities should strengthen the tough water management measures to implement measures of total quantity control and raise the efficiency of water resources.

Regional water consumption for hydro and thermal electricity generation in the United States

DOE PAGES

Lee, Uisung; Han, Jeongwoo; Elgowainy, Amgad; ...

2017-05-18

Water is an essential resource for most electric power generation technologies. Thermal power plants typically require a large amount of cooling water whose evaporation is regarded to be consumed. Hydropower plants result in evaporative water loss from the large surface areas of the storing reservoirs. This paper estimated the regional water consumption factors (WCFs) for thermal and hydro electricity generation in the United States, because the WCFs of these power plants vary by region and water supply and demand balance are of concern in many regions. For hydropower, total WCFs were calculated using a reservoir’s surface area, state-level water evaporation,more » and background evapotranspiration. Then, for a multipurpose reservoir, a fraction of its WCF was allocated to hydropower generation based on the share of the economic valuation of hydroelectricity among benefits from all purposes of the reservoir. For thermal power plants, the variations in WCFs by type of cooling technology, prime mover technology, and by region were addressed. The results show that WCFs for electricity generation vary significantly by region. Finally, the generation-weighted average WCFs of thermoelectricity and hydropower are 1.25 (range of 0.18–2.0) and 16.8 (range of 0.67–1194) L/kWh, respectively, and the generation-weighted average WCF by the U.S. generation mix in 2015 is estimated at 2.18 L/kWh.« less

Regional water consumption for hydro and thermal electricity generation in the United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Uisung; Han, Jeongwoo; Elgowainy, Amgad

Water is an essential resource for most electric power generation technologies. Thermal power plants typically require a large amount of cooling water whose evaporation is regarded to be consumed. Hydropower plants result in evaporative water loss from the large surface areas of the storing reservoirs. This paper estimated the regional water consumption factors (WCFs) for thermal and hydro electricity generation in the United States, because the WCFs of these power plants vary by region and water supply and demand balance are of concern in many regions. For hydropower, total WCFs were calculated using a reservoir’s surface area, state-level water evaporation,more » and background evapotranspiration. Then, for a multipurpose reservoir, a fraction of its WCF was allocated to hydropower generation based on the share of the economic valuation of hydroelectricity among benefits from all purposes of the reservoir. For thermal power plants, the variations in WCFs by type of cooling technology, prime mover technology, and by region were addressed. The results show that WCFs for electricity generation vary significantly by region. Finally, the generation-weighted average WCFs of thermoelectricity and hydropower are 1.25 (range of 0.18–2.0) and 16.8 (range of 0.67–1194) L/kWh, respectively, and the generation-weighted average WCF by the U.S. generation mix in 2015 is estimated at 2.18 L/kWh.« less

18 CFR 367.17 - Comprehensive inter-period income tax allocation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Comprehensive inter... NATURAL GAS ACT General Instructions § 367.17 Comprehensive inter-period income tax allocation. (a) Where... tax method. In general, comprehensive inter-period tax allocation should be followed whenever...

Integrated Optical and SAR Imagery with DEM to Quantify Glacier Water Storage Change in Upper Mekong River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, G. T.; Chen, J. B.; Le, T. S.; Chang, C. P.; Shum, C. K.; Tseng, K. H.

2015-12-01

In the past few decades, regional increase in air temperature has accelerated the ice melting in polar, sub-polar, and major land glacial areas. The glaciers in Tibetan Plateau, the largest glaciers outside Polar Regions and the sources of several trans-boundary major rivers, are now showing aggravated terminus retreat and thinning. The variation of freshwater availability is crucial for the economic development in Mainland Southeast Asia, especially in hydroelectric generation and agriculture irrigation. These rives, including the Mekong River, is also subject to upstream-downstream conflict and transboundary issues. In this study, we propose to estimate the remaining glacier water storage in Mekong River basin, and further analyze the impact of glacier retreat on these dams/reservoirs for the next decade. By calculating the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI), the water surface area (WSA) can thus be extracted from optical satellite images. On the other hand, the ice surface area (ISA) can be derived from the Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (POLSAR) images. With different polarization states of electromagnetic wave reflected by earth surface, POLSAR image can effectively identify glacier/ice from snow. Combined WSA and ISA information with digital elevation model (DEM), the change of freshwater storage in glaciers can be estimated. In the end, the influence on dams/reservoirs in the Mekong River caused by glacier retreat can be forecasted. The result can also be applied to hydrology, water allocation, and economy/agriculture policy determination.

Landsat Evapotranspiration for Historical Field-scale Water Use (1984-2015) in the Upper Rio Grande River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senay, G. B.; Schauer, M.; Singh, R. K.; Friedrichs, M.

2017-12-01

Field-scale water use maps derived from evapotranspiration (ET) can characterize water use patterns and the impacts of water management decisions. This project generated historical (1984-2015) Landsat-based ET maps for the entire Upper Rio Grande basin which makes this one of the largest regions in the United States with remotely sensed historical ET at Landsat resolution. More than 10,000 Landsat images spanning 32 years were processed using the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model which integrates weather data and remotely sensed images to estimate monthly and annual ET. Time-series analysis focused on three water-intensive study areas within the basin: the San Luis Valley in Colorado, irrigated fields along the Rio Grande River near Albuquerque, NM, and irrigated fields near Las Cruces, NM. Preliminary analysis suggests land use changes result in declining water use in irrigated areas of the basin which corresponds with increases in land surface temperatures. Time-series analysis of water use patterns at multiple temporal and spatial scales demonstrates the impact of water management decisions on the availability of water in the basin. Comparisons with cropland data from the USDA (NASS CDL) demonstrate how water use for particular crop types changes over time in response to land use changes and shifts in water management. This study illustrates a useful application of "Big Data" earth observation science for quantifying impacts of climate and land use changes on water availability within the United States as well as applications in planning water resource allocation, managing water rights, and sustaining agricultural production in the Upper Rio Grande basin.

Differences in hydraulic architecture between mesic and xeric Pinus pinaster populations at the seedling stage.

PubMed

Corcuera, Leyre; Gil-Pelegrín, Eustaquio; Notivol, Eduardo

2012-12-01

We studied the intraspecific variability of maritime pine in a set of morphological and physiological traits: soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductance, intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUE, estimated by carbon isotope composition, δ(13)C), root morphology, xylem anatomy, growth and carbon allocation patterns. The data were collected from Pinus pinaster Aiton seedlings (25 half-sib families from five populations) grown in a greenhouse and subjected to water and water-stress treatments. The aims were to relate this variability to differences in water availability at the geographic location of the populations, and to study the potential trade-offs among traits. The drought-stressed seedlings demonstrated a decrease in hydraulic conductance and root surface area and increased WUE and root tip number. The relationships among the growth, morphological, anatomical and physiological traits changed with the scale of study: within the species, among/within populations. The populations showed a highly significant relationship between the percentage reduction in whole-plant hydraulic conductance and WUE. The differences among the populations in root morphology, whole-plant conductance, carbon allocation, plant growth and WUE were significant and consistent with dryness of the site of seed origin. The xeric populations exhibited lower growth and a conservative water use, as opposed to the fast-growing, less water-use-efficient populations from mesic habitats. The xeric and mesic populations, Tamrabta and San Cipriano, respectively, showed the most contrasting traits and were clustered in opposite directions along the main axis in the canonical discriminant analysis under both the control and drought treatments. The results suggest the possibility of selecting the Arenas population, which presents a combination of traits that confer increased growth and drought resistance.

Quantifying the economic importance of irrigation water reuse in a Chilean watershed using an integrated agent-based model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnold, R. T.; Troost, Christian; Berger, Thomas

2015-01-01

Irrigation with surface water enables Chilean agricultural producers to generate one of the country's most important economic exports. The Chilean water code established tradable water rights as a mechanism to allocate water amongst farmers and other water-use sectors. It remains contested whether this mechanism is effective and many authors have raised equity concerns regarding its impact on water users. For example, speculative hoarding of water rights in expectations of their increasing value has been described. This paper demonstrates how farmers can hoard water rights as a risk management strategy for variable water supply, for example, due to the cycles of El Niño or as consequence of climate change. While farmers with insufficient water rights can rely on unclaimed water during conditions of normal water availability, drought years overproportionally impact on their supply of irrigation water and thereby farm profitability. This study uses a simulation model that consists of a hydrological balance model component and a multiagent farm decision and production component. Both model components are parameterized with empirical data, while uncertain parameters are calibrated. The study demonstrates a thorough quantification of parameter uncertainty, using global sensitivity analysis and multiple behavioral parameter scenarios.

18 CFR 366.5 - Allocation of costs for non-power goods and services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Allocation of costs for non-power goods and services. 366.5 Section 366.5 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL... ACT OF 2005, FEDERAL POWER ACT AND NATURAL GAS ACT BOOKS AND RECORDS Definitions and Provisions Under...

18 CFR 366.5 - Allocation of costs for non-power goods and services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Allocation of costs for non-power goods and services. 366.5 Section 366.5 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL... ACT OF 2005, FEDERAL POWER ACT AND NATURAL GAS ACT BOOKS AND RECORDS Definitions and Provisions Under...

Sensitivity analysis of key components in large-scale hydroeconomic models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medellin-Azuara, J.; Connell, C. R.; Lund, J. R.; Howitt, R. E.

2008-12-01

This paper explores the likely impact of different estimation methods in key components of hydro-economic models such as hydrology and economic costs or benefits, using the CALVIN hydro-economic optimization for water supply in California. In perform our analysis using two climate scenarios: historical and warm-dry. The components compared were perturbed hydrology using six versus eighteen basins, highly-elastic urban water demands, and different valuation of agricultural water scarcity. Results indicate that large scale hydroeconomic hydro-economic models are often rather robust to a variety of estimation methods of ancillary models and components. Increasing the level of detail in the hydrologic representation of this system might not greatly affect overall estimates of climate and its effects and adaptations for California's water supply. More price responsive urban water demands will have a limited role in allocating water optimally among competing uses. Different estimation methods for the economic value of water and scarcity in agriculture may influence economically optimal water allocation; however land conversion patterns may have a stronger influence in this allocation. Overall optimization results of large-scale hydro-economic models remain useful for a wide range of assumptions in eliciting promising water management alternatives.

Optimization model for the allocation of water resources based on the maximization of employment in the agriculture and industry sectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habibi Davijani, M.; Banihabib, M. E.; Nadjafzadeh Anvar, A.; Hashemi, S. R.

2016-02-01

In many discussions, work force is mentioned as the most important factor of production. Principally, work force is a factor which can compensate for the physical and material limitations and shortcomings of other factors to a large extent which can help increase the production level. On the other hand, employment is considered as an effective factor in social issues. The goal of the present research is the allocation of water resources so as to maximize the number of jobs created in the industry and agriculture sectors. An objective that has attracted the attention of policy makers involved in water supply and distribution is the maximization of the interests of beneficiaries and consumers in case of certain policies adopted. The present model applies the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm in order to determine the optimum amount of water allocated to each water-demanding sector, area under cultivation, agricultural production, employment in the agriculture sector, industrial production and employment in the industry sector. Based on the results obtained from this research, by optimally allocating water resources in the central desert region of Iran, 1096 jobs can be created in the industry and agriculture sectors, which constitutes an improvement of about 13% relative to the previous situation (non-optimal water utilization). It is also worth mentioning that by optimizing the employment factor as a social parameter, the other areas such as the economic sector are influenced as well. For example, in this investigation, the resulting economic benefits (incomes) have improved from 73 billion Rials at baseline employment figures to 112 billion Rials in the case of optimized employment condition. Therefore, it is necessary to change the inter-sector and intra-sector water allocation models in this region, because this change not only leads to more jobs in this area, but also causes an improvement in the region's economic conditions.

Using stochastic dynamic programming to support catchment-scale water resources management in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davidsen, Claus; Pereira-Cardenal, Silvio Javier; Liu, Suxia; Mo, Xingguo; Rosbjerg, Dan; Bauer-Gottwein, Peter

2013-04-01

A hydro-economic modelling approach is used to optimize reservoir management at river basin level. We demonstrate the potential of this integrated approach on the Ziya River basin, a complex basin on the North China Plain south-east of Beijing. The area is subject to severe water scarcity due to low and extremely seasonal precipitation, and the intense agricultural production is highly dependent on irrigation. Large reservoirs provide water storage for dry months while groundwater and the external South-to-North Water Transfer Project are alternative sources of water. An optimization model based on stochastic dynamic programming has been developed. The objective function is to minimize the total cost of supplying water to the users, while satisfying minimum ecosystem flow constraints. Each user group (agriculture, domestic and industry) is characterized by fixed demands, fixed water allocation costs for the different water sources (surface water, groundwater and external water) and fixed costs of water supply curtailment. The multiple reservoirs in the basin are aggregated into a single reservoir to reduce the dimensions of decisions. Water availability is estimated using a hydrological model. The hydrological model is based on the Budyko framework and is forced with 51 years of observed daily rainfall and temperature data. 23 years of observed discharge from an in-situ station located downstream a remote mountainous catchment is used for model calibration. Runoff serial correlation is described by a Markov chain that is used to generate monthly runoff scenarios to the reservoir. The optimal costs at a given reservoir state and stage were calculated as the minimum sum of immediate and future costs. Based on the total costs for all states and stages, water value tables were generated which contain the marginal value of stored water as a function of the month, the inflow state and the reservoir state. The water value tables are used to guide allocation decisions in simulation mode. The performance of the operation rules based on water value tables was evaluated. The approach was used to assess the performance of alternative development scenarios and infrastructure projects successfully in the case study region.

A social choice-based methodology for treated wastewater reuse in urban and suburban areas.

PubMed

Mahjouri, Najmeh; Pourmand, Ehsan

2017-07-01

Reusing treated wastewater for supplying water demands such as landscape and agricultural irrigation in urban and suburban areas has become a major water supply approach especially in regions struggling with water shortage. Due to limited available treated wastewater to satisfy all water demands, conflicts may arise in allocating treated wastewater to water users. Since there is usually more than one decision maker and more than one criterion to measure the impact of each water allocation scenario, effective tools are needed to combine individual preferences to reach a collective decision. In this paper, a new social choice (SC) method, which can consider some indifference thresholds for decision makers, is proposed for evaluating and ranking treated wastewater and urban runoff allocation scenarios to water users in urban and suburban areas. Some SC methods, namely plurality voting, Borda count, pairwise comparisons, Hare system, dictatorship, and approval voting, are applied for comparing and evaluating the results. Different scenarios are proposed for allocating treated wastewater and urban runoff to landscape irrigation, agricultural lands as well as artificial recharge of aquifer in the Tehran metropolitan Area, Iran. The main stakeholders rank the proposed scenarios based on their utilities using two different approaches. The proposed method suggests ranking of the scenarios based on the stakeholders' utilities and considering the scores they assigned to each scenario. Comparing the results of the proposed method with those of six different SC methods shows that the obtained ranks are mostly in compliance with the social welfare.

Production and carbon allocation in a clonal Eucalyptus plantation with water and nutrient manipulations

Treesearch

Jose Luiz Stape; Dan Binkley; Michael G. Ryan

2008-01-01

We examined resource limitations on growth and carbon allocation in a fast-growing, clonal plantation of Eucalyptus grandis urophylla in Brazil by characterizing responses to annual rainfall, and response to irrigation and fertililization for 2 years. Productivity measures included gross primary production (GPP), total belowground carbon allocation (...

Multi-tracer investigation of river and groundwater interactions: a case study in Nalenggele River basin, northwest China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Wei; Su, Xiaosi; Dai, Zhenxue; Yang, Fengtian; Zhu, Pucheng; Huang, Yong

2017-11-01

Environmental tracers (such as major ions, stable and radiogenic isotopes, and heat) monitored in natural waters provide valuable information for understanding the processes of river-groundwater interactions in arid areas. An integrated framework is presented for interpreting multi-tracer data (major ions, stable isotopes (2H, 18O), the radioactive isotope 222Rn, and heat) for delineating the river-groundwater interactions in Nalenggele River basin, northwest China. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were undertaken to estimate the bidirectional water exchange associated with small-scale interactions between groundwater and surface water. Along the river stretch, groundwater and river water exchange readily. From the high mountain zone to the alluvial fan, groundwater discharge to the river is detected by tracer methods and end-member mixing models, but the river has also been identified as a losing river using discharge measurements, i.e. discharge is bidirectional. On the delta-front of the alluvial fan and in the alluvial plain, in the downstream area, the characteristics of total dissolved solids values, 222Rn concentrations and δ18O values in the surface water, and patterns derived from a heat-tracing method, indicate that groundwater discharges into the river. With the environmental tracers, the processes of river-groundwater interaction have been identified in detail for better understanding of overall hydrogeological processes and of the impacts on water allocation policies.

A stream-scale model to optimize the water allocation for Small Hydropower Plants and the application to traditional systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Razurel, Pierre; Niayifar, Amin; Perona, Paolo

2017-04-01

Hydropower plays an important role in supplying worldwide energy demand where it contributes to approximately 16% of global electricity production. Although hydropower, as an emission-free renewable energy, is a reliable source of energy to mitigate climate change, its development will increase river exploitation. The environmental impacts associated with both small hydropower plants (SHP) and traditional dammed systems have been found to the consequence of changing natural flow regime with other release policies, e.g. the minimal flow. Nowadays, in some countries, proportional allocation rules are also applied aiming to mimic the natural flow variability. For example, these dynamic rules are part of the environmental guidance in the United Kingdom and constitute an improvement in comparison to static rules. In a context in which the full hydropower potential might be reached in a close future, a solution to optimize the water allocation seems essential. In this work, we present a model that enables to simulate a wide range of water allocation rules (static and dynamic) for a specific hydropower plant and to evaluate their associated economic and ecological benefits. It is developed in the form of a graphical user interface (GUI) where, depending on the specific type of hydropower plant (i.e., SHP or traditional dammed system), the user is able to specify the different characteristics (e.g., hydrological data and turbine characteristics) of the studied system. As an alternative to commonly used policies, a new class of dynamic allocation functions (non-proportional repartition rules) is introduced (e.g., Razurel et al., 2016). The efficiency plot resulting from the simulations shows the environmental indicator and the energy produced for each allocation policies. The optimal water distribution rules can be identified on the Pareto's frontier, which is obtained by stochastic optimization in the case of storage systems (e.g., Niayifar and Perona, submitted) and by direct simulation for small hydropower ones (Razurel et al., 2016). Compared to proportional and constant minimal flows, economic and ecological efficiencies are found to be substantially improved in the case of using non-proportional water allocation rules for both SHP and traditional systems.

Decision-making under surprise and uncertainty: Arsenic contamination of water supplies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Randhir, Timothy O.; Mozumder, Pallab; Halim, Nafisa

2018-05-01

With ignorance and potential surprise dominating decision making in water resources, a framework for dealing with such uncertainty is a critical need in hydrology. We operationalize the 'potential surprise' criterion proposed by Shackle, Vickers, and Katzner (SVK) to derive decision rules to manage water resources under uncertainty and ignorance. We apply this framework to managing water supply systems in Bangladesh that face severe, naturally occurring arsenic contamination. The uncertainty involved with arsenic in water supplies makes the application of conventional analysis of decision-making ineffective. Given the uncertainty and surprise involved in such cases, we find that optimal decisions tend to favor actions that avoid irreversible outcomes instead of conventional cost-effective actions. We observe that a diversification of the water supply system also emerges as a robust strategy to avert unintended outcomes of water contamination. Shallow wells had a slight higher optimal level (36%) compare to deep wells and surface treatment which had allocation levels of roughly 32% under each. The approach can be applied in a variety of other cases that involve decision making under uncertainty and surprise, a frequent situation in natural resources management.

A water resources model to explore the implications of energy alternatives in the southwestern US

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yates, D.; Averyt, Kristen; Flores-Lopez, Francisco; Meldrum, J.; Sattler, S.; Sieber, J.; Young, C.

2013-12-01

This letter documents the development and validation of a climate-driven, southwestern-US-wide water resources planning model that is being used to explore the implications of extended drought and climate warming on the allocation of water among competing uses. These model uses include a separate accounting for irrigated agriculture; municipal indoor use based on local population and per-capita consumption; climate-driven municipal outdoor turf and amenity watering; and thermoelectric cooling. The model simulates the natural and managed flows of rivers throughout the southwest, including the South Platte, the Arkansas, the Colorado, the Green, the Salt, the Sacramento, the San Joaquin, the Owens, and more than 50 others. Calibration was performed on parameters of land cover, snow accumulation and melt, and water capacity and hydraulic conductivity of soil horizons. Goodness of fit statistics and other measures of performance are shown for a select number of locations and are used to summarize the model’s ability to represent monthly streamflow, reservoir storages, surface and ground water deliveries, etc, under 1980-2010 levels of sectoral water use.

An exploration of Bureau of Reclamation approaches for managing conflict over diverging science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burkardt, Nina; Ruell, Emily; Clark, Douglas

2008-01-01

As a major institutional agent supplying Western water resources, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) provides important leadership, technical, and financial resources in water management, serving as the West's "water broker" (Bowersox 2000; Pisani 2003). In recent years, growing numbers of constituencies using water and the over-allocation of water resources have contributed to conflict over the resource in the American West (National Research Council 2004). Although the conflicts arise from many sources, one common theme is that Reclamation managers often must make decisions about water use and allocation when scientific studies provide uncertain or competing recommendations. We conducted a preliminary study of Reclamation water managers and water scientists to try to understand the approaches or techniques they use or consider useful for dealing with scientific conflicts over water allocation and how these compare to techniques found in the relevant literature. We report the results of (1) an electronic survey of Reclamation senior managers and (2) a panel discussion amongst Reclamation senior managers as to the current institutional capabilities for managing diverging scientific findings in water dispute resolution processes. We conclude with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the different tools and techniques managers reported in the survey and in the panel discussion.

77 FR 67663 - Notice of Availability of the Proposed Land Use Plan Amendments for Allocation of Oil Shale and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-13

... quality, climate change, water quality and quantity, socio- economic concerns, wildlife concerns, and...] Notice of Availability of the Proposed Land Use Plan Amendments for Allocation of Oil Shale and Tar Sands... (BLM) has prepared the Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendments for Allocation of Oil Shale...

The response of belowground carbon allocation in forests to global change

Treesearch

Christian P. Giardina; Mark Coleman; Dan Binkley; Jessica Hancock; John S. King; Erik Lilleskov; Wendy M. Loya; Kurt S. Pregitzer; Michael G. Ryan; Carl Trettin

2005-01-01

Belowground carbon allocation (BCA) in forests regulates soil organic matter formation and influences biotic and abiotic properties of soil such as bulk density, cation exchange capacity, and water holding capacity. On a global scale, the total quantity of carbon allocated belowground by terrestrial plants is enormous, exceeding by an order of magnitude the quantity of...

A Two-stage Approach for Water Demand Prediction under Constrained total water use and Water Environmental Capacity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Y.; Xiaohong, C.; Lin, K.; Wang, Z.

2016-12-01

Water demand (WD) is the basis for water allocation (WA) because it can fully reflect the pressure on water resources from population and socioeconomic development. To deal with the great uncertainties and the absence of consideration of water environmental capacity (WEC) in traditional water demand prediction methods, e.g. Statistical models, System Dynamics and quota method, this study develops a two-stage approach to predict WD under constrained total water use from the perspective of ecological restraint. Regional total water demand (RTWD) is constrained by WEC, available water resources amount and total water use quota. Based on RTWD, WD is allocated in two stages according to the game theory, including predicting sub regional total water demand (SRWD) by calculating the sub region weights based on the selected indicators of socioeconomic development and predicting industrial water demand (IWD) according to the game theory. Taking the Dongjiang river basin, South China as an example of WD prediction, according to its constrained total water use quota and WEC, RTWD in 2020 is 9.83 billion m3, and IWD for agriculture, industry, service, ecology (off-stream), and domesticity are 2.32 billion m3, 3.79 billion m3, 0.75 billion m3 , 0.18 billion m3and 1.79 billion m3 respectively. The results from this study provide useful insights for effective water allocation under climate change and the strict policy of water resources management.

Jordan Water Project: an interdisciplinary evaluation of freshwater vulnerability and security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorelick, S.; Yoon, J.; Rajsekhar, D.; Muller, M. F.; Zhang, H.; Gawel, E.; Klauer, B.; Klassert, C. J. A.; Sigel, K.; Thilmant, A.; Avisse, N.; Lachaut, T.; Harou, J. J.; Knox, S.; Selby, P. D.; Mustafa, D.; Talozi, S.; Haddad, Y.; Shamekh, M.

2016-12-01

The Jordan Water Project, part of the Belmont Forum projects, is an interdisciplinary, international research effort focused on evaluation of freshwater security in Jordan, one of the most water-vulnerable countries in the world. The team covers hydrology, water resources systems analysis, economics, policy evaluation, geography, risk and remote sensing analyses, and model platform development. The entire project team communally engaged in construction of an integrated hydroeconomic model for water supply policy evaluation. To represent water demand and allocation behavior at multiple levels of decision making,the model integrates biophysical modules that simulate natural and engineered hydrologic phenomena with human behavioral modules. Hydrologic modules include spatially-distributed groundwater and surface-water models for the major aquifers and watersheds throughout Jordan. For the human modules, we adopt a multi-agent modeling approach to represent decision-making processes. The integrated model was developed in Pynsim, a new open-source, object-oriented platform in Python for network-based water resource systems. We continue to explore the impacts of future scenarios and interventions.This project had tremendous encouragement and data support from Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation. Modeling technology is being transferred through a companion NSF/USAID PEER project awarded toJordan University of Science and Technology. Individual teams have also conducted a range of studies aimed at evaluating Jordanian and transboundary surface water and groundwater systems. Surveys, interviews, and econometric analyses enabled us to better understandthe behavior of urban households, farmers, private water resellers, water use pattern of the commercial sector and irrigation water user associations. We analyzed nationwide spatial and temporal statistical trends in rainfall, developed urban and national comparative metrics to quantify water supply vulnerability, improved remote sensing methods to estimate crop-water use, and evaluated the impacts of climate change on future drought severity.

Estimating irrigation water demand in the Moroccan Drâa Valley using contingent valuation.

PubMed

Storm, Hugo; Heckelei, Thomas; Heidecke, Claudia

2011-10-01

Irrigation water management is crucial for agricultural production and livelihood security in Morocco as in many other parts of the world. For the implementation of an effective water management, knowledge about farmers' demand for irrigation water is crucial to assess reactions to water pricing policy, to establish a cost-benefit analysis of water supply investments or to determine the optimal water allocation between different users. Previously used econometric methods providing this information often have prohibitive data requirements. In this paper, the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is adjusted to derive a demand function for irrigation water along farmers' willingness to pay for one additional unit of surface water or groundwater. An application in the Middle Drâa Valley in Morocco shows that the method provides reasonable results in an environment with limited data availability. For analysing the censored survey data, the Least Absolute Deviation estimator was found to be a more suitable alternative to the Tobit model as errors are heteroscedastic and non-normally distributed. The adjusted CVM to derive demand functions is especially attractive for water scarce countries under limited data availability. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Water-Withdrawal Input-Output Model of the Indian Economy.

PubMed

Bogra, Shelly; Bakshi, Bhavik R; Mathur, Ritu

2016-02-02

Managing freshwater allocation for a highly populated and growing economy like India can benefit from knowledge about the effect of economic activities. This study transforms the 2003-2004 economic input-output (IO) table of India into a water withdrawal input-output model to quantify direct and indirect flows. This unique model is based on a comprehensive database compiled from diverse public sources, and estimates direct and indirect water withdrawal of all economic sectors. It distinguishes between green (rainfall), blue (surface and ground), and scarce groundwater. Results indicate that the total direct water withdrawal is nearly 3052 billion cubic meter (BCM) and 96% of this is used in agriculture sectors with the contribution of direct green water being about 1145 BCM, excluding forestry. Apart from 727 BCM direct blue water withdrawal for agricultural, other significant users include "Electricity" with 64 BCM, "Water supply" with 44 BCM and other industrial sectors with nearly 14 BCM. "Construction", "miscellaneous food products"; "Hotels and restaurants"; "Paper, paper products, and newsprint" are other significant indirect withdrawers. The net virtual water import is found to be insignificant compared to direct water used in agriculture nationally, while scarce ground water associated with crops is largely contributed by northern states.

Embedding an evolving agricultural system within a water resources planning model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, C.; Joyce, B.; Purkey, D.; Dale, L.; Mehta, V.

2008-12-01

The Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system is a comprehensive, fully integrated water basin analysis tool. It is a simulation model that includes a robust and flexible representation of water demands from all sectors and flexible, programmable operating rules for infrastructure elements such as reservoirs, canals, and hydropower projects. Additionally, it has watershed rainfall-runoff modeling capabilities that allow all portions of the water infrastructure and demand to be dynamically nested within the underlying hydrological processes. WEAP also allows for linking with other models to provide feedback mechanisms whereby the management regime can be altered to respond to changing water supply conditions. This study presents an application wherein the year-to-year cropping decisions of farmers in California's Central Valley are reactive to changes in water supply conditions. To capture this dynamic, we have included in WEAP a link to an agricultural economics model (the Central Valley Production Model) that relates cropping decisions to water supply conditions (surface water allocations and depth to groundwater) and economic considerations (cost of electricity) at the time of planting. This linked model was used to evaluate changes in water supply and demand in the context of projected climate change over the next century.

Stand density, tree social status and water stress influence allocation in height and diameter growth of Quercus petraea (Liebl.).

PubMed

Trouvé, Raphaël; Bontemps, Jean-Daniel; Seynave, Ingrid; Collet, Catherine; Lebourgeois, François

2015-10-01

Even-aged forest stands are competitive communities where competition for light gives advantages to tall individuals, thereby inducing a race for height. These same individuals must however balance this competitive advantage with height-related mechanical and hydraulic risks. These phenomena may induce variations in height-diameter growth relationships, with primary dependences on stand density and tree social status as proxies for competition pressure and access to light, and on availability of local environmental resources, including water. We aimed to investigate the effects of stand density, tree social status and water stress on the individual height-circumference growth allocation (Δh-Δc), in even-aged stands of Quercus petraea Liebl. (sessile oak). Within-stand Δc was used as surrogate for tree social status. We used an original long-term experimental plot network, set up in the species production area in France, and designed to explore stand dynamics on a maximum density gradient. Growth allocation was modelled statistically by relating the shape of the Δh-Δc relationship to stand density, stand age and water deficit. The shape of the Δh-Δc relationship shifted from linear with a moderate slope in open-grown stands to concave saturating with an initial steep slope in closed stands. Maximum height growth was found to follow a typical mono-modal response to stand age. In open-grown stands, increasing summer soil water deficit was found to decrease height growth relative to radial growth, suggesting hydraulic constraints on height growth. A similar pattern was found in closed stands, the magnitude of the effect however lowering from suppressed to dominant trees. We highlight the high phenotypic plasticity of growth in sessile oak trees that further adapt their allocation scheme to their environment. Stand density and tree social status were major drivers of growth allocation variations, while water stress had a detrimental effect on height in the Δh-Δc allocation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Assessing marginal water values in multipurpose multireservoir systems via stochastic programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tilmant, A.; Pinte, D.; Goor, Q.

2008-12-01

The International Conference on Water and the Environment held in Dublin in 1992 emphasized the need to consider water as an economic good. Since water markets are usually absent or ineffective, the value of water cannot be directly derived from market activities but must rather be assessed through shadow prices. Economists have developed various valuation techniques to determine the economic value of water, especially to handle allocation issues involving environmental water uses. Most of the nonmarket valuation studies reported in the literature focus on long-run policy problems, such as permanent (re)allocations of water, and assume that the water availability is given. When dealing with short-run allocation problems, water managers are facing complex spatial and temporal trade-offs and must therefore be able to track site and time changes in water values across different hydrologic conditions, especially in arid and semiarid areas where the availability of water is a limiting and stochastic factor. This paper presents a stochastic programming approach for assessing the statistical distribution of marginal water values in multipurpose multireservoir systems where hydropower generation and irrigation crop production are the main economic activities depending on water. In the absence of a water market, the Lagrange multipliers correspond to shadow prices, and the marginal water values are the Lagrange multipliers associated with the mass balance equations of the reservoirs. The methodology is illustrated with a cascade of hydroelectric-irrigation reservoirs in the Euphrates river basin in Turkey and Syria.

Two-stage seasonal streamflow forecasts to guide water resources decisions and water rights allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Block, P. J.; Gonzalez, E.; Bonnafous, L.

2011-12-01

Decision-making in water resources is inherently uncertain producing copious risks, ranging from operational (present) to planning (season-ahead) to design/adaptation (decadal) time-scales. These risks include human activity and climate variability/change. As the risks in designing and operating water systems and allocating available supplies vary systematically in time, prospects for predicting and managing such risks become increasingly attractive. Considerable effort has been undertaken to improve seasonal forecast skill and advocate for integration to reduce risk, however only minimal adoption is evident. Impediments are well defined, yet tailoring forecast products and allowing for flexible adoption assist in overcoming some obstacles. The semi-arid Elqui River basin in Chile is contending with increasing levels of water stress and demand coupled with insufficient investment in infrastructure, taxing its ability to meet agriculture, hydropower, and environmental requirements. The basin is fed from a retreating glacier, with allocation principles founded on a system of water rights and markets. A two-stage seasonal streamflow forecast at leads of one and two seasons prescribes the probability of reductions in the value of each water right, allowing water managers to inform their constituents in advance. A tool linking the streamflow forecast to a simple reservoir decision model also allows water managers to select a level of confidence in the forecast information.

Analysis of Effects of 2003 and Full-Allocation Withdrawals in Critical Area 1, East-Central New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Spitz, Frederick J.

2009-01-01

Critical Area 1 in east-central New Jersey was mandated in the early 1980s to address large drawdowns caused by increases in groundwater withdrawals. The aquifers involved include the Englishtown aquifer system, Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer, and the Upper and Middle Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifers. Groundwater levels recovered as a result of mandated cutbacks in withdrawals that began in the late 1980s. Subsequent increased demand for water has necessitated an analysis to determine the effects of full-allocation withdrawals, which supplements an optimization analysis done previously. A steady-state regional groundwater flow model is used to evaluate the effects of 2003 withdrawals and full-allocation withdrawals (7.3 million gallons per day greater than for 2003) on simulated water-levels. Simulation results indicate that the range of available withdrawals greater than full-allocation withdrawals is likely between 0 and 12 million gallons per day. The estimated range of available withdrawals is based on: (1) an examination of hydraulic-heads resulting from each of the two simulations, (2) an examination of differences in heads between these two simulations, (3) a comparison of simulated heads from each of the two simulations with the estimated location of salty groundwater, and (4) a comparison of simulated 2003 water levels to observed 2003 water levels. The results of the simulations also indicate that obtaining most of the available water would require varying the distribution of withdrawals and (or) relaxing the mandated hydrologic constraints used to protect the water supply.

Confronting water in an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brooks, David; Trottier, Julie

2010-03-01

SummaryTrans-boundary water agreements are usually conceived as allocation agreements. In other words, water is treated as if it were a pie to be divided among the riparian states. The treatment of water as if it were as immobile as land may be useful in the short term, but it is fundamentally flawed as a means to avoid conflict as well as to ensure efficient, equitable, and sustainable management of water over the long term. This article proposes to avoid quantitative allocations within international water agreements, whether they be presented as percentage or fixed allocations or whether or not accompanied by a periodic revision clause. It proposes instead an ongoing joint management structure that allows for continuous conflict resolution concerning water demands and uses in a manner that effectively de-nationalises water uses. As well, it builds on existing, functioning institutions that are already active over a variety of scalar levels. It disaggregates what is usually perceived as a national water demand into its component institutions and re-aggregates them within an international institutional context. Though this approach for building trans-boundary water agreements can prove useful in any geographical situation, this article uses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a model. It proposes to respect the existing differences in the institutional management of water between the two entities and to reach four general objectives: economic efficiency, social and political equity, ecological sustainability, and the ability to implement the agreement in practice. The institutional design and proposed mechanisms follow five key principles for shared management: water allocations that are not fixed but variable over time; equality in rights and responsibilities; priority for demand management over supply management; continuous monitoring of water quality and quantity; and mediation among competing uses of fresh water. This institutional structure balances water quantity and water quality issues and economic and environmental goals in a de-securitised fashion. Though specifically applied to water shared by Israelis and Palestinians, the objectives, principles and institutional structure are relevant to any place in the world where trans-boundary water divides rather than unites two or more peoples.

Impact assessments of water allocation on water environment of river network: Method and application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qinggai; Wang, Yaping; Lu, Xuchuan; Jia, Peng; Zhang, Beibei; Li, Chen; Li, Sa; Li, Shibei

2018-02-01

Two types of water allocation scenarios were proposed for reasonably utilizing water resources and improving water quality in a two-river network in Tongzhou District. Water circulation and quality were selected as two important indexes to evaluate the two scenario. Meanwhile, one-dimensional water amount and quality model was set up on the basis of the MIKE11 model to compare the two scenarios in terms of improving water environment. The results showed that both scenarios changed the hydrodynamic conditions, and consequently the river flow reached 0.05 m/s or higher in the central part of river stream. In addition, we also found that the two plans have similar effects on water quality, with first scenario producing larger area of water class III and IV than the second scenario.

U.S. Geological Survey National Water Census: Colorado River Basin Geographic Focus Area Study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bruce, Breton W.; Clow, David W.; Maupin, Molly A.; Miller, Matthew P.; Senay, Gabriel B.; Sexstone, Graham A.; Susong, David D.

2015-12-01

The Colorado River Basin (CRB) and the Delaware and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basins were selected by the Department of the Interior for the first round of FASs because of the perceived water shortages in the basins and potential conflicts over water supply and allocations. After gathering input from numerous stakeholders in the CRB, the USGS determined that surface­-water resources in the basin were already being closely monitored and that the most important scientific contribution could be made by helping to improve estimates of four water­-budget components: evapotranspiration losses, snowpack hydrodynamics, water­-use information, and the relative importance of groundwater discharge in supporting streamflow across the basin. The purpose of this fact sheet is to provide a brief summary of the CRB FAS results as the study nears completion. Although some project results are still in the later stages of review and publication, this fact sheet provides an overall description of the work completed and cites the publications in which additional information can be found.

Remote Sensing for Hydrology: Surface Water Dynamics from Three Decades of Landsat Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tulbure, M. G.; Broich, M.; Kingsford, R.; Lucas, R.; Keith, D.

2014-12-01

Surface water is a vital resource affected by changes in climate and anthropogenic factors. Knowledge of surface water dynamics provides critical information for flood and drought management. Here we focused on the on the entire Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) of Australia, a large semi-arid region with scarce water resources, high hydroclimatic variability and competing water demands, impacted by climate change, altered flow regimes and land use changes. The MDB is also an area where substantial investment in environmental water allocation of large volumes of environmental flow was made. We used Landsat TM and ETM+ time series to synoptically map the dynamic of surface water extent with an internally consistent algorithm (Tulbure and Broich, 2013) over decades (1986-2011). We used a subset of Landsat path/rows for image training in both wet and dry years. Results show high interannual variability in number and size of flooded areas, with flooded areas during the Millennium Drought (until 2009) being substantially smaller than during the excessive 2010-2011 La Nina flooding. Flooding frequency in 2006, a very dry year was lower than in 2010, the La Nina year when extensive floods occurred. More developed areas of the basin showed different inter-annual patterns from natural areas of the basin. At Barmah-Millewa, the largest river red gum forest in the world, we also mapped flooded forest and tracked changes in NDVI. Higher NDVI values were found in areas more frequently flooded. Knowledge of the spatial and temporal dynamics of flooding and the response of riparian vegetation communities to flooding is important for management of floodplain wetlands and vegetation communities and for investigating effectiveness of environmental flows and flow regimes in the MDB. Existing maps of inundated areas are linked with river flow to quantify the relationship between river flow and inundated area in the MDB. Historic flood inundation extent mapped via remote sensing can be used to quantify spatially explicit changes in surface water dynamics and vegetation communities as outcomes of management scenarios in response to water management decisions. This methodology is globally applicable and relevant to areas prone to flooding with competing water demands and can be used for mapping water availability in data scarce regions.

Distributed Multi-Cell Resource Allocation with Price Based ICI Coordination in Downlink OFDMA Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Gangming; Zhu, Shihua; Hui, Hui

Multi-cell resource allocation under minimum rate request for each user in OFDMA networks is addressed in this paper. Based on Lagrange dual decomposition theory, the joint multi-cell resource allocation problem is decomposed and modeled as a limited-cooperative game, and a distributed multi-cell resource allocation algorithm is thus proposed. Analysis and simulation results show that, compared with non-cooperative iterative water-filling algorithm, the proposed algorithm can remarkably reduce the ICI level and improve overall system performances.

Management decision of optimal recharge water in groundwater artificial recharge conditions- A case study in an artificial recharge test site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, H. Y.; Shi, X. F.; Zhu, W.; Wang, C. Q.; Ma, H. W.; Zhang, W. J.

2017-11-01

The city conducted groundwater artificial recharge test which was taken a typical site as an example, and the purpose is to prevent and control land subsidence, increase the amount of groundwater resources. To protect groundwater environmental quality and safety, the city chose tap water as recharge water, however, the high cost makes it not conducive to the optimal allocation of water resources and not suitable to popularize widely. To solve this, the city selects two major surface water of River A and B as the proposed recharge water, to explore its feasibility. According to a comprehensive analysis of the cost of recharge, the distance of the water transport, the quality of recharge water and others. Entropy weight Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method is used to prefer tap water and water of River A and B. Evaluation results show that water of River B is the optimal recharge water, if used; recharge cost will be from 0.4724/m3 to 0.3696/m3. Using Entropy weight Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method to confirm water of River B as optimal water is scientific and reasonable. The optimal water management decisions can provide technical support for the city to carry out overall groundwater artificial recharge engineering in deep aquifer.

Water allocation for agriculture in southwestern Iran using a programming model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esmaeili, Abdoulkarim; Shahsavari, Zahra

2015-09-01

Water pricing can play a major role in improving water allocation, encouraging users to conserve scarce water resources, and promoting improvements in productivity. In this study, the economic values of water in farms under Dorodzan Dam in southwestern Iran were calculated using linear programming models. The method was applied to three samples of farms that drew irrigation water from a canal, a well, and both a well and a canal. The results of this study revealed that the shadow prices of water in farms varied based on the water sources and time of year. Additionally, the estimated price for water is obviously higher than the price that farmers currently pay for water in the study area. Due to the different economic values of water calculated for different months, it is recommended that the price of irrigation water be adjusted accordingly during various seasons in a fashion similar to that of electrical energy.

Vegetation-hydrology dynamics in complex terrain of semiarid areas: 1. A mechanistic approach to modeling dynamic feedbacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, Valeriy Y.; Bras, Rafael L.; Vivoni, Enrique R.

2008-03-01

Vegetation, particularly its dynamics, is the often-ignored linchpin of the land-surface hydrology. This work emphasizes the coupled nature of vegetation-water-energy dynamics by considering linkages at timescales that vary from hourly to interannual. A series of two papers is presented. A dynamic ecohydrological model [tRIBS + VEGGIE] is described in this paper. It reproduces essential water and energy processes over the complex topography of a river basin and links them to the basic plant life regulatory processes. The framework focuses on ecohydrology of semiarid environments exhibiting abundant input of solar energy but limiting soil water that correspondingly affects vegetation structure and organization. The mechanisms through which water limitation influences plant dynamics are related to carbon assimilation via the control of photosynthesis and stomatal behavior, carbon allocation, stress-induced foliage loss, as well as recruitment and phenology patterns. This first introductory paper demonstrates model performance using observations for a site located in a semiarid environment of central New Mexico.

Recharging California's Groundwater: Crop Suitability and Surface Water Availability for Agricultural Groundwater Banking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dahlke, H. E.; Kocis, T. N.; Brown, A.

2016-12-01

Groundwater banking, the intentional recharge of groundwater from surface water for storage and recovery, is an important conjunctive use strategy for water management in California (CA). A largely unexplored approach to groundwater banking, agricultural groundwater banking (ag-GB), utilizes flood flows and agricultural lands (alfalfa/pasture) for recharging groundwater. Understanding soil suitability for ag-GB, crop health and flooding tolerance, leaching of soil nitrate and salts, the availability of surface water for recharge, and the economic costs and benefits of ag-GB is fundamental to assessing the feasibility of local-scale implementation of ag-GB. The study presented here considers both the availability of excess streamflow (e.g., the magnitude, frequency, timing, and duration of winter flood flow) for ag-GB and the risks and benefits associated with using alfalfa fields as spreading grounds for ag-GB. The availability of surface water for winter (Nov to Apr) ag-GB were estimated based on daily streamflow records for 93 stream gauges within the Central Valley, CA. Analysis focused on high-magnitude (>90thpercentile) flows because most lower flows are likely legally allocated in CA. Results based >50 years of data indicate that an average winter/spring (Nov. - Apr.) in the Sacramento River Basin could provide 7 million acre-feet (AF) (8.6 km3) of water for ag-GB from flows above the 90th percentile. These flows originate from few storm events (5-7 events) and occur on average for 25-30 days between November and April. Wintertime on-farm recharge experiments were conducted on a 9-yr old, 15-acre alfalfa field in the Scott Valley, CA, where 135 AF and 107 AF of water were recharged during the winters of 2015 and 2016, respectively. Biomass data collected indicates that pulsed application of 6-10 ft of water on dormant alfalfa results in minimal yield loss (0.5 ton/acre reduction), short-duration saturated conditions in the root-zone, and high recharge fractions (70-95%) of applied water. Together these results highlight the opportunity and potential benefits for growers and water districts to implement ag-GB as part of the sustainable groundwater management plans.

Irrigation water allocation optimization using multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) - a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fanuel, Ibrahim Mwita; Mushi, Allen; Kajunguri, Damian

2018-03-01

This paper analyzes more than 40 papers with a restricted area of application of Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm, Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II and Multi-Objective Differential Evolution (MODE) to solve the multi-objective problem in agricultural water management. The paper focused on different application aspects which include water allocation, irrigation planning, crop pattern and allocation of available land. The performance and results of these techniques are discussed. The review finds that there is a potential to use MODE to analyzed the multi-objective problem, the application is more significance due to its advantage of being simple and powerful technique than any Evolutionary Algorithm. The paper concludes with the hopeful new trend of research that demand effective use of MODE; inclusion of benefits derived from farm byproducts and production costs into the model.

Fixed allocation patterns, rather than plasticity, benefit recruitment and recovery from drought in seedlings of a desert shrub

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yao; Li, Yan; Xie, Jiang-Bo

2016-01-01

The response of plants to drought is controlled by the interaction between physiological regulation and morphological adjustment. Although recent studies have highlighted the long-term morphological acclimatization of plants to drought, there is still debate on how plant biomass allocation patterns respond to drought. In this study, we performed a greenhouse experiment with first-year seedlings of a desert shrub in control, drought and re-water treatments, to examine their physiological and morphological traits during drought and subsequent recovery. We found that (i) biomass was preferentially allocated to roots along a fixed allometric trajectory throughout the first year of development, irrespective of the variation in water availability; and (ii) this fixed biomass allocation pattern benefited the post-drought recovery. These results suggest that, in a stressful environment, natural selection has favoured a fixed biomass allocation pattern rather than plastic responses to environmental variation. The fixed ‘preferential allocation to root’ biomass suggests that roots may play a critical role in determining the fate of this desert shrub during prolonged drought. As the major organ for resource acquisition and storage, how the root system functions during drought requires further investigation. PMID:27073036

Seasonal monitoring of melt and accumulation within the deep percolation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet and comparison with simulations of regional climate modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heilig, Achim; Eisen, Olaf; MacFerrin, Michael; Tedesco, Marco; Fettweis, Xavier

2018-06-01

Increasing melt over the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) recorded over the past several years has resulted in significant changes of the percolation regime of the ice sheet. It remains unclear whether Greenland's percolation zone will act as a meltwater buffer in the near future through gradually filling all pore space or if near-surface refreezing causes the formation of impermeable layers, which provoke lateral runoff. Homogeneous ice layers within perennial firn, as well as near-surface ice layers of several meter thickness have been observed in firn cores. Because firn coring is a destructive method, deriving stratigraphic changes in firn and allocation of summer melt events is challenging. To overcome this deficit and provide continuous data for model evaluations on snow and firn density, temporal changes in liquid water content and depths of water infiltration, we installed an upward-looking radar system (upGPR) 3.4 m below the snow surface in May 2016 close to Camp Raven (66.4779° N, 46.2856° W) at 2120 m a.s.l. The radar is capable of quasi-continuously monitoring changes in snow and firn stratigraphy, which occur above the antennas. For summer 2016, we observed four major melt events, which routed liquid water into various depths beneath the surface. The last event in mid-August resulted in the deepest percolation down to about 2.3 m beneath the surface. Comparisons with simulations from the regional climate model MAR are in very good agreement in terms of seasonal changes in accumulation and timing of onset of melt. However, neither bulk density of near-surface layers nor the amounts of liquid water and percolation depths predicted by MAR correspond with upGPR data. Radar data and records of a nearby thermistor string, in contrast, matched very well for both timing and depth of temperature changes and observed water percolations. All four melt events transferred a cumulative mass of 56 kg m-2 into firn beneath the summer surface of 2015. We find that continuous observations of liquid water content, percolation depths and rates for the seasonal mass fluxes are sufficiently accurate to provide valuable information for validation of model approaches and help to develop a better understanding of liquid water retention and percolation in perennial firn.

Cellulose and Lignin Carbon Isotope Signatures in Sphagnum Moss Reveal Complementary Environmental Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loisel, J.; Nichols, J. E.; Kaiser, K.; Beilman, D. W.; Yu, Z.

2016-12-01

The carbon isotope signature (δ13C) of Sphagnum moss is increasingly used as a proxy for past surface wetness in peatlands. However, conflicting interpretations of these carbon isotope records have recently been published. While the water film hypothesis suggests that the presence of a thick (thin) water film around hollow (hummock) mosses leads to less (more) negative δ13C values, the carbon source hypothesis poses that a significant (insignificant) amount of CH4 assimilation by hollow (hummock) mosses leads to more (less) negative δ13C values. To evaluate these competing mechanisms and their impact on moss δ13C, we gathered 30 moss samples from 6 peatlands in southern Patagonia. Samples were collected along a strong hydrological gradient, from very dry hummocks (80 cm above water table depth) to submerged hollows (5 cm below water surface). These peat bogs have the advantage of being colonized by a single cosmopolitan moss species, Sphagnum magellanicum, limiting potential biases introduced by species-specific carbon discrimination. We measured δ13C from stem cellulose and leaf waxes on the same samples to quantify compound-specific carbon signatures. We found that stem cellulose and leaf-wax lipids were both strongly negatively correlated with moss water content, suggesting a primary role of water film thickness on carbon assimilation. In addition, isotopic fractionation during wax synthesis was greater than for cellulose. This offset decreases as conditions get drier, due to (i) a more effective carbon assimilation, or (ii) CH4 uptake through symbiosis with methanotrophic bacteria within the leaves of wet mosses. Biochemical analysis (carbohydrates, amino acids, hydrophenols, cutin acids) of surface moss are currently being conducted to characterize moss carbon allocation under different hydrological conditions. Overall, this modern calibration work should be of use for interpreting carbon isotope records from peatlands.

Hydrogeologic considerations for an interstate ground-water compact on the Madison aquifer, northern Great Plains

USGS Publications Warehouse

Konikow, Leonard F.

1978-01-01

The development of an interstate ground-water compact for the Madison aquifer in the Northern Great Plains may provide a framework to allocate equitably this large ground-water resource while avoiding possible future interstate legal conflicts. However, some technical problems will have to be resolved first. A compact designed to regulate or to allocate the available ground water will have to be written in very precise, legally acceptable definitions. The required definitions may infer a degree of measurement accuracy that cannot be technically or economically provided. Therefore, a trade off may be required between preserving natural conditions and allowing beneficial use of the ground-water resource.

Economic, social and resource management factors influencing groundwater trade: Evidence from Victoria, Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gill, Bruce; Webb, John; Stott, Kerry; Cheng, Xiang; Wilkinson, Roger; Cossens, Brendan

2017-07-01

In Victoria, Australia, most groundwater resources are now fully allocated and opportunities for new groundwater development can only occur through trading of license entitlements. Groundwater usage has rarely exceeded 50% of the available licensed volume, even in the 2008/9 drought year, and 50 to 70% of individual license holders use less than 5% of their allocation each year. However, little groundwater trading is occurring at present. Interviews were conducted with groundwater license holders and water brokers to investigate why the Victorian groundwater trade market is underdeveloped. Responses show there is a complex mix of social, economic, institutional and technical reasons. Barriers to trade are influenced by the circumstances of each groundwater user, administrative process and resource management rules. Water brokers deal with few trades at low margins and noted unrealistic selling prices and administrative difficulties. Irrigators who have successfully traded identify that there are few participants in trading, technical appraisals are expensive and administrative requirements and fees are burdensome, especially when compared to surface water trading. Opportunities to facilitate trade include groundwater management plan refinement and improved information provision. Simplifying transaction processes and costs, demonstrating good resource stewardship and preventing third party impacts from trade could address some concerns raised by market participants. There are, however, numerous individual circumstances that inhibit groundwater trading, so it is unlikely that policy and process changes alone could increase usage rates without greater demand for groundwater or more favourable farming economic circumstances.

Transboundary water conflict resolution mechanisms: toward convergence between theory and practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tayia, Ahmed; Madani, Kaveh

2016-04-01

Transboundary waters are expected be one of the biggest challenges for human development over the next decades. The growing global water scarcity and interdependence among water-sharing countries have created tensions over shared water resources around the world. Therefore, interest in studying transboundary water conflict resolution has grown over the last decades. This research focuses on transboundary water resources conflict resolution mechanisms. A more a specific concern is to explore the mechanisms of allocating of transboundary water resources among riparian states. The literature of transboundary water resources conflict has brought various approaches for allocating of transboundary water resources among riparian countries. Some of these approaches have focused on the negotiation process, such the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Other approaches have analysed the economic dimension of transboundary water disputes, in an attempt to identify optimal economic criteria for water allocation, such as the "social planner" approach and the "water market" approach. A more comprehensive approach has been provided by game theory that has brought together the economic and political dimensions of the water dispute management. The study attempts to provide a map for the relation between theory and practice in the field of transboundary water conflict resolution. Therefore, it explores the approaches that have been used to analyse real transboundary water disputes management. Moreover, it examines the approaches that have been suggested in literature as mechanisms of transboundary water conflict resolution. Finally, it identifies the techniques that have been used in practice to solve transboundary water conflicts and attempts to evaluate the sustainability of the resulting regulatory institutional arrangements.

Assessing the Impact of Model Parameter Uncertainty in Simulating Grass Biomass Using a Hybrid Carbon Allocation Strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reyes, J. J.; Adam, J. C.; Tague, C.

2016-12-01

Grasslands play an important role in agricultural production as forage for livestock; they also provide a diverse set of ecosystem services including soil carbon (C) storage. The partitioning of C between above and belowground plant compartments (i.e. allocation) is influenced by both plant characteristics and environmental conditions. The objectives of this study are to 1) develop and evaluate a hybrid C allocation strategy suitable for grasslands, and 2) apply this strategy to examine the importance of various parameters related to biogeochemical cycling, photosynthesis, allocation, and soil water drainage on above and belowground biomass. We include allocation as an important process in quantifying the model parameter uncertainty, which identifies the most influential parameters and what processes may require further refinement. For this, we use the Regional Hydro-ecologic Simulation System, a mechanistic model that simulates coupled water and biogeochemical processes. A Latin hypercube sampling scheme was used to develop parameter sets for calibration and evaluation of allocation strategies, as well as parameter uncertainty analysis. We developed the hybrid allocation strategy to integrate both growth-based and resource-limited allocation mechanisms. When evaluating the new strategy simultaneously for above and belowground biomass, it produced a larger number of less biased parameter sets: 16% more compared to resource-limited and 9% more compared to growth-based. This also demonstrates its flexible application across diverse plant types and environmental conditions. We found that higher parameter importance corresponded to sub- or supra-optimal resource availability (i.e. water, nutrients) and temperature ranges (i.e. too hot or cold). For example, photosynthesis-related parameters were more important at sites warmer than the theoretical optimal growth temperature. Therefore, larger values of parameter importance indicate greater relative sensitivity in adequately representing the relevant process to capture limiting resources or manage atypical environmental conditions. These results may inform future experimental work by focusing efforts on quantifying specific parameters under various environmental conditions or across diverse plant functional types.

Reproductive Allocation of Biomass and Nitrogen in Annual and Perennial Lesquerella Crops

PubMed Central

PLOSCHUK, E. L.; SLAFER, G. A.; RAVETTA, D. A.

2005-01-01

• Background and Aims The use of perennial crops could contribute to increase agricultural sustainability. However, almost all of the major grain crops are herbaceous annuals and opportunities to replace them with more long-lived perennials have been poorly explored. This follows the presumption that the perennial life cycle is associated with a lower potential yield, due to a reduced allocation of biomass to grains. The hypothesis was tested that allocation to perpetuation organs in the perennial L. mendocina would not be directly related to a lower allocation to seeds. • Methods Two field experiments were carried on with the annual Lesquerella fendleri and the iteroparous perennial L. mendocina, two promising oil-seed crops for low-productivity environments, subjected to different water and nitrogen availability. • Key Results Seed biomass allocation was similar for both species, and unresponsive to water and nitrogen availability. Greater root and vegetative shoot allocation in the perennial was counterbalanced by a lower allocation to other reproductive structures compared with the annual Lesquerella. Allometric relationships revealed that allocation differences between the annual and the perennial increased linearly with plant size. The general allocation patterns for nitrogen did not differ from those of biomass. However, nitrogen concentrations were higher in the vegetative shoot and root of L. mendocina than of L. fendleri but remained stable in seeds of both species. • Conclusions It is concluded that vegetative organs are more hierarchically important sinks in L. mendocina than in the annual L. fendleri, but without disadvantages in seed hierarchy. PMID:15863469

Groundwater sustainability and groundwater/surface-water interaction in arid Dunhuang Basin, northwest China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Jingjing; Ma, Rui; Hu, Yalu; Sun, Ziyong; Wang, Yanxin; McCarter, Colin P. R.

2018-03-01

The Dunhuang Basin, a typical inland basin in northwestern China, suffers a net loss of groundwater and the occasional disappearance of the Crescent Lake. Within this region, the groundwater/surface-water interactions are important for the sustainability of the groundwater resources. A three-dimensional transient groundwater flow model was established and calibrated using MODFLOW 2000, which was used to predict changes to these interactions once a water diversion project is completed. The simulated results indicate that introducing water from outside of the basin into the Shule and Danghe rivers could reverse the negative groundwater balance in the Basin. River-water/groundwater interactions control the groundwater hydrology, where river leakage to the groundwater in the Basin will increase from 3,114 × 104 m3/year in 2017 to 11,875 × 104 m3/year in 2021, and to 17,039 × 104 m3/year in 2036. In comparison, groundwater discharge to the rivers will decrease from 3277 × 104 m3/year in 2017 to 1857 × 104 m3/year in 2021, and to 510 × 104 m3/year by 2036; thus, the hydrology will switch from groundwater discharge to groundwater recharge after implementing the water diversion project. The simulation indicates that the increased net river infiltration due to the water diversion project will raise the water table and then effectively increasing the water level of the Crescent Lake, as the lake level is contiguous with the water table. However, the regional phreatic evaporation will be enhanced, which may intensify soil salinization in the Dunhuang Basin. These results can guide the water allocation scheme for the water diversion project to alleviate groundwater depletion and mitigate geo-environmental problem.

Modeling the Gila-San Francisco Basin using system dynamics in support of the 2004 Arizona Water Settlement Act.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tidwell, Vincent Carroll; Sun, Amy Cha-Tien; Peplinski, William J.

2012-04-01

Water resource management requires collaborative solutions that cross institutional and political boundaries. This work describes the development and use of a computer-based tool for assessing the impact of additional water allocation from the Gila River and the San Francisco River prescribed in the 2004 Arizona Water Settlements Act. Between 2005 and 2010, Sandia National Laboratories engaged concerned citizens, local water stakeholders, and key federal and state agencies to collaboratively create the Gila-San Francisco Decision Support Tool. Based on principles of system dynamics, the tool is founded on a hydrologic balance of surface water, groundwater, and their associated coupling between watermore » resources and demands. The tool is fitted with a user interface to facilitate sensitivity studies of various water supply and demand scenarios. The model also projects the consumptive use of water in the region as well as the potential CUFA (Consumptive Use and Forbearance Agreement which stipulates when and where Arizona Water Settlements Act diversions can be made) diversion over a 26-year horizon. Scenarios are selected to enhance our understanding of the potential human impacts on the rivers ecological health in New Mexico; in particular, different case studies thematic to water conservation, water rights, and minimum flow are tested using the model. The impact on potential CUFA diversions, agricultural consumptive use, and surface water availability are assessed relative to the changes imposed in the scenarios. While it has been difficult to gage the acceptance level from the stakeholders, the technical information that the model provides are valuable for facilitating dialogues in the context of the new settlement.« less

Modelling water use in global hydrological models: review, challenges and directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bierkens, M. F.; de Graaf, I.; Wada, Y.; Wanders, N.; Van Beek, L. P.

2017-12-01

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, awareness of the shortage of global water resources lead to the first detailed global water resources assessments using regional statistics of water use and observations of meteorological and hydrological variables. Shortly thereafter, the first macroscale hydrological models (MHM) appeared. In these models, blue water (i.e., surface water and renewable groundwater) availability was calculated by accumulating runoff over a stream network and comparing it with population densities or with estimated water demand for agriculture, industry and households. In this talk we review the evolution of human impact modelling in global land models with a focus on global water resources, touching upon developments of the last 15 years: i.e. calculating human water scarcity; estimating groundwater depletion; adding dams and reservoirs; fully integrating water use (demand, withdrawal, consumption, return flow) in the hydrology; simulating the effects of land use change. We show example studies for each of these steps. We identify We identify major challenges that hamper the further development of integrated water resources modelling. Examples of these are: 1) simulating reservoir operations; 2) including local infrastructure and redistribution; 3) using the correct allocations rules; 4) projecting future water demand and water use. For each of these challenges we signify promising directions for further research.

Water Use and Quality Footprints of Biofuel Crops in Florida

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shukla, S.; Hendricks, G.; Helsel, Z.; Knowles, J.

2013-12-01

The use of biofuel crops for future energy needs will require considerable amounts of water inputs. Favorable growing conditions for large scale biofuel production exist in the sub-tropical environment of South Florida. However, large-scale land use change associated with biofuel crops is likely to affect the quantity and quality of water within the region. South Florida's surface and ground water resources are already stressed by current allocations. Limited data exists to allocate water for growing the energy crops as well as evaluate the accompanying hydrologic and water quality impacts of large-scale land use changes. A three-year study was conducted to evaluate the water supply and quality impacts of three energy crops: sugarcane, switchgrass, and sweet sorghum (with a winter crop). Six lysimeters were used to collect the data needed to quantify crop evapotranspiration (ETc), and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) levels in groundwater and discharge (drainage and runoff). Each lysimeter (4.85 x 3.65 x 1.35 m) was equipped to measure water input, output, and storage. The irrigation, runoff, and drainage volumes were measured using flow meters. Groundwater samples were collected bi-weekly and drainage/runoff sampling was event based; samples were analyzed for nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) species. Data collected over the three years revealed that the average annual ETc was highest for sugarcane (1464 mm) followed by switchgrass and sweet sorghum. Sweet sorghum had the highest total N (TN) concentration (7.6 mg/L) in groundwater and TN load (36 kg/ha) in discharge. However, sweet sorghum had the lowest total P (TP) concentration (1.2 mg/L) in groundwater and TP load (9 kg/ha) in discharge. Water use footprint for ethanol (liter of water used per liter of ethanol produced) was lowest for sugarcane and highest for switchgrass. Switchgrass had the highest P-load footprint for ethanol. No differences were observed for the TN load footprint for ethanol. This is the first study to quantify water use and nutrient load footprint based on measurements in the southeast and perhaps the USA, and will be useful for selecting suitable biofuel crops in Florida and elsewhere with similar environment.

A Study on Cost Allocation in Nuclear Power Coupled with Desalination

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, ManKi; Kim, SeungSu; Moon, KeeHwan

As for a single-purpose desalination plant, there is no particular difficulty in computing the unit cost of the water, which is obtained by dividing the annual total costs by the output of fresh water. When it comes to a dual-purpose plant, cost allocation is needed between the two products. No cost allocation is needed in some cases where two alternatives producing the same water and electricity output are to be compared. In these cases, the consideration of the total cost is then sufficient. This study assumes MED (Multi-Effect Distillation) technology is adopted when nuclear power is coupled with desalination. Themore » total production cost of the two commodities in dual-purpose plant can easily be obtained by using costing methods, if the necessary raw data are available. However, it is not easy to calculate a separate cost for each product, because high-pressure steam plant costs cannot be allocated to one or the other without adopting arbitrary methods. Investigation on power credit method is carried out focusing on the cost allocation of combined benefits due to dual production, electricity and water. The illustrative calculation is taken from Preliminary Economic Feasibility Study of Nuclear Desalination in Madura Island, Indonesia. The study is being performed by BATAN (National Nuclear Energy Agency), KAERI (Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute) and under support of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) started in the year 2002 in order to perform a preliminary economic feasibility in providing the Madurese with sufficient power and potable water for the public and to support industrialization and tourism in Madura Region. The SMART reactor coupled with MED is considered to be an option to produce electricity and potable water. This study indicates that the correct recognition of combined benefits attributable to dual production is important in carrying out economics of desalination coupled with nuclear power. (authors)« less

Congestion Pricing for Aircraft Pushback Slot Allocation.

PubMed

Liu, Lihua; Zhang, Yaping; Liu, Lan; Xing, Zhiwei

2017-01-01

In order to optimize aircraft pushback management during rush hour, aircraft pushback slot allocation based on congestion pricing is explored while considering monetary compensation based on the quality of the surface operations. First, the concept of the "external cost of surface congestion" is proposed, and a quantitative study on the external cost is performed. Then, an aircraft pushback slot allocation model for minimizing the total surface cost is established. An improved discrete differential evolution algorithm is also designed. Finally, a simulation is performed on Xinzheng International Airport using the proposed model. By comparing the pushback slot control strategy based on congestion pricing with other strategies, the advantages of the proposed model and algorithm are highlighted. In addition to reducing delays and optimizing the delay distribution, the model and algorithm are better suited for use for actual aircraft pushback management during rush hour. Further, it is also observed they do not result in significant increases in the surface cost. These results confirm the effectiveness and suitability of the proposed model and algorithm.

Congestion Pricing for Aircraft Pushback Slot Allocation

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yaping

2017-01-01

In order to optimize aircraft pushback management during rush hour, aircraft pushback slot allocation based on congestion pricing is explored while considering monetary compensation based on the quality of the surface operations. First, the concept of the “external cost of surface congestion” is proposed, and a quantitative study on the external cost is performed. Then, an aircraft pushback slot allocation model for minimizing the total surface cost is established. An improved discrete differential evolution algorithm is also designed. Finally, a simulation is performed on Xinzheng International Airport using the proposed model. By comparing the pushback slot control strategy based on congestion pricing with other strategies, the advantages of the proposed model and algorithm are highlighted. In addition to reducing delays and optimizing the delay distribution, the model and algorithm are better suited for use for actual aircraft pushback management during rush hour. Further, it is also observed they do not result in significant increases in the surface cost. These results confirm the effectiveness and suitability of the proposed model and algorithm. PMID:28114429

METHODS OF ANALYSIS FOR WASTE LOAD ALLOCATION

EPA Science Inventory

This research has addressed several unresolved questions concerning the allocation of allowable waste loads among multiple wastewater dischargers within a water quality limited stream segment. First, the traditional assumptions about critical design conditions for waste load allo...

How the USGS collects national water-use data, and why it needs to be improved to aid hydrologic research (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Worland, S. C.

2017-12-01

The volume of water used by humans is an often-overlooked component of water budgets and represents the greatest amount of uncertainty in many hydrologic models. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has compiled national water-use data at the state level since 1950 and at the county level since 1985. The data are published every five years and are available for several categorical end-uses; the major ones being thermoelectric power, irrigation, public supply, and self-supplied industrial. Although the USGS is mandated by Congress to generate these water-use reports, the effort is largely underfunded. For most years between 1979 to 2010, the annual funding allotted to the USGS National Water-Use Information Program was less than 400,000 which has not been sufficient to support the direct collection of water-use data by the USGS. The result has been historical water-use data that are temporally sparse, spatially granular, and lack the high standards of quality control typical of USGS data products. For example, in 2010 there were over 55,000 public-water suppliers in the United States that represented water withdrawals from 130,000 groundwater wells and 8,000 surface-water intakes. The 2010 water-use compilation provided only a single-year snapshot of public-supply withdrawals and reduces the 55,000 data points to 3,000 by aggregating the data into the hydrologically irrelevant spatial unit of county boundaries. Furthermore, important information such as interbasin-water transfers, aquifer source, and water price are entirely absent from the dataset. Since 2011, however, the allocation has increased to 1.6 million/year and in 2015 there was an additional $1.5 million/year allocated to the Water-Use Data and Research Program which grants federal money to state agencies for water-use data collection efforts. This increase in funding has primarily been used to improve the water-use estimates of the thermoelectric power, public supply, and irrigation sectors through improved data collection, more efficient databases, and the development of deterministic and probabilistic models. Water-use data and research needs significantly more attention at the national level if we are to meet the water availability needs of society in the coming decades.

Mapping Water Resources, Allocation and Consumption in the Mills River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodes, J.; Jeuland, M. A.; Barros, A. P.

2014-12-01

Mountain basins and the headwaters of river basins along the foothills of major mountain ranges are undergoing rapid environmental change due to urban development, land acquisition by investors, population increase, and climate change. Classical water infrastructure in these regions is primarily designed to meet human water demand associated with agriculture, tourism, and economic development. Often overlooked and ignored is the fundamental interdependence of human water demand, ecosystem water demand, water rights and allocation, and water supply. A truly sustainable system for water resources takes into account ecosystem demand along with human infrastructure and economic demand, as well as the feedbacks that exist between them. Allocation policies need to take into account basin resilience that is the amount of stress the system can handle under varying future scenarios. Changes in stress on the system can be anthropogenic in the form of population increase, land use change, economic development, or may be natural in the form of climate change and decrease in water supply due to changes in precipitation. Mapping the water rights, supply, and demands within the basin can help determine the resiliency and sustainability of the basin. Here, we present a coupled natural human system project based in the French Broad River Basin, in the Southern Appalachians. In the first phase of the project, we are developing and implementing a coupled hydro-economics modeling framework in the Mills River Basin (MRB), a tributary of the French Broad. The Mills River Basin was selected as the core basin for implementing a sustainable system of water allocation that is adaptive and reflects the interdependence of water dependent sectors. The headwaters of the Mills River are in the foothills of the Appalachians, and are currently under substantial land use land cover (LULC) change pressure for agricultural purposes. In this regard, the MRB is representative of similar headwater basins in regions of complex terrain undergoing similar pressures such as the Andes and Himalayas. First results of the project including a quantitative organigram mapping water availability, water consumption, and the relationships among water stakeholders within the basin will be presented.

A prototype for understanding the effects of TMDL standards: Tying property values to sediment loads in the Lake Tahoe Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tracy, J.C.; Bernknopf, R.; Forney, W.; Hill, K.

2004-01-01

The Federal Clean Water Act (Section 303(d)) mandates that states develop Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plans for water bodies that are on the Section 303(d) list. To be placed on the 303(d) list, a water body must be found to have water quality conditions that limit its ability to meet its designated beneficial uses. The TMDL for a water body is defined in 40 CFR 130 as the sum of waste load allocations from identified points sources and non-point sources within the water body's watershed. The TMDL plan for a listed water body should identify the current waste loads to the water body, the waste load capacity of the water body and then allocate the waste load capacity to the known point and non-point sources of pollution within the water body's watershed. Copyright 2004 ASCE.

Global and Regional Evaluation of Energy for Water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Yaling; Hejazi, Mohamad; Kyle, Page

Despite significant effort to quantify the inter-dependence of the water and energy sectors, global requirements of energy for water (E4W) are still poorly understood, which may result in biases in projections and consequently in water and energy management and policy. This study estimates water-related energy consumption by water source, sector, and process, for 14 global regions from 1973 to 2012. Globally, E4W amounted to 10.2 ± 5 EJ of primary energy consumption in 2010, accounting for 1.2–3% of total global primary energy consumption, of which 58% pertains to surface water, 30% to groundwater, and 12% to non-fresh water, assuming medianmore » energy intensity levels. The sectoral E4W allocation includes municipal (45%), industrial (30%), and agricultural (25%), and main process-level contributions are from source/conveyance (39%), water purification (27%), water distribution (12%) and wastewater treatment (18%). While the USA was the largest E4W consumer from the 1970’s until the 2000’s, the largest consumers at present are the Middle East, India, and China, driven by rapid growth in desalination, groundwater-based irrigation, and industrial and municipal water use, respectively. The improved understanding of global E4W will enable enhanced consistency of both water and energy representations in integrated assessment models.« less

Stratification and loading of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in a tidally muted urban salt marsh.

PubMed

Johnston, Karina K; Dorsey, John H; Saez, Jose A

2015-03-01

Stratification and loading of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) were assessed in the main tidal channel of the Ballona Wetlands, an urban salt marsh receiving muted tidal flows, to (1) determine FIB concentration versus loading within the water column at differing tidal flows, (2) identify associations of FIB with other water quality parameters, and (3) compare wetland FIB concentrations to the adjacent estuary. Sampling was conducted four times during spring-tide events; samples were analyzed for FIB and turbidity (NTU) four times over a tidal cycle at pre-allocated depths, depending on the water level. Additional water quality parameters measured included temperature, salinity, oxygen, and pH. Loadings were calculated by integrating the stratified FIB concentrations with water column cross-sectional volumes corresponding to each depth. Enterococci and Escherichia coli were stratified both by concentration and loading, although these variables portrayed different patterns over a tidal cycle. Greatest concentrations occurred in surface to mid-strata levels, during flood tides when contaminated water flowed in from the estuary, and during ebb flows when sediments were suspended. Loading was greatest during flood flows and diminished during low tide periods. FIB concentrations within the estuary often were significantly greater than those within the wetland tide channel, supporting previous studies that the wetlands act as a sink for FIB. For public health water quality monitoring, these results indicate that more accurate estimates of FIB concentrations would be obtained by sampling a number of points within a water column rather than relying only on single surface samples.

Integrated hydrologic modeling of a transboundary aquifer system —Lower Rio Grande

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hanson, Randall T.; Schmid, Wolfgang; Knight, Jacob E.; Maddock, Thomas

2013-01-01

For more than 30 years the agreements developed for the aquifer systems of the lower Rio Grande and related river compacts of the Rio Grande River have evolved into a complex setting of transboundary conjunctive use. The conjunctive use now includes many facets of water rights, water use, and emerging demands between the states of New Mexico and Texas, the United States and Mexico, and various water-supply agencies. The analysis of the complex relations between irrigation and streamflow supplyand-demand components and the effects of surface-water and groundwater use requires an integrated hydrologic model to track all of the use and movement of water. MODFLOW with the Farm Process (MFFMP) provides the integrated approach needed to assess the stream-aquifer interactions that are dynamically affected by irrigation demands on streamflow allotments that are supplemented with groundwater pumpage. As a first step to the ongoing full implementation of MF-FMP by the USGS, the existing model (LRG_2007) was modified to include some FMP features, demonstrating the ability to simulate the existing streamflow-diversion relations known as the D2 and D3 curves, departure of downstream deliveries from these curves during low allocation years and with increasing efficiency upstream, and the dynamic relation between surface-water conveyance and estimates of pumpage and recharge. This new MF-FMP modeling framework can now internally analyze complex relations within the Lower Rio Grande Hydrologic Model (LRGHM_2011) that previous techniques had limited ability to assess.

An attempt to electrically enhance phytoremediation of arsenic contaminated water.

PubMed

Kubiak, Jan J; Khankhane, Premraj J; Kleingeld, Pieter J; Lima, Ana T

2012-04-01

Water polluted with arsenic presents a challenge for remediation. A combination of phyto- and electro-remediation was attempted in this study. Four tanks were setup in order to assess the arsenic removal ability of the two methods separately and in combination. Lemna minor was chosen for As remediation and collected from a ditch in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The tanks were filled with surface water without any pre-cleaning, therefore containing various elements including metals as Mn (2.9 mg L(-1)), Cu (0.05 mg L(-1)), Fe (1.39 mg L(-1)), and Ba (0.13 mg L(-1)). This water was then spiked with As and allocated to a feed container, guaranteeing a continuous flow of 0.12 mL s(-1) to each tank. Two experiments were performed: Exp. 1 with 3 consecutive stages with rising applied voltage and Exp. 2, with a constant voltage over a period of 6 d. Measurements of pH and temperature were taken every working day, as well as water samples from outlets of all tanks including feed container for control. From the present study, there was no evidence that As had been taken up by the plants, but a strong depletion of As was observed in the tanks where current was applied. Preliminary results clearly showed that applying voltage to the electrodes caused 90% removal of As from the spiked surface water. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Economic Impact of Water Allocation on Agriculture in the Lower Chattahoochee River Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Limaye, Ashutosh S.; Paudel, Krishna P.; Musleh, Fuad; Cruise, James F.; Hatch, L. Upton

2004-01-01

The relative value of irrigation water was assessed for three important crops (corn, cotton, and peanuts) grown in the southeastern United States. A decision tool was developed with the objective of allocating limited available water among competing crops in a manner that would maximize the economic returns to the producers. The methodology was developed and tested for a hypothetical farm located in Henry County, Alabama in the Chattahoochee river basin. Crop yield - soil moisture response functions were developed using Monte Carlo simulated data for cotton, corn, and peanuts. A hydrologic model was employed to simulate runoff over the period of observed rainfall the county to provide inflows to storage facilities that could be used as constraints for the optimal allocation of the available water in the face of the uncertainty of future rainfall and runoff. Irrigation decisions were made on a weekly basis during the critical water deficit period in the region. An economic optimization model was employed with the crop responses, and soil moisture functions to determine the optimum amount of water place on each crop subject to the amount of irrigation water availability and climatic uncertainty. The results indicated even small amounts of irrigation could significantly benefit farmers in the region if applied judiciously. A weekly irrigation sequence was developed that maintained the available water on the crops that exhibited the most significant combination of water sensitivity and cash value.

Drought planning and water allocation: an assessment of local capacity in Minnesota.

PubMed

Pirie, Rebecca L; de Loë, Rob C; Kreutzwiser, Reid

2004-10-01

Water allocation systems are challenged by hydrologic droughts, which reduce available water supplies and can adversely affect human and environmental systems. To address this problem, drought management mechanisms have been instituted in jurisdictions around the world. Historically, these mechanisms have involved a crisis management or reactive approach. An important trend during the past decade in places such as the United States has been a shift to a more proactive approach, emphasizing drought preparedness and local involvement. Unfortunately, local capacity for drought planning is highly variable, with some local governments and organizations proving to be more capable than others of taking on new responsibilities. This paper reports on a study of drought planning and water allocation in the State of Minnesota. Factors facilitating and constraining local capacity for drought planning were identified using in-depth key informant interviews with state officials and members of two small Minnesota cities, combined with an analysis of pertinent documentation. A key factor contributing to the effectiveness of Minnesota's system is a water allocation system with explicit priorities during shortages, and provisions for restrictions. At the same time, the requirement that water suppliers create Public Water Supply Emergency Conservation Plans (PWSECP) clarifies the roles and responsibilities of key local actors. Unfortunately, the research revealed that mandated PWSECP are not always implemented, and that awareness of drought and drought planning measures in general may be poor at the local level. From the perspective of the two cities evaluated, factors that contributed to local capacity included sound financial and human resources, and (in some cases) effective vertical and horizontal linkages. This analysis of experiences in Minnesota highlights problems that can occur when senior governments establish policy frameworks that increase responsibilities at the local level without also addressing local capacity.

Development of an Integrated Agricultural Planning Model Considering Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santikayasa, I. P.

2016-01-01

The goal of this study is to develop an agriculture planning model in order to sustain the future water use under the estimation of crop water requirement, water availability and future climate projection. For this purpose, the Citarum river basin which is located in West Java - Indonesia is selected as the study area. Two emission scenarios A2 and B2 were selected. For the crop water requirement estimation, the output of HadCM3 AOGCM is statistically downscale using SDSM and used as the input for WEAP model developed by SEI (Stockholm Environmental Institute). The reliability of water uses is assessed by comparing the irrigation water demand and the water allocation for the irrigation area. The water supply resources are assessed using the water planning tool. This study shows that temperature and precipitation over the study area are projected to increase in the future. The water availability was projected to increase under both A2 and B2 emission scenarios in the future. The irrigation water requirement is expected to decrease in the future under A2 and B2 scenarios. By comparing the irrigation water demand and water allocation for irrigation, the reliability of agriculture water use is expected to change in the period of 2050s and 2080s while the reliability will not change in 2020s. The reliability under A2 scenario is expected to be higher than B2 scenario. The combination of WEAP and SDSM is significance to use in assessing and allocating the water resources in the region.

River water quality management considering agricultural return flows: application of a nonlinear two-stage stochastic fuzzy programming.

PubMed

Tavakoli, Ali; Nikoo, Mohammad Reza; Kerachian, Reza; Soltani, Maryam

2015-04-01

In this paper, a new fuzzy methodology is developed to optimize water and waste load allocation (WWLA) in rivers under uncertainty. An interactive two-stage stochastic fuzzy programming (ITSFP) method is utilized to handle parameter uncertainties, which are expressed as fuzzy boundary intervals. An iterative linear programming (ILP) is also used for solving the nonlinear optimization model. To accurately consider the impacts of the water and waste load allocation strategies on the river water quality, a calibrated QUAL2Kw model is linked with the WWLA optimization model. The soil, water, atmosphere, and plant (SWAP) simulation model is utilized to determine the quantity and quality of each agricultural return flow. To control pollution loads of agricultural networks, it is assumed that a part of each agricultural return flow can be diverted to an evaporation pond and also another part of it can be stored in a detention pond. In detention ponds, contaminated water is exposed to solar radiation for disinfecting pathogens. Results of applying the proposed methodology to the Dez River system in the southwestern region of Iran illustrate its effectiveness and applicability for water and waste load allocation in rivers. In the planning phase, this methodology can be used for estimating the capacities of return flow diversion system and evaporation and detention ponds.

Seasonal Evaporation and Surface Energy Budget Estimation Across an Arid Agricultural Region in Saudi Arabia: Quantifying Groundwater Extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aragon, B.; Huang, D.; Houborg, R.; Dasari, H. P.; Hoteit, I.; McCabe, M.

2017-12-01

In arid-land agricultural environments, knowledge of the water and energy budget is critical in order to sustainably manage the allocation and use of water resources. Using long-term weather reanalysis data from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and a time-series record of Landsat 8 imagery, we apply the Priestly-Taylor Jet Propulsion Lab (PT-JPL) model to estimate the energy budget over the Al Jawf agricultural region in the north of Saudi Arabia. This zone generates a significant proportion of the agricultural production in Saudi Arabia and consumes an important fraction of the non-renewable water resources. This research contributes towards efforts seeking to quantify the precise amount of water that is used in agriculture - a difficult variable given that the overwhelming majority of supply comes from groundwater extraction. Results of this research can be used to improve crop management and to mitigate aquifer over-exploitation by monitoring the indiscriminate use of water and establishing bounds around the rates of groundwater withdrawal.

Water exchanges versus water works: Insights from a computable general equilibrium model for the Balearic Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gómez, Carlos M.; Tirado, Dolores; Rey-Maquieira, Javier

2004-10-01

We present a computable general equilibrium model (CGE) for the Balearic Islands, specifically performed to analyze the welfare gains associated with an improvement in the allocation of water rights through voluntary water exchanges (mainly between the agriculture and urban sectors). For the implementation of the empirical model we built the social accounting matrix (SAM) from the last available input-output table of the islands (for the year 1997). Water exchanges provide an important alternative to make the allocation of water flexible enough to cope with the cyclical droughts that characterize the natural water regime on the islands. The main conclusion is that the increased efficiency provided by ``water markets'' makes this option more advantageous than the popular alternative of building new desalinization plants. Contrary to common opinion, a ``water market'' can also have positive and significant impacts on the agricultural income.

Establishing politically feasible water markets: a multi-criteria approach.

PubMed

Ballestero, Enrique; Alarcón, Silverio; García-Bernabeu, Ana

2002-08-01

A multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) model to simulate the establishment of water markets is developed. The environment is an irrigated area governed by a non-profit agency, which is responsible for water production, allocation, and pricing. There is a traditional situation of historical rights, average-cost pricing for water allocation, large quantities of water used, and inefficiency. A market-oriented policy could be implemented by accounting for ecological and political objectives such as saving groundwater and safeguarding historical rights while promoting economic efficiency. In this paper, a problem is solved by compromise programming, a multi-criteria technique based on the principles of Simonian logic. The model is theoretically developed and applied to the Lorca region in Spain near the Mediterranean Sea.

A framework model for water-sharing among co-basin states of a river basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garg, N. K.; Azad, Shambhu

2018-05-01

A new framework model is presented in this study for sharing of water in a river basin using certain governing variables, in an effort to enhance the objectivity for a reasonable and equitable allocation of water among co-basin states. The governing variables were normalised to reduce the governing variables of different co-basin states of a river basin on same scale. In the absence of objective methods for evaluating the weights to be assigned to co-basin states for water allocation, a framework was conceptualised and formulated to determine the normalised weighting factors of different co-basin states as a function of the governing variables. The water allocation to any co-basin state had been assumed to be proportional to its struggle for equity, which in turn was assumed to be a function of the normalised discontent, satisfaction, and weighting factors of each co-basin state. System dynamics was used effectively to represent and solve the proposed model formulation. The proposed model was successfully applied to the Vamsadhara river basin located in the South-Eastern part of India, and a sensitivity analysis of the proposed model parameters was carried out to prove its robustness in terms of the proposed model convergence and validity over the broad spectrum values of the proposed model parameters. The solution converged quickly to a final allocation of 1444 million cubic metre (MCM) in the case of the Odisha co-basin state, and to 1067 MCM for the Andhra Pradesh co-basin state. The sensitivity analysis showed that the proposed model's allocation varied from 1584 MCM to 1336 MCM for Odisha state and from 927 to 1175 MCM for Andhra, depending upon the importance weights given to the governing variables for the calculation of the weighting factors. Thus, the proposed model was found to be very flexible to explore various policy options to arrive at a decision in a water sharing problem. It can therefore be effectively applied to any trans-boundary problem where there is conflict about water-sharing among co-basin states.

Comparing administered and market-based water allocation systems using an agent-based modeling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, J.; Cai, X.; Wang, Z.

2009-12-01

It also has been well recognized that market-based systems can have significant advantages over administered systems for water allocation. However there are not many successful water markets around the world yet and administered systems exist commonly in water allocation management practice. This paradox has been under discussion for decades and still calls for attention for both research and practice. This paper explores some insights for the paradox and tries to address why market systems have not been widely implemented for water allocation. Adopting the theory of agent-based system we develop a consistent analytical model to interpret both systems. First we derive some theorems based on the analytical model, with respect to the necessary conditions for economic efficiency of water allocation. Following that the agent-based model is used to illustrate the coherence and difference between administered and market-based systems. The two systems are compared from three aspects: 1) the driving forces acting on the system state, 2) system efficiency, and 3) equity. Regarding economic efficiency, penalty on the violation of water use permits (or rights) under an administered system can lead to system-wide economic efficiency, as well as being acceptable by some agents, which follows the theory of the so-call rational violation. Ideal equity will be realized if penalty equals incentive with an administered system and if transaction costs are zero with a market system. The performances of both agents and the over system are explained with an administered system and market system, respectively. The performances of agents are subject to different mechanisms of interactions between agents under the two systems. The system emergency (i.e., system benefit, equilibrium market price, etc), resulting from the performance at the agent level, reflects the different mechanism of the two systems, the “invisible hand” with the market system and administrative measures (penalty and subsidy) with the administered system. Furthermore, the impact of hydrological uncertainty on the performance of water users under the two systems is analyzed by extending the deterministic model to a stochastic one subject to the uncertainty of water availability. It is found that the system response to hydrologic uncertainty depends on risk management mechanics - sharing risk equally among the agents or by prescribed priorities on some agents. Figure1. Agent formulation and its implications in administered system and market-based system

Assessing Variability and Errors in Historical Runoff Forecasting with Physical Models and Alternative Data Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penn, C. A.; Clow, D. W.; Sexstone, G. A.

2017-12-01

Water supply forecasts are an important tool for water resource managers in areas where surface water is relied on for irrigating agricultural lands and for municipal water supplies. Forecast errors, which correspond to inaccurate predictions of total surface water volume, can lead to mis-allocated water and productivity loss, thus costing stakeholders millions of dollars. The objective of this investigation is to provide water resource managers with an improved understanding of factors contributing to forecast error, and to help increase the accuracy of future forecasts. In many watersheds of the western United States, snowmelt contributes 50-75% of annual surface water flow and controls both the timing and volume of peak flow. Water supply forecasts from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), National Weather Service, and similar cooperators use precipitation and snowpack measurements to provide water resource managers with an estimate of seasonal runoff volume. The accuracy of these forecasts can be limited by available snowpack and meteorological data. In the headwaters of the Rio Grande, NRCS produces January through June monthly Water Supply Outlook Reports. This study evaluates the accuracy of these forecasts since 1990, and examines what factors may contribute to forecast error. The Rio Grande headwaters has experienced recent changes in land cover from bark beetle infestation and a large wildfire, which can affect hydrological processes within the watershed. To investigate trends and possible contributing factors in forecast error, a semi-distributed hydrological model was calibrated and run to simulate daily streamflow for the period 1990-2015. Annual and seasonal watershed and sub-watershed water balance properties were compared with seasonal water supply forecasts. Gridded meteorological datasets were used to assess changes in the timing and volume of spring precipitation events that may contribute to forecast error. Additionally, a spatially-distributed physics-based snow model was used to assess possible effects of land cover change on snowpack properties. Trends in forecasted error are variable while baseline model results show a consistent under-prediction in the recent decade, highlighting possible compounding effects of climate and land cover changes.

The aesthetics of water and land: a promising concept for managing scarce water resources under climate change.

PubMed

Tielbörger, Katja; Fleischer, Aliza; Menzel, Lucas; Metz, Johannes; Sternberg, Marcelo

2010-11-28

The eastern Mediterranean faces a severe water crisis: water supply decreases due to climate change, while demand increases due to rapid population growth. The GLOWA Jordan River project generates science-based management strategies for maximizing water productivity under global climate change. We use a novel definition of water productivity as the full range of services provided by landscapes per unit blue (surface) and green (in plants and soil) water. Our combined results from climatological, ecological, economic and hydrological studies suggest that, in Israel, certain landscapes provide high returns as ecosystem services for little input of additional blue water. Specifically, cultural services such as recreation may by far exceed that of food production. Interestingly, some highly valued landscapes (e.g. rangeland) appear resistant to climate change, making them an ideal candidate for adaptive land management. Vice versa, expanding irrigated agriculture is unlikely to be sustainable under global climate change. We advocate the inclusion of a large range of ecosystem services into integrated land and water resources management. The focus on cultural services and integration of irrigation demand will lead to entirely different but productive water and land allocation schemes that may be suitable for withstanding the problems caused by climate change.

Farmers' attitudes toward mandatory water-saving policies: A case study in two basins in northwest China.

PubMed

Chang, Genying; Wang, Lu; Meng, Liuyi; Zhang, Wenxia

2016-10-01

China began to implement stringent water-saving policies in 2012. Mandatory water-saving measures implemented in arid inland river basins include the measures of allocating surface water among upper, middle and lower beaches, restricting household agricultural water use, closing wells, reducing farmland and increasing water prices. These measures have negative influences on the agricultural production of farmers. This study aimed to reveal the demographic and psychological correlates of farmers' attitudes toward these policies. The participants included 672 farmers in the Heihe River Basin and the Shule River Basin in northwest China. Structural equation analyses showed that farmers' awareness of the beneficial consequences of restricting household agricultural water and their perception of policy enforcement had significant relationships with their attitudes toward water-saving policies, whereas the effects of the New Ecological Paradigm and collectivism on farmers' attitudes were mediated through their awareness of beneficial consequences and their perception of policy enforcement. Multivariable regression analyses revealed that as a whole, there were no significant correlations between demographic variables and farmers' attitudes. Policy implications include propagandizing these policies among local farmers, strengthening open and fair policy enforcement, and cautiously using water prices as an instrument to control irrigation water. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research on allocation efficiency of the daisy chain allocation algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Jingping; Zhang, Weiguo

2013-03-01

With the improvement of the aircraft performance in reliability, maneuverability and survivability, the number of the control effectors increases a lot. How to distribute the three-axis moments into the control surfaces reasonably becomes an important problem. Daisy chain method is simple and easy to be carried out in the design of the allocation system. But it can not solve the allocation problem for entire attainable moment subset. For the lateral-directional allocation problem, the allocation efficiency of the daisy chain can be directly measured by the area of its subset of attainable moments. Because of the non-linear allocation characteristic, the subset of attainable moments of daisy-chain method is a complex non-convex polygon, and it is difficult to solve directly. By analyzing the two-dimensional allocation problems with a "micro-element" idea, a numerical calculation algorithm is proposed to compute the area of the non-convex polygon. In order to improve the allocation efficiency of the algorithm, a genetic algorithm with the allocation efficiency chosen as the fitness function is proposed to find the best pseudo-inverse matrix.

Water use efficiency and integrated water resource management for river basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Xiangzheng; Singh, R. B.; Liu, Junguo; Güneralp, Burak

Water use efficiency and management have attracted increasing attention as water has become scare to challenge the world's sustainable development. Water use efficiency is correlated to the land use and cover changes (LUCC), population distribution, industrial structure, economic development, climate changes, and environmental governance. These factors significantly alter water productivity for water balance through the changes in natural environment and socio-economic system (Wang et al., 2015b). Consequently, dynamics of water inefficiency lower the social welfare of water allocation (Wang et al., 2015b), and induce water management alternation interactively and financially (Wang et al., 2015a). This triggers on actual water price changes through both natural resource and socioeconomic system (Zhou et al., 2015). Therefore, it is very important to figure out a mechanism of water allocation in the course of LUCC (Jin et al., 2015) at a global perspective (Zhao et al., 2015), climate and economic changes of ecosystem service at various spatial and temporal scales (Li et al., 2015).

How to expand irrigated land in a sustainable way ?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pastor, Amandine V.; Ludwig, Fulco; Palazzo, Amanda; Havlik, Petr; Kabat, Pavel

2015-04-01

Allocation of agriculture commodities and water resources is subject to changes due to climate change, population increase and changes in dietary patterns. This study focused on including global water availability including environmental flow requirements with water withdrawal from irrigation and other sectors (industry, household and hydropower) at a monthly time-step in the GLOBIOM model. This model allows re-adjustment of land-use allocation, crop management, consumption and international trade. The GLOBIOM model induces an endogenous change in water price depending on water supply and demand. In this study, the focus was on how the inclusion of water resources affects land-use and, in particular, how global change will influence repartition of irrigated and rainfed lands at global scale. We used the climate change scenario including a radiative forcing of 2.6 W/m2 (RCP2.6), the socio-economic scenario (SSP2: middle-of-road), and the environmental flow method based on monthly flow allocation (the Variable Monthly Flow method) with high and low restrictions. Irrigation withdrawals were adjusted to a monthly time-step to account for biophysical water limitations at finer time resolution. Our results show that irrigated land might decrease up to 37% on average depending on the choice of EFR restrictions. Several areas were identified as future hot-spots of water stress such as the Mediterranean and Middle-East regions and parts of South-East Asia where the Water Stress Indicator (WSI) ranges from 0.4 to 1 by 2050. Other countries were identified to be in safe position in terms of water stress such as North-European countries. Some countries such as India expect a significant increase in water demand which might be compensated by an increase in water supply with climate change scenario. Re-allocation of rainfed and irrigated land might be useful information for land-use planners and water managers at an international level to decide on appropriate legislations on climate change mitigation/adaptation when exposure and sensitivity to climate change is high and/or on adaptation measures to face increasing water demand. For example, some countries are likely to adopt measures to increase their water use efficiencies (irrigation system, soil and water conservation practices) to face water shortages, while others might consider improving their trade policy to avoid food shortage.

Graph theoretical stable allocation as a tool for reproduction of control by human operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Nooijen, Ronald; Ertsen, Maurits; Kolechkina, Alla

2016-04-01

During the design of central control algorithms for existing water resource systems under manual control it is important to consider the interaction with parts of the system that remain under manual control and to compare the proposed new system with the existing manual methods. In graph theory the "stable allocation" problem has good solution algorithms and allows for formulation of flow distribution problems in terms of priorities. As a test case for the use of this approach we used the algorithm to derive water allocation rules for the Gezira Scheme, an irrigation system located between the Blue and White Niles south of Khartoum. In 1925, Gezira started with 300,000 acres; currently it covers close to two million acres.

Evaluation and source attribution of freshwater contributions to Kinvarra Bay, Ireland, using (222)Rn, EC and stable isotopes as natural indicators.

PubMed

Schubert, Michael; Knoeller, Kay; Rocha, Carlos; Einsiedl, Florian

2015-03-01

Freshwater discharge into the coastal sea is of general interest for two reasons: (i) It acts as vehicle for the transport of contaminants or nutrients into the ocean, and (ii) it indicates the loss of significant volumes of freshwater that might be needed for irrigation or drinking water supply. Due to the large-scale and long-term nature of the related hydrological processes, locating and quantitatively assessing freshwater discharge into the sea require naturally occurring tracers that allow fast, inexpensive and straightforward detection. In several studies, the standard water parameters electrical conductivity (EC) and pH have proven their suitability in this regard. However, while distribution patterns of EC and pH in the coastal sea indicate freshwater discharge in general, a separation between discharging surface water and submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is not possible with these alone. The naturally occurring radionuclide radon-222 has been shown to be useful in the quantification of SGD and its distinction from surface runoff. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the informative value of the three parameters-EC, pH and radon concentration-in detecting and quantifying SGD by carrying out a case study in a bay located in western Ireland. The results reveal that radon activity is the most sensitive parameter for detecting SGD. However, only the combined evaluation of radon, EC and pH allows a quantitative allocation of groundwater and surface water contributions to the overall freshwater discharge into the sea. This conclusion is independently supported by stable isotope data measured on selected samples.

Environmental control of reproductive phenology and the effect of pollen supplementation on resource allocation in the cleistogamous weed, Ruellia nudiflora (Acanthaceae).

PubMed

Munguía-Rosas, Miguel A; Parra-Tabla, Victor; Ollerton, Jeff; Cervera, J Carlos

2012-02-01

Mixed reproductive strategies may have evolved as a response of plants to cope with environmental variation. One example of a mixed reproductive strategy is dimorphic cleistogamy, where a single plant produces closed, obligately self-pollinated (CL) flowers and open, potentially outcrossed (CH) flowers. Frequently, optimal environmental conditions favour production of more costly CH structures whilst economical and reliable CL structures are produced under less favourable conditions. In this study we explore (1) the effect of light and water on the reproductive phenology and (2) the effect of pollen supplementation on resource allocation to seeds in the cleistogamous weed Ruellia nudiflora. Split-plot field experiments were carried out to assess the effect of shade (two levels: ambient light vs. a reduction of 50 %) and watering (two levels: non-watered vs. watered) on the onset, end and duration of the production of three reproductive structures: CH flowers, CH fruit and CL fruit. We also looked at the effect of these environmental factors on biomass allocation to seeds (seed weight) from obligately self-pollinated flowers (CL), open-pollinated CH flowers and pollen-supplemented CH flowers. CH structures were produced for a briefer period and ended earlier under shaded conditions. These conditions also resulted in an earlier production of CL fruit. Shaded conditions also produced greater biomass allocation to CH seeds receiving extra pollen. Sub-optimal (shaded) conditions resulted in a briefer production period of CH structures whilst these same conditions resulted in an earlier production of CL structures. However, under sub-optimal conditions, plants also allocated more resources to seeds sired from CH flowers receiving large pollen loads. Earlier production of reproductive structures and relatively larger seed might improve subsequent success of CL and pollen-supplemented CH seeds, respectively.

Simulated effects of allocated and projected 2025 withdrawals from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system, Gloucester and Northeastern Salem Counties, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Charles, Emmanuel; Nawyn, John P.; Voronin, Lois M.; Gordon, Alison D.

2011-01-01

Withdrawals from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system in New Jersey, which includes the Upper, Middle, and Lower Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifers, are the principal source of groundwater supply in northern Gloucester and northeastern Salem Counties in the New Jersey Coastal Plain. Water levels in these aquifers have declined in response to pumping. With increased population growth and development expected in Gloucester County and parts of Salem County over the next 2 decades (2005-2025), withdrawals from these aquifers also are expected to increase. A steady-state groundwater-flow model, developed to simulate flow in the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system in northern Gloucester and northeastern Salem Counties, was calibrated to withdrawal conditions in 1998, when groundwater withdrawals from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system in the model area were more than 10,100 Mgal/yr (million gallons per year). Withdrawals from water-purveyor wells accounted for about 63 percent of these withdrawals, and withdrawals from industrial self-supply wells accounted for about 32 percent. Withdrawals from agricultural-irrigation, commercial self-supply, and domestic self-supply wells accounted for the remaining 5 percent. Results of the 2000 baseline groundwater-flow simulation, incorporating average annual 1999-2001 groundwater withdrawals, indicate that the average simulated water levels in the Upper, Middle, and Lower Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifers are 31, 27, and 30 feet below the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29), respectively, and the lowest simulated water levels are 77, 65, and 59 feet below NGVD 29, respectively. In the full-allocation scenario, the maximum State-permitted (allocated) groundwater withdrawals totaled 16,567 Mgal/yr, an increase of 72 percent from the 2000 baseline simulation. Results of the full-allocation simulation indicate that the average simulated water levels in the Upper, Middle, and Lower Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifers are 49, 43, and 48 feet below NGVD 29, respectively, which are 18, 16, and 18 feet lower, respectively, than in the 2000 baseline simulation. The lowest simulated water levels are 156, 95, and 69 feet below NGVD 29, respectively, which are 79, 30, and 10 feet lower, respectively, than in the 2000 baseline simulation. Simulated net flow from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system to streams is 8,441 Mgal/yr in the 2000 baseline simulation but is 6,018 Mgal/yr in the full-allocation scenario, a decrease of 29 percent from the 2000 baseline simulation. Simulated net flow in the 2000 baseline simulation is 1,183 Mgal/yr from the aquifer system to the Delaware River but in the full-allocation scenario is 1,816 Mgal/yr from the river to the aquifer system. Four other simulations were conducted that incorporated full-allocation conditions at water-purveyor wells in Critical Area 2 but increased or decreased withdrawals at selected water-purveyor wells outside Critical Area 2 and agricultural-irrigation and industrial-self-supply wells in the study area. The results of the four simulations also indicate net flow from the Delaware River to the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system. A growth scenario was developed to simulate future withdrawals in 2025 estimated from population projections for municipalities in the Salem-Gloucester study area. Simulated withdrawals for this scenario totaled 10,261 Mgal/yr, an increase of 6 percent from the 2000 baseline simulation. This total includes about 25 Mgal/yr withdrawn from the Englishtown aquifer system for domestic self-supply. This scenario incorporated full-allocation withdrawals at water-purveyor wells in Critical Area 2, and increased withdrawals at water-purveyor wells outside Critical Area 2. Results of this simulation indicate that the average simulated water levels in the Upper, Middle, and Lower Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifers are 32, 29, and 32 feet below NGVD 29, respectively, which are 1, 2, and

Concept for a Wireless Sensor Network to support GIS based water and land resource management in the Aksu-Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doluschitz, Reiner; Feike, Til

2013-04-01

Farmers in the oases along the Aksu-Tarim River suffer from severe seasonal water shortage caused by high fluctuations of river run-off. The uncertainty of water availability makes the planning of crop production and related investments extremely difficult. As a consequence farm management is often sub-optimal, manifesting in low input efficiencies, and the value generated in the agricultural sector being way below its potential. The "Tarim Basin Water Resource Bureau" (TBWRB) was founded in the 1990s. Its major task is to implement a basin wide water resources management plan, which involves fair allocation of water resources among the farmers in the different administrative units along the river. Among others, the lack of reliable and timely information on water quantities and qualities within the major water bodies of the basin hinders the implementation of an effective water management plan. Therefore we introduce the concept of a wireless sensor network (WSN) that provides reliable instantaneous information on the status of all important water resources within the basin. In the first step a GIS including all vital geospatial data, like river courses, channel and reservoir network and capacities, soil and land use map, is built. In the second step a WSN that monitors all important parameters at essential positions throughout the basin needs to be established. Measured parameters comprise meteorological data, river run-off, water levels of reservoirs, groundwater levels, and salinity levels of water resources. All data is centrally collected and processed by the TBWRB. Apart from generating a prompt and complete picture of currently available water resources, the TBWRB can use the system to record actual water allocation, and develop an early warning system for upcoming droughts or floods. Finally an integrated water and land management scheme can be established that allocates resources maximizing the benefits at basin level. Financed by public funding, the data collected by the WSN should be accessible to the public. Considering the environmental, economic and social cost of inefficient, intransparent and unfair allocation of water resources, the investments into a WSN are reasonable. However, it requires strong efforts from highest governmental agencies to enable the TBWRB to compile all the required data (e.g. meteorological, soil, river run-off), which is customarily collected and controlled by the respective administrative unit.

Future Water Management in the South Platte River Basin: Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing, Population, Agriculture, and Climate Change in a Semi-Arid Region.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, E. L.; Hogue, T. S.; Anderson, A. M.; Read, L.

2015-12-01

In semi-arid basins across the world, the gap between water supply and demand is growing due to climate change, population growth, and shifts in agriculture and unconventional energy development. Water conservation efforts among residential and industrial water users, recycling and reuse techniques and innovative regulatory frameworks for water management strive to mitigate this gap, however, the extent of these strategies are often difficult to quantify and not included in modeling water allocations. Decision support systems (DSS) are purposeful for supporting water managers in making informed decisions when competing demands create the need to optimize water allocation between sectors. One region of particular interest is the semi-arid region of the South Platte River basin in northeastern Colorado, where anthropogenic and climatic effects are expected to increase the gap between water supply and demand in the near future. Specifically, water use in the South Platte is impacted by several high-intensity activities, including unconventional energy development, i.e. hydraulic fracturing, and large withdrawals for agriculture; these demands are in addition to a projected population increase of 100% by 2050. The current work describes the development of a DSS for the South Platte River basin, using the Water Evaluation and Planning system software (WEAP) to explore scenarios of how variation in future water use in the energy, agriculture, and municipal sectors will impact water allocation decisions. Detailed data collected on oil and gas water use in the Niobrara shale play will be utilized to predict future sector use. We also employ downscaled climate projections for the region to quantify the potential range of water availability in the basin under each scenario, and observe whether or not, and to what extent, climate may impact management decisions at the basin level.

Genotypic variation in biomass allocation in response to field drought has a greater affect on yield than gas exchange or phenology.

PubMed

Edwards, Christine E; Ewers, Brent E; Weinig, Cynthia

2016-08-24

Plant performance in agricultural and natural settings varies with moisture availability, and understanding the range of potential drought responses and the underlying genetic architecture is important for understanding how plants will respond to both natural and artificial selection in various water regimes. Here, we raised genotypes of Brassica rapa under well-watered and drought treatments in the field. Our primary goal was to understand the genetic architecture and yield effects of different drought-escape and dehydration-avoidance strategies. Drought treatments reduced soil moisture by 62 % of field capacity. Drought decreased biomass accumulation and fruit production by as much as 48 %, whereas instantaneous water-use efficiency and root:shoot ratio increased. Genotypes differed in the mean value of all traits and in the sensitivity of biomass accumulation, root:shoot ratio, and fruit production to drought. Bivariate correlations involving gas-exchange and phenology were largely constant across environments, whereas those involving root:shoot varied across treatments. Although root:shoot was typically unrelated to gas-exchange or yield under well-watered conditions, genotypes with low to moderate increases in root:shoot allocation in response to drought survived the growing season, maintained maximum photosynthesis levels, and produced more fruit than genotypes with the greatest root allocation under drought. QTL for gas-exchange and yield components (total biomass or fruit production) had common effects across environments while those for root:shoot were often environment-specific. Increases in root allocation beyond those needed to survive and maintain favorable water relations came at the cost of fruit production. The environment-specific effects of root:shoot ratio on yield and the differential expression of QTL for this trait across water regimes have important implications for efforts to improve crops for drought resistance.

Preliminary Optimization for Spring-Run Chinook Salmon Environmental Flows in Lassen Foothill Watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ta, J.; Kelsey, R.; Howard, J.; Hall, M.; Lund, J. R.; Viers, J. H.

2014-12-01

Stream flow controls physical and ecological processes in rivers that support freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity vital for services that humans depend on. This master variable has been impaired by human activities like dam operations, water diversions, and flood control infrastructure. Furthermore, increasing water scarcity due to rising water demands and droughts has further stressed these systems, calling for the need to find better ways to identify and allocate environmental flows. In this study, a linear optimization model was developed for environmental flows in river systems that have minimal or no regulation from dam operations, but still exhibit altered flow regimes due to surface water diversions and groundwater abstraction. Flow regime requirements for California Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) life history were used as a test case to examine how alterations to the timing and magnitude of water diversions meet environmental flow objectives while minimizing impact to local water supply. The model was then applied to Mill Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River, in northern California, and its altered flow regime that currently impacts adult spring-run Chinook spawning and migration. The resulting optimized water diversion schedule can be used to inform water management decisions that aim to maximize benefit for the environment while meeting local water demands.

A comprehensive analysis of high-magnitude streamflow and trends in the Central Valley, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kocis, T. N.; Dahlke, H. E.

2017-12-01

California's climate is characterized by the largest precipitation and streamflow variability observed within the conterminous US. This, combined with chronic groundwater overdraft of 0.6-3.5 km3 yr-1, creates the need to identify additional surface water sources available for groundwater recharge using methods such as agricultural groundwater banking, aquifer storage and recovery, and spreading basins. High-magnitude streamflow, i.e. flow above the 90th percentile, that exceeds environmental flow requirements and current surface water allocations under California water rights, could be a viable source of surface water for groundwater banking. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the magnitude, frequency, duration and timing of high-magnitude streamflow (HMF "metrics") over multiple time periods for 93 stream gauges covering the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Tulare basins in California. In addition, we present trend analyses conducted on the same dataset and all HMF metrics using generalized additive models, the Mann-Kendall trend test, and the Signal to Noise Ratio test. The results of the comprehensive analysis show, in short, that in an average year with HMF approximately 3.2 km3 of high-magnitude flow is exported from the entire Central Valley to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, often at times when environmental flow requirements of the Delta and major rivers are exceeded. High-magnitude flow occurs, on average, during 7 and 4.7 out of 10 years in the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin-Tulare Basins, respectively, from just a few storm events (5-7 1-day peak events) lasting for a total of 25-30 days between November and April. Preliminary trend tests suggest that all HMF metrics show limited change over the last 50 years. As a whole, the results suggest that there is sufficient unmanaged surface water physically available to mitigate long-term groundwater overdraft in the Central Valley.

Sequence stratigraphy of the Monterey Formation, Santa Barbara County: Integration of physical, chemical, and biofacies data from outcrop and subsurface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bohacs, K.M.

1990-05-01

Deep basinal rocks of the Monterey Formation can be allocated to different depositional environments based on an integration of bedding, facies stacking patterns, lithology, biofacies, and inorganic and organic chemistry. These rocks show evidence of systematic changes in depositional environments that can be related to eustatic sea level change and basin evolution. Even deep-basinal environments are affected by changing sea level through changes in circulation patterns and intensities nutrient budgets and dispersal patterns, and location and intensity of the oceanic oxygen minimum. The sequence-stratigraphic framework was constructed based on the physical expression of the outcrop strata and confirmed by typingmore » the outcrop sections to an integrated well-log/seismic grid through outcrop gamma-ray-spectral profiles. Interpretation of a sequence boundary was based on increased proportions of hemipelagic facies, evidence of increased bottom-energy levels above the boundary, and local erosion and relief on the surface. The proportion of shallower water and reworked dinoflagellates increased to a local maximum above the boundary, Downlap surfaces exhibited increased proportions of pelagic facies around the surface, evidence of decreased bottom-energy levels and terrigenous sedimentation rates, and little or no significant erosion on the surface. The proportion of deeper water dinoflagellates increased to a local maximum at or near the downlap surface; there was no evidence of reworked individuals. The detailed sequence-stratigraphic framework makes it possible to the rock properties to genetic processes for construction of predictive models.« less

Large transboundary watersheds: Climate, water and streams of thought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulwarty, R. S.

2001-05-01

Water is a "fugitive" resource in the sense that it flows naturally from one place to another, from one reserve to another (e.g., groundwater to surface), and from one physical state (solid, liquid and gas) to another. Thus "trans-boundary" can mean many things including: transitions from wet to arid zones, from upstream to downstream, from one country or province to the next etc. The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (1992) defines "transboundary waters" to mean "any surface or ground waters which mark, cross or are located on the boundaries between two or more states". Emerging issues in water resources emanate from three categories of problems; (1) transboundary water availability; (2) transboundary groundwater allocation, management, and conservation; and (3) transboundary water quality. Transboundary fluctuations and changes in river flow can be attributed to (1) climate variations and change on several timescales, and, (2) physical and biological transformations of basin hydrology including increased storage, diversions, and landscape changes. Researchers and practitioners have identified numerous factors underlying international disputes involving river flows, including: the variability and uncertainty of supply, interdependencies among users, increasing over-allocation and rising costs, the increasing vulnerability of water quality and aquatic ecosystems to human activities, ways and means of supplying safe water facilities, and the mobilization of financial resources for water development and management. Many of these issues derive from general concerns in water resources management. How these concerns are met is strongly shaped by the choice of the spatial unit within which studies and management actions are conducted, by the way problems have been defined and changed over time, and by who benefits from defining problems in a particular way. In the following discussion the scales of human activities and interactions with large river basins are put in the context of streamflow changes on the time scales of century, decadal, seasonal and extreme events. These conditioning factors on flow variability and change are discussed in general. Three basins, the Nile, the Colorado, and the Parana-Paraguay River systems, are then selected for detailed illustration. While governing institutions that more closely correspond with the physical water system can help to assure appropriate consideration of efficiency and equity, domestic policy can pose major institutional barriers to international agreements and management across national borders. Ultimately, the main tasks in the foreseeable future will be how to share common but variable water resources in a catchment area between upstream and downstream users, between various sectors, between rural and urban areas, between preservation of functioning ecosystems and more direct tangible needs. Engaging the many dimensions of transboundary river flow requires, more than ever, the need to understand these "regions" as integrators of social, cultural, climatic, economic, and ecological histories and networks, that help to shape shared community interests and values.

Using WAS/MYWAS For Water Management And Conflict Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, F. M.; Huber, A. T.

2008-12-01

Water is a special economic commodity that cannot be efficiently allocated in a free private market because of social values that are not private ones. The WAS (Water Allocation System) model and its multiyear extension (MYWAS) use demand curves as well as supply conditions to allocate water so as to optimize the total net benefits it brings. However, they permit the user to prescribe policies and constraints on the allocation process so as to take social values into account. These models can be used to perform cost- benefit analyses of projected infrastructure projects taking into account the system-wide effects such projects will bring about. MYWAS, in particular will choose from a menu of possible projects and provide guidance on which ones should be built, when, in what order, and to what capacity. It is a very powerful tool that can be used under varying assumed conditions of climatic conditions. WAS models have been built for Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, and MYWAS models are underway for all three. Aside from their value as domestic management tools, WAS and MYWAS also offer assistance in resolving water disputes, turning what appear to be zero-sum games into win-win situations. They do so by concentrating on water value rather than water quantity and monetizing the disputes in question. In so doing, they provide a method of guiding cooperation in water and separating the analysis of optimal water usage from the often unresolvable question of water ownership and water rights. We have shown in the case of the Middle East, that the gains from such cooperation are typically worth more than the value of fairly large changes in water ownership the size of which is greatly reduced by cooperation. Moreover, disputing parties need not wait for the resolution of the water ownership issue to begin a cooperation that benefits all and permits flexible readjustment of water usage as situations (climatic conditions, populations, etc.) change. They can agree to pay for their use of disputed water by placing the money in a neutrally (or jointly) escrow fund which will be appropriately distributed when the ownership issue is resolved. And it is important to note that acceptance of WAS/MYWAS cooperation does not impinge in any way on the ability of the parties to assert their ownership claims. It merely reduces the practical (as opposed to symbolic and emotional) importance of such claims.

Evaluating the sources of water to wells: Three techniques for metamodeling of a groundwater flow model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fienen, Michael N.; Nolan, Bernard T.; Feinstein, Daniel T.

2016-01-01

For decision support, the insights and predictive power of numerical process models can be hampered by insufficient expertise and computational resources required to evaluate system response to new stresses. An alternative is to emulate the process model with a statistical “metamodel.” Built on a dataset of collocated numerical model input and output, a groundwater flow model was emulated using a Bayesian Network, an Artificial neural network, and a Gradient Boosted Regression Tree. The response of interest was surface water depletion expressed as the source of water-to-wells. The results have application for managing allocation of groundwater. Each technique was tuned using cross validation and further evaluated using a held-out dataset. A numerical MODFLOW-USG model of the Lake Michigan Basin, USA, was used for the evaluation. The performance and interpretability of each technique was compared pointing to advantages of each technique. The metamodel can extend to unmodeled areas.

Developing a methodological framework for estimating water productivity indicators in water scarce regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mubako, S. T.; Fullerton, T. M.; Walke, A.; Collins, T.; Mubako, G.; Walker, W. S.

2014-12-01

Water productivity is an area of growing interest in assessing the impact of human economic activities on water resources, especially in arid regions. Indicators of water productivity can assist water users in evaluating sectoral water use efficiency, identifying sources of pressure on water resources, and in supporting water allocation rationale under scarcity conditions. This case study for the water-scarce Middle Rio Grande River Basin aims to develop an environmental-economic accounting approach for water use in arid river basins through a methodological framework that relates water use to human economic activities impacting regional water resources. Water uses are coupled to economic transactions, and the complex but mutual relations between various water using sectors estimated. A comparison is made between the calculated water productivity indicators and representative cost/price per unit volume of water for the main water use sectors. Although it contributes very little to regional economic output, preliminary results confirm that Irrigation is among the sectors with the largest direct water use intensities. High economic value and low water use intensity economic sectors in the study region include Manufacturing, Mining, and Steam Electric Power. Water accounting challenges revealed by the study include differences in water management regimes between jurisdictions, and little understanding of the impact of major economic activities on the interaction between surface and groundwater systems in this region. A more comprehensive assessment would require the incorporation of environmental and social sustainability indicators to the calculated water productivity indicators.

Coping with drought: A High Resolution Drought Monitoring and Prediction System for the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, M.; Nijssen, B.; Shukla, S.; Lettenmaier, D. P.

2013-12-01

The Pacific Northwest (PNW) region in North America (defined here as the Columbia and Klamath River basins plus the coastal drainages) is a diverse geographic region with complex topography and a variety of climates. Agriculture (dryland and irrigated), forestry, fisheries, and hydropower provide significant economic benefit to the region and are directly dependent on the availability of sufficient water at the right time. Additional demands are made on water supplies by recreation, ecosystem services and emerging needs such as hydropower generation in support of wind energy integration. Several major droughts have occurred over the region in recent decades (notably 1977, 2001, and 2004), which have had significant consequences for the region's agricultural, hydropower production, and environment. An emerging need for the region is the coordination of existing regional climate activities, including a better awareness of the current water availability conditions across the region. The University of Washington has operated a surface water monitor for the continental United States since 2005, which provides near real-time estimates of surface water conditions at a spatial resolution of 1/2 degree in terms of soil moisture, snow water equivalent, and total moisture based on a suite of land surface models. A higher resolution Drought Monitoring and Prediction System (DMPS) for Washington State was originally implemented at 1/8 degree and later increased to 1/16 degree. This presentation describes the extension of this system to the entire PNW region at 1/16 degree. The expanded system provides daily updates of three primary drought-related indices based on near real-time station observations in the region: Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Runoff Index (SRI), and Soil Moisture Percentiles (SMP). To make the drought measures relevant to water managers, surface water conditions are not only reported on a gridded map, but watershed-level drought summary indices are reported for larger aggregates such as the Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs) in Washington State and the Water Allocation Basins (WABs) within Oregon. We explore the ability of the system to reproduce historic droughts for the period since 1915 and analyze regional differences in drought dynamics within the PNW. We also evaluate the lead time that would have been provided by the system had it been available relative to official drought declarations.

40 CFR 35.910 - Allocation of funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Allocation of funds. 35.910 Section 35.910 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works-Clean Water Act § 35.910...

40 CFR 35.910 - Allocation of funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Allocation of funds. 35.910 Section 35.910 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works-Clean Water Act § 35.910...

40 CFR 35.910 - Allocation of funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Allocation of funds. 35.910 Section 35.910 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works-Clean Water Act § 35.910...

40 CFR 35.910 - Allocation of funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Allocation of funds. 35.910 Section 35.910 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works-Clean Water Act § 35.910...

40 CFR 35.910 - Allocation of funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Allocation of funds. 35.910 Section 35.910 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works-Clean Water Act § 35.910...

75 FR 36301 - Review and Approval of Projects

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-25

... Basin Commission (Commission) to: Include subsidiary allocations for public water supply systems under... or removal of water by a public water supplier indirectly through another public water supply system... applications that do not involve a withdrawal (such as those supplied by a public water supplier), newspaper...

Hydro-economic modeling of integrated solutions for the water-energy-land nexus in Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parkinson, S.; Kahil, M.; Wada, Y.; Krey, V.; Byers, E.; Johnson, N. A.; Burek, P.; Satoh, Y.; Willaarts, B.; Langan, S.; Riahi, K.

2017-12-01

This study focused on the development of the Extended Continental-scale Hydro-economic Optimization model (ECHO) and its application to the analysis of long-term water, energy and land use pathways for Africa. The framework is important because it integrates multi-decadal decisions surrounding investments into new water infrastructure, electric power generation and irrigation technologies. The improved linkages in ECHO reveal synergies between water allocation strategies across sectors and the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from electricity supply. The African case study features a reduced-form transboundary river network and associated environmental flow constraints covering surface and groundwater withdrawals. Interactions between local water constraints and the continental-scale economy are captured in the model through the combination of regional electricity markets. Spatially-explicit analysis of land availability is used to restrict future reservoir expansion. The analysis demonstrates the massive investments required to ensure rapidly expanding water, energy and food demands in Africa aligned with human development objectives are met in a sustainable way. Modeled constraints on environmental flows in line with presumptive ecological guidelines trigger diffusion of energy-intensive water supply technologies in water-stressed regions, with implications for the cost and speed of the electricity sector decarbonization required to achieve climate targets.

Systems modeling to improve the hydro-ecological performance of diked wetlands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alminagorta, Omar; Rosenberg, David E.; Kettenring, Karin M.

2016-09-01

Water scarcity and invasive vegetation threaten arid-region wetlands and wetland managers seek ways to enhance wetland ecosystem services with limited water, labor, and financial resources. While prior systems modeling efforts have focused on water management to improve flow-based ecosystem and habitat objectives, here we consider water allocation and invasive vegetation management that jointly target the concurrent hydrologic and vegetation habitat needs of priority wetland bird species. We formulate a composite weighted usable area for wetlands (WU) objective function that represents the wetland surface area that provides suitable water level and vegetation cover conditions for priority bird species. Maximizing the WU is subject to constraints such as water balance, hydraulic infrastructure capacity, invasive vegetation growth and control, and a limited financial budget to control vegetation. We apply the model at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on the Great Salt Lake, Utah, compare model-recommended management actions to past Refuge water and vegetation control activities, and find that managers can almost double the area of suitable habitat by more dynamically managing water levels and managing invasive vegetation in August at the beginning of the window for control operations. Scenario and sensitivity analyses show the importance to jointly consider hydrology and vegetation system components rather than only the hydrological component.

A System Dynamics Modeling of Water Supply and Demand in Las Vegas Valley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parajuli, R.; Kalra, A.; Mastino, L.; Velotta, M.; Ahmad, S.

2017-12-01

The rise in population and change in climate have posed the uncertainties in the balance between supply and demand of water. The current study deals with the water management issues in Las Vegas Valley (LVV) using Stella, a system dynamics modeling software, to model the feedback based relationship between supply and demand parameters. Population parameters were obtained from Center for Business and Economic Research while historical water demand and conservation practices were modeled as per the information provided by local authorities. The water surface elevation of Lake Mead, which is the prime source of water supply to the region, was modeled as the supply side whereas the water demand in LVV was modeled as the demand side. The study was done from the period of 1989 to 2049 with 1989 to 2012 as the historical one and the period from 2013 to 2049 as the future period. This study utilizes Coupled Model Intercomparison Project data sets (2013-2049) (CMIP3&5) to model different future climatic scenarios. The model simulates the past dynamics of supply and demand, and then forecasts the future water budget for the forecasted future population and future climatic conditions. The results can be utilized by the water authorities in understanding the future water status and hence plan suitable conservation policies to allocate future water budget and achieve sustainable water management.

Germination season and watering regime, but not seed morph, affect life history traits in a cold desert diaspore-heteromorphic annual.

PubMed

Lu, Juan J; Tan, Dun Y; Baskin, Jerry M; Baskin, Carol C

2014-01-01

Seed morph, abiotic conditions and time of germination can affect plant fitness, but few studies have tested their combined effects on plasticity of plant life history traits. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that seed morph, germination season and watering regime influence phenotypic expression of post-germination life history traits in the diaspore-heteromorphic cold desert winter annual/spring ephemeral Diptychocarpus strictus. The two seed morphs were sown in watered and non-watered plots in late summer, and plants derived from them were watered or not-watered throughout the study. Seed morph did not affect phenology, growth and morphology, survival, dry mass accumulation and allocation or silique and seed production. Seeds in watered plots germinated in autumn (AW) and spring (SW) but only in spring for non-watered plots (SNW). A high percentage of AW, SW and SNW plants survived and reproduced, but flowering date and flowering period of autumn- vs. spring-germinated plants differed. Dry mass also differed with germination season/watering regime (AW > SW > SNW). Number of siliques and seeds increased with plant size (AW > SW > SNW), whereas percent dry mass allocated to reproduction was higher in small plants: SNW > SW > AW. Thus, although seed morph did not affect the expression of life history traits, germination season and watering regime significantly affected phenology, plant size and accumulation and allocation of biomass to reproduction. Flexibility throughout the life cycle of D. strictus is an adaptation to the variation in timing and amount of rainfall in its cold desert habitat.

Sequence stratigraphy of the Monterey Formation, Santa Barbara County: Integration of physical, chemical, and biofacies data from outcrop and subsurface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bohacs, K.M.

1991-02-01

Deep basinal rocks of the Monterey Formation can be allocated to different depositional environments based on an integration of bedding, stacking patterns of facies, lithology, biofacies, and inorganic and organic chemistry. These rocks show evidence of systematic changes in depositional environments that can be related to eustatic sea level changes and basin evolution. Even deep-basinal environments are affected by changing sea level through changes in circulation patterns and intensities, nutrient budgets and dispersal patterns, and location and intensity of the oceanic oxygen minimum. The sequence-stratigraphic framework was constructed based on the physical expression of the outcrop strata and confirmed bymore » typing the outcrop sections to an integrated will-log/seismic grid through outcrop gamma-ray spectral profiles. Interpretation of a sequence boundary was based on increased proportions of hemipelagic facies and evidence of increased bottom-energy levels above the boundary, and local erosion and relief on the surface. The proportion of shallower water and reworked dinoflagellates increased to a local maximum above the boundary. Downlap surfaces exhibited increased proportions of pelagic facies around the surface, a secular change in the dominant lithology across the surface, evidence of decreased bottom-energy levels and terrigenous sedimentation rates, and little or not significant erosion on the surface. The proportion of deeper water dinoflagellates increased to a local maximum at or near the downlap surface; there was no evidence of reworked individuals. The detailed sequence-stratigraphic framework makes it possible to tie rock properties to genetic processes for construction of predictive models.« less

Simulated effects of alternative withdrawal strategies on groundwater flow in the unconfined Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, the Rio Grande water-bearing zone, and the Atlantic City 800-foot sand in the Great Egg Harbor and Mullica River Basins, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pope, Daryll A.; Carleton, Glen B.; Buxton, Debra E.; Walker, Richard L.; Shourds, Jennifer L.; Reilly, Pamela A.

2012-01-01

Groundwater is essential for water supply and plays a critical role in maintaining the environmental health of freshwater and estuarine ecosystems in the Atlantic Coastal basins of New Jersey. The unconfined Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system and the confined Atlantic City 800-foot sand are major sources of groundwater in the area, and each faces different water-supply concerns. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), conducted a study to simulate the effects of withdrawals in the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, the Atlantic City 800-foot sand, and the Rio Grande water-bearing zone and to evaluate potential scenarios. The study area encompasses Atlantic County and parts of Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Ocean, Cape May, and Cumberland Counties. The major hydrogeologic units affecting water supply in the study area are the surficial Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, a thick diatomaceous clay confining unit in the upper part of Kirkwood Formation; the Rio Grande water-bearing zone; and the Atlantic City 800-foot sand of the Kirkwood Formation. Hydrogeologic data from 18 aquifer tests and specific capacity data from 230 wells were analyzed to provide horizontal hydraulic conductivity of the aquifers. Groundwater withdrawals are greatest from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, and 65 percent of the water is used for public supply. Groundwater withdrawals from the Atlantic City 800-foot sand are about half those from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system. Ninety-five percent of the withdrawals from the Atlantic City 800-foot sand is used for public supply. Data from six streamgaging stations and 51 low-flow partial record sites were used to estimate base flow in the area. Base flow ranges from 60 to 92 percent of streamflow. A groundwater flow model of the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, the Rio Grande water-bearing zone, and the Atlantic City 800-foot sand was developed and calibrated using water-level data from 148 wells and base-flow data from 22 gaging or low-flow partial record stations. The Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system within the Great Egg Harbor River and the Mullica River Basins was simulated on a monthly basis from 1998 through 2006. An existing regional model of the New Jersey Coastal Plain was revised to provide boundary conditions for the Great Egg Harbor and Mullica River Basin model (referred to as the Great Egg-Mullica model). In the Great Egg-Mullica model, monthly groundwater recharge rates used in the model ranged from 10-15 inches per year in 2001 to 20-25 inches per year in 2005. The mean-absolute error for 10 of the 14 long-term hydrographs used in model calibration was less than 5 ft. Groundwater flow budgets for the Great Egg-Mullica model calibration periods, May 2005 and September 2006, and for the entire model calibration period 1998 to 2006, showed that nearly 70 percent of the water entering the Atlantic City 800-foot sand came from the horizontal connection with the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system in updip areas. The groundwater flow model was used to simulate scenarios under three possible conditions: average 1998 to 2006 withdrawals (Average scenario), full-allocation withdrawals (Full Allocation scenario), and projected 2050-demand withdrawals (2050 Demand scenario). Withdrawals in the Full Allocation scenario are nearly twice the withdrawals from the Average scenario, primarily because of the potential for large agricultural withdrawals if all allocations are used. Withdrawals for the 2050 Demand scenario are about 50 percent greater than those for the Average scenario, primarily due to expected increases in withdrawals for public supply. Monthly base-flow depletion criteria were determined using the Low-Flow Margin method, currently under consideration by NJDEP, to estimate available water on an annual basis at the Hydrologic Unit Code 11 (HUC11) level and to determine whether a water-supply deficit exists. Simulations of various groundwater-withdrawal scenarios were made using the calibrated model, and results were compared with baseline conditions (no withdrawals) to determine where and when base-flow deficits may be occurring and may be expected to occur in the future. Scenarios were simulated to assess base-flow depletion that could occur from different groundwater-withdrawal situations. In the Average scenario, deficits occurred in 7 of the 14 subbasins. In the Full Allocation scenario, deficits occurred in 11 of the subbasins. In the 2050 Demand scenario, deficits occurred in 9 of the 14 subbasins. The largest deficits occurred in the Absecon Creek subbasin because the base-flow depletion criteria for this subbasin is small due to the surface-water diversions that are already occurring there and because existing groundwater withdrawals in the subbasin have resulted in base-flow depletion under current (1998-2006) conditions. Three adjusted scenarios, variations of the Average, Full Allocation, and 2050 Demand scenarios, were simulated; for the adjusted scenarios, the withdrawals were modified in stages with the intent to successively eliminate or minimize the base-flow deficits. Modifications included shifting withdrawals to a deeper part of the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, implementing seasonal conjunctive use of shallow and deep aquifers, and specifying reductions in withdrawals within a HUC11 subbasin in deficit. The adjusted scenarios are intended to show the relative effectiveness of each of the three approaches in reducing the deficits. Most of the deficits under the Average, Full Allocation, and 2050 Demand scenarios were eliminated by reductions in withdrawals or allocations. Shifting withdrawals to a deeper part of the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system or seasonal conjunctive use did not eliminate deficits for any subbasin. Reductions in withdrawals accounted for more than 95 percent of the total reduction of deficits in all but one subbasin.

Water and the Ecosystems of the Luquillo Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Ariel E. Lugo

1986-01-01

Water dynamics, water balance, and water requirements of the ecosystems and aquatic organisms of the Luquillo Experimental Forest (aka Caribbean National Forest) are reviewed. Objective is to draw attention to research needs and to highlight importance of freshwater allocations to natural ecosystems.

Optimizing basin-scale coupled water quantity and water quality man-agement with stochastic dynamic programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davidsen, Claus; Liu, Suxia; Mo, Xingguo; Engelund Holm, Peter; Trapp, Stefan; Rosbjerg, Dan; Bauer-Gottwein, Peter

2015-04-01

Few studies address water quality in hydro-economic models, which often focus primarily on optimal allocation of water quantities. Water quality and water quantity are closely coupled, and optimal management with focus solely on either quantity or quality may cause large costs in terms of the oth-er component. In this study, we couple water quality and water quantity in a joint hydro-economic catchment-scale optimization problem. Stochastic dynamic programming (SDP) is used to minimize the basin-wide total costs arising from water allocation, water curtailment and water treatment. The simple water quality module can handle conservative pollutants, first order depletion and non-linear reactions. For demonstration purposes, we model pollutant releases as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and use the Streeter-Phelps equation for oxygen deficit to compute the resulting min-imum dissolved oxygen concentrations. Inelastic water demands, fixed water allocation curtailment costs and fixed wastewater treatment costs (before and after use) are estimated for the water users (agriculture, industry and domestic). If the BOD concentration exceeds a given user pollution thresh-old, the user will need to pay for pre-treatment of the water before use. Similarly, treatment of the return flow can reduce the BOD load to the river. A traditional SDP approach is used to solve one-step-ahead sub-problems for all combinations of discrete reservoir storage, Markov Chain inflow clas-ses and monthly time steps. Pollution concentration nodes are introduced for each user group and untreated return flow from the users contribute to increased BOD concentrations in the river. The pollutant concentrations in each node depend on multiple decision variables (allocation and wastewater treatment) rendering the objective function non-linear. Therefore, the pollution concen-tration decisions are outsourced to a genetic algorithm, which calls a linear program to determine the remainder of the decision variables. This hybrid formulation keeps the optimization problem computationally feasible and represents a flexible and customizable method. The method has been applied to the Ziya River basin, an economic hotspot located on the North China Plain in Northern China. The basin is subject to severe water scarcity, and the rivers are heavily polluted with wastewater and nutrients from diffuse sources. The coupled hydro-economic optimiza-tion model can be used to assess costs of meeting additional constraints such as minimum water qual-ity or to economically prioritize investments in waste water treatment facilities based on economic criteria.

Carbon dioxide and energy fluxes over a large shallow lake in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xiaosong

2017-04-01

The turbulent exchange of carbon dioxide and energy between water and atmosphere over lakes differ from those over vegetated surfaces due to high heat capacity of water and different water ecological environment. For a shallow lake, the underlying surface generally changes between water covered and land covered with water level fluctuation, which significantly influences carbon dioxide and energy fluxes. Continuous measurement of the carbon dioxide (CO2), latent (LE) and sensible (H) heat fluxes was made using the eddy covariance method over the Poyang Lake, the largest fresh lake in China, from August 2013 to December 2015. Results indicated that the surface energy budget has a strong seasonal pattern, with peaks in LE and H observed in early August and September. There was 10 days delay between the net radiation and the latent heat flux. More net radiation (Rn) was allocated to the LE rather than H through the year, with monthly mean LE/Rn of 0.65 and H/Rn of 0.11, which caused Bowen ratio was 0.15 in water-covered period, lower than that in land-covered period. The water heat storage experienced shifting from heat storage to heat release, with maximum heat storage in July and maximum heat release in September. The water heat advection was account for 4% to 10% of Rn and peaked in June. The annual evaporation is 875 mm, 893 mm and 1019 mm in 2013 (from August 2013 to July 2014), 2014 and 2015, which was account for approximately 57% of precipitation in the three years. The large lake acted as a CO2 source in inundating period and a CO2 sink in exposure period. The energy fluxes were controlled by environmental factors with timescale dependence. On daily scale, the LE and H were highly correlated with product of wind speed and vapor pressure deficit (UVPD) or wind speed (U) in the water-covered period, and with Rn in the land-covered period. Monthly LE, H and annual H were controlled by Rn, while annual LE was primarily dependent on water depth. Annual CO2 budget was regulated by duration of inundating period.

Drought allocations using the Systems Impact Assessment Model: Klamath River

USGS Publications Warehouse

Flug, M.; Campbell, S.G.

2005-01-01

Water supply and allocation scenarios for the Klamath River, Ore. and Calif., were evaluated using the Systems Impact Assessment Model (SIAM), a decision support system developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. SIAM is a set of models with a graphical user interface that simulates water supply and delivery in a managed river system, water quality, and fish production. Simulation results are presented for drought conditions, one aspect of Klamath River water operations. The Klamath River Basin has experienced critically dry conditions in 1992, 1994, and 2001. Drought simulations are useful to estimate the impacts of specific legal or institutional flow constraints. In addition, simulations help to identify potential adverse water quality consequences including evaluating the potential for reducing adverse temperature impacts on anadromous fish. In all drought simulations, water supply was insufficient to fully meet upstream and downstream targets for endangered species.

National water summary 1987: Hydrologic events and water supply and use

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carr, Jerry E.; Chase, Edith B.; Paulson, Richard W.; Moody, David W.

1990-01-01

Water use in the United States, as measured by freshwater withdrawals in 1985, averaged 338,000 Mgal/d (million gallons per day), which is enough water to cover the 48 conterminous States to a depth of about 2.4 inches. Only 92,300 Mgal/d, or 27.3 percent of the water withdrawn, was consumptive use and thus lost to immediate further use; the remainder of the withdrawals (72.7 percent) was return flow available for reuse a number of times as the water flowed to the sea. The 1985 freshwater withdrawals were much less than the average 30 inches of precipitation that falls on the conterminous States each year; consumptive use accounted for only 7 percent of the estimated annual runoff of 1,230,000 Mgal/d. Nonetheless, as the State summaries on water supply and use clearly show, water is not always available when and where it is needed. Balancing water demands with available water supplies constitutes one of the major resource allocation issues that will face the United States in the coming decade.Of the 1985 freshwater withdrawals, 78.3 percent (265,000 Mgal/d) came from surface-water sources (streams and lakes), and 21.7 percent (73,300 Mgal/d) came from ground water. Surface water provided drinking water for about 47 percent of the Nation's total population. It was the source of 59.9 percent of the Nation's public-supply systems. For self-supplied withdrawals, surface water accounted for 1.6 percent of the domestic and commercial uses; 64.0 percent of the industrial and mining use; 99.4 percent of the thermoelectric generation withdrawals, mainly for cooling water; and 65.6 percent of the agricultural withdrawals. Eight States accounted for 43 percent of the surface-water use; California, Colorado, and Idaho used surface water primarily for irrigation, and Dlinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas used surface-water primarily for cooling condensers or reactors in thermoelectric plants.Ground water provided drinking water for 53 percent of the Nation's total population and nearly all the rural population. It was the source of 40.1 percent of the public-supply systems withdrawals. For self-supplied withdrawals, ground water accounted for 11.3 percent of the domestic and commercial use, 17.3 percent of the industrial and mining withdrawals, less than 1 percent of the thermoelectric generation withdrawals, and 34.4 percent of the agricultural withdrawals (irrigation and livestock). Eight States Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas accounted for 66 percent of the ground water used. In each of those States, as in many other States, irrigation was the major use of ground water. Each offstream-use category described in the State summaries public supply, domestic and commercial, industrial and mining, thermoelectric power, and agriculture (irrigation and livestock) followed its own geographic pattern as described below.Consumptive use of water effectively removes the water from immediate further use downstream of the withdrawal point. Of the total amount of consumptive water use in 1985, agricultural use accounted for about 82.5 percent. More than one-half (53 percent) of irrigation water is consumptively used by evapotranspiration or is incorporated into the crop. This is a good indication of the effect that irrigated agriculture can have in a river basin where irrigation is a major activity. The availability of return flows for reuse depends largely on where the water reenters the system. If the return flows are discharged to a stream, they usually can be reused; if they are discharged to a saltwater estuary, they are effectively lost to further use because of water-quality degradation just as if the water had been consumptively used. Similarly, water that recharges a highly transmissive aquifer can be available for reuse either through pumpage from a well or as discharge to a local stream. Thus, much of the water withdrawn for different uses can and does become available for further use although the quality might degrade with each additional use.The allocation and the management of water resources are the responsibilities of the individual States and water institutions within the States. These institutions are evolving in response to the challenges of water management problems. As the individual State summaries indicate, recent State legislation deals with facilitating water transfers within the States as a means of reducing imbalances between water supplies and use, with emphasizing water conservation in times of drought and at places where groundwater depletion is a problem of long standing, and with reducing threats to public health and the environment from water pollution.Most of the State summaries indicate the expectation that water use will continue to increase in the future and that water contamination will continue to be a major water concern. Both issues will require increasingly intensive water management in the future. Whether the water resources under management are considered to be fully appropriated or over appropriated, as in some Western States, or whether the resource could support additional development, as is the situation in most States, improved water-use information will play a key role in future water management efforts.

40 CFR 35.925-4 - State allocation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false State allocation. 35.925-4 Section 35.925-4 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works-Clean Water Act § 35.925-4 State...

40 CFR 35.925-4 - State allocation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false State allocation. 35.925-4 Section 35.925-4 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works-Clean Water Act § 35.925-4 State...

78 FR 64916 - Circular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes From Turkey: Final Results of Countervailing Duty...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-30

...: Land Allocation National Restructuring Program Regional Incentive Scheme: Reduced Corporate Tax Rates Regional Incentive Scheme: Social Security Premium Contribution for Employees Regional Incentive Scheme: Allocation of State Land Regional Incentive Scheme: Interest Support OIZ: Waste Water Charges OIZ: Exemptions...

Calcium partitioning and allocation and blossom-end rot development in tomato plants in response to whole-plant and fruit-specific abscisic acid treatments.

PubMed

Tonetto de Freitas, Sergio; McElrone, Andrew J; Shackel, Kenneth A; Mitcham, Elizabeth J

2014-01-01

The mechanisms regulating Ca(2+) partitioning and allocation in plants and fruit remain poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to determine Ca(2+) partitioning and allocation in tomato plants and fruit in response to whole-plant and fruit-specific abscisic acid (ABA) treatments, as well as to analyse the effect of changes in Ca(2+) partitioning and allocation on fruit susceptibility to the Ca(2+) deficiency disorder blossom-end rot (BER) under water stress conditions. Tomato plants of the cultivar Ace 55 (Vf) were grown in a greenhouse and exposed to low Ca(2+) conditions during fruit growth and development. Starting 1 day after pollination (DAP), the following treatments were initiated: (i) whole plants were sprayed weekly with deionized water (control) or (ii) with 500mg l(-1) ABA; or fruit on each plant were dipped weekly (iii) in deionized water (control) or (iv) in 500mg l(-1) ABA. At 15 DAP, BER was completely prevented by whole-plant or fruit-specific ABA treatments, whereas plants or fruit treated with water had 16-19% BER incidence. At 30 DAP, BER was prevented by the whole-plant ABA treatment, whereas fruit dipped in ABA had a 16% and water-treated plants or fruit had a 36-40% incidence of BER. The results showed that spraying the whole plant with ABA increases xylem sap flow and Ca(2+) movement into the fruit, resulting in higher fruit tissue and water-soluble apoplastic Ca(2+) concentrations that prevent BER development. Although fruit-specific ABA treatment had no effect on xylem sap flow rates or Ca(2+) movement into the fruit, it increased fruit tissue water-soluble apoplastic Ca(2+) concentrations and reduced fruit susceptibility to BER to a lesser extent.

Calcium partitioning and allocation and blossom-end rot development in tomato plants in response to whole-plant and fruit-specific abscisic acid treatments

PubMed Central

Tonetto de Freitas, Sergio

2014-01-01

The mechanisms regulating Ca2+ partitioning and allocation in plants and fruit remain poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to determine Ca2+ partitioning and allocation in tomato plants and fruit in response to whole-plant and fruit-specific abscisic acid (ABA) treatments, as well as to analyse the effect of changes in Ca2+ partitioning and allocation on fruit susceptibility to the Ca2+ deficiency disorder blossom-end rot (BER) under water stress conditions. Tomato plants of the cultivar Ace 55 (Vf) were grown in a greenhouse and exposed to low Ca2+ conditions during fruit growth and development. Starting 1 day after pollination (DAP), the following treatments were initiated: (i) whole plants were sprayed weekly with deionized water (control) or (ii) with 500mg l−1 ABA; or fruit on each plant were dipped weekly (iii) in deionized water (control) or (iv) in 500mg l−1 ABA. At 15 DAP, BER was completely prevented by whole-plant or fruit-specific ABA treatments, whereas plants or fruit treated with water had 16–19% BER incidence. At 30 DAP, BER was prevented by the whole-plant ABA treatment, whereas fruit dipped in ABA had a 16% and water-treated plants or fruit had a 36–40% incidence of BER. The results showed that spraying the whole plant with ABA increases xylem sap flow and Ca2+ movement into the fruit, resulting in higher fruit tissue and water-soluble apoplastic Ca2+ concentrations that prevent BER development. Although fruit-specific ABA treatment had no effect on xylem sap flow rates or Ca2+ movement into the fruit, it increased fruit tissue water-soluble apoplastic Ca2+ concentrations and reduced fruit susceptibility to BER to a lesser extent. PMID:24220654

Valuation of irrigation water in South-western Iran using a hedonic pricing model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esmaeili, Abdoulkarim; Shahsavari, Zahra

2011-12-01

Population growth, improved socioeconomic conditions, increased demand for various types of water use, and a reduction in water supply has created more competition for scarce water supplies leveling many countries. Efficient allocation of water supplies between different economic sectors is therefore very important. Water valuation is a useful tool to determine water price. Water pricing can play a major part in improving water allocation by encouraging users to conserve scarce water resources, and promoting improvements in productivity. We used a hedonic pricing method to reveal the implicit value of irrigation water by analyzing agricultural land values in farms under the Doroodzan dam in South-western Iran. The method was applied to farms in which irrigation water came from wells and canals. The availability of irrigation water was one of the most important factors influencing land prices. The value of irrigation water in the farms investigated was estimated to be 0.046 per cubic meter. The estimated price for water was clearly higher than the price farmers currently pay for water in the area of study. Efficient water pricing could help the sustainability of the water resources. Farmers must therefore be informed of the real value of irrigation water used on their land.

Modeling Hydrological Processes in New Mexico-Texas-Mexico Border Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samimi, M.; Jahan, N. T.; Mirchi, A.

2017-12-01

Efficient allocation of limited water resources to competing use sectors is becoming increasingly critical for water-scarce regions. Understanding natural and anthropogenic processes affecting hydrological processes is key for efficient water management. We used Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model governing hydrologic processes in New Mexico-Texas-Mexico border region. Our study area includes the Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID), which manages water resources to support irrigated agriculture. The region is facing water resources challenges associated with chronic water scarcity, over-allocation, diminishing water supply, and growing water demand. Agricultural activities rely on conjunctive use of Rio Grande River water supply and groundwater withdrawal. The model is calibrated and validated under baseline conditions in the arid and semi-arid climate in order to evaluate potential impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector and regional water availability. We highlight the importance of calibrating the crop growth parameters, evapotranspiration, and groundwater recharge to provide a realistic representation of the hydrological processes and water availability in the region. Furthermore, limitations of the model and its utility to inform stakeholders will be discussed.

THE ROLE OF FARMERS IN MANAGING WATER Dr Tony Colman Professor Tony Allan Farmers manage about 92% of the water consumed by society which needs to recognise that farming practices and the decisions made by those who operate food supply chains - including corporates and those making public policy - determine how water is stewarded.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colman, A. J.

2017-12-01

Title Food-water and society Dr. Tony Colman and Professor Tony Allan Abstract The purpose of the paper is to highlight some key relationships between water resources and society. First, water is an very important resource for society in that it provides an essential input to society's food supply chains. Secondly, it is an essential input to farmer livelihoods. About half of the families of the world still work in agriculture - albeit a declining proportion. Thirdly, farmers manage about 92% of the water consumed by society - including the blue water (surface and groundwater) for irrigation and the green water (effective rainfall) consumed on rainfed farms. They also account for about 66% of society's impacts on biodiversity and about 25% of emissions. Finally it will be argued that those who analyse allocation and management of water must recognise that farming practices and the decisions made by those who operate food supply chains - including corporates and those making public policy - must recognise that it is farmers and food consumers who determine how water is stewarded. It will be suggested that we need to understand that well informed consumers could be the regulators.

Reinforcement Learning Multi-Agent Modeling of Decision-Making Agents for the Study of Transboundary Surface Water Conflicts with Application to the Syr Darya River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riegels, N.; Siegfried, T.; Pereira Cardenal, S. J.; Jensen, R. A.; Bauer-Gottwein, P.

2008-12-01

In most economics--driven approaches to optimizing water use at the river basin scale, the system is modelled deterministically with the goal of maximizing overall benefits. However, actual operation and allocation decisions must be made under hydrologic and economic uncertainty. In addition, river basins often cross political boundaries, and different states may not be motivated to cooperate so as to maximize basin- scale benefits. Even within states, competing agents such as irrigation districts, municipal water agencies, and large industrial users may not have incentives to cooperate to realize efficiency gains identified in basin- level studies. More traditional simulation--optimization approaches assume pre-commitment by individual agents and stakeholders and unconditional compliance on each side. While this can help determine attainable gains and tradeoffs from efficient management, such hardwired policies do not account for dynamic feedback between agents themselves or between agents and their environments (e.g. due to climate change etc.). In reality however, we are dealing with an out-of-equilibrium multi-agent system, where there is neither global knowledge nor global control, but rather continuous strategic interaction between decision making agents. Based on the theory of stochastic games, we present a computational framework that allows for studying the dynamic feedback between decision--making agents themselves and an inherently uncertain environment in a spatially and temporally distributed manner. Agents with decision-making control over water allocation such as countries, irrigation districts, and municipalities are represented by reinforcement learning agents and coupled to a detailed hydrologic--economic model. This approach emphasizes learning by agents from their continuous interaction with other agents and the environment. It provides a convenient framework for the solution of the problem of dynamic decision-making in a mixed cooperative / non-cooperative environment with which different institutional setups and incentive systems can be studied so to identify reasonable ways to reach desirable, Pareto--optimal allocation outcomes. Preliminary results from an application to the Syr Darya river basin in Central Asia will be presented and discussed. The Syr Darya River is a classic example of a transboundary river basin in which basin-wide efficiency gains identified in optimization studies have not been sufficient to induce cooperative management of the river by the riparian states.

Economic potential of market-oriented water storage decisions: Evidence from Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brennan, Donna

2010-08-01

Significant reforms made to Australian irrigation property rights in recent years have enabled the development of an active seasonal water market. In contrast, decisions regarding the allocation of water across time are typically based on central decisions, with little or no opportunity offered to irrigators to manage risk by physically transferring their water access right between years by leaving it in the public dam. An empirical examination of the economics of water storage is presented using a case study of the Goulburn Valley, a major irrigation region in the state of Victoria. It is shown that, compared to the historically used, centrally determined storage policy, a market-based storage policy would store more water, on average, and would also allocate more water in periods of low rainfall. The analysis indicates that the costs associated with a recent prolonged drought were $100 million more than they would have been if water storage decisions had been guided by the market and prices were 3 times higher.

The impact of food and agricultural policies on groundwater use in Syria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aw-Hassan, Aden; Rida, Fadel; Telleria, Roberto; Bruggeman, Adriana

2014-05-01

During the last three decades, the expansion of irrigation using both surface water and groundwater resources has had an important positive impact on Syria’s agricultural production. It is an example of success in achieving food policy objectives, but it has also introduced the challenge of groundwater sustainability. This paper examines the trends in groundwater abstraction for irrigation and the effect of government policies, including input subsidies - such as the diesel fuel subsidy and the crop procurement price support. The fuel subsidy is an important driving force in groundwater depletion and over-abstraction. This analysis examines the interaction between policy signals and the use and allocation of water by farmers. The rapid decline in groundwater resources shows the limitations of this agricultural development strategy and questions its sustainability unless policies change and the rate of abstraction is changed so as not exceed the recharge rate.

Exploring the Influence of Smallholders' Perceptions Regarding Water Availability on Crop Choice and Water Allocation Through Socio-Hydrological Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuil, L.; Evans, T.; McCord, P. F.; Salinas, J. L.; Blöschl, G.

2018-04-01

While it is known that farmers adopt different decision-making behaviors to cope with stresses, it remains challenging to capture this diversity in formal model frameworks that are used to advance theory and inform policy. Guided by cognitive theory and the theory of bounded rationality, this research develops a novel, socio-hydrological model framework that can explore how a farmer's perception of water availability impacts crop choice and water allocation. The model is informed by a rich empirical data set at the household level collected during 2013 in Kenya's Upper Ewaso Ng'iro basin that shows that the crop type cultivated is correlated with water availability. The model is able to simulate this pattern and shows that near-optimal or "satisficing" crop patterns can emerge also when farmers were to make use of simple decision rules and have diverse perceptions on water availability. By focusing on farmer decision making it also captures the rebound effect, i.e., as additional water becomes available through the improvement of crop efficiencies it will be reallocated on the farm instead of flowing downstream, as a farmer will adjust his (her) water allocation and crop pattern to the new water conditions. This study is valuable as it is consistent with the theory of bounded rationality, and thus offers an alternative, descriptive model in addition to normative models. The framework can be used to understand the potential impact of climate change on the socio-hydrological system, to simulate and test various assumptions regarding farmer behavior and to evaluate policy interventions.

Integrating a distributed hydrological model and SEEA-Water for improving water account and water allocation management under a climate change context.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jauch, Eduardo; Almeida, Carina; Simionesei, Lucian; Ramos, Tiago; Neves, Ramiro

2015-04-01

The crescent demand and situations of water scarcity and droughts are a difficult problem to solve by water managers, with big repercussions in the entire society. The complexity of this question is increased by trans-boundary river issues and the environmental impacts of the usual adopted solutions to store water, like reservoirs. To be able to answer to the society requirements regarding water allocation in a sustainable way, the managers must have a complete and clear picture of the present situation, as well as being able to understand the changes in the water dynamics both in the short and long time period. One of the available tools for the managers is the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts for Water (SEEA-Water), a subsystem of SEEA with focus on water accounts, developed by the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD) in collaboration with the London Group on Environmental Accounting, This system provides, between other things, with a set of tables and accounts for water and water related emissions, organizing statistical data making possible the derivation of indicators that can be used to assess the relations between economy and environment. One of the main issues with the SEEA-Water framework seems to be the requirement of large amounts of data, including field measurements of water availability in rivers/lakes/reservoirs, soil and groundwater, as also precipitation, irrigation and other water sources and uses. While this is an incentive to collecting and using data, it diminishes the usefulness of the system on countries where this data is not yet available or is incomplete, as it can lead to a poor understanding of the water availability and uses. Distributed hydrological models can be used to fill missing data required by the SEEA-Water framework. They also make it easier to assess different scenarios (usually soil use, water demand and climate changes) for a better planning of water allocation. In the context of the DURERO project (www.durero.eu), the hydrological model MOHID LAND (www.mohid.com) was used to model the Douro river basin providing information to the SEEA-Water system for the Portuguese side of the basin. The model was also used to model the Tâmega river watershed, a sub-basin of the Douro basin, with different climate change scenarios, using the results to build the SEEA-Water accounts for this pilot river basin. The aim of the present work was to understand the potential of the integration of a distributed hydrological model with the SEEA-Water framework and how this can help improving water allocation management and water account under a climate change context.

Biomass Allocation Patterns Are Linked to Genotypic Differences in Whole-Plant Transpiration Efficiency in Sunflower

PubMed Central

Velázquez, Luciano; Alberdi, Ignacio; Paz, Cosme; Aguirrezábal, Luis

2017-01-01

Increased transpiration efficiency (the ratio of biomass to water transpired, TE) could lead to increased drought tolerance under some water deficit scenarios. Intrinsic (i.e., leaf-level) TE is usually considered as the primary source of variation in whole-plant TE, but empirical data usually contradict this assumption. Sunflower has a significant variability in TE, but a better knowledge of the effect of leaf and plant-level traits could be helpful to obtain more efficient genotypes for water use. The objective of this study was, therefore, to assess if genotypic variation in whole-plant TE is better related to leaf- or plant-level traits. Three experiments were conducted, aimed at verifying the existence of variability in whole-plant TE and whole-plant and leaf-level traits, and to assess their correlation. Sunflower public inbred lines and a segregating population of recombinant inbred lines were grown under controlled conditions and subjected to well-watered and water-deficit treatments. Significant genotypic variation was found for TE and related traits. These differences in whole-plant transpiration efficiency, both between genotypes and between plants within each genotype, showed no association to leaf-level traits, but were significantly and negatively correlated to biomass allocation to leaves and to the ratio of leaf area to total biomass. These associations are likely of a physiological origin, and not only a consequence of genetic linkage in the studied population. These results suggest that genotypic variation for biomass allocation could be potentially exploited as a source for increased transpiration efficiency in sunflower breeding programmes. It is also suggested that phenotyping for TE in this species should not be restricted to leaf-level measurements, but also include measurements of plant-level traits, especially those related to biomass allocation between photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic organs. PMID:29204153

Biomass Allocation Patterns Are Linked to Genotypic Differences in Whole-Plant Transpiration Efficiency in Sunflower.

PubMed

Velázquez, Luciano; Alberdi, Ignacio; Paz, Cosme; Aguirrezábal, Luis; Pereyra Irujo, Gustavo

2017-01-01

Increased transpiration efficiency (the ratio of biomass to water transpired, TE) could lead to increased drought tolerance under some water deficit scenarios. Intrinsic (i.e., leaf-level) TE is usually considered as the primary source of variation in whole-plant TE, but empirical data usually contradict this assumption. Sunflower has a significant variability in TE, but a better knowledge of the effect of leaf and plant-level traits could be helpful to obtain more efficient genotypes for water use. The objective of this study was, therefore, to assess if genotypic variation in whole-plant TE is better related to leaf- or plant-level traits. Three experiments were conducted, aimed at verifying the existence of variability in whole-plant TE and whole-plant and leaf-level traits, and to assess their correlation. Sunflower public inbred lines and a segregating population of recombinant inbred lines were grown under controlled conditions and subjected to well-watered and water-deficit treatments. Significant genotypic variation was found for TE and related traits. These differences in whole-plant transpiration efficiency, both between genotypes and between plants within each genotype, showed no association to leaf-level traits, but were significantly and negatively correlated to biomass allocation to leaves and to the ratio of leaf area to total biomass. These associations are likely of a physiological origin, and not only a consequence of genetic linkage in the studied population. These results suggest that genotypic variation for biomass allocation could be potentially exploited as a source for increased transpiration efficiency in sunflower breeding programmes. It is also suggested that phenotyping for TE in this species should not be restricted to leaf-level measurements, but also include measurements of plant-level traits, especially those related to biomass allocation between photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic organs.

Water consumption and allocation strategies along the river oases of Tarim River based on large-scale hydrological modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Yang; Disse, Markus; Yu, Ruide

2016-04-01

With the mainstream of 1,321km and located in an arid area in northwest China, the Tarim River is China's longest inland river. The Tarim basin on the northern edge of the Taklamakan desert is an extremely arid region. In this region, agricultural water consumption and allocation management are crucial to address the conflicts among irrigation water users from upstream to downstream. Since 2011, the German Ministry of Science and Education BMBF established the Sino-German SuMaRiO project, for the sustainable management of river oases along the Tarim River. The project aims to contribute to a sustainable land management which explicitly takes into account ecosystem functions and ecosystem services. SuMaRiO will identify realizable management strategies, considering social, economic and ecological criteria. This will have positive effects for nearly 10 million inhabitants of different ethnic groups. The modelling of water consumption and allocation strategies is a core block in the SuMaRiO cluster. A large-scale hydrological model (MIKE HYDRO Basin) was established for the purpose of sustainable agricultural water management in the main stem Tarim River. MIKE HYDRO Basin is an integrated, multipurpose, map-based decision support tool for river basin analysis, planning and management. It provides detailed simulation results concerning water resources and land use in the catchment areas of the river. Calibration data and future predictions based on large amount of data was acquired. The results of model calibration indicated a close correlation between simulated and observed values. Scenarios with the change on irrigation strategies and land use distributions were investigated. Irrigation scenarios revealed that the available irrigation water has significant and varying effects on the yields of different crops. Irrigation water saving could reach up to 40% in the water-saving irrigation scenario. Land use scenarios illustrated that an increase of farmland area in the lower reach gravely aggravated the water deficit, while a decrease of farmland in the upper reaches resulted in considerable benefits for all sub-catchments. A substitution of crops was also investigated, which demonstrated the potential for saving considerable amounts of irrigation water in upper and middle reaches. Overall, the results of this study provide a scientific basis for decision-making on the water consumption and allocation strategies in this arid region.

Solutions for North American Water Security Challenge: Colorado and Bravo transboundary basins cases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López Pérez, M.

2013-12-01

The transboundary basins of Colorado (Baja California) and Rio Bravo (Grande) have low water availability figures and water will be appreciated as a highly valued good. In the Rio Grande basin, the strategies and actions have been developed with the River Basin Council: a new surface water management, new water allocation rules for different rainfall and runoff scenarios (climate change included), new sources of water and establishment of water reserves for human consumption and for environmental purposes. In the Colorado River, with an integrated watershed management vision, Mexican and US federal, state and non-governmental organizations representatives signed Minute 319 for 5 years without changing the 1944 Water Treaty. Concepts and rules for surplus, shortage, Intentionally Created Mexican Water (ICMA), salinity, water for the environment and international projects were included and are been implemented. Parallel drinking water and sanitation services in both sides of the border through the Joint Investment Program, EPA-CONAGUA invested 979.2 million dollars from grants to improve the quality of the environment and the inhabitants. Accomplishments are high and the reduction in river health is a good indicator. The implementation of this binational cooperation actions under the framework of the 1944 Water Treaty are considered global solutions in the field of integrated water management in transboundary basins and for creating water security in highly pressured basins. Keywords: Colorado River, Rio Grande or Bravo River, water security, Transboundary basins, environmental water reserves

Global energy consumption for direct water use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Y.; Hejazi, M. I.; Kim, S. H.; Kyle, P.; Davies, E. G.; Miralles, D. G.; Teuling, R.; He, Y.; Niyogi, D.

2015-12-01

Despite significant efforts to quantify the mutual inter-dependence of the water and energy sectors, global energy for water (EFW) remains poorly understood, resulting in biases in energy accounting that directly affect water and energy management and policy. We firstly evaluate the global energy consumption for direct water use from 1973 to 2012 with sectoral, regional and process-level details. Over the 40-year period, we detected multiple shifts in EFW by county and region. For example, we find that India, the Middle East and China have surpassed the United States as the three largest consumers of EFW since 2003, mostly because of rapid growth in groundwater-based irrigation, desalination, and industrial and municipal water use, respectively. Globally, EFW accounts for 1-3% of total primary energy consumption in 2010, of which 52% is surface water, 36% is groundwater, and 12% is non-fresh water. The sectoral allocation of EFW includes municipal (45%), industrial (29%), and agricultural use (26%), and process-level contributions are from source/conveyance (41%), water purification (19%), water distribution (13%) and wastewater treatment (22%). Our evaluation suggests that the EFW may increase in importance in the future due to growth in population and income, and depletion of surface and shallow aquifer water resources in water-scarce regions. We are incorporating this element into an integrated assessment model (IAM) and linking it back to energy balance within that IAM. By doing this, we will then explore the impacts of EFW on the global energy market (e.g., changes in the share of groundwater use and desalination), and the uncertainty of future EFW under different shared social pathway (SSP) and representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios, and consequences on the emission of greenhouse gases as well. We expect these EFW induced impacts will be considerable, and will then have significant implications for adaptive management and policy making.

Role of Sectoral Transformation in the Evolution of Water Management Norms in Agricultural Catchments: A Sociohydrologic Modeling Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roobavannan, M.; Kandasamy, J.; Pande, S.; Vigneswaran, S.; Sivapalan, M.

2017-10-01

This study is focused on the water-agriculture-environment nexus as it played out in the Murrumbidgee River Basin, eastern Australia, and how coevolution of society and water management actually transpired. Over 100 years of agricultural development the Murrumbidgee Basin experienced a "pendulum swing" in terms of water allocation, initially exclusively for agriculture production changing over to reallocation back to the environment. In this paper, we hypothesize that in the competition for water between economic livelihood and environmental wellbeing, economic diversification was the key to swinging community sentiment in favor of environmental protection, and triggering policy action that resulted in more water allocation to the environment. To test this hypothesis, we developed a sociohydrology model to link the dynamics of the whole economy (both agriculture and industry composed of manufacturing and services) to the community's sensitivity toward the environment. Changing community sensitivity influenced how water was allocated and governed and how the agricultural sector grew relative to the industrial sector (composed of manufacturing and services sectors). In this way, we show that economic diversification played a key role in influencing the community's values and preferences with respect to the environment and economic growth. Without diversification, model simulations show that the community would not have been sufficiently sensitive and willing enough to act to restore the environment, highlighting the key role of sectoral transformation in achieving the goal of sustainable agricultural development.

Relative source allocation of TDI to drinking water for derivation of a criterion for chloroform: a Monte-Carlo and multi-exposure assessment.

PubMed

Niizuma, Shun; Matsui, Yoshihiko; Ohno, Koichi; Itoh, Sadahiko; Matsushita, Taku; Shirasaki, Nobutaka

2013-10-01

Drinking water quality standard (DWQS) criteria for chemicals for which there is a threshold for toxicity are derived by allocating a fraction of tolerable daily intake (TDI) to exposure from drinking water. We conducted physiologically based pharmacokinetic model simulations for chloroform and have proposed an equation for total oral-equivalent potential intake via three routes (oral ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposures), the biologically effective doses of which were converted to oral-equivalent potential intakes. The probability distributions of total oral-equivalent potential intake in Japanese people were estimated by Monte Carlo simulations. Even when the chloroform concentration in drinking water equaled the current DWQS criterion, there was sufficient margin between the intake and the TDI: the probability that the intake exceeded TDI was below 0.1%. If a criterion that the 95th percentile estimate equals the TDI is regarded as both providing protection to highly exposed persons and leaving a reasonable margin of exposure relative to the TDI, then the chloroform drinking water criterion could be a concentration of 0.11mg/L. This implies a daily intake equal to 34% of the TDI allocated to the oral intake (2L/d) of drinking water for typical adults. For the highly exposed persons, inhalation exposure via evaporation from water contributed 53% of the total intake, whereas dermal absorption contributed only 3%. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recovery of Ground-Water Levels from 1988 to 2003 and Analysis of Effects of 2003 and Full-Allocation Withdrawals in Critical Area 2, Southern New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Spitz, Frederick J.; dePaul, Vincent T.

2008-01-01

Water levels in the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system within Water Supply Critical Area 2 in the southern New Jersey Coastal Plain have recovered as a result of reductions in ground-water withdrawals initiated in the early 1990s. The Critical Area consists of the depleted zone and the threatened margin. The Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system consists of the Upper, Middle, and Lower aquifers. Generally, ground-water withdrawals from these aquifers declined 5 to 10 Mgal/d (million gallons per day) and water levels recovered 0 to 40 ft (foot) from 1988 to 2003. In order to reevaluate water-allocation restrictions in Critical Area 2 in response to changes in the ground-water-flow system and demands for additional water supply due to increased development, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) needs information about the effects of changes in those allocations. Therefore, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the NJDEP, used an existing ground-water-flow model of the New Jersey Coastal Plain to evaluate the effects of withdrawal alternatives on hydraulic heads in the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system in Critical Area 2. The U.S. Geological Survey Regional Aquifer System Analysis model was used to simulate steady-state ground-water flow. Two withdrawal conditions were tested by using the model to evaluate hydraulic heads and differences in heads in these aquifers: 2003 withdrawals and full-allocation withdrawals (17.4 Mgal/d greater than 2003 withdrawals). Model results are presented using head maps and head-difference maps that compare 2003 to full-allocation withdrawals. Mandated hydrologic conditions for Critical Area protection are that the simulated -30-ft head contour not extend beyond the boundary of the depleted zone and (or) be at least 5 mi (miles) updip from the 250-mg/L (milligram per liter) isochlor in all three aquifers. Simulation results indicate that, for 2003 withdrawals, the simulated -30-ft head contour in all three aquifers is generally within the boundary of the depleted zone, except in the Lower aquifer in northern Camden and northwestern Burlington Counties, and is generally 1 to 10 mi downdip from the 250-mg/L isochlor. (Corresponding observed data indicate that the -30-ft water-level contour extends beyond the southwest boundary of the depleted zone in the Upper and Middle aquifers, and is generally 5 to 20 mi downdip from the 250-mg/L isochlor in all three aquifers.) The area in which heads are below -30 ft ranges from 389 mi2 (square miles) in the Middle aquifer to 427 mi2 in the Lower aquifer. For full-allocation withdrawals, the simulated -30-ft head contour extends beyond the boundary of the depleted zone in all three aquifers in northern Camden and northwestern Burlington Counties and in the Upper aquifer in Gloucester and Salem Counties, and is generally 5 to 15 mi downdip from the 250-mg/L isochlor. The area in which heads are below -30 ft ranges from 616 mi2 in the Upper aquifer to 813 mi2 in the Lower aquifer. These results and observed data indicate that any increase in withdrawals from 2003 values would likely cause heads in the three aquifers to decline below the minimum values mandated by the NJDEP for the Critical Area.

Just How Big is the Schism Between the Health Sector and the Water and Sanitation Sector in Developing Countries?

PubMed

Cronin, A A; Pond, K

2008-08-19

Water, sanitation and hygiene are all key aspects to a healthy environment but often they suffer from a lack of coherence within the sector itself and also a lack of synergy with the health sector. This is not acceptable given one quarter of all child deaths are directly attributable to water-borne disease. This lack of synergy is evident at many different layers including planning, resource allocation and donor commitment. Developing countries must, in consultation with their communities, examine their biggest health risks and allocate resources accordingly. Sustained dialogue and increased in-depth analysis are needed to find consensus and an improved synergy across these vital sectors.

Water resource management in river oases along the Tarim River in North-West of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kliucininkaite, Lina; Disse, Markus

2013-04-01

Tarim River is one of the longest inland rivers in the world. It flows its water in the northern part of the Taklamakan desert in Xinjiang, North-west of China, which is a very hostile region due its climatic conditions and particularly due to low precipitation and very high evaporation rates. During the past five decades intensive exploitation of water resources, mainly by agricultural activities, has changed the temporal and spatial distribution of them and caused serious environmental problems in the Tarim River Basin. The support measures for oasis management along the Tarim River under climatic and societal changes became the overarching goal of this research. The temperature has risen by nearly 1° C over the past 50 years in the Tarim River Basin so more water was available in the mountainous areas of Xinjiang, leading to an increasing trend of the headstream discharges of the Tarim Basin. Aksu, Hotan and Yarkant Rivers are three tributaries of the Tarim River, as well as its main water suppliers. However, under the condition of water increase with the volume of 25×108 m3 in headstreams in recent 10 years, the water to the mainstream has increased less than 108 m3 (in Alar hydrological station), which is less than 3% of the increased water volume of runoff. Moreover, the region is one of the biggest cotton and other cash crops producers in China. In addition, expansion of urban and, in particular, of irrigation areas have caused higher water consumption at different parts of the river, leading to severe ecological effects on rural areas, especially in the lower reaches. Moreover, it also highly affects groundwater level and quality. The aim of this research is to support decision makers, planners and engineers to find right measures in the area for the further development of the region, as well as adaptation to changing climate. Different scenarios for water resource management, as well as water distribution and allocation in a more efficient and water-saving way, in order to obtain optimal benefit for society, economy and natural environment in a sustainable manner, are the target outcome of this research. Therefore, a more general approach is needed for the macro and whole Tarim River (app. 1321 km long) scale. For addressing water allocation, conjunctive use, water quality issues and surface water interaction with groundwater in this research, GIS-based water-balance model MIKE BASIN (DHI) is employed to meet these objectives for the regional and Tarim River scale.

Cumulative deficit irrigation effects on corn (Zea mays, L.) biomass and grain yield

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Deficit irrigation (DI) is sometimes used to cope with dwindling irrigation water supplies or limited water allocations. A six-year study at Akron, Colorado investigated the effects of consecutive years of DI on soil water use, soil water storage, biomass production, grain yield and water use effici...

Water ecosystem service function assessment based on eco-hydrological process in Luanhe Basin,China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, C.; Hao, C.; Qin, T.; Wang, G.; Weng, B.

2012-12-01

At present, ecological water are mainly occupied by a rapid development of social economic and population explosion, which seriously threat the ecological security and water security in watershed and regional scale. Due to the lack of a unified standard of measuring the benefit of water resource, social economic and ecosystem, the water allocation can't take place in social economic and ecosystem. The function which provided by water in terrestrial, aquatic and social economic system can be addressed through water ecosystem service function research, and it can guide the water allocation in water resource management. The function which provided by water in terrestrial, aquatic and social economic system can be addressed through water ecosystem service function research, and it can guide the water allocation in water resource management. Throughout the researches of water ecosystem service, a clear identification of the connection of water ecosystem service function has not been established, and eco-economic approach can't meet the practical requirement of water allocation. Based on "nature-artificiality" dual water cycle theory and eco-hydrological process, this paper proposes a connection and indicator system of water ecosystem service function. In approach, this paper establishes an integrated assessment approach through prototype observation technology, numerical simulation, physical simulation and modern geographic information technology. The core content is to couple an eco-hydrological model, which involves the key processes of distributed hydrological model (WEP), ecological model (CLM-DGVM), in terms of eco-hydrological process. This paper systematically evaluates the eco-hydrological process and evolution of Luanhe Basin in terms of precipitation, ET, runoff, groundwater, ecosystem's scale, form and distribution. According to the results of eco-hydrological process, this paper assesses the direct and derived service function. The result indicates that the general service function of 2010 has minor increase than 2007, however the general function of two years are in common level; Compare with different region, the upstream, middle stream and downstream indicates "worse", "common" and "good" level respectively. The first three derived functions are leisure, offer products and industrial water use. In the end, this paper investigates the evolution of water ecosystem service function under rising temperatures and elevated CO2 concentration scenarios in Luanhe Basin through eco-hydrological model. The results elaborate that the water ecosystem service functions would decline when temperature rising, and warming to 1.5 degree is the mutation point of sharp drop; Increased CO2 concentration scenario will improve the direct service function in the whole Basin; under the overlying scenario, different region shows different results, the direct service function will increased in upstream and middle stream, direct service function will drop in downstream. A comprehensive analysis indicates that the rising temperature is the major driven of water ecosystem service function in Luanhe Basin.

33 CFR 385.27 - Project Cooperation Agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... to water reservations. Reservations or allocations of water are a State responsibility. Any change to... public to review and comment on any proposed changes in the water reservation made by the State. (2) The... with the non-Federal sponsor in accordance with applicable law. (b) Verification of water reservations...

33 CFR 385.27 - Project Cooperation Agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... to water reservations. Reservations or allocations of water are a State responsibility. Any change to... public to review and comment on any proposed changes in the water reservation made by the State. (2) The... with the non-Federal sponsor in accordance with applicable law. (b) Verification of water reservations...

33 CFR 385.27 - Project Cooperation Agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... to water reservations. Reservations or allocations of water are a State responsibility. Any change to... public to review and comment on any proposed changes in the water reservation made by the State. (2) The... with the non-Federal sponsor in accordance with applicable law. (b) Verification of water reservations...

33 CFR 385.27 - Project Cooperation Agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... to water reservations. Reservations or allocations of water are a State responsibility. Any change to... public to review and comment on any proposed changes in the water reservation made by the State. (2) The... with the non-Federal sponsor in accordance with applicable law. (b) Verification of water reservations...

33 CFR 385.27 - Project Cooperation Agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... to water reservations. Reservations or allocations of water are a State responsibility. Any change to... public to review and comment on any proposed changes in the water reservation made by the State. (2) The... with the non-Federal sponsor in accordance with applicable law. (b) Verification of water reservations...

Scientific Allocation of Water Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buras, Nathan

Oriented for higher education students, researchers, practicing engineers and planners, this book surveys the state of the art of water resources engineering. A broad spectrum of issues is embraced in the treatment of water resources: quantity aspects as well as quality aspects within a systems approach. Using a rational mode for water resources…

40 CFR 130.4 - Water quality monitoring.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... QUALITY PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT § 130.4 Water quality monitoring. (a) In accordance with section 106(e)(1...; developing and reviewing water quality standards, total maximum daily loads, wasteload allocations and load... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Water quality monitoring. 130.4...

40 CFR 130.4 - Water quality monitoring.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... QUALITY PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT § 130.4 Water quality monitoring. (a) In accordance with section 106(e)(1...; developing and reviewing water quality standards, total maximum daily loads, wasteload allocations and load... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Water quality monitoring. 130.4...

The Security Implications of Water: Prospects for Instability or Cooperation in South and Central Asia

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

water allocation has a tremendous effect on domestic stability. Especially in Pakistan where the Sindh and Balochistan provinces face multiple water...between the Southern Provinces (Sindh and Balochistan ) and the Punjab. Even within the United States, there are reoccurring tussles over fair water

Environmental control of reproductive phenology and the effect of pollen supplementation on resource allocation in the cleistogamous weed, Ruellia nudiflora (Acanthaceae)

PubMed Central

Munguía-Rosas, Miguel A.; Parra-Tabla, Victor; Ollerton, Jeff; Cervera, J. Carlos

2012-01-01

• Background and Aims Mixed reproductive strategies may have evolved as a response of plants to cope with environmental variation. One example of a mixed reproductive strategy is dimorphic cleistogamy, where a single plant produces closed, obligately self-pollinated (CL) flowers and open, potentially outcrossed (CH) flowers. Frequently, optimal environmental conditions favour production of more costly CH structures whilst economical and reliable CL structures are produced under less favourable conditions. In this study we explore (1) the effect of light and water on the reproductive phenology and (2) the effect of pollen supplementation on resource allocation to seeds in the cleistogamous weed Ruellia nudiflora. • Methods Split-plot field experiments were carried out to assess the effect of shade (two levels: ambient light vs. a reduction of 50 %) and watering (two levels: non-watered vs. watered) on the onset, end and duration of the production of three reproductive structures: CH flowers, CH fruit and CL fruit. We also looked at the effect of these environmental factors on biomass allocation to seeds (seed weight) from obligately self-pollinated flowers (CL), open-pollinated CH flowers and pollen-supplemented CH flowers. • Key Results CH structures were produced for a briefer period and ended earlier under shaded conditions. These conditions also resulted in an earlier production of CL fruit. Shaded conditions also produced greater biomass allocation to CH seeds receiving extra pollen. • Conclusions Sub-optimal (shaded) conditions resulted in a briefer production period of CH structures whilst these same conditions resulted in an earlier production of CL structures. However, under sub-optimal conditions, plants also allocated more resources to seeds sired from CH flowers receiving large pollen loads. Earlier production of reproductive structures and relatively larger seed might improve subsequent success of CL and pollen-supplemented CH seeds, respectively. PMID:22095920

Balancing food security and water demand for freshwater ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pastor, Amandine; Palazzo, Amanda; Havlik, Petr; Obersteiner, Michael; Biemans, Hester; Wada, Yoshihide; Kabat, Pavel; Ludwig, Fulco

2017-04-01

Water is not an infinite resource and demand from irrigation, household and industry is constantly increasing. This study focused on including global water availability including environmental flow requirements with water withdrawal from irrigation and other sectors at a monthly time-step in the GLOBIOM model. This model allows re-adjustment of land-use allocation, crop management, consumption and international trade. The GLOBIOM model induces an endogenous change in water price depending on water supply and demand. In this study, the focus was on how the inclusion of water resources affects land-use and, in particular, how global change will influence repartition of irrigated and rainfed lands at global scale. We used the climate change scenario including a radiative forcing of 8.5 W/m2 (RCP8.5), the socio-economic scenario (SSP2: middle-of-road), and the environmental flow method based on monthly flow allocation (the Variable Monthly Flow method) with high and low restrictions. Irrigation withdrawals were adjusted to a monthly time-step to account for biophysical water limitations at finer time resolution. Our results show that irrigated land might decrease up to 40% on average depending on the choice of EFR restrictions. Several areas were identified as future hot-spots of water stress such as the Mediterranean and Middle-East regions. Other countries were identified to be in safe position in terms of water stress such as North-European countries. Re-allocation of rainfed and irrigated land might be useful information for land-use planners and water managers at an international level to decide on appropriate legislations on climate change mitigation/adaptation when exposure and sensitivity to climate change is high and/or on adaptation measures to face increasing water demand. For example, some countries are likely to adopt measures to increase their water use efficiencies (irrigation system, soil and water conservation practices) to face water shortages, while others might consider improving their trade policy to avoid food shortage.

Marrying Hydrological Modelling and Integrated Assessment for the needs of Water Resource Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Croke, B. F. W.; Blakers, R. S.; El Sawah, S.; Fu, B.; Guillaume, J. H. A.; Kelly, R. A.; Patrick, M. J.; Ross, A.; Ticehurst, J.; Barthel, R.; Jakeman, A. J.

2014-09-01

This paper discusses the integration of hydrology with other disciplines using an Integrated Assessment (IA) and modelling approach to the management and allocation of water resources. Recent developments in the field of socio-hydrology aim to develop stronger relationships between hydrology and the human dimensions of Water Resource Management (WRM). This should build on an existing wealth of knowledge and experience of coupled human-water systems. To further strengthen this relationship and contribute to this broad body of knowledge, we propose a strong and durable "marriage" between IA and hydrology. The foundation of this marriage requires engagement with appropriate concepts, model structures, scales of analyses, performance evaluation and communication - and the associated tools and models that are needed for pragmatic deployment or operation. To gain insight into how this can be achieved, an IA case study in water allocation in the Lower Namoi catchment, NSW, Australia is presented.

Observation and Modelling of Soil Water Content Towards Improved Performance Indicators of Large Irrigation Schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labbassi, Kamal; Akdim, Nadia; Alfieri, Silvia Maria; Menenti, Massimo

2014-05-01

Irrigation performance may be evaluated for different objectives such as equity, adequacy, or effectiveness. We are using two performance indicators: IP2 measures the consistency of the allocation of the irrigation water with gross Crop Water requirements, while IP3 measures the effectiveness of irrigation by evaluating the increase in crop transpiration between the case of no irrigation and the case of different levels of irrigation. To evaluate IP3 we need to calculate the soil water balance for the two cases. We have developed a system based on the hydrological model SWAP (Soil Water atmosphere Plant) to calculate spatial and temporal patterns of crop transpiration T(x, y, t) and of the vertical distribution of soil water content θ(x, y, z, t). On one hand, in the absence of ground measurement of soil water content to validate and evaluate the precision of the estimated one, a possibility would be to use satellite retrievals of top soil water content, such as the data to be provided by SMAP. On the other hand, to calculate IP3 we need root zone rather than top soil water content. In principle, we could use the model SWAP to establish a relationship between the top soil and root zone water content. Such relationship could be a simple empirical one or a data assimilation procedure. In our study area (Doukkala- Morocco) we have assessed the consistency of the water allocation with the actual irrigated area and crop water requirements (CWR) by using a combination of multispectral satellite image time series (i,e RapidEye (REIS), SPOT4 (HRVIR1) and Landsat 8 (OLI) images acquired during the 2012/2013 agricultural season). To obtain IP2 (x, y, t) we need to determine ETc (x, y, t). We have applied two (semi)empirical approaches: the first one is the Kc-NDVI method, based on the correlation between the Near Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the value of crop coefficient (kc); the second one is the analytical approach based on the direct application of Penman-Monteith equation with reflectance-based estimates of canopy biophysical variables, such as surface albedo (r), leaf area index (LAI) and crop height (hc). The validation of spatial results using the dual crop coefficient approach (kcb) showed that the satellite-based estimates of ETc corresponded well with ground-based ETc i.e, R²=0.75 and RMSE=0.79 versus R²=0.73 and RMSE=0.89 for respectively kc-NDVI and analytical approach. To monitor IP3 (x, y, t) with the SWAP model we mapped soil hydrological properties combining soil maps with grain size analysis of a number of samples, and agricultural crops using multi-temporal classification of NDVI time series. The assessment of irrigation performance in term of adequacy between requirement and allocation showed that CWR are much larger than water supply for entire area, this mismatch is improved in the beginning of the growing season by means of Irrigation water requirement (IWR) and even more using the net irrigation water requirement (NIWR) estimated using SWAP model. We expect that the availability of SMAP data products will significantly improve the reliability and temporal sampling of our indicators.

Centralized versus distributed reservoirs: an investigation of their implications on environmental flows and sustainable water resources management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eriyagama, Nishadi; Smakhtin, Vladimir; Udamulla, Lakshika

2018-06-01

Storage of surface water is widely regarded as a form of insurance against rainfall variability. However, creation of surface storage often endanger the functions of natural ecosystems, and, in turn, ecosystem services that benefit humans. The issues of optimal size, placement and the number of reservoirs in a river basin - which maximizes sustainable benefits from storage - remain subjects for debate. This study examines the above issues through the analysis of a range of reservoir configurations in the Malwatu Oya river basin in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The study produced multiple surface storage development pathways for the basin under different scenarios of environmental flow (EF) releases and reservoir network configurations. The EF scenarios ranged from zero to very healthy releases. It is shown that if the middle ground between the two extreme EF scenarios is considered, the theoretical maximum safe yield from surface storage is about 65-70 % of the mean annual runoff (MAR) of the basin. It is also identified that although distribution of reservoirs in the river network reduces the cumulative yield from the basin, this cumulative yield is maximized if the ratio among the storage capacities placed in each sub drainage basin is equivalent to the ratio among their MAR. The study suggests a framework to identify drainage regions having higher surface storage potential, to plan for the right distribution of storage capacity within a river basin, as well as to plan for EF allocations.

Guide to the Revised Ground-Water Flow and Heat Transport Simulator: HYDROTHERM - Version 3

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kipp, Kenneth L.; Hsieh, Paul A.; Charlton, Scott R.

2008-01-01

The HYDROTHERM computer program simulates multi-phase ground-water flow and associated thermal energy transport in three dimensions. It can handle high fluid pressures, up to 1 ? 109 pascals (104 atmospheres), and high temperatures, up to 1,200 degrees Celsius. This report documents the release of Version 3, which includes various additions, modifications, and corrections that have been made to the original simulator. Primary changes to the simulator include: (1) the ability to simulate unconfined ground-water flow, (2) a precipitation-recharge boundary condition, (3) a seepage-surface boundary condition at the land surface, (4) the removal of the limitation that a specified-pressure boundary also have a specified temperature, (5) a new iterative solver for the linear equations based on a generalized minimum-residual method, (6) the ability to use time- or depth-dependent functions for permeability, (7) the conversion of the program code to Fortran 90 to employ dynamic allocation of arrays, and (8) the incorporation of a graphical user interface (GUI) for input and output. The graphical user interface has been developed for defining a simulation, running the HYDROTHERM simulator interactively, and displaying the results. The combination of the graphical user interface and the HYDROTHERM simulator forms the HYDROTHERM INTERACTIVE (HTI) program. HTI can be used for two-dimensional simulations only. New features in Version 3 of the HYDROTHERM simulator have been verified using four test problems. Three problems come from the published literature and one problem was simulated by another partially saturated flow and thermal transport simulator. The test problems include: transient partially saturated vertical infiltration, transient one-dimensional horizontal infiltration, two-dimensional steady-state drainage with a seepage surface, and two-dimensional drainage with coupled heat transport. An example application to a hypothetical stratovolcano system with unconfined ground-water flow is presented in detail. It illustrates the use of HTI with the combination precipitation-recharge and seepage-surface boundary condition, and functions as a tutorial example problem for the new user.

The development of water services and their interaction with water resources in European and Brazilian cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barraqué, B.; Formiga Johnsson, R. M.; Nogueira de Paiva Britto, A. L.

2008-08-01

The extension and complexity of large cities creates "urban water" and a related issue: public water services, including public water supply, sewage collection and treatment, and storm water control, had previously become a policy sector separate from water resource allocation issues thanks to water transport and treatment technologies. Large metropolitan areas today cannot take nature for granted anymore, and they need to protect water resources, if only to reduce the long term cost of transporting and treating water. In this paper, we compare the historical development of water services in European and Brazilian metropolitan areas, placing the technological developments in their geographic, socio-economic and political contexts. Our frame is to follow the successive contributions of civil engineering, sanitary engineering, and environmental engineering: the "quantity of water" and civil engineering paradigm allowed to mobilise water in and out of the city, and up the hills or the floors; in the "water quality" and chemical/sanitary engineering paradigm, water treatment gave more freedom to cities to take water from rivers closer to them, but also to reduce sewer discharge impacts; lastly, the environmental engineering paradigm proposes to overcome the supply side perspective, by introducing demand side management, water conservation, water allocation flexibilisation, and an integrated approach to water services, water resources management, and land use policies.

Evaluating the Community Land Model in a pine stand with shading manipulations and 13CO2 labeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, J.; Ricciuto, D. M.; Thornton, P. E.; Warren, J. M.; King, A. W.; Shi, X.; Iversen, C. M.; Norby, R. J.

2016-02-01

Carbon allocation and flow through ecosystems regulates land surface-atmosphere CO2 exchange and thus is a key, albeit uncertain, component of mechanistic models. The Partitioning in Trees and Soil (PiTS) experiment-model project tracked carbon allocation through a young Pinus taeda stand following pulse labeling with 13CO2 and two levels of shading. The field component of this project provided process-oriented data that were used to evaluate terrestrial biosphere model simulations of rapid shifts in carbon allocation and hydrological dynamics under varying environmental conditions. Here we tested the performance of the Community Land Model version 4 (CLM4) in capturing short-term carbon and water dynamics in relation to manipulative shading treatments and the timing and magnitude of carbon fluxes through various compartments of the ecosystem. When calibrated with pretreatment observations, CLM4 was capable of closely simulating stand-level biomass, transpiration, leaf-level photosynthesis, and pre-labeling 13C values. Over the 3-week treatment period, CLM4 generally reproduced the impacts of shading on soil moisture changes, relative change in stem carbon, and soil CO2 efflux rate. Transpiration under moderate shading was also simulated well by the model, but even with optimization we were not able to simulate the high levels of transpiration observed in the heavy shading treatment, suggesting that the Ball-Berry conductance model is inadequate for these conditions. The calibrated version of CLM4 gave reasonable estimates of label concentration in phloem and in soil surface CO2 after 3 weeks of shade treatment, but it lacks the mechanisms needed to track the labeling pulse through plant tissues on shorter timescales. We developed a conceptual model for photosynthate transport based on the experimental observations, and we discussed conditions under which the hypothesized mechanisms could have an important influence on model behavior in larger-scale applications. Implications for future experimental studies are described, some of which are already being implemented in follow-on studies.

Irrigation, risk aversion, and water right priority under water supply uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Man; Xu, Wenchao; Rosegrant, Mark W.

2017-09-01

This paper explores the impacts of a water right's allocative priority—as an indicator of farmers' risk-bearing ability—on land irrigation under water supply uncertainty. We develop and use an economic model to simulate farmers' land irrigation decision and associated economic returns in eastern Idaho. Results indicate that the optimal acreage of land irrigated increases with water right priority when hydroclimate risk exhibits a negatively skewed or right-truncated distribution. Simulation results suggest that prior appropriation enables senior water rights holders to allocate a higher proportion of their land to irrigation, 6 times as much as junior rights holders do, creating a gap in the annual expected net revenue reaching up to 141.4 acre-1 or 55,800 per farm between the two groups. The optimal irrigated acreage, expected net revenue, and shadow value of a water right's priority are subject to substantial changes under a changing climate in the future, where temporal variation in water supply risks significantly affects the profitability of agricultural land use under the priority-based water sharing mechanism.

Irrigation, risk aversion, and water right priority under water supply uncertainty.

PubMed

Li, Man; Xu, Wenchao; Rosegrant, Mark W

2017-09-01

This paper explores the impacts of a water right's allocative priority-as an indicator of farmers' risk-bearing ability-on land irrigation under water supply uncertainty. We develop and use an economic model to simulate farmers' land irrigation decision and associated economic returns in eastern Idaho. Results indicate that the optimal acreage of land irrigated increases with water right priority when hydroclimate risk exhibits a negatively skewed or right-truncated distribution. Simulation results suggest that prior appropriation enables senior water rights holders to allocate a higher proportion of their land to irrigation, 6 times as much as junior rights holders do, creating a gap in the annual expected net revenue reaching up to $141.4 acre -1 or $55,800 per farm between the two groups. The optimal irrigated acreage, expected net revenue, and shadow value of a water right's priority are subject to substantial changes under a changing climate in the future, where temporal variation in water supply risks significantly affects the profitability of agricultural land use under the priority-based water sharing mechanism.

Irrigation, risk aversion, and water right priority under water supply uncertainty

PubMed Central

Xu, Wenchao; Rosegrant, Mark W.

2017-01-01

Abstract This paper explores the impacts of a water right's allocative priority—as an indicator of farmers' risk‐bearing ability—on land irrigation under water supply uncertainty. We develop and use an economic model to simulate farmers' land irrigation decision and associated economic returns in eastern Idaho. Results indicate that the optimal acreage of land irrigated increases with water right priority when hydroclimate risk exhibits a negatively skewed or right‐truncated distribution. Simulation results suggest that prior appropriation enables senior water rights holders to allocate a higher proportion of their land to irrigation, 6 times as much as junior rights holders do, creating a gap in the annual expected net revenue reaching up to $141.4 acre−1 or $55,800 per farm between the two groups. The optimal irrigated acreage, expected net revenue, and shadow value of a water right's priority are subject to substantial changes under a changing climate in the future, where temporal variation in water supply risks significantly affects the profitability of agricultural land use under the priority‐based water sharing mechanism. PMID:29200529

MODIFICATIONS OF WASP FOR SIMULATING PERIPHYTON DYNAMICS

EPA Science Inventory

Conventional water quality models that are in current use today for the development of TMDLs and waste load allocations usually use dissolved oxygen, nutrient concentrations and algal growth as indicators to water health. In shallow streams and rivers, water health can be contro...

Neural Network Based Modeling and Analysis of LP Control Surface Allocation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Langari, Reza; Krishnakumar, Kalmanje; Gundy-Burlet, Karen

2003-01-01

This paper presents an approach to interpretive modeling of LP based control allocation in intelligent flight control. The emphasis is placed on a nonlinear interpretation of the LP allocation process as a static map to support analytical study of the resulting closed loop system, albeit in approximate form. The approach makes use of a bi-layer neural network to capture the essential functioning of the LP allocation process. It is further shown via Lyapunov based analysis that under certain relatively mild conditions the resulting closed loop system is stable. Some preliminary conclusions from a study at Ames are stated and directions for further research are given at the conclusion of the paper.

The future of irrigated agriculture under environmental flow requirements restrictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pastor, Amandine; Palazzo, Amanda; Havlik, Petr; Kabat, Pavel; Obersteiner, Michael; Ludwig, Fulco

2016-04-01

Water is not an infinite resource and demand from irrigation, household and industry is constantly increasing. This study focused on including global water availability including environmental flow requirements with water withdrawal from irrigation and other sectors at a monthly time-step in the GLOBIOM model. This model allows re-adjustment of land-use allocation, crop management, consumption and international trade. The GLOBIOM model induces an endogenous change in water price depending on water supply and demand. In this study, the focus was on how the inclusion of water resources affects land-use and, in particular, how global change will influence repartition of irrigated and rainfed lands at global scale. We used the climate change scenario including a radiative forcing of 8.5 W/m2 (RCP8.5), the socio-economic scenario (SSP2: middle-of-road), and the environmental flow method based on monthly flow allocation (the Variable Monthly Flow method) with high and low restrictions. Irrigation withdrawals were adjusted to a monthly time-step to account for biophysical water limitations at finer time resolution. Our results show that irrigated land might decrease up to 40% on average depending on the choice of EFR restrictions. Several areas were identified as future hot-spots of water stress such as the Mediterranean and Middle-East regions. Other countries were identified to be in safe position in terms of water stress such as North-European countries. Re-allocation of rainfed and irrigated land might be useful information for land-use planners and water managers at an international level to decide on appropriate legislations on climate change mitigation/adaptation when exposure and sensitivity to climate change is high and/or on adaptation measures to face increasing water demand. For example, some countries are likely to adopt measures to increase their water use efficiencies (irrigation system, soil and water conservation practices) to face water shortages, while others might consider improving their trade policy to avoid food shortage.

Integrated Drought Monitoring and Forecasts for Decision Making in Water and Agricultural Sectors over the Southeastern US under Changing Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arumugam, S.; Mazrooei, A.; Ward, R.

2017-12-01

Changing climate arising from structured oscillations such as ENSO and rising temperature poses challenging issues in meeting the increasing water demand (due to population growth) for public supply and agriculture over the Southeast US. This together with infrastructural (e.g., most reservoirs being within-year systems) and operational (e.g., static rule curves) constraints requires an integrated approach that seamlessly monitors and forecasts water and soil moisture conditions to support adaptive decision making in water and agricultural sectors. In this talk, we discuss the utility of an integrated drought management portal that both monitors and forecasts streamflow and soil moisture over the southeast US. The forecasts are continuously developed and updated by forcing monthly-to-seasonal climate forecasts with a land surface model for various target basins. The portal also houses a reservoir allocation model that allows water managers to explore different release policies in meeting the system constraints and target storages conditioned on the forecasts. The talk will also demonstrate how past events (e.g., 2007-2008 drought) could be proactively monitored and managed to improve decision making in water and agricultural sectors over the Southeast US. Challenges in utilizing the portal information from institutional and operational perspectives will also be presented.

43 CFR 419.4 - What specific provisions govern operations of the reservoirs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... water rights, imported water, remaining water of the Truckee River, and emergencies Sections 1.A through... Sections 4.A through 4.G. Operation of Floriston Rate and Project Water Sections 5.A through 5.E. Truckee River and Lake Tahoe Basin Allocation and Accounting Sections 6.A through 6.E. Credit Water...

43 CFR 419.4 - What specific provisions govern operations of the reservoirs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... water rights, imported water, remaining water of the Truckee River, and emergencies Sections 1.A through... Sections 4.A through 4.G. Operation of Floriston Rate and Project Water Sections 5.A through 5.E. Truckee River and Lake Tahoe Basin Allocation and Accounting Sections 6.A through 6.E. Credit Water...

76 FR 12755 - Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Hold Public Scoping...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-08

... terms and conditions regarding the constraints on availability of water supply for the CVP M&I water service contracts. Allocation of CVP water supplies for any given water year is based upon forecasted... requirements, and management of Section 3406(b)(2) resources and refuge water supplies in accordance with CVPIA...

26 CFR 1.199-4 - Costs allocable to domestic production gross receipts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., natural gas, and potable water (as defined in § 1.199-3(l)) (collectively, utilities) that will generate... dollar-value pool contains QPP, qualified films, or utilities that produces DPGR and goods that do not, the taxpayer must allocate CGS attributable to that grouping or pool between DPGR and non-DPGR using a...

25 CFR 162.594 - How will payment rights relating to WSR leases be allocated?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false How will payment rights relating to WSR leases be allocated? 162.594 Section 162.594 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND AND WATER LEASES AND PERMITS Wind and Solar Resource Leases Wsr Lease Effectiveness, Compliance, and...

25 CFR 162.594 - How will payment rights relating to WSR leases be allocated?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false How will payment rights relating to WSR leases be allocated? 162.594 Section 162.594 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND AND WATER LEASES AND PERMITS Wind and Solar Resource Leases Wsr Lease Effectiveness, Compliance, and...

Emergency material allocation with time-varying supply-demand based on dynamic optimization method for river chemical spills.

PubMed

Liu, Jie; Guo, Liang; Jiang, Jiping; Jiang, Dexun; Wang, Peng

2018-04-13

Aiming to minimize the damage caused by river chemical spills, efficient emergency material allocation is critical for an actual emergency rescue decision-making in a quick response. In this study, an emergency material allocation framework based on time-varying supply-demand constraint is developed to allocate emergency material, minimize the emergency response time, and satisfy the dynamic emergency material requirements in post-accident phases dealing with river chemical spills. In this study, the theoretically critical emergency response time is firstly obtained for the emergency material allocation system to select a series of appropriate emergency material warehouses as potential supportive centers. Then, an enumeration method is applied to identify the practically critical emergency response time, the optimum emergency material allocation and replenishment scheme. Finally, the developed framework is applied to a computational experiment based on south-to-north water transfer project in China. The results illustrate that the proposed methodology is a simple and flexible tool for appropriately allocating emergency material to satisfy time-dynamic demands during emergency decision-making. Therefore, the decision-makers can identify an appropriate emergency material allocation scheme in a balance between time-effective and cost-effective objectives under the different emergency pollution conditions.

Impacts of climate change on the food-energy-water nexus in the upper Yellow River Basin: An integrated hydro-economic modeling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Si, Y.; Cai, X.

2017-12-01

The large-scale reservoir system built on the upper Yellow River serves multiple purposes. The generated hydropower supplies over 60% of the entire electricity for the regional power grid while the irrigated crop production feeds almost one-third of the total population throughout the whole river basin. Moreover, the reservoir system also bears the responsibility for controlling ice flood, which occurs during the non-flood season due to winter ice freezing followed by spring thawing process, and could be even more disastrous than the summer flood. The contradiction of water allocation to satisfy multi-sector demands while mitigating ice flood risk has been longstanding. However, few researchers endeavor to employ the nexus thinking to addressing the complexities involved in all the interlinked purposes. In this study, we develop an integrated hydro-economic model that can be used to explore both the tradeoffs and synergies between the multiple purposes, based on which the water infrastructures (e.g., reservoir, diversion canal, pumping well) can be coordinated for maximizing the co-benefits of multiple sectors. The model is based on a node-link schematic of multiple operations including hydropower generation, irrigation scheduling, and the conjunctive use of surface and ground water resources. In particular, the model depicts some details regarding reservoir operation rules during the ice season using two indicators, i.e., flow control period and flow control level. The rules are obtained from historical records using data mining techniques under different climate conditions, and they are added to the model as part of the system constraints. Future reservoir inflow series are generated by a hydrological model with future climate scenarios projected by General Circulation Model (GCM). By analyzing the model results under the various climate scenarios, the future possible shifting trajectory of the food-energy-water system characteristics will be derived compared to the baseline scenario (i.e., the status-quo condition). Thus the model and the results are expected to be useful for enlightening economically efficient water allocation policy coping with climate change.

Irrigation of floricultural and nursery crops with saline wastewaters

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Water security has become a major concern throughout the western United States and other arid and semiarid regions worldwide. Uncertainties concerning the allocation and dependability of good quality water have led to increased interest in the use alternative, non-potable waters for irrigated agric...

Interactive Online Real-time Groundwater Model for Irrigation Water Allocation in the Heihe Mid-reaches, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedrazzini, G.; Kinzelbach, W.

2016-12-01

In the Heihe Basin and many other semi-arid regions in the world the ongoing introduction of smart meter IC-card systems on farmers' pumping wells will soon allow monitoring and control of abstractions with the goal of preventing further depletion of the resource. In this regard, a major interest of policy makers concerns the development of new and the improvement of existing legislation on pricing schemes and groundwater/surface water quotas. Predictive knowledge on the development of groundwater levels for different allocation schemes or climatic change scenarios is required to support decision-makers in this task. In the past groundwater models have been a static component of investigations and their results delivered in the form of reports. We set up and integrated a groundwater model into a user-friendly web-based environment, allowing direct and easy access to the novice user. Through operating sliders the user can select an irrigation district, change irrigation patterns such as partitioning of surface- and groundwater, size of irrigation area, irrigation efficiency, as well as a number of climate related parameters. Reactive handles allow to display the results in real-time. The implemented software is all license free. The tool is currently being introduced to irrigation district managers in the project area. Findings will be available after some practical experience to be expected in a given time. The accessibility via a web-interface is a novelty in the context of groundwater models. It allows delivering a product accessible from everywhere and from any device. The maintenance and if necessary updating of model or software can occur remotely. Feedback mechanisms between reality and prediction will be introduced and the model periodically updated through data assimilation as new data becomes available. This will render the model a dynamic tool steadily available and evolving over time.

Economics research supporting water resource stewardship in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Laurie L. Houston; Jeffrey D. Kline; Ralph J. Alig

2002-01-01

The use of water increasingly involves complex tradeoffs among biophysical, economic, ecological, and societal values. Knowledge about the value of water to different users and methods with which to evaluate biophysical, economic, ecological, and social tradeoffs associated with allocating limited water resources among competing uses is vital to devising appropriate...

Allocation to leaf area and sapwood area affects water relations of co-occurring savanna and forest trees.

PubMed

Gotsch, Sybil G; Geiger, Erika L; Franco, Augusto C; Goldstein, Guillermo; Meinzer, Frederick C; Hoffmann, William A

2010-06-01

Water availability is a principal factor limiting the distribution of closed-canopy forest in the seasonal tropics, suggesting that forest tree species may not be well adapted to cope with seasonal drought. We studied 11 congeneric species pairs, each containing one forest and one savanna species, to test the hypothesis that forest trees have a lower capacity to maintain seasonal homeostasis in water relations relative to savanna species. To quantify this, we measured sap flow, leaf water potential (Psi(L)), stomatal conductance (g (s)), wood density, and Huber value (sapwood area:leaf area) of the 22 study species. We found significant differences in the water relations of these two species types. Leaf area specific hydraulic conductance of the soil/root/leaf pathway (G (t)) was greater for savanna species than forest species. The lower G (t) of forest trees resulted in significantly lower Psi(L) and g (s) in the late dry season relative to savanna trees. The differences in G (t) can be explained by differences in biomass allocation of savanna and forest trees. Savanna species had higher Huber values relative to forest species, conferring greater transport capacity on a leaf area basis. Forest trees have a lower capacity to maintain homeostasis in Psi(L) due to greater allocation to leaf area relative to savanna species. Despite significant differences in water relations, relationships between traits such as wood density and minimum Psi(L) were indistinguishable for the two species groups, indicating that forest and savanna share a common axis of water-use strategies involving multiple traits.

A GIS based district information system for water resources management and planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tzabiras, John; Spiliotopoulos, Marios; Kokkinos, Kostantinos; Fafoutis, Chrysostomos; Sidiropoulos, Pantelis; Vasiliades, Lampros; Loukas, Athanasios; Mylopoulos, Nikitas

2014-05-01

In many watersheds of the Mediterranean Countries, water resources are presently fully or overcommitted. Irrigators are the largest consumers of fresh water in Mediterranean Countries using up to 80% of all allocated water in some regions. Administrative efforts should be directed towards an integrated policy of water allocation which accounts for the characteristics and specificity of each farm, requiring the availability of data bases and management tools (decision support systems) specifically designed to fulfil the objectives of maximizing water use efficiency. The overall objective of this program was the development of a District Information System (DIS) which could be used by stakeholders at purposes of irrigation district day-to-day management as well as for planning and strategic decision-making. The DIS was developed from a GIS-based modelling approach which integrates a generic crop model, a hydraulic module for the water transfer/distribution system and uses remote sensing information. The main sub-objectives were: (i) the development of an operational algorithm to retrieve crop evapotranspiration from remote sensing data, (ii) the development of an information system with friendly user interface for the data base, the crop module and the hydraulic module and (iii) the analysis and validation of management scenarios from model simulations predicting the respective behaviour. Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) was used to derive monthly actual evapotranspiration (ET) values from Landsat TM imagery. Meteorological data from the archive of the Institute for Research and Technology, Thessaly (I.RE.TE.TH) have also been used. The methodology was developed using high quality Landsat TM images during 2007 growing season. Monthly ET values are then used as an input to CROPWAT model. Outputs of CROPWAT model are then used as input for the hydraylic module consisted of TECHNOLOGISMIKI, WATERCAD and WEAP model. Hence, a reference scenario was developed based on the actual situation of the surface irrigation network of the Local Administration of Land Reclamation (LALR) of Pinios river in Greece (Pinios LALR) for the year 2007. The system was calibrated with observed data of that year and the district parameterization was conducted based on the actual operation of the network. Hydraulic model output showed that the water pumped from Pinios LALR is not enough to serve irrigation requirements. Furthermore, the water evaluation and planning model (WEAP) respectively projects the same output since water demand is not covered. Four alternative scenarios were developed to be studied with the DIS: (a) Reduction of channel losses, (b) Alteration of irrigation methods (c) Introduction of greenhouse cultivation and (d) Operation of the future Lake Karla network, this network is designed to fulfil the irrigation needs of agricultural land around the reconstructed Lake Karla reservoir and the water is pumped from the Lake Karla reservoir and is being distributed through a low pressured piped network. The results showed that the water demand variants according to the scenario in study. Simulation of the four alternative scenarios indicated that the alteration of irrigation methods scenario mainly increases the efficiency of the irrigation network.

Storing and sharing water in sand rivers: a water balance modelling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Love, D.; van der Zaag, P.; Uhlenbrook, S.

2009-04-01

Sand rivers and sand dams offer an alternative to conventional surface water reservoirs for storage. The alluvial aquifers that make up the beds of sand rivers can store water with minimal evaporation (extinction depth is 0.9 m) and natural filtration. The alluvial aquifers of the Mzingwane Catchment are the most extensive of any tributaries in the Limpopo Basin. The lower Mzingwane aquifer, which is currently underutilised, is recharged by managed releases from Zhovhe Dam (capacity 133 Mm3). The volume of water released annually is only twice the size of evaporation losses from the dam; the latter representing nearly one third of the dam's storage capacity. The Lower Mzingwane valley currently support commercial agro-businesses (1,750 ha irrigation) and four smallholder irrigation schemes (400 ha with provision for a further 1,200 ha). In order to support planning for optimising water use and storage over evaporation and to provide for more equitable water allocation, the spreadsheet-based balance model WAFLEX was used. It is a simple and userfriendly model, ideal for use by institutions such as the water management authorities in Zimbabwe which are challenged by capacity shortfalls and inadequate data. In this study, WAFLEX, which is normally used for accounting the surface water balance, is adapted to incorporate alluvial aquifers into the water balance, including recharge, baseflow and groundwater flows. Results of the WAFLEX modelling suggest that there is surplus water in the lower Mzingwane system, and thus there should not be any water conflicts. Through more frequent timing of releases from the dam and maintaining the alluvial aquifers permanently saturated, less evaporation losses will occur in the system and the water resources can be better shared to provide more irrigation water for smallholder farmers in the highly resource-poor communal lands along the river. Sand dams are needed to augment the aquifer storage system and improve access to water. An alternative to the current scenario was modelled in WAFLEX: making fuller use of the alluvial aquifers upstream and downstream of Zhovhe Dam. These alluvial aquifers have an estimated average water storage capacity of 0.37 Mm3 km

Risky Business: Development, Communication and Use of Hydroclimatic Forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lall, U.

2012-12-01

Inter-seasonal and longer hydroclimatic forecasts have been made increasingly in the last two decades following the increase in ENSO activity since the early 1980s and the success in seasonal ENSO forecasting. Yet, the number of examples of systematic use of these forecasts and their incorporation into water systems operation continue to be few. This may be due in part to the limited skill in such forecasts over much of the world, but is also likely due to the limited evolution of methods and opportunities to "safely" use uncertain forecasts. There has been a trend to rely more on "physically based" rather than "physically informed" empirical forecasts, and this may in part explain the limited success in developing usable products in more locations. Given the limited skill, forecasters have tended to "dumb" down their forecasts - either formally or subjectively shrinking the forecasts towards climatology, or reducing them to tercile forecasts that serve to obscure the potential information in the forecast. Consequently, the potential utility of such forecasts for decision making is compromised. Water system operating rules are often designed to be robust in the face of historical climate variability, and consequently are adapted to the potential conditions that a forecast seeks to inform. In such situations, there is understandable reluctance by managers to use the forecasts as presented, except in special cases where an alternate course of action is pragmatically appealing in any case. In this talk, I review opportunities to present targeted forecasts for use with decision systems that directly address climate risk and the risk induced by unbiased yet uncertain forecasts, focusing especially on extreme events and water allocation in a competitive environment. Examples from Brazil and India covering surface and ground water conjunctive use strategies that could potentially be insured and lead to improvements over the traditional system operation and resource allocation are provided.

Forecasting of Seasonal Rainfall using ENSO and IOD teleconnection with Classification Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Silva, T.; Hornberger, G. M.

2017-12-01

Seasonal to annual forecasts of precipitation patterns are very important for water infrastructure management. In particular, such forecasts can be used to inform decisions about the operation of multipurpose reservoir systems in the face of changing climate conditions. Success in making useful forecasts often is achieved by considering climate teleconnections such as the El-Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) as related to sea surface temperature variations. We present an analysis to explore the utility of using rainfall relationships in Sri Lanka with ENSO and IOD to predict rainfall to the Mahaweli, river basin. Forecasting of rainfall as classes - above normal, normal, and below normal - can be useful for water resource management decision making. Quadratic discrimination analysis (QDA) and random forest models are used to identify the patterns of rainfall classes with respect to ENSO and IOD indices. These models can be used to forecast the likelihood of areal rainfall anomalies using predicted climate indices. Results can be used for decisions regarding allocation of water for agriculture and electricity generation within the Mahaweli project of Sri Lanka.

Landsat based historical (1984-2014) crop water use estimates and trends in the Southwestern United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senay, G. B.; Schauer, M.; Friedrichs, M.; Velpuri, N. M.; Singh, R. K.

2016-12-01

Remote sensing-based field scale evapotranspiration (ET) maps are useful for characterizing water use patterns and assessing crop performance. Historical (1984-2014) Landsat-based ET maps were generated for major irrigation districts in the southwestern US. A total of 3,396 Landsat images were processed using the Operational Simplified Surface Energy balance (SSEBop) model that integrates weather and remotely sensed images to estimate monthly and annual ET within the study areas over the 31 years. Model output evaluation and validation using point-based eddy covariance flux tower, gridded-flux data and water balance ET approaches indicated relatively strong association between SSEBop ET and validation datasets. Historical trend analysis of seven agro-hydrologic variables using the Seasonal Mann-Kendall test showed interesting results. In a pair wise comparison, management influenced variables such as actual evapotranspiration (ETa), land surface temperature (Ts) and runoff (Q) were found to be more variable than their corresponding climate counterparts of atmospheric water demand (ETo), air temperature (Ta) and precipitation, responding to the impacts of management decisions. Our results indicated that only air temperature showed a consistent increase (up to 1.2 K) across all 9 irrigation sub-basins during the 31 years. District-wide ETa estimates were used to compute historical crop water use volumes and monetary savings for the Palo Verde Irrigation district (PVID). During the peak crop fallowing program in PVID, the water savings reached a maximum of 85,000 ac-ft per year which is equivalent to a dollar amount of $ 600 million. This study has many applications in planning water resource allocation, monitoring and assessing water usage and performance, and quantifying impacts of climate and land use/land cover changes on water resources. With increased computational efficiency and model development, similar studies can be conducted in other parts of the world.

Influence of Immediate Dentin Sealing on the Shear Bond Strength of Pressed Ceramic Luted to Dentin with Self-Etch Resin Cement

PubMed Central

Dalby, Robert; Ellakwa, Ayman; Millar, Brian; Martin, F. Elizabeth

2012-01-01

Objectives. To examine the effect of immediate dentin sealing (IDS), with dentin bonding agents (DBAs) applied to freshly cut dentin, on the shear bond strength of etched pressed ceramic luted to dentin with RelyX Unicem (RXU) cement. Method. Eighty extracted noncarious third molars were ground flat to expose the occlusal dentin surfaces. The teeth were randomly allocated to five groups (A to E) of sixteen teeth each. Groups A to D were allocated a dentin bonding agent (Optibond FL, One Coat Bond, Single Bond, or Go!) that was applied to the dentin surface to mimic the clinical procedure of IDS. These specimen groups then had etched glass ceramic discs (Authentic) luted to the sealed dentin surface using RXU. Group E (control) had etched glass ceramic discs luted to the dentin surface (without a dentin bonding agent) using RXU following the manufacturer's instructions. All specimens were stored for one week in distilled water at room temperature and then shear stressed at a constant cross-head speed of 1 mm per minute until failure. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA followed by post hoc Tukey HSD method (P < 0.05) applied for multiple paired comparisons. Results. The shear bond strength results for group A to E ranged from 6.94 ± 1.53 to 10.03 ± 3.50 MPa. One-way ANOVA demonstrated a difference (P < 0.05) between the groups tested and the Tukey HSD demonstrated a significant (P < 0.05) difference between the shear bond strength (SBS) of Optibond FL (Group A) and Go! (Group D). There was no statistical difference (P > 0.05) in the SBS between the test groups (A–D) or the control (group E). Conclusion. IDS using the dentin bonding agents tested does not statistically (P > 0.05) affect the shear bond strength of etched pressed ceramic luted to dentin with RXU when compared to the control. PMID:22287963

The economic impact of more sustainable water use in agriculture: A computable general equilibrium analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calzadilla, Alvaro; Rehdanz, Katrin; Tol, Richard S. J.

2010-04-01

SummaryAgriculture is the largest consumer of freshwater resources - around 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals are used for food production. These agricultural products are traded internationally. A full understanding of water use is, therefore, impossible without understanding the international market for food and related products, such as textiles. Based on the global general equilibrium model GTAP-W, we offer a method for investigating the role of green (rain) and blue (irrigation) water resources in agriculture and within the context of international trade. We use future projections of allowable water withdrawals for surface water and groundwater to define two alternative water management scenarios. The first scenario explores a deterioration of current trends and policies in the water sector (water crisis scenario). The second scenario assumes an improvement in policies and trends in the water sector and eliminates groundwater overdraft world-wide, increasing water allocation for the environment (sustainable water use scenario). In both scenarios, welfare gains or losses are not only associated with changes in agricultural water consumption. Under the water crisis scenario, welfare not only rises for regions where water consumption increases (China, South East Asia and the USA). Welfare gains are considerable for Japan and South Korea, Southeast Asia and Western Europe as well. These regions benefit from higher levels of irrigated production and lower food prices. Alternatively, under the sustainable water use scenario, welfare losses not only affect regions where overdrafting is occurring. Welfare decreases in other regions as well. These results indicate that, for water use, there is a clear trade-off between economic welfare and environmental sustainability.

Research on Evaluation of resource allocation efficiency of transportation system based on DEA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhehui; Du, Linan

2017-06-01

In this paper, we select the time series data onto 1985-2015 years, construct the land (shoreline) resources, capital and labor as inputs. The index system of the output is freight volume and passenger volume, we use Quantitative analysis based on DEA method evaluated the resource allocation efficiency of railway, highway, water transport and civil aviation in China. Research shows that the resource allocation efficiency of various modes of transport has obvious difference, and the impact on scale efficiency is more significant. The most important two ways to optimize the allocation of resources to improve the efficiency of the combination of various modes of transport is promoting the co-ordination of various modes of transport and constructing integrated transportation system.

Work-family conflict and self-discrepant time allocation at work.

PubMed

Dahm, Patricia C; Glomb, Theresa M; Manchester, Colleen Flaherty; Leroy, Sophie

2015-05-01

We examine the relationships between work-to-family conflict, time allocation across work activities, and the outcomes of work satisfaction, well-being, and salary in the context of self-regulation and self-discrepancy theories. We posit work-to-family conflict is associated with self-discrepant time allocation such that employees with higher levels of work-to-family conflict are likely to allocate less time than preferred to work activities that require greater self-regulatory resources (e.g., tasks that are complex, or those with longer term goals that delay rewards and closure) and allocate more time than preferred to activities that demand fewer self-regulatory resources or are replenishing (e.g., those that provide closure or are prosocial). We suggest this self-discrepant time allocation (actual vs. preferred time allocation) is one mechanism by which work-to-family conflict leads to negative employee consequences (Allen, Herst, Bruck, & Sutton, 2000; Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2005). Using polynomial regression and response surface methodology, we find that discrepancies between actual and preferred time allocations to work activities negatively relate to work satisfaction, psychological well-being, and physical well-being. Self-discrepant time allocation mediates the relationship between work-to-family conflict and work satisfaction and well-being, while actual time allocation (rather than the discrepancy) mediates the relationship between work-to-family conflict and salary. We find that women are more likely than men to report self-discrepant time allocations as work-to-family conflict increases. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Using WEED to simulate the global wetland distribution in a ESM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stacke, Tobias; Hagemann, Stefan

2016-04-01

Lakes and wetlands are an important land surface feature. In terms of hydrology, they regulate river discharge, mitigate flood events and constitute a significant surface water storage. Considering physical processes, they link the surface water and energy balances by altering the separation of incoming energy into sensible and latent heat fluxes. Finally, they impact biogeochemical processes and may act as carbon sinks or sources. Most global hydrology and climate models regard wetland extent and properties as constant in time. However, to study interactions between wetlands and different states of climate, it is necessary to implement surface water bodies (thereafter referred to as wetlands) with dynamical behavior into these models. Besides an improved representation of geophysical feedbacks between wetlands, land surface and atmosphere, a dynamical wetland scheme could also provide estimates of soil wetness as input for biogeochemical models, which are used to compute methane production in wetlands. Recently, a model for the representation of wetland extent dynamics (WEED) was developed as part of the hydrology model (MPI-HM) of the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M). The WEED scheme computes wetland extent in agreement with the range of observations for the high northern latitudes. It simulates a realistic seasonal cycle which shows sensitivity to northern snow-melt as well as rainy seasons in the tropics. Furthermore, flood peaks in river discharge are mitigated. However, the WEED scheme overestimates wetland extent in the Tropics which might be related to the MPI-HM's simplified potential evapotranspiration computation. In order to overcome this limitation, the WEED scheme is implemented into the MPI-M's land surface model JSBACH. Thus, not only its effect on water fluxes can be investigated but also its impact on the energy cycle, which is not included in the MPI-HM. Furthermore, it will be possible to analyze the physical effects of wetlands in a coupled land-atmosphere simulation. First simulations with JSBACH-WEED show results similar to the MPI-HM simulations. As the next step, the scheme is modified to account for energy cycle relevant issues such as the dynamical alteration of surface albedo as well as the allocation of appropriate thermal properties to the wetlands. In our presentation, we will give an overview on the functionality of the WEED scheme and the effect of wetlands in coupled land-atmosphere simulations.

Chapel branch creek TMDL development: integrating TMDL development with implementation

Treesearch

T.M. Williams; D.M. Amatya; D.R. Hitchcock; N. Levine; E.N. Mihalik

2007-01-01

South Carolina assured the USEPA "The State intends to achieve waste load and load allocation reductions in 303(d) listed waters in order to achieve the water quality goals of the Clean Water Act. This includes waters impaired solely or primarily by NPS sources. For each such water, a TMDL will be established that includes specific recommendations for reducing...

Integration of hydrologic and water allocation models in basin-scale water resources management considering crop pattern and climate change: Karkheh River Basin in Iran

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The paradigm of integrated water resources management requires coupled analysis of hydrology and water resources in a river basin. Population growth and uncertainties due to climate change make historic data not a reliable source of information for future planning of water resources, hence necessit...

The role of U.S. states in facilitating effective water governance under stress and change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirchhoff, Christine J.; Dilling, Lisa

2016-04-01

Worldwide water governance failures undermine effective water management under uncertainty and change. Overcoming these failures requires employing more adaptive, resilient water management approaches; yet, while scholars have advance theory of what adaptive, resilient approaches should be, there is little empirical evidence to support those normative propositions. To fill this gap, we reviewed the literature to derive theorized characteristics of adaptive, resilient water governance including knowledge generation and use, participation, clear rules for water use, and incorporating nonstationarity. Then, using interviews and documentary analysis focused on five U.S. states' allocation and planning approaches, we examined empirically if embodying these characteristics made states more (or less) adaptive and resilient in practice. We found that adaptive, resilient water governance requires not just possessing these characteristics but combining and building on them. That is, adaptive, resilient water governance requires well-funded, transparent knowledge systems combined with broad, multilevel participatory processes that support learning, strong institutional arrangements that establish authorities and rules and that allow flexibility as conditions change, and resources for integrated planning and allocation. We also found that difficulty incorporating climate change or altering existing water governance paradigms and inadequate funding of water programs undermine adaptive, resilient governance.

Meeting Indigenous peoples' objectives in environmental flow assessments: Case studies from an Australian multi-jurisdictional water sharing initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, Sue; Pollino, Carmel; Maclean, Kirsten; Bark, Rosalind; Moggridge, Bradley

2015-03-01

The multi-dimensional relationships that Indigenous peoples have with water are only recently gaining recognition in water policy and management activities. Although Australian water policy stipulates that the native title interests of Indigenous peoples and their social, cultural and spiritual objectives be included in water plans, improved rates of Indigenous access to water have been slow to eventuate, particularly in those regions where the water resource is fully developed or allocated. Experimentation in techniques and approaches to both identify and determine Indigenous water requirements will be needed if environmental assessment processes and water sharing plans are to explicitly account for Indigenous water values. Drawing on two multidisciplinary case studies conducted in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin, we engage Indigenous communities to (i) understand their values and explore the application of methods to derive water requirements to meet those values; (ii) assess the impact of alternative water planning scenarios designed to address over-allocation to irrigation; and (iii) define additional volumes of water and potential works needed to meet identified Indigenous requirements. We provide a framework where Indigenous values can be identified and certain water needs quantified and advance a methodology to integrate Indigenous social, cultural and environmental objectives into environmental flow assessments.

Characterizing roots and water uptake in a ground cover rice production system.

PubMed

Li, Sen; Zuo, Qiang; Wang, Xiaoyu; Ma, Wenwen; Jin, Xinxin; Shi, Jianchu; Ben-Gal, Alon

2017-01-01

Water-saving ground cover rice production systems (GCRPS) are gaining popularity in many parts of the world. We aimed to describe the characteristics of root growth, morphology, distribution, and water uptake for a GCRPS. A traditional paddy rice production system (TPRPS) was compared with GCRPS in greenhouse and field experiments. In the greenhouse, GCRPS where root zone average soil water content was kept near saturation (GCRPSsat), field capacity (GCRPSfwc) and 80% field capacity (GCRPS80%), were evaluated. In a two-year field experiment, GCRPSsat and GCRPS80% were applied. Similar results were found in greenhouse and field experiments. Before mid-tillering the upper soil temperature was higher for GCRPS, leading to enhanced root dry weight, length, surface area, specific root length, and smaller diameter of roots but lower water uptake rate per root length compared to TPRPS. In subsequent growth stages, the reduced soil water content under GCRPS caused that the preponderance of root growth under GCRPSsat disappeared in comparison to TPRPS. Under other GCRPS treatments (GCRPSfwc and GCRPS80%), significant limitation on root growth, bigger root diameter and higher water uptake rate per root length were found. Discrepancies in soil water and temperature between TPRPS and GCRPS caused adjustments to root growth, morphology, distribution and function. Even though drought stress was inevitable after mid-tillering under GCRPS, especially GCRPS80%, similar or even enhanced root water uptake capacity in comparison to TPRPS might promote allocation of photosynthetic products to shoots and increase water productivity.

Analyzing climate change impacts on water resources under uncertainty using an integrated simulation-optimization approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhuang, X. W.; Li, Y. P.; Nie, S.; Fan, Y. R.; Huang, G. H.

2018-01-01

An integrated simulation-optimization (ISO) approach is developed for assessing climate change impacts on water resources. In the ISO, uncertainties presented as both interval numbers and probability distributions can be reflected. Moreover, ISO permits in-depth analyses of various policy scenarios that are associated with different levels of economic consequences when the promised water-allocation targets are violated. A snowmelt-precipitation-driven watershed (Kaidu watershed) in northwest China is selected as the study case for demonstrating the applicability of the proposed method. Results of meteorological projections disclose that the incremental trend of temperature (e.g., minimum and maximum values) and precipitation exist. Results also reveal that (i) the system uncertainties would significantly affect water resources allocation pattern (including target and shortage); (ii) water shortage would be enhanced from 2016 to 2070; and (iii) the more the inflow amount decreases, the higher estimated water shortage rates are. The ISO method is useful for evaluating climate change impacts within a watershed system with complicated uncertainties and helping identify appropriate water resources management strategies hedging against drought.

Evapotranspiration measurement and modeling in Mid-South irrigated rice

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Nearly 75% of US rice is grown in the humid mid-South. Rice requires more water to produce than other crops (corn, soybean, and cotton). The identification of rice evapotranspiration and irrigation demand is paramount to understand regional water use and water allocation. Drill-seeded, commercial si...

26 CFR 1.175-7 - Allocation of expenditures in certain circumstances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... the time the taxpayer paid or incurred expenditures for the purpose of soil or water conservation, or... that A's expenditures for the purpose of soil and water conservation can reasonably be expected to... soil and water conservation can reasonably be expected to directly and substantially benefit only the...

26 CFR 1.175-7 - Allocation of expenditures in certain circumstances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... the time the taxpayer paid or incurred expenditures for the purpose of soil or water conservation, or... that A's expenditures for the purpose of soil and water conservation can reasonably be expected to... soil and water conservation can reasonably be expected to directly and substantially benefit only the...

26 CFR 1.175-7 - Allocation of expenditures in certain circumstances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... the time the taxpayer paid or incurred expenditures for the purpose of soil or water conservation, or... that A's expenditures for the purpose of soil and water conservation can reasonably be expected to... soil and water conservation can reasonably be expected to directly and substantially benefit only the...

26 CFR 1.175-7 - Allocation of expenditures in certain circumstances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... the taxpayer paid or incurred expenditures for the purpose of soil or water conservation, or for the... that A's expenditures for the purpose of soil and water conservation can reasonably be expected to... soil and water conservation can reasonably be expected to directly and substantially benefit only the...

26 CFR 1.175-7 - Allocation of expenditures in certain circumstances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... the time the taxpayer paid or incurred expenditures for the purpose of soil or water conservation, or... that A's expenditures for the purpose of soil and water conservation can reasonably be expected to... soil and water conservation can reasonably be expected to directly and substantially benefit only the...

Modeling crop water productivity using a coupled SWAT-MODSIM model

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This study examines the water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize yields in Karkheh River Basin (KRB) in the semi-arid region of Iran using a coupled modeling approach consisting of the hydrological model (SWAT) and the river basin water allocation model (MODSIM). Dynamic irrigation requireme...

Hydropolitics in the Middle East and U.S. Policy

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-06-01

emphasis on more efficient supply, use, recycling and reuse, throughout the water cycle . There is growing recognition that simply increasing the...throughout the water cycle from dams to irrigation systems to water treatment and sewage plants. Funds also tend not to be allocated to maintenance in favor of

43 CFR 419.1 - What is the purpose of this part?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Truckee River Reservoirs to satisfy the exercise of water rights in conformance with the Orr Ditch Decree...) This part satisfies the requirement of Section 205(a)(5) of the Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water...: (1) Implements California's allocation of Truckee River basin water and the Nevada and California...

43 CFR 419.1 - What is the purpose of this part?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Truckee River Reservoirs to satisfy the exercise of water rights in conformance with the Orr Ditch Decree...) This part satisfies the requirement of Section 205(a)(5) of the Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water...: (1) Implements California's allocation of Truckee River basin water and the Nevada and California...

43 CFR 419.1 - What is the purpose of this part?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Truckee River Reservoirs to satisfy the exercise of water rights in conformance with the Orr Ditch Decree...) This part satisfies the requirement of Section 205(a)(5) of the Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water...: (1) Implements California's allocation of Truckee River basin water and the Nevada and California...

78 FR 46931 - Notice of Availability of the Final Feasibility Study/Environmental Impact Statement for the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-02

....3 million in 2050. The Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI), commissioned by the State... additional municipal and industrial water. There is also a strong need for additional water supplies for the... the cost allocated to such storage in accordance with the provisions of the Water Supply Act of 1958...

Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources

Treesearch

Brian G. Tavernia; Mark D. Nelson; Titus S. Seilheimer; Dale D. Gormanson; Charles H. (Hobie) Perry; Peter V. Caldwell; Ge. Sun

2016-01-01

Forest ecosystem productivity and functioning depend on soil and water resources. But the reverse is also true—forest and land-use management activities can significantly alter forest soils, water quality, and associated aquatic habitats (Ice and Stednick 2004, Reid 1993, Wigmosta and Burges 2001). Soil and water resources are protected through the allocation of land...

Improved framework model to allocate optimal rainwater harvesting sites in small watersheds for agro-forestry uses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terêncio, D. P. S.; Sanches Fernandes, L. F.; Cortes, R. M. V.; Pacheco, F. A. L.

2017-07-01

This study introduces an improved rainwater harvesting (RWH) suitability model to help the implementation of agro-forestry projects (irrigation, wildfire combat) in catchments. The model combines a planning workflow to define suitability of catchments based on physical, socio-economic and ecologic variables, with an allocation workflow to constrain suitable RWH sites as function of project specific features (e.g., distance from rainfall collection to application area). The planning workflow comprises a Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) implemented on a Geographic Information System (GIS), whereas the allocation workflow is based on a multiple-parameter ranking analysis. When compared to other similar models, improvement comes with the flexible weights of MCA and the entire allocation workflow. The method is tested in a contaminated watershed (the Ave River basin) located in Portugal. The pilot project encompasses the irrigation of a 400 ha crop land that consumes 2.69 Mm3 of water per year. The application of harvested water in the irrigation replaces the use of stream water with excessive anthropogenic nutrients that may raise nitrosamines in the food and accumulation in the food chain, with severe consequences to human health (cancer). The selected rainfall collection catchment is capable to harvest 12 Mm3·yr-1 (≈ 4.5 × the requirement) and is roughly 3 km far from the application area assuring crop irrigation by gravity flow with modest transport costs. The RWH system is an 8-meter high that can be built in earth with reduced costs.

A review of the ecohydrology of the Sakumo wetland in Ghana.

PubMed

Nonterah, Cynthia; Xu, Yongxin; Osae, Shiloh; Akiti, Thomas T; Dampare, Samuel B

2015-11-01

The Sakumo wetland is an internationally recognized Ramsar site located in a largely urban area and provides essential ecological and social services to wetland community dwellers. Despite its importance, the wetland has over the years been subjected to human interference resulting in considerable risks of deteriorating water quality, biodiversity loss, and drying up of most parts of the wetland. The conversion of land for residential and agricultural uses has significantly altered the hydrological characteristics of the land surface and modified pathways and flow of water into the wetland. Other drivers identified included drainage (mainly as runoff from agricultural farms), anthropogenic pressure (waste discharge) due to infrastructure development associated with urbanization, chemical contamination as a result of industrial and household pollution, and unsustainable fishing practices (overfishing). The purpose of the study was to review some of the physical and chemical properties of the Sakumo wetland on the changing wetland resources with emphasis on water quality. Rapid urbanization, industrialization, and overexploitation of wetland resources were identified as key causative factors affecting the wetland functions. Their effects on the wetland among others include increased nutrient and toxic chemical load which has resulted in reduced wetland surface water quality and decrease in species diversity. pH of the wetland waters was generally alkaline which is characteristic of water bodies influenced by seawater under oxygenated conditions. The increasing trends of electrical conductivity, phosphates, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite, though small, point to deteriorating water quality in the wetland. The lagoon water was observed to be heavily polluted with nutrients particularly phosphate. The sequence of nutrient in the wetland was found to be in the order of PO4-P>NH3-N>NO3-N>NO2-N. These, if not checked, will result in further deterioration of the wetland function. In order to protect the wetland structure and function, it is recommended that a determination for both surface water and groundwater (quality and quantity) components of the ecological reserve (aquatic ecosystem) as well as the basic human need should be undertaken. In addition, a complete hydrological study of the wetland must be done. This will enable a well-balanced water allocation scheme to all users while still ensuring long-term survival and sustainability of the wetland.

Helicopter Electromagnetic Surveys for Hydrological Framework Studies in Nebraska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, B. D.; Abraham, J. A.; Cannia, J. C.; Steele, G. V.; Peterson, S. M.

2008-12-01

Management and allocation of water resources in Nebraska is based in part on understanding the relation between surface-water and ground-water systems. To help understand these complex relations, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted airborne resistivity and magnetic (frequency domain helicopter electromagnetic, HEM) surveys in Eastern (2007) and Western (2008) Nebraska. These surveys were integrated with hydrologic studies (aquifer characteristics and modeling), and ground and borehole geophysical surveys to characterize and map the hydrogeologic framework in three-dimensions. The three study areas selected in Eastern Nebraska (Ashland, Firth, and Oakland) have glacial terrains and bedrock that typify different hydrogeologic settings for surface and ground water. The Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment is a joint State of Nebraska and USGS study including the Conservation and Survey Division (University of Nebraska) and the following Natural Resources Districts (NRD): Lower Platte South, Lower Platte North, Lower Elkhorn, Lewis and Clark, Nemaha, and Papio-Missouri River. Approximately 600 line km were flown with HEM in each of the three glacial terrains with a line spacing of approximately 270 m and samples every three meters. One dimensional imaging was done along the flight lines for the HEM in each area. Models were compared to ground resistivity and time domain electromagnetic soundings and to borehole lithologic and geophysical logs. The map of the subsurface hydrogeologic properties inferred from the HEM modeling significantly improves the resolution of hydrologic models and understanding of ground-water resources. Surveys in western Nebraska panhandle, were done along the North Platte River and Lodgepole Creek Valleys. The geology consists of Quaternary alluvium, and interbeded Tertiary sandstones and siltstones above Cretaceous shale. The Quaternary alluvium comprises the primary aquifer in the North Platte River Valley, whereas thin alluvial sediments and Tertiary sandstone channels comprise the primary aquifers in Lodgepole Creek Valley. Locally, Tertiary Siltstone and Cretaceous shale is weathered and incised. A prominent factor in the hydrologic setting of the North Platte River Valley is recharge through un-lined irrigation canals. Surveys in western Nebraska were funded by the North Platte and South Platte NRDs. These NRDS have employed the best in science-based integrated water resources management. The ground-water flow modeling study in western Nebraska will use the HEM data as part of model datasets, to create a tool used to evaluate implications of water management options over most of the surface-water irrigated area.

Where does the carbon go? A model–data intercomparison of vegetation carbon allocation and turnover processes at two temperate forest free-air CO2 enrichment sites

PubMed Central

De Kauwe, Martin G; Medlyn, Belinda E; Zaehle, Sönke; Walker, Anthony P; Dietze, Michael C; Wang, Ying-Ping; Luo, Yiqi; Jain, Atul K; El-Masri, Bassil; Hickler, Thomas; Wårlind, David; Weng, Ensheng; Parton, William J; Thornton, Peter E; Wang, Shusen; Prentice, I Colin; Asao, Shinichi; Smith, Benjamin; McCarthy, Heather R; Iversen, Colleen M; Hanson, Paul J; Warren, Jeffrey M; Oren, Ram; Norby, Richard J

2014-01-01

Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2) has the potential to increase vegetation carbon storage if increased net primary production causes increased long-lived biomass. Model predictions of eCO2 effects on vegetation carbon storage depend on how allocation and turnover processes are represented. We used data from two temperate forest free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments to evaluate representations of allocation and turnover in 11 ecosystem models. Observed eCO2 effects on allocation were dynamic. Allocation schemes based on functional relationships among biomass fractions that vary with resource availability were best able to capture the general features of the observations. Allocation schemes based on constant fractions or resource limitations performed less well, with some models having unintended outcomes. Few models represent turnover processes mechanistically and there was wide variation in predictions of tissue lifespan. Consequently, models did not perform well at predicting eCO2 effects on vegetation carbon storage. Our recommendations to reduce uncertainty include: use of allocation schemes constrained by biomass fractions; careful testing of allocation schemes; and synthesis of allocation and turnover data in terms of model parameters. Data from intensively studied ecosystem manipulation experiments are invaluable for constraining models and we recommend that such experiments should attempt to fully quantify carbon, water and nutrient budgets. PMID:24844873

Estimating the economic opportunity cost of water use with river basin simulators in a computationally efficient way

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rougé, Charles; Harou, Julien J.; Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel; Matrosov, Evgenii S.

2017-04-01

The marginal opportunity cost of water refers to benefits forgone by not allocating an additional unit of water to its most economically productive use at a specific location in a river basin at a specific moment in time. Estimating the opportunity cost of water is an important contribution to water management as it can be used for better water allocation or better system operation, and can suggest where future water infrastructure could be most beneficial. Opportunity costs can be estimated using 'shadow values' provided by hydro-economic optimization models. Yet, such models' use of optimization means the models had difficulty accurately representing the impact of operating rules and regulatory and institutional mechanisms on actual water allocation. In this work we use more widely available river basin simulation models to estimate opportunity costs. This has been done before by adding in the model a small quantity of water at the place and time where the opportunity cost should be computed, then running a simulation and comparing the difference in system benefits. The added system benefits per unit of water added to the system then provide an approximation of the opportunity cost. This approximation can then be used to design efficient pricing policies that provide incentives for users to reduce their water consumption. Yet, this method requires one simulation run per node and per time step, which is demanding computationally for large-scale systems and short time steps (e.g., a day or a week). Besides, opportunity cost estimates are supposed to reflect the most productive use of an additional unit of water, yet the simulation rules do not necessarily use water that way. In this work, we propose an alternative approach, which computes the opportunity cost through a double backward induction, first recursively from outlet to headwaters within the river network at each time step, then recursively backwards in time. Both backward inductions only require linear operations, and the resulting algorithm tracks the maximal benefit that can be obtained by having an additional unit of water at any node in the network and at any date in time. Results 1) can be obtained from the results of a rule-based simulation using a single post-processing run, and 2) are exactly the (gross) benefit forgone by not allocating an additional unit of water to its most productive use. The proposed method is applied to London's water resource system to track the value of storage in the city's water supply reservoirs on the Thames River throughout a weekly 85-year simulation. Results, obtained in 0.4 seconds on a single processor, reflect the environmental cost of water shortage. This fast computation allows visualizing the seasonal variations of the opportunity cost depending on reservoir levels, demonstrating the potential of this approach for exploring water values and its variations using simulation models with multiple runs (e.g. of stochastically generated plausible future river inflows).

How to allocate water resources under climate change in the arid endorheic river basin, Northwest China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, A.; Feng, D.; Tian, Y.; Zheng, Y.

2017-12-01

Water resource is of fundamental importance to the society and ecosystem in arid endorheic river basins, and water-use conflicts between upstream and downstream are usually significant. Heihe river basin (HRB) is the second largest endorheic river basin in china, which is featured with dry climate, intensively irrigated farmlands in oases and significant surface water-groundwater interaction. The irrigation districts in the middle HRB consume a large portion of the river flow, and the low HRB, mainly Gobi Desert, has an extremely vulnerable ecological environment. The water resources management has significantly altered the hydrological processes in HRB, and is now facing multiple challenges, including decline of groundwater table in the middle HRB, insufficient environmental flow for the lower HRB. Furthermore, future climate change adds substantial uncertainty to the water system. Thus, it is imperative to have a sustainable water resources management in HRB in order to tackle the existing challenges and future uncertainty. Climate projection form a dynamical downscaled climate change scenario shows precipitation will increase at a rate of approximately 3 millimeter per ten years and temperature will increase at a rate of approximately 0.2 centigrade degree per ten years in the following 50 years in the HRB. Based on an integrated ecohydrological model, we evaluated how the climate change and agricultural development would collaboratively impact the water resources and ecological health in the middle and lower HRB, and investigated how the water management should cope with the complex impact.

Modelling the effect of environmental factors on resource allocation in mixed plants systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gayler, Sebastian; Priesack, Eckart

2010-05-01

In most cases, growth of plants is determined by competition against neighbours for the local resources light, water and nutrients and by defending against herbivores and pathogens. Consequently, it is important for a plant to grow fast without neglecting defence. However, plant internal substrates and energy required to support maintenance, growth and defence are limited and the total demand for these processes cannot be met in most cases. Therefore, allocation of carbohydrates to growth related primary metabolism or to defence related secondary metabolism can be seen as a trade-off between the demand of plants for being competitive against neighbours and for being more resistant against pathogens. A modelling approach is presented which can be used to simulate competition for light, water and nutrients between plant individuals in mixed canopies. The balance of resource allocation between growth processes and synthesis of secondary compounds is modelled by a concept originating from different plant defence hypothesis. The model is used to analyse the impact of environmental factors such as soil water and nitrogen availability, planting density and atmospheric concentration of CO2 on growth of plant individuals within mixed canopies and variations in concentration of carbon-based secondary metabolites in plant tissues.

Generalized DSS shell for developing simulation and optimization hydro-economic models of complex water resources systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel; Lopez-Nicolas, Antonio; Harou, Julien J.; Andreu, Joaquin

2013-04-01

Hydrologic-economic models allow integrated analysis of water supply, demand and infrastructure management at the river basin scale. These models simultaneously analyze engineering, hydrology and economic aspects of water resources management. Two new tools have been designed to develop models within this approach: a simulation tool (SIM_GAMS), for models in which water is allocated each month based on supply priorities to competing uses and system operating rules, and an optimization tool (OPT_GAMS), in which water resources are allocated optimally following economic criteria. The characterization of the water resource network system requires a connectivity matrix representing the topology of the elements, generated using HydroPlatform. HydroPlatform, an open-source software platform for network (node-link) models, allows to store, display and export all information needed to characterize the system. Two generic non-linear models have been programmed in GAMS to use the inputs from HydroPlatform in simulation and optimization models. The simulation model allocates water resources on a monthly basis, according to different targets (demands, storage, environmental flows, hydropower production, etc.), priorities and other system operating rules (such as reservoir operating rules). The optimization model's objective function is designed so that the system meets operational targets (ranked according to priorities) each month while following system operating rules. This function is analogous to the one used in the simulation module of the DSS AQUATOOL. Each element of the system has its own contribution to the objective function through unit cost coefficients that preserve the relative priority rank and the system operating rules. The model incorporates groundwater and stream-aquifer interaction (allowing conjunctive use simulation) with a wide range of modeling options, from lumped and analytical approaches to parameter-distributed models (eigenvalue approach). Such functionality is not typically included in other water DSS. Based on the resulting water resources allocation, the model calculates operating and water scarcity costs caused by supply deficits based on economic demand functions for each demand node. The optimization model allocates the available resource over time based on economic criteria (net benefits from demand curves and cost functions), minimizing the total water scarcity and operating cost of water use. This approach provides solutions that optimize the economic efficiency (as total net benefit) in water resources management over the optimization period. Both models must be used together in water resource planning and management. The optimization model provides an initial insight on economically efficient solutions, from which different operating rules can be further developed and tested using the simulation model. The hydro-economic simulation model allows assessing economic impacts of alternative policies or operating criteria, avoiding the perfect foresight issues associated with the optimization. The tools have been applied to the Jucar river basin (Spain) in order to assess the economic results corresponding to the current modus operandi of the system and compare them with the solution from the optimization that maximizes economic efficiency. Acknowledgments: The study has been partially supported by the European Community 7th Framework Project (GENESIS project, n. 226536) and the Plan Nacional I+D+I 2008-2011 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CGL2009-13238-C02-01 and CGL2009-13238-C02-02).

Improved regional water management utilizing climate forecasts: An interbasin transfer model with a risk management framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Weihua; Sankarasubramanian, A.; Ranjithan, R. S.; Brill, E. D.

2014-08-01

Regional water supply systems undergo surplus and deficit conditions due to differences in inflow characteristics as well as due to their seasonal demand patterns. This study proposes a framework for regional water management by proposing an interbasin transfer (IBT) model that uses climate-information-based inflow forecast for minimizing the deviations from the end-of-season target storage across the participating pools. Using the ensemble streamflow forecast, the IBT water allocation model was applied for two reservoir systems in the North Carolina Triangle Area. Results show that interbasin transfers initiated by the ensemble streamflow forecast could potentially improve the overall water supply reliability as the demand continues to grow in the Triangle Area. To further understand the utility of climate forecasts in facilitating IBT under different spatial correlation structures between inflows and between the initial storages of the two systems, a synthetic experiment was designed to evaluate the framework under inflow forecast having different skills. Findings from the synthetic study can be summarized as follows: (a) inflow forecasts combined with the proposed IBT optimization model provide improved allocation in comparison to the allocations obtained under the no-transfer scenario as well as under transfers obtained with climatology; (b) spatial correlations between inflows and between initial storages among participating reservoirs could also influence the potential benefits that could be achieved through IBT; (c) IBT is particularly beneficial for systems that experience low correlations between inflows or between initial storages or on both attributes of the regional water supply system. Thus, if both infrastructure and permitting structures exist for promoting interbasin transfers, season-ahead inflow forecasts could provide added benefits in forecasting surplus/deficit conditions among the participating pools in the regional water supply system.

Improved Regional Water Management Utilizing Climate Forecasts: An Inter-basin Transfer Model with a Risk Management Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, W.; Arumugam, S.; Ranjithan, R. S.; Brill, E. D., Jr.

2014-12-01

Regional water supply systems undergo surplus and deficit conditions due to differences in inflow characteristics as well as due to their seasonal demand patterns. This study presents a framework for regional water management by proposing an Inter-Basin Transfer (IBT) model that uses climate-information-based inflow forecast for minimizing the deviations from the end- of-season target storage across the participating reservoirs. Using the ensemble streamflow forecast, the IBT water allocation model was applied for two reservoir systems in the North Carolina Triangle area. Results show that inter-basin transfers initiated by the ensemble streamflow forecast could potentially improve the overall water supply reliability as the demand continues to grow in the Triangle Area. To further understand the utility of climate forecasts in facilitating IBT under different spatial correlation structures between inflows and between the initial storages of the two systems, a synthetic experiment was designed to evaluate the framework under inflow forecast having different skills. Findings from the synthetic study can be summarized as follows: (a) Inflow forecasts combined with the proposed IBT optimization model provide improved allocation in comparison to the allocations obtained under the no- transfer scenario as well as under transfers obtained with climatology; (b) Spatial correlations between inflows and between initial storages among participating reservoirs could also influence the potential benefits that could be achieved through IBT; (c) IBT is particularly beneficial for systems that experience low correlations between inflows or between initial storages or on both attributes of the regional water supply system. Thus, if both infrastructure and permitting structures exist for promoting inter-basin transfers, season-ahead inflow forecasts could provide added benefits in forecasting surplus/deficit conditions among the participating reservoirs in the regional water supply system.

A pollutant load hierarchical allocation method integrated in an environmental capacity management system for Zhushan Bay, Taihu Lake.

PubMed

Liang, Shidong; Jia, Haifeng; Yang, Cong; Melching, Charles; Yuan, Yongping

2015-11-15

An environmental capacity management (ECM) system was developed to help practically implement a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for a key bay in a highly eutrophic lake in China. The ECM system consists of a simulation platform for pollutant load calculation and a pollutant load hierarchical allocation (PLHA) system. The simulation platform was developed by linking the Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) and Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP). In the PLHA, pollutant loads were allocated top-down in several levels based on characteristics of the pollutant sources. Different allocation methods could be used for the different levels with the advantages of each method combined over the entire allocation. Zhushan Bay of Taihu Lake, one of the most eutrophic lakes in China, was selected as a case study. The allowable loads of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, ammonia, and chemical oxygen demand were found to be 2122.2, 94.9, 1230.4, and 5260.0 t·yr(-1), respectively. The PLHA for the case study consists of 5 levels. At level 0, loads are allocated to those from the lakeshore direct drainage, atmospheric deposition, internal release, and tributary inflows. At level 1 the loads allocated to tributary inflows are allocated to the 3 tributaries. At level 2, the loads allocated to one inflow tributary are allocated to upstream areas and local sources along the tributary. At level 3, the loads allocated to local sources are allocated to the point and non-point sources from different towns. At level 4, the loads allocated to non-point sources in each town are allocated to different villages. Compared with traditional forms of pollutant load allocation methods, PLHA can combine the advantages of different methods which put different priority weights on equity and efficiency, and the PLHA is easy to understand for stakeholders and more flexible to adjust when applied in practical cases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Model-experiment synthesis at two FACE sites in the southeastern US. Forest ecosystem responses to elevated CO[2]. (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, A. P.; Zaehle, S.; De Kauwe, M. G.; Medlyn, B. E.; Dietze, M.; Hickler, T.; Iversen, C. M.; Jain, A. K.; Luo, Y.; McCarthy, H. R.; Parton, W. J.; Prentice, C.; Thornton, P. E.; Wang, S.; Wang, Y.; Warlind, D.; Warren, J.; Weng, E.; Hanson, P. J.; Oren, R.; Norby, R. J.

2013-12-01

Ecosystem observations from two long-term Free-Air CO[2] Enrichment (FACE) experiments (Duke forest and Oak Ridge forest) were used to evaluate the assumptions of 11 terrestrial ecosystem models and the consequences of those assumptions for the responses of ecosystem water, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) fluxes to elevated CO[2] (eCO[2]). Nitrogen dynamics were the main constraint on simulated productivity responses to eCO[2]. At Oak Ridge some models reproduced the declining response of C and N fluxes, while at Duke none of the models were able to maintain the observed sustained responses. C and N cycles are coupled through a number of complex interactions, which causes uncertainty in model simulations in multiple ways. Nonetheless, the major difference between models and experiments was a larger than observed increase in N-use efficiency and lower than observed response of N uptake. The results indicate that at Duke there were mechanisms by which trees accessed additional N in response to eCO[2] that were not represented in the ecosystem models, and which did not operate with the same efficiency at Oak Ridge. Sequestration of the additional productivity under eCO[2] into forest biomass depended largely on C allocation. Allocation assumptions were classified into three main categories--fixed partitioning coefficients, functional relationships and a partial (leaf allocation only) optimisation. The assumption which best constrained model results was a functional relationship between leaf area and sapwood area (pipe-model) and increased root allocation when nitrogen or water were limiting. Both, productivity and allocation responses to eCO[2] determined the ecosystem-level response of LAI, which together with the response of stomatal conductance (and hence water-use efficiency; WUE) determined the ecosystem response of transpiration. Differences in the WUE response across models were related to the representation of the relationship of stomatal conductance to CO[2] and the relative importance of the combined boundary and aerodynamic resistances in the total resistance to leaf-atmosphere water transport.

A hybrid system dynamics and optimization approach for supporting sustainable water resources planning in Zhengzhou City, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zhi; Li, Chunhui; Wang, Xuan; Peng, Cong; Cai, Yanpeng; Huang, Weichen

2018-01-01

Problems with water resources restrict the sustainable development of a city with water shortages. Based on system dynamics (SD) theory, a model of sustainable utilization of water resources using the STELLA software has been established. This model consists of four subsystems: population system, economic system, water supply system and water demand system. The boundaries of the four subsystems are vague, but they are closely related and interdependent. The model is applied to Zhengzhou City, China, which has a serious water shortage. The difference between the water supply and demand is very prominent in Zhengzhou City. The model was verified with data from 2009 to 2013. The results show that water demand of Zhengzhou City will reach 2.57 billion m3 in 2020. A water resources optimization model is developed based on interval-parameter two-stage stochastic programming. The objective of the model is to allocate water resources to each water sector and make the lowest cost under the minimum water demand. Using the simulation results, decision makers can easily weigh the costs of the system, the water allocation objectives, and the system risk. The hybrid system dynamics method and optimization model is a rational try to support water resources management in many cities, particularly for cities with potential water shortage and it is solidly supported with previous studies and collected data.

Estimates of sustainable agricultural water use in northern China based on the equilibrium of groundwater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yali, Y.; Yu, C.

2015-12-01

The northern plain is the important food production region in China. However, due to the lack of surface water resources, it needs overmuch exploitation of groundwater to maintain water use in agriculture, which leads to serious environmental problems. Based on the assumption that the reserves of groundwater matches the statistics and keeps on stable, the author explores the reasonable agricultural water and its spatial distribution based on the principle of sustainable utilization of water resources. According to the priorities of water resources allocation (domestic water and ecological water＞industrial water＞agricultural water), it is proposed to reduce agricultural water use to balance the groundwater reserves on condition that the total water supply is constant. Method: Firstly, we calculate annual average of northern groundwater reserves changes from 2004 to 2010, which is regarded as the reduction of agricultural water; Then, we estimate the food production changes using variables of typical crop water requirements and unit yields assuming that the efficiency of water use keeps the same during the entire study period; Finally, we evaluate the usage of sustainable agricultural water. The results reveal that there is a significant reduction of groundwater reserves in Haihe river basin and Xinjiang oasis regions; And the annual loss of the corn and wheat production is about 1.86 billion kg and 700 million kg respectively due to the reduction of agricultural water; What's more, in order to ensure China's food security and sustainable agricultural water use, in addition to great efforts to develop water-saving agriculture, an important adjustment in the distribution of food production is in need. This study provided a basis to the availability of agricultural water and a new perspective was put forth for an estimation of agricultural water.

Water reuse in river basins with multiple users: A literature review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simons, G. W. H. (Gijs); Bastiaanssen, W. G. M. (Wim); Immerzeel, W. W. (Walter)

2015-03-01

Unraveling the interaction between water users in a river basin is essential for sound water resources management, particularly in a context of increasing water scarcity and the need to save water. While most attention from managers and decision makers goes to allocation and withdrawals of surface water resources, reuse of non-consumed water gets only marginal attention despite the potentially significant volumes. As a consequence, claims of water saving are often grossly exaggerated. It is the purpose of this paper to explore the processes associated with water reuse in a river basin among users of varying nature and review existing methods for directly or indirectly describing non-consumed water, recoverable flow and/or water reuse. First a conceptual representation of processes surrounding water withdrawals and associated definitions is discussed, followed by a section on connectivity between individual withdrawals and the complex dynamics arising from dependencies and tradeoffs within a river basin. The current state-of-the-art in categorizing basin hydrological flows is summarized and its applicability to a water system where reuse occurs is explored. The core of the paper focuses on a selection and demonstration of existing indicators developed for assessing water reuse and its impacts. It is concluded that although several methods for analyses of water reuse and recoverable flows have been developed, a number of essential aspects of water reuse are left out of existing indicators. Moreover, a proven methodology for obtaining crucial quantitative information on recoverable flows is currently lacking. Future studies should aim at spatiotemporal tracking of the recoverable portion of water withdrawals and showing the dependency of multiple water users on such flows to water policy makers.

Sources of water to wells in updip areas of the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer, Gloucester and Camden Counties, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Watt, Martha K.; Voronin, Lois M.

2006-01-01

Since 1996, when the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) restricted ground-water withdrawals from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system in the southern New Jersey Coastal Plain as a result of excessive drawdown, Coastal Plain communities have been interested in developing alternate sources of water supply for their residents. The use of ground water from areas near the updip parts of the overlying confined aquifers where withdrawals are not restricted is being considered to meet the demand for drinking water. Concerns have arisen, however, regarding the potential effects of increased withdrawals from these areas on ground-water flow to streams and wetlands as well as to the deeper, confined parts of the aquifers. Therefore, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the NJDEP, conducted a study to investigate the sources of water to currently inactive wells in the updip part of the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer in Gloucester and Camden Counties, New Jersey. Of particular interest is whether the primary source of the increased withdrawals is likely to be the aquifer outcrop or the downdip, confined part of the aquifer. The outcrop of the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer covers nearly 8 mi2 (square miles), or about 46 percent of Deptford Township's 17.56-mi2 area. The Deptford Township Municipal Utilities Authority owns six currently (2005) inactive wells in the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer at the southeastern boundary of Deptford Township, 1.25 mi (miles) from the outcrop. For the purposes of this study, an existing ground-water-flow model of the New Jersey Coastal Plain aquifers was used to simulate ground-water-flow conditions in Gloucester and Camden Counties in 1998. Two alternative withdrawal scenarios were superimposed on the results of the 1998 simulation. In the first (the 'full-allocation' scenario), full-allocation withdrawal rates established by the NJDEP were applied to 45 existing wells in the Deptford Township area. In the second (the 'additional-withdrawal' scenario), the full-allocation scenario was modified by adding an additional withdrawal of 1.62 million gallons per day from the six inactive Deptford Township withdrawal wells. Simulated drawdown for the full-allocation scenario is zero to near zero in Deptford Township. Changes are greatest downdip from Deptford Township, where a broad area of 5- to 10-ft (feet) drawdowns is simulated; maximum drawdown at the center of the cone of depression is 20 ft. Water levels declined as much as 10 ft around individual wells whose current withdrawals are only a small percentage of their allotted allocation. Simulated drawdown for the additional-withdrawal scenario exceeds 40 ft and is centered around the six inactive Deptford Township withdrawal wells. The area in which the simulated drawdown is 5 ft extends approximately 3.75 mi downdip from the wells and 2 mi updip, into the outcrop. Water budgets based on the simulation results for the full-allocation and additional-withdrawal scenarios were calculated and compared, with particular focus on a 75-mi2 area in and around Deptford Township that includes the outcrop of the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer and part of the area downdip from the outcrop (budget zone 2). The comparison of the two water budgets for zone 2 shows that 46 percent of the withdrawals from the six inactive Deptford Township wells would result from reduced stream base flow in the outcrop of the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer and 35 percent would result from increased downward flow from the overlying Vincentown aquifer. Four percent would result from increased flow from the downdip areas of the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer, 5 percent would result from decreased flow to the downdip areas of the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer, and 5 percent would result from decreased flow to the underlying Englishtown aquifer system. The remaining 4 percent was attributed to decreased upward flow to the overlying Vincentown aquifer.

[Responses of rice growth and development to elevated near-surface layer ozone (O3) concentration: a review].

PubMed

Yang, Lian-xin; Wang, Yu-long; Shi, Guang-yao; Wang, Yun-xia; Zhu, Jian-guo

2008-04-01

Ozone (O3) is recognized as one of the most important air pollutants. At present, the worldwide average tropospheric O3 concentration has been increased from an estimated pre-industrial level of 38 nl L(-1) (25-45 nl L(-1), 8-h summer seasonal average) to approximately 50 nl L(-1) in 2000, and to 80 nl L(-1) by 2100 based on most pessimistic projections. Oryza sativa L. (rice) is the most important grain crop in the world, and thus, to correctly evaluate how the elevated near-surface layer O3 concentration will affect the growth and development of rice is of great significance. This paper reviewed the chamber (including closed and open top chamber)-based studies about the effects of atmospheric ozone enrichment on the rice visible injury symptoms, photosynthesis, water relationship, phenology, dry matter production and allocation, leaf membrane protective system, and grain yield and its components. Further research directions in this field were discussed.

77 FR 42486 - Intent To Prepare an Integrated Water Supply Storage Reallocation Report; Environmental Impact...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-19

... Water Supply Storage Reallocation Report; Environmental Impact Statement for Missouri River Municipal... Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended and the 1958 Water Supply Act, as amended, the U.S. Army Corps of... purpose of the study is to determine if changes to the current allocation of storage for M&I water supply...

Geography in the Social Studies: High School Simulation on Water Supply

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, James M.

2009-01-01

This is a ready-to-use simulation that has high school students portraying all of the key players that decide how water from the Colorado River will be allocated. Students act as judges, lobbyists, news analysts, and even protesters during a mock water conference. Water supply is promised beyond nature's delivery, so the problem is real and will…

Assessment of housing density, space allocation and social hierarchy of laboratory rats on behavioural measures of welfare.

PubMed

Barker, Timothy Hugh; George, Rebecca Peta; Howarth, Gordon Stanley; Whittaker, Alexandra Louise

2017-01-01

Minimum space allowances for laboratory rats are legislated based on weight and stocking rates, with the understanding that increased housing density encourages crowding stress. However, there is little evidence for these recommendations, especially when considering positive welfare outcomes. This study consisted of two experiments which investigated the effects of housing density (rats per cage), space allocation (surface area per rat) and social rank (dominance hierarchy) on the ability to perform simple behavioural tests. Male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats (n = 64) were allocated to either high-density (n = 8) or low-density (n = 8) cages. The second experiment investigated the effects of surface area. SD rats (n = 40) were housed in dyads in either the large (n = 10) or small (n = 10) cage. In both experiments, animals were tested on a judgment bias paradigm, with their responses to an ambiguous stimulus being ascribed as optimistic or pessimistic. Animals were also tested on open-field, novel-object recognition and social-interaction tests. Recordings were taken from 1700-2100h daily for rat observation and social rank establishment. Dominant animals responded with significantly more optimistic decisions compared to subordinates for both the housing density (p<0.001) and space allocation (p = 0.0015) experiment. Dominant animals responded with increased social affiliative behaviours in the social-interaction test, and spent more time in the centre of the open-field test for both experiments. No significance was detected between housing density or space allocation treatments. These findings suggest that social rank is a significantly greater modifier of affective state than either housing density or space allocation. This finding has not yet been reported and suggests that future drafts of housing guidelines should consider animal social status in addition to floor space requirements.

Assessment of housing density, space allocation and social hierarchy of laboratory rats on behavioural measures of welfare

PubMed Central

George, Rebecca Peta; Howarth, Gordon Stanley; Whittaker, Alexandra Louise

2017-01-01

Minimum space allowances for laboratory rats are legislated based on weight and stocking rates, with the understanding that increased housing density encourages crowding stress. However, there is little evidence for these recommendations, especially when considering positive welfare outcomes. This study consisted of two experiments which investigated the effects of housing density (rats per cage), space allocation (surface area per rat) and social rank (dominance hierarchy) on the ability to perform simple behavioural tests. Male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats (n = 64) were allocated to either high-density (n = 8) or low-density (n = 8) cages. The second experiment investigated the effects of surface area. SD rats (n = 40) were housed in dyads in either the large (n = 10) or small (n = 10) cage. In both experiments, animals were tested on a judgment bias paradigm, with their responses to an ambiguous stimulus being ascribed as optimistic or pessimistic. Animals were also tested on open-field, novel-object recognition and social-interaction tests. Recordings were taken from 1700-2100h daily for rat observation and social rank establishment. Dominant animals responded with significantly more optimistic decisions compared to subordinates for both the housing density (p<0.001) and space allocation (p = 0.0015) experiment. Dominant animals responded with increased social affiliative behaviours in the social-interaction test, and spent more time in the centre of the open-field test for both experiments. No significance was detected between housing density or space allocation treatments. These findings suggest that social rank is a significantly greater modifier of affective state than either housing density or space allocation. This finding has not yet been reported and suggests that future drafts of housing guidelines should consider animal social status in addition to floor space requirements. PMID:28926644

Trends and causes of historical wetland loss in coastal Louisiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bernier, Julie

2013-01-01

Wetland losses in the northern Gulf Coast region of the United States are so extensive that they represent critical concerns to government environmental agencies and natural resource managers. In Louisiana, almost 3,000 square kilometers (km2) of low-lying wetlands converted to open water between 1956 and 2004, and billions of dollars in State and Federal funding have been allocated for coastal restoration projects intended to compensate for some of those wetland losses. Recent research at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) focused on understanding the physical processes and human activities that contributed to historical wetland loss in coastal Louisiana and the spatial and temporal trends of that loss. The physical processes (land-surface subsidence and sediment erosion) responsible for historical wetland loss were quantified by comparing marsh-surface elevations, water depths, and vertical displacements of stratigraphic contacts at 10 study areas in the Mississippi River delta plain and 6 sites at Sabine National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) in the western chenier plain. The timing and extent of land loss at the study areas was determined by comparing historical maps, aerial photographs, and satellite imagery; the temporal and spatial trends of those losses were compared with historical subsidence rates and hydrocarbon production trends.

The Human Right to Water--Market Allocations and Subsistence in a World of Scarcity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAdam, Kevin C.

2005-01-01

More than one billion people do not have access to an adequate water supply. In Gambia and Haiti, people live on less than 4 liters of water per day. By contrast, most toilets in the West use several times that amount of water for a single flush. The global distribution of water is making it increasingly difficult for poor people to access it, and…

The role of price and enforcement in water allocation: insights from Game Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Souza Filho, F.; Lall, U.; Porto, R.

2007-12-01

As many countries are moving towards water sector reforms, practical issues of how water management institutions can better effect allocation, regulation and enforcement of water rights have emerged. The uncertainty associated with water that is available at a particular diversion point becomes a parameter that is likely to influence the behavior of water users as to their application for water licenses, as well as their willingness to pay for licensed use. The ability of a water agency to reduce this uncertainty through effective water rights enforcement is related to the fiscal ability of the agency to sustain the enforcement effort. In this paper, this interplay across the users and the agency is explored, considering the hydraulic structure or sequence of water use, and parameters that define the users and the agency's economics. The potential for free rider behavior by the users, as well as their proposals for licensed use are derived conditional on this setting. The analyses presented are developed in the framework of the theory of "Law and Economics", with user interactions modeled as a game theoretic enterprise. The state of Ceara, Brazil is used loosely as an example setting, with parameter values for the experiments indexed to be approximately those relevant for current decisions. The potential for using the ideas in participatory decision making is discussed.

Hydrological Cycle in the Heihe River Basin and Its Implication for Water Resource Management in Endorheic Basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xin; Cheng, Guodong; Ge, Yingchun; Li, Hongyi; Han, Feng; Hu, Xiaoli; Tian, Wei; Tian, Yong; Pan, Xiaoduo; Nian, Yanyun; Zhang, Yanlin; Ran, Youhua; Zheng, Yi; Gao, Bing; Yang, Dawen; Zheng, Chunmiao; Wang, Xusheng; Liu, Shaomin; Cai, Ximing

2018-01-01

Endorheic basins around the world are suffering from water and ecosystem crisis. To pursue sustainable development, quantifying the hydrological cycle is fundamentally important. However, knowledge gaps exist in how climate change and human activities influence the hydrological cycle in endorheic basins. We used an integrated ecohydrological model, in combination with systematic observations, to analyze the hydrological cycle in the Heihe River Basin, a typical endorheic basin in arid region of China. The water budget was closed for different landscapes, river channel sections, and irrigation districts of the basin from 2001 to 2012. The results showed that climate warming, which has led to greater precipitation, snowmelt, glacier melt, and runoff, is a favorable factor in alleviating water scarcity. Human activities, including ecological water diversion, cropland expansion, and groundwater overexploitation, have both positive and negative effects. The natural oasis ecosystem has been restored considerably, but the overuse of water in midstream and the use of environmental flow for agriculture in downstream have exacerbated the water stress, resulting in unfavorable changes in surface-ground water interactions and raising concerns regarding how to fairly allocate water resources. Our results suggest that the water resource management in the region should be adjusted to adapt to a changing hydrological cycle, cropland area must be reduced, and the abstraction of groundwater must be controlled. To foster long-term benefits, water conflicts should be handled from a broad socioeconomic perspective. The findings can provide useful information on endorheic basins to policy makers and stakeholders around the world.

Multi-objective optimization for conjunctive water use using coupled hydrogeological and agronomic models: a case study in Heihe mid-reach (China)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LI, Y.; Kinzelbach, W.; Pedrazzini, G.

2017-12-01

Groundwater is a vital water resource to buffer unexpected drought risk in agricultural production, which is however apt to unsustainable exploitation due to its open access characteristic and a much underestimated marginal cost. Being a wicked problem of general water resource management, groundwater staying hidden from surface terrain further amplifies difficulties of management. China has been facing this challenge in last decades, particularly in the northern part where irrigated agriculture resides despite of scarce surface water available compared to the south. Farmers therefore have been increasingly exploiting groundwater as an alternative in order to reach Chinese food self-sufficiency requirements and feed fast socio-economic development. In this work, we studied Heihe mid-reach located in northern China, which represents one of a few regions suffering from symptoms of unsustainable groundwater use, such as a large drawdown of the groundwater table in some irrigation districts, or soil salinization due to phreatic evaporation in others. In addition, we focus on solving a multi-objective optimization problem of conjunctive water use in order to find an alternative management scheme that fits decision makers' preference. The methodology starts with a global sensitivity analysis to determine the most influential decision variables. Then a state-of-the-art multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) is employed to search a hyper-dimensional Pareto Front. The aquifer system is simulated with a distributed Modflow model, which is able to capture the main phenomenon of interest. Results show that the current water allocation scheme seems to exploit the water resources in an inefficient way, where areas with depression cones and areas with salinization or groundwater table rise can both be mitigated with an alternative management scheme. When assuming uncertain boundary conditions according to future climate change, the optimal solutions can yield better performance in economical productivity by reducing opportunity cost under unexpected drought conditions.

Deficit irrigation and sustainable water-resource strategies in agriculture for China’s food security

PubMed Central

Du, Taisheng; Kang, Shaozhong; Zhang, Jianhua; Davies, William J.

2015-01-01

More than 70% of fresh water is used in agriculture in many parts of the world, but competition for domestic and industrial water use is intense. For future global food security, water use in agriculture must become sustainable. Agricultural water-use efficiency and water productivity can be improved at different points from the stomatal to the regional scale. A promising approach is the use of deficit irrigation, which can both save water and induce plant physiological regulations such as stomatal opening and reproductive and vegetative growth. At the scales of the irrigation district, the catchment, and the region, there can be many other components to a sustainable water-resources strategy. There is much interest in whether crop water use can be regulated as a function of understanding of physiological responses. If this is the case, then agricultural water resources can be reallocated to the benefit of the broader community. We summarize the extent of use and impact of deficit irrigation within China. A sustainable strategy for allocation of agricultural water resources for food security is proposed. Our intention is to build an integrative system to control crop water use during different cropping stages and actively regulate the plant’s growth, productivity, and development based on physiological responses. This is done with a view to improving the allocation of limited agricultural water resources. PMID:25873664

Planning for deficit irrigation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Irrigators with limited water supplies that lead to deficit irrigation management need to make decisions about crop selection, water allocations to each crop, and irrigation schedules. Many of these decisions need to occur before the crop is planted and depend on yield-evapotranspiration (ET) and yi...

River flow availability for environmental flow allocation downstream of hydropower facilities in the Kafue Basin of Zambia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalumba, Mulenga; Nyirenda, Edwin

2017-12-01

The Government of the Republic Zambia (GRZ) will install a new hydropower station Kafue Gorge Lower downstream of the existing Kafue Gorge Station (KGS) and plans to start operating the Itezhi-Tezhi (ITT) hydropower facility in the Kafue Basin. The Basin has significant biodiversity hot spots such as the Luangwa National park and Kafue Flats. It is described as a Man-Biosphere reserve and the National Park is a designated World Heritage Site hosting a variety of wildlife species. All these natural reserves demand special protection, and environmental flow requirements (e-flows) have been identified as a necessary need to preserve these ecosystems. Implementation of e-flows is therefore a priority as Zambia considers to install more hydropower facilities. However before allocation of e-flows, it is necessary to first assess the river flow available for allocation at existing hydropower stations in the Kafue Basin. The river flow availability in the basin was checked by assessing the variability in low and high flows since the timing, frequency and duration of extreme droughts and floods (caused by low and high flows) are all important hydrological characteristics of a flow regime that affects e-flows. The river flows for a 41 year monthly time series data (1973-2014) were used to extract independent low and high flows using the Water Engineering Time Series Processing Tool (WETSPRO). The low and high flows were used to construct cumulative frequency distribution curves that were compared and analysed to show their variation over a long period. A water balance of each hydropower station was used to check the river flow allocation aspect by comparing the calculated water balance outflow (river flow) with the observed river flow, the hydropower and consumptive water rights downstream of each hydropower station. In drought periods about 50-100 m3/s of riverflow is available or discharged at both ITT and KGS stations while as in extreme flood events about 1300-1500 m3/s of riverflow is available. There is river flow available in the wet and dry seasons for e-flow allocation at ITT. On average per month 25 m3/s is allocated for e-flows at ITT for downstream purposes. On the other hand, it may be impossible to implement e-flows at KGS with the limited available outflow (river flow). The available river flow from ITT plays a very vital role in satisfying the current hydropower generating capacity at KGS. Therefore, the operations of KGS heavily depends on the available outflow (river flow) from ITT.

Water Reallocation - Increasing Opportunities for Cooperation, Administration and Market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, X.; Marston, L.

2016-12-01

Nowadays utilizable water in many regions around the world has been allocated among the various users. Increasing demands and limited water supplies necessitates water reallocation given that the existing allocation is economically inefficient, socially unfair, and environmentally unsustainable. Water reallocation, a dynamic adaptation strategy to changing socioeconomic and environmental conditions, offers a flexible water management approach to mitigate water scarcity under changing socioeconomic, climatic, and environmental conditions. Water reallocation can be implemented via collective cooperation, administration, and/or market-based approaches. In spite of the numerous benefits of reallocating water between users, examples of successful water transfers are relatively sparse and the expected benefits are rarely met in full due to several complex impediments. This study discusses the key barriers to wider implementation of water reallocation based on overview of the current body of water reallocation literature. Many examples of water transfers from around the world illustrate both the benefits and challenges associated with reallocation. To overcome the obstacles for more effective reallocation, we propose an interdisciplinary approach to water reallocation that couples developments in the natural sciences and engineering disciplines with current water reallocation scholarship, which is predominately rooted in the social sciences. We conclude by calling for an integrated research platform that focuses on supporting both voluntary and nonvoluntary forms of water reallocation; however, a greater emphasis should be on nonmarket means of water transfer since it is more feasible for many regions where water rights are not well defined and institutional capacity is insufficient.

A System Dynamics Model to Improve Water Resources Allocation in the Conchos River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gastelum, J. R.; Valdes, J. B.; Stewart, S.

2005-12-01

The Conchos river located in Chihuahua state on a semiarid region is the most important Mexican river contributing water deliveries to USA as established by the Water treaty of 1944 signed between Mexico and USA. Historically, Mexico has delivered to UNITED STATES 550 Hm3 (445,549.5 ACF) per year of water since the treaty was established, which is 25% above the yearly water volume Mexico is required to deliver. The Conchos river has contributed with 54% of the historic Mexican water treaty deliveries to the UNITED STATES, which represents the highest percentage of the 6 Mexican rivers considered on the water treaty. However, during drought situations the basin has proven to be vulnerable, for instance, because of the severe drought of the 90's, several cities in 1992 on Chihuahua state where declared disaster areas, and from 1992 to 2001 Mexico had accumulated a water treaty deficit of 2111.6 Hm3 (1,710,586 ACF). This has conduced to economic, social, and political difficulties in both countries. Because of the cited problematic and considering the poor understanding of the relationship between water supply and demand factors on the basin, a decision support system (DSS) has been developed aimed to improve the decision making process related with the water resources allocation process. This DSS has been created using System Dynamics (SD). It is a semi-distributed model and is running on monthly time step basis. For both the short and long term, three important water resources management strategies have been evaluated: several water allocation policies from reservoirs to water users; bulk water rights transfers inside and outside Irrigation Districts; and improvement of water distribution efficiencies. The model results have provided very useful regard to gain more quantitative understanding of the different strategies being implemented. They have also indicated that the different water resources alternatives change its degree of importance according to the different basin's circumstances such as weather conditions, institutional constraints, etc. The DSS is intended to be a simulation tool that facilitates the education and involvement of stakeholders and decision makers on the basin's water resources management process. Consequently, this will help to identify and to support alternatives or combination of them aimed to improve not only the basin's economy but also Mexican water treaty deliveries.

Forage-based dairying in a water-limited future: use of models to investigate farming system adaptation in southern Australia.

PubMed

Chapman, D F; Dassanayake, K; Hill, J O; Cullen, B R; Lane, N

2012-07-01

The irrigated dairy industry in southern Australia has experienced significant restrictions in irrigation water allocations since 2005, consistent with climate change impact predictions for the region. Simulation models of pasture growth (DairyMod), crop yield (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator, APSIM), and dairy system management and production (UDDER) were used in combination to investigate a range of forage options that may be capable of sustaining dairy business profitability under restricted water-allocation scenarios in northern Victoria, Australia. A total of 23 scenarios were simulated and compared with a base farm system (100% of historical water allocations, grazed perennial ryegrass pasture with supplements; estimated operating surplus $A2,615/ha at a milk price of $A4.14/kg of milk solids). Nine simulations explored the response of the base farm to changes in stocking rate or the implementation of a double cropping rotation on 30% of farm area, or both. Five simulations explored the extreme scenario of dairying without any irrigation water. Two general responses to water restrictions were investigated in a further 9 simulations. Annual ryegrass grazed pasture, complemented by a double cropping rotation (maize grown in summer for silage, followed by either brassica forage crop and annual ryegrass for silage in winter and spring) on 30% of farm area, led to an estimated operating surplus of $A1746/ha at the same stocking rate as the base farm when calving was moved to autumn (instead of late winter, as in the base system). Estimated total irrigation water use was 2.7ML/ha compared with 5.4ML/ha for the base system. Summer-dormant perennial grass plus double cropping (30% of farm area) lifted operating surplus by a further $A100/ha if associated with autumn calving (estimated total irrigation water use 3.1ML/ha). Large shifts in the forage base of dairy farms could sustain profitability in the face of lower, and fluctuating, water allocations. However, changes in other strategic management policies, notably calving date and stocking rate, would be required, and these systems would be more complex to manage. The adaptation scenarios that resulted in the highest estimated operating surplus were those where at least 10 t of pasture or crop DM was grazed directly by cows per hectare per year, resulting in grazed pasture intake of at least 2 t of DM/cow, and at least 60% of all homegrown feed that was consumed was grazed directly. Copyright © 2012 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comments on “Confronting water in the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement” by David Brooks and Julie Trottier [Journal of Hydrology 382/1-4, pp. 103-114

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shuval, Hillel

2011-01-01

SummaryThese comments deal only with the Brooks-Trottier proposals for the formulation of an Israel-Palestine peace agreement on water. It is felt that their proposal of breaking with conventional approaches in the allocation of water in the frame work of the Israel-Palestine peace agreement with specific volumes or percentages of the shared water resources going to Party A and to Party B will be unacceptable to the parties and will prevent the parties to the agreement from knowing at the signing of the peace agreement how much their water resources have been increased and or how much their resources will be reduced. Such matters are vital to each partner and must be settled at the political level. Their proposal to choose an ongoing management process that will empower an untried and almost independent Bilateral Water Commission to allocate and reallocate water between the partners over time will be unworkable and lead to endless disputes disagreements and appeals which could deadlock the process. These issues should be settled at the political level as part of the final status peace agreement.

Stem girdling indicates prioritized carbon allocation to the root system at the expense of radial stem growth in Norway spruce under drought conditions

PubMed Central

Oberhuber, Walter; Gruber, Andreas; Lethaus, Gina; Winkler, Andrea; Wieser, Gerhard

2017-01-01

The early culmination of maximum radial growth (RG) in late spring has been found in several coniferous species in a dry inner Alpine environment. We hypothesized that an early decrease in RG is an adaptation to cope with drought stress, which might require an early switch of carbon (C) allocation to belowground organs. To test this hypothesis, we experimentally subjected six-year-old Norway spruce saplings (tree height: 1.35 m; n = 80 trees) to two levels of soil water availability (watered versus drought conditions) and manipulated tree C status by physically blocking phloem transport at three girdling dates (GD). The influence of C availability and drought on tree growth (radial and shoot growth; root biomass) in response to girdling was analyzed in both treatments. Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs, soluble sugars and starch) were measured in the stem, root and current leader to evaluate changes in tree C status due to girdling. The main finding was a significant increase in RG of the girdled trees compared to the controls above the girdling zone (UZ). At all girdling dates the RG increase was significantly more intense in the drought-stressed compared with watered trees (c. 3.3 and 1.9-fold higher compared with controls in the drought-stressed and watered trees, respectively), most likely indicating that an early switch of C allocation to belowground occurs as an adaptation to maintain tree water status under drought conditions. Reactivation of the cambium after the cessation of its regular activity was detected in UZ in drought-stressed trees, while below the girdling zone no xylem formation was found and the NSC content was strikingly reduced. Irrespective of water availability, girdling before growth onset significantly reduced the progression of bud break (P < 0.05) and the length of the current leader shoot by −47% (P < 0.01) indicating a reduction in xylem hydraulic conductance, which was corroborated by significantly reduced xylem sap flow (P < 0.001). Based on our findings, we conclude that during the growing season drought stress prioritizes an early switch of C allocation to the root system as an adaptation to maintain adequate tree water status in drought-prone environments. PMID:28392608

Carbon allocation and accumulation in conifers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gower, S.T.; Isebrands, J.G.; Sheriff, D.W.

1995-07-01

Forests cover approximately 33% of the land surface of the earth, yet they are responsible for 65% of the annual carbon (C) accumulated by all terrestrial biomes. In general, total C content and net primary production rates are greater for forests than for other biomes, but C budgets differ greatly among forests. Despite several decades of research on forest C budgets, there is still an incomplete understanding of the factors controlling C allocation. Yet, if we are to understand how changing global events such as land use, climate change, atmospheric N deposition, ozone, and elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2} affect themore » global C budget, a mechanistic understanding of C assimilation, partitioning, and allocation is necessary. The objective of this chapter is to review the major factors that influence C allocation and accumulation in conifer trees and forests. In keeping with the theme of this book, we will focus primarily on evergreen conifers. However, even among evergreen conifers, leaf, canopy, and stand-level C and nutrient allocation patterns differ, often as a function of leaf development and longevity. The terminology related to C allocation literature is often inconsistent, confusing and inadequate for understanding and integrating past and current research. For example, terms often used synonymously to describe C flow or movement include translocation, transport, distribution, allocation, partitioning, apportionment, and biomass allocation. A common terminology is needed because different terms have different meanings to readers. In this paper we use C allocation, partitioning, and accumulation according to the definitions of Dickson and Isebrands (1993). Partitioning is the process of C flow into and among different chemical, storage, and transport pools. Allocation is the distribution of C to different plant parts within the plant (i.e., source to sink). Accumulation is the end product of the process of C allocation.« less

Development and Application of a Taiwan Domestic Generalized Water Supply Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, C. C.; Chang, L. C.

2016-12-01

Water allocation in Taiwan is more complicated than other countries because high river turbidity caused by rainstorm, reservoir management governed by different organization and conjunctive use of inter-basin reservoirs and dams. Those properties cause water resource planners need make extra effort on developing customized model to simulate the impact of water supply strategies on water resources. Hence, the study develops a Generalized Water Supply Model (GWSM) to analysis Multi-reservoirs water allocation in Taiwan for advancing the planning process. The model has following functions: (1) considering reservoirs operating rule curve. (2) considering the rule of multi-reservoir operation. Such as setting supply priority of different reservoirs or using "index balance" rule. (3) considering optimal hydroelectric power operation. (4) estimating the impact of high river turbidity on water supply. (5) considering the supply priority of different water use. (6) considering irrigation supply under special constraint. Such as the maximum irrigation supply is subject to natural inflow without reservoir storage. (7) considering two-way conduit transport. (8) considering environmental flow reservation. Conjunctive use Taan and Dajia Rivers was selected to demonstrate the ability of GWSM. The results also can be provided to different authorities to realize the impact of different strategies and that is good for negotiation and reaching a consensus.

Which patients do I treat? An experimental study with economists and physicians

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

This experiment investigates decisions made by prospective economists and physicians in an allocation problem which can be framed either medically or neutrally. The potential recipients differ with respect to their minimum needs as well as to how much they benefit from a treatment. We classify the allocators as either 'selfish', 'Rawlsian', or 'maximizing the number of recipients'. Economists tend to maximize their own payoff, whereas the physicians' choices are more in line with maximizing the number of recipients and with Rawlsianism. Regarding the framing, we observe that professional norms surface more clearly in familiar settings. Finally, we scrutinize how the probability of being served and the allocated quantity depend on a recipient's characteristics as well as on the allocator type. JEL Classification: A13, I19, C91, C72 PMID:22827912

Characterizing roots and water uptake in a ground cover rice production system

PubMed Central

Li, Sen; Zuo, Qiang; Wang, Xiaoyu; Ma, Wenwen; Jin, Xinxin; Shi, Jianchu; Ben-Gal, Alon

2017-01-01

Background and aims Water-saving ground cover rice production systems (GCRPS) are gaining popularity in many parts of the world. We aimed to describe the characteristics of root growth, morphology, distribution, and water uptake for a GCRPS. Methods A traditional paddy rice production system (TPRPS) was compared with GCRPS in greenhouse and field experiments. In the greenhouse, GCRPS where root zone average soil water content was kept near saturation (GCRPSsat), field capacity (GCRPSfwc) and 80% field capacity (GCRPS80%), were evaluated. In a two-year field experiment, GCRPSsat and GCRPS80% were applied. Results Similar results were found in greenhouse and field experiments. Before mid-tillering the upper soil temperature was higher for GCRPS, leading to enhanced root dry weight, length, surface area, specific root length, and smaller diameter of roots but lower water uptake rate per root length compared to TPRPS. In subsequent growth stages, the reduced soil water content under GCRPS caused that the preponderance of root growth under GCRPSsat disappeared in comparison to TPRPS. Under other GCRPS treatments (GCRPSfwc and GCRPS80%), significant limitation on root growth, bigger root diameter and higher water uptake rate per root length were found. Conclusions Discrepancies in soil water and temperature between TPRPS and GCRPS caused adjustments to root growth, morphology, distribution and function. Even though drought stress was inevitable after mid-tillering under GCRPS, especially GCRPS80%, similar or even enhanced root water uptake capacity in comparison to TPRPS might promote allocation of photosynthetic products to shoots and increase water productivity. PMID:28686687

The geometry of protein hydration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Persson, Filip; Söderhjelm, Pär; Halle, Bertil

2018-06-01

Based on molecular dynamics simulations of four globular proteins in dilute aqueous solution, with three different water models, we examine several, essentially geometrical, aspects of the protein-water interface that remain controversial or incompletely understood. First, we compare different hydration shell definitions, based on spatial or topological proximity criteria. We find that the best method for constructing monolayer shells with nearly complete coverage is to use a 5 Å water-carbon cutoff and a 4 Å water-water cutoff. Using this method, we determine a mean interfacial water area of 11.1 Å2 which appears to be a universal property of the protein-water interface. We then analyze the local coordination and packing density of water molecules in the hydration shells and in subsets of the first shell. The mean polar water coordination number in the first shell remains within 1% of the bulk-water value, and it is 5% lower in the nonpolar part of the first shell. The local packing density is obtained from additively weighted Voronoi tessellation, arguably the most physically realistic method for allocating space between protein and water. We find that water in all parts of the first hydration shell, including the nonpolar part, is more densely packed than in the bulk, with a shell-averaged density excess of 6% for all four proteins. We suggest reasons why this value differs from previous experimental and computational results, emphasizing the importance of a realistic placement of the protein-water dividing surface and the distinction between spatial correlation and packing density. The protein-induced perturbation of water coordination and packing density is found to be short-ranged, with an exponential decay "length" of 0.6 shells. We also compute the protein partial volume, analyze its decomposition, and argue against the relevance of electrostriction.

Optimality Based Dynamic Plant Allocation Model: Predicting Acclimation Response to Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivasan, V.; Drewry, D.; Kumar, P.; Sivapalan, M.

2009-12-01

Allocation of assimilated carbon to different plant parts determines the future plant status and is important to predict long term (months to years) vegetated land surface fluxes. Plants have the ability to modify their allometry and exhibit plasticity by varying the relative proportions of the structural biomass contained in each of its tissue. The ability of plants to be plastic provides them with the potential to acclimate to changing environmental conditions in order to enhance their probability of survival. Allometry based allocation models and other empirical allocation models do not account for plant plasticity cause by acclimation due to environmental changes. In the absence of a detailed understanding of the various biophysical processes involved in plant growth and development an optimality approach is adopted here to predict carbon allocation in plants. Existing optimality based models of plant growth are either static or involve considerable empiricism. In this work, we adopt an optimality based approach (coupled with limitations on plant plasticity) to predict the dynamic allocation of assimilated carbon to different plant parts. We explore the applicability of this approach using several optimization variables such as net primary productivity, net transpiration, realized growth rate, total end of growing season reproductive biomass etc. We use this approach to predict the dynamic nature of plant acclimation in its allocation of carbon to different plant parts under current and future climate scenarios. This approach is designed as a growth sub-model in the multi-layer canopy plant model (MLCPM) and is used to obtain land surface fluxes and plant properties over the growing season. The framework of this model is such that it retains the generality and can be applied to different types of ecosystems. We test this approach using the data from free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) experiments using soybean crop at the Soy-FACE research site. Our results show that there are significant changes in the allocation patterns of vegetation when subjected to elevated CO2 indicating that our model is able to account for plant plasticity arising from acclimation. Soybeans when grown under elevated CO2, increased their allocation to structural components such as leaves and decreased their allocation to reproductive biomass. This demonstrates that plant acclimation causes lower than expected crop yields when grown under elevated CO2. Our findings can have serious implications in estimating future crop yields under climate change scenarios where it is widely expected that rising CO2 will fully offset losses due to climate change.

The effect of limited availability of N or water on C allocation to fine roots and annual fine root turnover in Alnus incana and Salix viminalis.

PubMed

Rytter, Rose-Marie

2013-09-01

The effect of limited nitrogen (N) or water availability on fine root growth and turnover was examined in two deciduous species, Alnus incana L. and Salix viminalis L., grown under three different regimes: (i) supply of N and water in amounts which would not hamper growth, (ii) limited N supply and (iii) limited water supply. Plants were grown outdoors during three seasons in covered and buried lysimeters placed in a stand structure and filled with quartz sand. Computer-controlled irrigation and fertilization were supplied through drip tubes. Production and turnover of fine roots were estimated by combining minirhizotron observations and core sampling, or by sequential core sampling. Annual turnover rates of fine roots <1 mm (5-6 year(-1)) and 1-2 mm (0.9-2.8 year(-1)) were not affected by changes in N or water availability. Fine root production (<1 mm) differed between Alnus and Salix, and between treatments in Salix; i.e., absolute length and biomass production increased in the order: water limited < unlimited < N limited. Few treatment effects were detected for fine roots 1-2 mm. Proportionally more C was allocated to fine roots (≤2 mm) in N or water-limited Salix; 2.7 and 2.3 times the allocation to fine roots in the unlimited regime, respectively. Estimated input to soil organic carbon increased by ca. 20% at N limitation in Salix. However, future studies on fine root decomposition under various environmental conditions are required. Fine root growth responses to N or water limitation were less pronounced in Alnus, thus indicating species differences caused by N-fixing capacity and slower initial growth in Alnus, or higher fine root plasticity in Salix. A similar seasonal growth pattern across species and treatments suggested the influence of outer stimuli, such as temperature and light.

Choices Matter, but How Do We Model Them?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brelsford, C.; Dumas, M.

2017-12-01

Quantifying interactions between social systems and the physical environment we live within has long been a major scientific challenge. Humans have had such a large influence on our environment that it is no longer reasonable to consider the behavior of an ecological or hydrological system from a purely `physical' perspective: imagining a system that excludes the influence of human choices and behavior. Understanding the role that human social choices play in the energy water nexus is crucial for developing accurate models in that space. The relatively new field of socio-hydrology is making progress towards understanding the role humans play in hydrological systems. While this fact is now widely recognized across the many academic fields that study water systems, we have yet to develop a coherent set of theories for how to model the behavior of these complex and highly interdependent socio-hydrological systems. How should we conceptualize hydrological systems as socio-ecological systems (i.e. system with variables, states, parameters, actors who can control certain variables and a sense of the desirability of states) within which the rigorous study of feedbacks becomes possible? This talk reviews the state of knowledge of how social decisions around water consumption, allocation, and transport influence and are influenced by the physical hydrology that water also moves within. We cover recent papers in socio-hydrology, engineering, water law, and institutional analysis. There have been several calls within socio-hydrology to model human social behavior endogenously along with the hydrology. These improvements are needed across a range of spatial and temporal scales. We suggest two potential strategies for coupled models that allow endogenous water consumption behavior: a social first model which looks for empirical relationships between water consumption and allocation choices and the hydrological state, and a hydrology first model in which we look for regularities in how water regimes influence behavior, regional economies, or allocation institutions.

Asynchronous Amazon Forest Canopy Phenology Indicates Adaptation to Both Water and Light Availability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, M. O.; Kimball, J. S.; Nemani, R. R.

2015-12-01

Amazon forests represent nearly half of all tropical vegetation biomass and, through photosynthesis and respiration, annually process more than twice the amount of estimated carbon (CO2) from fossil fuel emissions. Yet the seasonality of Amazon canopy cover, and the extent to which seasonal fluctuations in water availability and photosynthetically active radiation influence these processes, is still poorly understood. Implementing six remotely sensed data sets spanning nine years (2003-2011), with reported field and flux tower data, we show that southern equatorial Amazon forests exhibit a distinctive seasonal signal. Seasonal timing of water availability, canopy biomass growth and net leaf flush are asynchronous in regions with short dry seasons and become more synchronous across a west-to-east longitudinal moisture gradient of increasing dry season length. Forest cover is responsive to seasonal disparities in both water and solar radiation availability, temporally adjusting net leaf flush to maximize use of these generally abundant resources, while reducing drought susceptibility. An accurate characterization of this asynchronous behavior allows for improved understanding of canopy phenology across contiguous tropical forests and their sensitivity to climate variability and drought. These insights can also inform land surface models to provide a more accurate representation of seasonal forest carbon allocation strategies responsive to environmental drivers.

Insights for empirically modeling evapotranspiration influenced by riparian and upland vegetation in semiarid regions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bunting, Daniel P.; Kurc, Shirley A.; Glenn, Edward P.; Nagler, Pamela L.; Scott, Russell L.

2014-01-01

Water resource managers aim to ensure long-term water supplies for increasing human populations. Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key component of the water balance and accurate estimates are important to quantify safe allocations to humans while supporting environmental needs. Scaling up ET measurements from small spatial scales has been problematic due to spatiotemporal variability. Remote sensing products provide spatially distributed data that account for seasonal climate and vegetation variability. We used MODIS products [i.e., Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and nighttime land surface temperatures (LSTn)] to create empirical ET models calibrated using measured ET from three riparian-influenced and two upland, water-limited flux tower sites. Results showed that combining all sites introduced systematic bias, so we developed separate models to estimate riparian and upland ET. While EVI and LSTn were the main drivers for ET in riparian sites, precipitation replaced LSTn as the secondary driver of ET in upland sites. Riparian ET was successfully modeled using an inverse exponential approach (r2 = 0.92) while upland ET was adequately modeled using a multiple linear regression approach (r2 = 0.77). These models can be used in combination to estimate ET at basin scales provided each region is classified and precipitation data is available.

Effects of tidal action on pollination and reproductive allocation in an estuarine emergent wetland plant-Sagittaria graminea (Alismataceae).

PubMed

Zhang, Yanwen; Zhang, Lihui; Zhao, Xingnan; Huang, Shengjun; Zhao, Jimin

2013-01-01

In estuarine wetlands, the daily periodic tidal activity has a profound effect on plant growth and reproduction. We studied the effects of tidal action on pollination and reproductive allocation of Sagittaria graminea. Results showed that the species had very different reproductive allocation in tidal and non-tidal habitats. In the tidal area, seed production was only 9.7% of that in non-tidal habitat, however, plants produced more male flowers and nearly twice the corms compared to those in non-tidal habitat. An experiment showed that the time available for effective pollination determined the pollination rate and pollen deposition in the tidal area. A control experiment suggested that low pollen deposition from low visitation frequency is not the main cause of very low seed sets or seed production in this plant in tidal habitat. The negative effects of tides (water) on pollen germination may surpass the influence of low pollen deposition from low visitation frequency. The length of time from pollen deposition to flower being submerged by water affected pollen germination rate on stigmas; more than three hours is necessary to allow pollen germination and complete fertilization to eliminate the risk of pollen grains being washed away by tidal water.

Effects of Tidal Action on Pollination and Reproductive Allocation in an Estuarine Emergent Wetland Plant–Sagittaria graminea (Alismataceae)

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yanwen; Zhang, Lihui; Zhao, Xingnan; Huang, Shengjun; Zhao, Jimin

2013-01-01

In estuarine wetlands, the daily periodic tidal activity has a profound effect on plant growth and reproduction. We studied the effects of tidal action on pollination and reproductive allocation of Sagittaria graminea. Results showed that the species had very different reproductive allocation in tidal and non-tidal habitats. In the tidal area, seed production was only 9.7% of that in non-tidal habitat, however, plants produced more male flowers and nearly twice the corms compared to those in non-tidal habitat. An experiment showed that the time available for effective pollination determined the pollination rate and pollen deposition in the tidal area. A control experiment suggested that low pollen deposition from low visitation frequency is not the main cause of very low seed sets or seed production in this plant in tidal habitat. The negative effects of tides (water) on pollen germination may surpass the influence of low pollen deposition from low visitation frequency. The length of time from pollen deposition to flower being submerged by water affected pollen germination rate on stigmas; more than three hours is necessary to allow pollen germination and complete fertilization to eliminate the risk of pollen grains being washed away by tidal water. PMID:24244393

Productivity of Stored Water in Some Selected Multiple Use Small Reservoirs in the Upper East Region of Ghana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Annor, F. O.; Yamoah-Antwi, D.; Odai, S. N.; Adjei, K. A.; van de Giesen, N. C.

2009-04-01

The Upper East Region (UER) of Ghana is a water stressed area with agriculture as the main occupation of the inhabitants. The importance of small reservoirs for the sustenance of the livelihood of the people in this part of the country during the dry season cannot be over emphasized. Most of these small reservoirs were constructed, in the 1960s, mainly with the aim of providing water for domestic use and livestock watering during the dry periods of the year. Over the years, however, these small reservoirs have been put to a variety of uses, some of which accelerate the depletion of the stored water. The reservoirs are therefore most times, unable to serve the purposes for which they were constructed. To address this situation, a study was conducted to determine the productivity of stored water in small reservoirs to better inform policy makers and water managers in the allocation of water especially in the dry season. Water productivity can be thought of as the output (product) that can be obtained per unit volume of water used or applied for either crop or livestock production. Data on crops and livestock were obtained through questionnaire administration, interviews, focus group discussions, physical measurements as well as field observations from nine reservoirs in the UER. The research findings show that donkeys have the highest productivity of about US90 followed by cattle with US70. These high productivity values are as a result of the variety of products and services rendered by donkeys and cattle. For crop, tomatoes have the highest productivity value compared with pepper and leafy vegetables. Despite the fact that donkeys had the highest productivity and hence priority over all uses, it is prudent to note that, inhabitants of the study area aside the sale of livestock for money (income) keep livestock for prestige. Therefore in the allocation of stored water in small multiple use reservoirs, the allocation criteria should consider the views, values and believes of the inhabitants.

The influence of future electricity mix alternatives on southwestern US water resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yates, D.; Meldrum, J.; Averyt, K.

2013-12-01

A climate driven, water resource systems model of the southwestern US was used to explore the implications of growth, extended drought, and climate warming on the allocation of water among competing uses. The analysis focused on the water benefits from alternative thermoelectric generation mixes, but included other uses, namely irrigated agriculture, municipal indoor and outdoor use, and environmental and inter-state compact requirements. The model, referred to as WEAP-SW, was developed on the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) platform, and is scenario-based and forward projecting from 2008 to 2050. The scenario includes a southwest population that grows from about 55 million to more than 100 million, a prolonged dry period, and a long-term warming trend of 2 ° C by mid-century. In addition, the scenario assumes that water allocation under shortage conditions would prioritize thermoelectric, environmental, and inter-state compacts by shorting first irrigated agriculture, then municipal demands. We show that while thermoelectric cooling water consumption is relatively small compared with other uses, the physical realities and the legal and institutional structures of water use in the region mean that relatively small differences in regional water use across different electricity mix scenarios correspond with more substantial impacts on individual basins and water use sectors. At a region-wide level, these choices influence the buffer against further water stress afforded the region through its generous storage capacity in reservoirs.

Human-water interactions in Colorado: Evaluating the impacts of population growth, energy development and dynamic industries on water resource management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogue, Terri; Walker, Ella; Read, Laura

2016-04-01

The gap between water supply and demand is growing in the western U.S. due to climate change, rapid population growth, intensive agricultural production, wide-spread energy development and changing industrial use. Water conservation efforts among residential and industrial water users, recycling and reuse techniques, and innovative regulatory frameworks strive to mitigate this gap, however, the extent of these management strategies are often difficult to quantify and are typically not included in prediction of future water allocations. Water use on the eastern slope in Colorado (Denver-Metro region) is impacted by high-intensity activities, including unconventional energy development, large withdrawals for agriculture, and increasing demand for recreational industries. These demands are in addition to a projected population increase of 100% by 2050 in the South Platte River basin, which encompasses the Denver-Metro region. The current presentation focuses on the quantification of regional sector water use utilzing a range of observations and technologies (including remote sensing) and integration into a regional decision support system. We explore scenarios of future water use in the energy, agriculture, and municipal/industrial sectors, and discuss the potential water allocation tradeoffs to various stakeholders. We also employ climate projections to quantify the potential range of water availability under various scenarios and observe the extent to which future climate may influence regional management decisions.

Are Mojave Desert annual species equal? Resource acquisition and allocation for the invasive grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens (Poaceae) and two native species

USGS Publications Warehouse

Defalco, Lesley A.; Bryla, David R.; Smith-Longozo, Vickie; Nowak, Robert S.

2003-01-01

Abundance of invasive plants is often attributed to their ability ot outcompete native species. We compared resource acquisition and allocation of the invasive annual grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens with that of two native Mojave Desert annuals, Vulpia octoflora and Descurainia pinnata, in a glasshouse experiment. Each species was grown in monoculture at two densities and two levels of N availability to compare how these annuals capture resources and to understand their relative sensitivities to environmental change. During >4 mo of growth, Bromus used water more rapidly and had greater biomass and N content than the natives, partly because of its greater root-surface area and its exploitation of deep soils. Bromus also had greater N uptake, net assimilation and transpiration rates, and canopy area than Vulpia. Resource use by Bromuswas less sensitive to changes in N availability or density than were the natives. The two native species in this study produced numerous small seeds that tended to remain dormant, thus ensuring escape of offspring from unfavorable germination conditions; Bromus produced fewer but larger seeds that readily germinated. Collectively, these traits give Bromus the potential to rapidly establish in diverse habitats of the Mojave Desert, thereby gaining an advantage over coexisting native species.

A demand-centered, hybrid life-cycle methodology for city-scale greenhouse gas inventories.

PubMed

Ramaswami, Anu; Hillman, Tim; Janson, Bruce; Reiner, Mark; Thomas, Gregg

2008-09-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for individual cities is confounded by spatial scale and boundary effects that impact the allocation of regional material and energy flows. This paper develops a demand-centered, hybrid life-cycle-based methodology for conducting city-scale GHG inventories that incorporates (1) spatial allocation of surface and airline travel across colocated cities in larger metropolitan regions, and, (2) life-cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify the embodied energy of key urban materials--food, water, fuel, and concrete. The hybrid methodology enables cities to separately report the GHG impact associated with direct end-use of energy by cities (consistent with EPA and IPCC methods), as well as the impact of extra-boundary activities such as air travel and production of key urban materials (consistent with Scope 3 protocols recommended by the World Resources Institute). Application of this hybrid methodology to Denver, Colorado, yielded a more holistic GHG inventory that approaches a GHG footprint computation, with consistency of inclusions across spatial scale as well as convergence of city-scale per capita GHG emissions (approximately 25 mt CO2e/person/year) with state and national data. The method is shown to have significant policy impacts, and also demonstrates the utility of benchmarks in understanding energy use in various city sectors.

26 CFR 1.863-3 - Allocation and apportionment of income from certain sales of inventory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

..., when the property is either produced in whole or in part in space or on or under water not within the... United States (in international water), or is sold in space or international water, the rules of § 1.863... international water, the rules of § 1.863-8 apply, and the rules of this section do not apply except to the...

26 CFR 1.863-3 - Allocation and apportionment of income from certain sales of inventory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

..., when the property is either produced in whole or in part in space or on or under water not within the... United States (in international water), or is sold in space or international water, the rules of § 1.863... international water, the rules of § 1.863-8 apply, and the rules of this section do not apply except to the...

26 CFR 1.863-3 - Allocation and apportionment of income from certain sales of inventory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

..., when the property is either produced in whole or in part in space or on or under water not within the... United States (in international water), or is sold in space or international water, the rules of § 1.863... international water, the rules of § 1.863-8 apply, and the rules of this section do not apply except to the...

26 CFR 1.863-3 - Allocation and apportionment of income from certain sales of inventory.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., when the property is either produced in whole or in part in space or on or under water not within the... United States (in international water), or is sold in space or international water, the rules of § 1.863... international water, the rules of § 1.863-8 apply, and the rules of this section do not apply except to the...

Strategic Shock: Managing the Strategic Gap

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

intended to transport 340 mcm annually with 80 percent of the water allocated to support agriculture in the Negev Desert and 20 percent to be used for... water resources in those areas, and have prohibited the development of additional wells and water infrastructure. This lack of development of water ...Soviet military actions, up to and including nuclear war, and had built a well trained and well equipped military establishment whose primary focus was

Ecological restoration of groundwater-dependent vegetation in the arid Ejina Delta: evidences from satellite evapotranspiration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kai, Lu; Garcia, Monica; Yu, Jingjie; Zhang, Yichi; Wang, Ping; Wang, Sheng; Liu, Xiao

2017-04-01

The ecological water conveyance project (EWCP) in the Ejina delta, a typical hyper-arid area of China, aimed to restore degraded phreatophytic ecosystems. We assessed the degree of ecosystem recovery using as an ecohydrological indicator a ratio between actual and potential evapotranspiration derived from MODIS since the beginning of the project in 2001. The selected indicator was the Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) which was validated with Eddy covariance (EC) data confirming its applicability to monitor groundwater dependent vegetation. The spatial analyses of the evapotranspiration ratio show drying trends (2000-2015) which are stronger and also cover larger extensions than the wetting trends. Thus, the condition of key riparian areas relying mostly on surface water improved since the project began. However, groundwater dependent ecosystems located in lower river Xihe reaches present drying trends. It seems that despite of the runoff supplemented by the EWCP project, there is nowadays more inequality in the access to water by groundwater dependent ecosystems in the Ejina Delta. The study shows that energy-evaporation indices, relying on radiometric satellite temperature like the TVDI, can detect degradation signals that otherwise might go undetected by NDVI analyses especially in arid regions, where vegetation indices are greatly affected by the soil background signals. Additionally, they can provide timely information to water managers on how much water to allocate for a sustainable restoration program.

Field-scale modeling of center pivot irrigated cotton: Oullman clay loam series

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Regulatory ground water pumping restrictions continue to be debated in the Southern Ogallala Aquifer region and will eventually result in allocation of irrigation resources becoming more important. Models that address the temporal and spatial variability of water, energy, and nutrient balances at fi...

18 CFR 284.10 - Rates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... based on the average variable costs which are properly allocated to the service to which the rate... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Rates. 284.10 Section 284.10 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF...

18 CFR 284.10 - Rates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... based on the average variable costs which are properly allocated to the service to which the rate... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Rates. 284.10 Section 284.10 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF...

18 CFR 284.10 - Rates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... based on the average variable costs which are properly allocated to the service to which the rate... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Rates. 284.10 Section 284.10 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF...

18 CFR 284.10 - Rates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... based on the average variable costs which are properly allocated to the service to which the rate... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Rates. 284.10 Section 284.10 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF...

18 CFR 284.10 - Rates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... based on the average variable costs which are properly allocated to the service to which the rate... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Rates. 284.10 Section 284.10 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF...

Peanut canopy temperature and NDVI response to varying irrigation rates

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Variable rate irrigation (VRI) systems have the potential to conserve water by spatially allocating limited water resources. In this study, peanut was grown under a VRI system to evaluate the impact of differential irrigation rates on peanut yield. Additionally, we evaluated the impact of differenti...

Optimizing the use of limited water in agricultural systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

About 92% of freshwater withdrawals in Uzbekistan are used for irrigation, whereas in the United States, freshwater withdrawls account for about 33% of the total use. In Uzbekistan, most of the water suitable for irrigation has already been allocated. In the United States, groundwater depletion and ...

Condition-dependent trade-offs between sexual traits, body condition and immunity: the effect of novel habitats.

PubMed

Iglesias-Carrasco, Maider; Head, Megan L; Jennions, Michael D; Cabido, Carlos

2016-06-21

The optimal allocation of resources to sexual signals and other life history traits is usually dependent on an individual's condition, while variation in the expression of sexual traits across environments depends on the combined effects of local adaptation, mean condition, and phenotypic responses to environment-specific cues that affect resource allocation. A clear contrast can often be drawn between natural habitats and novel habitats, such as forest plantations and urban areas. In some species, males seem to change their sexual signals in these novel environments, but why this occurs and how it affects signal reliability is still poorly understood. The relative size of sexual traits and level of immune responses were significantly lower for male palmate newts Lissotriton helveticus caught in pine and eucalyptus plantations compared to those caught in native forests, but there was no habitat-dependent difference in body condition (n = 18 sites, 382 males). The reliability with which sexual traits signalled body condition and immune responses was the same in all three habitats. Finally, we conducted a mesocosm experiment in which males were maintained in pine, eucalypt or oak infused water for 21 days. Males in plantation-like water (pine or eucalypt) showed significantly lower immune responses but no change in body condition. This matches the pattern seen for field-caught males. Unlike field-caught males, however, there was no relationship between water type and relative sexual trait size. Pine and eucalyptus plantations are likely to be detrimental to male palmate newt because they are associated with reduced immune function and smaller sexual traits. This could be because ecological aspects of these novel habitats, such as high water turbidity or changes in male-male competition, drive selection for reduced investment into sexual traits. However, it is more probable that there are differences in the ease of acquisition, hence optimal allocation, of resources among habitats. Our mesocosm experiment also provides some evidence that water toxicity is a causal factor. Our findings offer insights into how plantations affect amphibian life histories, and how novel habitats might generate long-term selection for new resource allocation strategies in native species.

National assessment of geologic carbon dioxide storage resources: allocations of assessed areas to Federal lands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Buursink, Marc L.; Cahan, Steven M.; Warwick, Peter D.

2015-01-01

Following the geologic basin-scale assessment of technically accessible carbon dioxide storage resources in onshore areas and State waters of the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that an area of about 130 million acres (or about 200,000 square miles) of Federal lands overlies these storage resources. Consequently, about 18 percent of the assessed area associated with storage resources is allocated to Federal land management. Assessed areas are allocated to four other general land-ownership categories as follows: State lands about 4.5 percent, Tribal lands about 2.4 percent, private and other lands about 72 percent, and offshore areas about 2.6 percent.

Water Availability for the Western United States - Key Scientific Challenges

USGS Publications Warehouse

Anderson, Mark Theodore; Woosley, Lloyd H.

2005-01-01

In the Western United States, the availability of water has become a serious concern for many communities and rural areas. Near population centers, surface-water supplies are fully appropriated, and many communities are dependent upon ground water drawn from storage, which is an unsustainable strategy. Water of acceptable quality is increasingly hard to find because local sources are allocated to prior uses, depleted by overpumping, or diminished by drought stress. Some of the inherent characteristics of the West add complexity to the task of securing water supplies. The Western States, including the arid Southwest, have the most rapid population growth in the United States. The climate varies widely in the West, but it is best known for its low precipitation, aridity, and drought. There is evidence that the climate is warming, which will have consequences for Western water supplies, such as increased minimum streamflow and earlier snowmelt events in snow-dominated basins. The potential for departures from average climatic conditions threatens to disrupt society and local to regional economies. The appropriative rights doctrine governs the management of water in most Western States, although some aspects of the riparian doctrine are being incorporated. The 'use it or lose it' provisions of Western water law discourage conservation and make the reallocation of water to instream environmental uses more difficult. The hydrologic sciences have defined the interconnectedness of ground water and surface water, yet these resources are still administered separately by most States. The definition of water availability has been expanded to include sustaining riparian ecosystems and individual endangered species, which are disproportionately represented in the Western States. Federal reserved rights, common in the West because of the large amount of Federal land, exist with quite senior priority dates whether or not water is currently being used. A major challenge for water users in the West is that these reserved rights may supersede other existing users. The minimum amount of water required, however, to sustain native peoples, a riparian system, or an endangered species eventually will need to be known in order to manage the available water supply. Periodic inventory and assessment of the amounts and trends of water available in surface water and ground water are needed to support water management. There is a widespread perception that the amount of available water is diminishing with time. This and other perceptions about water availability should be replaced by objective data and analysis. Some data are presented here for the major Western rivers that show that flows are not decreasing in most streams and rivers in the West. Systematic information is lacking to make broad assessments of ground-water availability, but available data for specific aquifers indicate that these aquifers are being depleted, especially near population centers. The complexity added to the issue of Western water availability by these and other factors gives rise to a significant role of science. Science has played a role in support of Western water development from the beginning, and the role has evolved and changed over time as society's values have changed. In this report, the role of science is discussed in three phases: (1) development and construction, (2) consequences and environmental awareness, and (3) sustainability. The development and construction phase includes some historical accounting of water development in the West and shows how some precedents set in those early days are still applied today. Science has played an important role in the second phase by objectively pointing out the consequences of this development and construction phase, such as the effects from converting rivers to reservoirs, the effects of ground-water pumping on surface water in streams, land-surface subsidence, and the changes in water quality brought about by the dispo

75 FR 63786 - Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-18

... reduce the commercial quota for gag and, thus, the combined commercial quota for shallow-water grouper... IFQ account holder's deep-water grouper (DWG) allocation has been landed and sold, or transferred, or... percent of their gross revenue in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Revenue from deep-water grouper (DWG...

Functional convergence in hydraulic architecture and water relations of tropical savanna trees: from leaf to whole plant.

Treesearch

S.J. Bucci; G. Goldstein; F.C. Meinzer; F.G. Scholz; A.C. France; M. Bustamante

2004-01-01

Functional convergence in hydraulic architecture and water relations, and potential trade-offs in resource allocation were investigated in six dominant neotropical savanna tree species from central Brazil during the peak of the dry season. Common relationships between wood density and several aspects of plant water relations and hydraulic architecture were observed....

Engine Yaw Augmentation for Hybrid-Wing-Body Aircraft via Optimal Control Allocation Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, Brian R.; Yoo, Seung Yeun

2011-01-01

Asymmetric engine thrust was implemented in a hybrid-wing-body non-linear simulation to reduce the amount of aerodynamic surface deflection required for yaw stability and control. Hybrid-wing-body aircraft are especially susceptible to yaw surface deflection due to their decreased bare airframe yaw stability resulting from the lack of a large vertical tail aft of the center of gravity. Reduced surface deflection, especially for trim during cruise flight, could reduce the fuel consumption of future aircraft. Designed as an add-on, optimal control allocation techniques were used to create a control law that tracks total thrust and yaw moment commands with an emphasis on not degrading the baseline system. Implementation of engine yaw augmentation is shown and feasibility is demonstrated in simulation with a potential drag reduction of 2 to 4 percent. Future flight tests are planned to demonstrate feasibility in a flight environment.

Impact of High Resolution Land-Use Data in Meteorology and Air Quality Modeling Systems

EPA Science Inventory

Accurate land use information is important in meteorology for land surface exchanges, in emission modeling for emission spatial allocation, and in air quality modeling for chemical surface fluxes. Currently, meteorology, emission, and air quality models often use outdated USGS Gl...

Surface water / groundwater interactions and their spatial variability, an example from the Avon River, South-East Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hofmann, Harald; Cartwright, Ian; Gilfedder, Benjamin

2013-04-01

Understanding the interaction between river water and regional groundwater has significant importance for water management and resource allocation. The dynamics of groundwater/surface water interactions also have implications for ecosystems, pollutant transport, and the quality and quantity of water supply for domestic, agriculture and recreational purposes. After general assumptions and for management purposes rivers are classified in loosing or gaining rivers. However, many streams alternate between gaining and loosing conditions on a range of temporal and spatial scales due to factors including: 1) river water levels in relation to groundwater head; 2) the relative response of the groundwater and river system to rainfall; 3) heterogeneities in alluvial sediments that can lead to alternation of areas of exfiltration and infiltration along a river stretch; and 4) differences in near river reservoirs, such parafluvial flow and bank storage. Spatial variability of groundwater discharge to rivers is rarely accounted for as it is assumed that groundwater discharge is constant over river stretches and only changes with the seasonal river water levels. Riverbank storage and parafluvial flow are generally not taken in consideration. Bank storage has short-term cycles and can contribute significantly to the total discharge, especially after flood events. In this study we used hydrogeochemistry to constrain spatial and temporal differences in gaining and loosing conditions in rivers and investigate potential sources. Environmental tracers, such as major ion chemistry, stables isotopes and Radon are useful tools to characterise these sources. Surface water and ground water samples were taken in the Avon River in the Gippsland Basin, Southwest Australia. Increasing TDS along the flow path from 70 to 250 mg/l, show that the Avon is a net gaining stream. The radon concentration along the river is variable and does not show a general increase downstream, but isolated peaks in some areas instead. Radon concentrations are in general low (under 0.5 Bq/l), but rise significantly when groundwater discharges to the river (up to 3 Bq/l). By using high resolution radon mapping with a water-air-gas-exchanger in combination with EC mapping on a boat we were able to show that groundwater discharge to the river is diffuse on river reaches of about 1 km length where it occurs. The discharge areas are along large alluvial riverbed deposits and are likely to be a mixture of local groundwater and parafluvial flow. High resolution radon mapping has only been used in coastal areas and this is the first study where the method was applied to river systems.

Resource allocation and compensation during development in holometabolous insects.

PubMed

Nestel, David; Papadopoulos, Nikos T; Pascacio-Villafán, Carlos; Righini, Nicoletta; Altuzar-Molina, Alma R; Aluja, Martín

2016-12-01

We provide an extensive review on current knowledge and future research paths on the topic of resource allocation and compensation during development in holometabolous insects, emphasizing the role of resource management during development, and how compensatory mechanisms may be acting to remediate nutritional deficiencies carried over from earlier stages of development. We first review resource allocation in "open" and "closed" developmental stages and then move on to the topic of modelling resource allocation and its trade-offs. In doing so, we review novel methodological developments such as response-surface methods and mixture experiments as well as nutritional geometry. We also dwell on the fascinating topic of compensatory physiology and behavior. We finish by discussing future research paths, among them the emerging field of nutrigenomics and gut microbiome, which will shed light into the yet poorly understood role of the symbiotic microbiota in nutrient compensation or assimilation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of energy fluxes and vegetation-atmosphere parameters in irrigated and natural ecosystems of semi-arid Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teixeira, A. H. de Castro; Bastiaanssen, W. G. M.; Ahmad, M. D.; Moura, M. S. B.; Bos, M. G.

2008-11-01

SummaryKnowledge on evapotranspiration is essential in quantifying water use depletion and to allocate scarce water resources to competing uses. Despite that an extensive literature describes the theoretical mechanisms of turbulent water vapour transport above and within crop canopies fewer studies have examined land surface parameters within composite landscapes of irrigated crops and semi-arid natural vegetation. Aiming to improve parameterizations of the radiation and energy balance in irrigated crops and natural vegetation, micro-climatic measurements were carried out on irrigated land (vineyards and mango orchard) and natural vegetation (caatinga) in the semi-arid zone of the São Francisco River basin (Brazil) from 2002 to 2005. The fractions of 24 h incident solar radiation available for net radiation were 46%, 55%, 51% and 53%, for wine grape, table grape, mango orchard and caatinga, respectively. Daily evaporative fractions of the net available energy used as latent heat flux ( λE) were 0.80, 0.88, 0.75 and 0.33 respectively. The daylight values of bulk surface resistances ( rs) averaged 128 s m -1, 73 s m -1, 133 s m -1 and 1940 s m -1 for wine grape, table grape, mango orchard and caatinga, respectively. Simplified parameterizations on roughness and evaporation resistances were performed. It could be concluded that net radiation can be estimated by means of a linear expression with incident global solar radiation depending on the type of vegetation. The variability of aerodynamic resistance ( ra) could be mainly explained by the friction velocity ( u ∗) which on turn depends on the surface roughness length for momentum transport ( z 0m). The experimental data showed that for sparse canopies z 0m being 9% of the mean vegetation height is a doable operational rule for the semi-arid region of São Francisco River basin. The seasonal values of rs for irrigated crops were highly correlated with water vapour pressure deficit. The availability of analytical methods to assess ra and rs makes the one-step Penman-Monteith equation suitable for the computation of actual evapotranspiration and water productivity analyses.

A possible link between life and death of a xeric tree in desert.

PubMed

Xu, Gui-Qing; McDowell, Nate G; Li, Yan

2016-05-01

Understanding the interactions between drought and tree ontogeny or size remains an essential research priority because size-specific mortality patterns have large impacts on ecosystem structure and function, determine forest carbon storage capacity, and are sensitive to climatic change. Here we investigate a xerophytic tree species (Haloxylon ammodendron (C.A. Mey.)) with which the changes in biomass allocation with tree size may play an important role in size-specific mortality patterns. Size-related changes in biomass allocation, root distribution, plant water status, gas exchange, hydraulic architecture and non-structural carbohydrate reserves of this xerophytic tree species were investigated to assess their potential role in the observed U-shaped mortality pattern. We found that excessively negative water potentials (<-4.7MPa, beyond the P50leaf of -4.1MPa) during prolonged drought in young trees lead to hydraulic failure; while the imbalance of photoassimilate allocation between leaf and root system in larger trees, accompanied with declining C reserves (<2% dry matter across four tissues), might have led to carbon starvation. The drought-resistance strategy of this species is preferential biomass allocation to the roots to improve water capture. In young trees, the drought-resistance strategy is not well developed, and hydraulic failure appears to be the dominant driver of mortality during drought. With old trees, excess root growth at the expense of leaf area may lead to carbon starvation during prolonged drought. Our results suggest that the drought-resistance strategy of this xeric tree is closely linked to its life and death: well-developed drought-resistance strategy means life, while underdeveloped or overdeveloped drought-resistance strategy means death. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Blueprint for a greener city: growth need not cost the earth.

PubMed

Anderson, J M

2005-01-01

The current human use of global natural resources exceeds the long-term sustainable capacity of the planet. New and more sustainable ways of building cities and providing urban water services are needed. The Australian city of Sydney is expected to grow by more than 1 million people over the next 30 years. Water use from the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system already exceeds system capacity. Current proposals to allocate a greater proportion of low flows to meet environmental flow needs will limit urban water allocations and require the development of more efficient water and sewerage systems for new and existing urban development. This paper presents a hypothetical case study of how water supply and sewerage services might be provided for an additional 1 million people over a 25-year period. It compares traditional service provision with alternative scenarios incorporating water conservation measures, rainwater harvesting and water reuse. The paper presents both economic and environmental comparisons. The economic comparisons include valuations of environmental externalities in the form of environmental levies. It shows that the extra capital costs of water conservation, alternative water sources and water reuse scenarios are offset by operating savings and environmental benefits. Ecological footprints are reduced because of lower water diversions, discharges, energy use and CO2 emissions. The paper also discusses the implication of alternative infrastructure ownership and water pricing arrangements, and the opportunities to create incentives for additional investment in water conservation and reuse projects.

Deficit irrigation and sustainable water-resource strategies in agriculture for China's food security.

PubMed

Du, Taisheng; Kang, Shaozhong; Zhang, Jianhua; Davies, William J

2015-04-01

More than 70% of fresh water is used in agriculture in many parts of the world, but competition for domestic and industrial water use is intense. For future global food security, water use in agriculture must become sustainable. Agricultural water-use efficiency and water productivity can be improved at different points from the stomatal to the regional scale. A promising approach is the use of deficit irrigation, which can both save water and induce plant physiological regulations such as stomatal opening and reproductive and vegetative growth. At the scales of the irrigation district, the catchment, and the region, there can be many other components to a sustainable water-resources strategy. There is much interest in whether crop water use can be regulated as a function of understanding of physiological responses. If this is the case, then agricultural water resources can be reallocated to the benefit of the broader community. We summarize the extent of use and impact of deficit irrigation within China. A sustainable strategy for allocation of agricultural water resources for food security is proposed. Our intention is to build an integrative system to control crop water use during different cropping stages and actively regulate the plant's growth, productivity, and development based on physiological responses. This is done with a view to improving the allocation of limited agricultural water resources. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Aquatic habitat measurement and valuation: imputing social benefits to instream flow levels

USGS Publications Warehouse

Douglas, Aaron J.; Johnson, Richard L.

1991-01-01

Instream flow conflicts have been analysed from the perspectives offered by policy oriented applied (physical) science, theories of conflict resolution and negotiation strategy, and psychological analyses of the behavior patterns of the bargaining parties. Economics also offers some useful insights in analysing conflict resolution within the context of these water allocation problems. We attempt to analyse the economics of the bargaining process in conjunction with a discussion of the water allocation process. In particular, we examine in detail the relation between certain habitat estimation techniques, and the socially optimal allocation of non-market resources. The results developed here describe the welfare implications implicit in the contemporary general equilibrium analysis of a competitive market economy. We also review certain currently available techniques for assigning dollar values to the social benefits of instream flow. The limitations of non-market valuation techniques with respect to estimating the benefits provided by instream flows and the aquatic habitat contingent on these flows should not deter resource managers from using economic analysis as a basic tool for settling instream flow conflicts.

77 FR 46732 - Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council); Public Meetings

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-06

...--Sector Allocations; discuss an Options Papers for a Framework Action on Vermilion Snapper Annual Catch... Post-Season Recreational Accountability Measures for Shallow-Water Grouper and Revision to the Generic..., & Elimination of February-March Shallow-Water Group Closure; discuss concerns about Amendment 35--the Rebuilding...

USING ECONOMIC ANALYSIS TO VALUE WATER REMEDIATION: AN APPLICATION TO THE CHEAT RIVER WATERSHED IN WEST VIRGINIA

EPA Science Inventory

Inherent in any decision to allocate resources is the constraint imposed by a limited budget. In small communities, particularly in rural areas, this often means stark tradeoffs among major public projects (schools, roads, water treatment). When dealing with management options ...

Assessing wheat yield, Biomass, and water productivity responses to growth stage based irrigation water allocation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Increasing irrigated wheat yields is important to the overall profitability of limited-irrigation cropping systems in western Kansas. A simulation study was conducted to (1) validate APSIM's (Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator) ability to simulate wheat growth and yield in Kansas, and (2) app...

Risk-based water resources planning: Coupling water allocation and water quality management under extreme droughts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mortazavi-Naeini, M.; Bussi, G.; Hall, J. W.; Whitehead, P. G.

2016-12-01

The main aim of water companies is to have a reliable and safe water supply system. To fulfil their duty the water companies have to consider both water quality and quantity issues and challenges. Climate change and population growth will have an impact on water resources both in terms of available water and river water quality. Traditionally, a distinct separation between water quality and abstraction has existed. However, water quality can be a bottleneck in a system since water treatment works can only treat water if it meets certain standards. For instance, high turbidity and large phytoplankton content can increase sharply the cost of treatment or even make river water unfit for human consumption purposes. It is vital for water companies to be able to characterise the quantity and quality of water under extreme weather events and to consider the occurrence of eventual periods when water abstraction has to cease due to water quality constraints. This will give them opportunity to decide on water resource planning and potential changes to reduce the system failure risk. We present a risk-based approach for incorporating extreme events, based on future climate change scenarios from a large ensemble of climate model realisations, into integrated water resources model through combined use of water allocation (WATHNET) and water quality (INCA) models. The annual frequency of imposed restrictions on demand is considered as measure of reliability. We tested our approach on Thames region, in the UK, with 100 extreme events. The results show increase in frequency of imposed restrictions when water quality constraints were considered. This indicates importance of considering water quality issues in drought management plans.

Decision support for the management of water resources at Sub-middle of the São Francisco river basin in Brazil using integrated hydro-economic modeling and scenarios for land use changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moraes, M. G. A.; Souza da Silva, G.

2016-12-01

Hydro-economic models can measure the economic effects of different operating rules, environmental restrictions, ecosystems services, technical constraints and institutional constraints. Furthermore, water allocation can be improved by considering economical criteria's. Likewise, climate and land use change can be analyzed to provide resilience. We developed and applied a hydro-economic optimization model to determine the optimal water allocation of main users in the Lower-middle São Francisco River Basin in Northeast (NE) Brazil. The model uses demand curves for the irrigation projects, small farmers and human supply, rather than fixed requirements for water resources. This study analyzed various constraints and operating alternatives for the installed hydropower dams in economic terms. A seven-year period (2000-2006) with water scarcity in the past has been selected to analyze the water availability and the associated optimal economic water allocation. The used constraints are technical, socioeconomic and environmental. The economically impacts of scenarios like prioritizing human consumption, impacts of the implementation of the São Francisco river transposition, human supply without high distribution losses, environmental hydrographs, forced reservoir level control, forced reduced reservoir capacity, alteration of lower flow restriction were analyzed. The results in this period show that scarcity costs related ecosystem service and environmental constraints are significant, and have major impacts (increase of scarcity cost) for consumptive users like irrigation projects. In addition, institutional constraints such as prioritizing human supply, minimum release limits downstream of the reservoirs and the implementation of the transposition project impact the costs and benefits of the two main economic sectors (irrigation and power generation) in the region of the Lower-middle of the São Francisco river basin. Scarcity costs for irrigation users generally increase more (in percentage terms) than the other users associated to environmental and institutional constraints.

Managing water quality under drought conditions in the Llobregat River Basin.

PubMed

Momblanch, Andrea; Paredes-Arquiola, Javier; Munné, Antoni; Manzano, Andreu; Arnau, Javier; Andreu, Joaquín

2015-01-15

The primary effects of droughts on river basins include both depleted quantity and quality of the available water resources, which can render water resources useless for human needs and simultaneously damage the environment. Isolated water quality analyses limit the action measures that can be proposed. Thus, an integrated evaluation of water management and quality is warranted. In this study, a methodology consisting of two coordinated models is used to combine aspects of water resource allocation and water quality assessment. Water management addresses water allocation issues by considering the storage, transport and consumption elements. Moreover, the water quality model generates time series of concentrations for several pollutants according to the water quality of the runoff and the demand discharges. These two modules are part of the AQUATOOL decision support system shell for water resource management. This tool facilitates the analysis of the effects of water management and quality alternatives and scenarios on the relevant variables in a river basin. This paper illustrates the development of an integrated model for the Llobregat River Basin. The analysis examines the drought from 2004 to 2008, which is an example of a period when the water system was quantitative and qualitatively stressed. The performed simulations encompass a wide variety of water management and water quality measures; the results provide data for making informed decisions. Moreover, the results demonstrated the importance of combining these measures depending on the evolution of a drought event and the state of the water resources system. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Ethical Debates Related to the Allocation of Medical Resources During the Response to the Mass Casualty Incident at Formosa Fun Coast Water Park].

PubMed

Tang, Jing-Shia; Chen, Chia-Jung; Huang, Mei-Chih

2017-02-01

Disasters are unpredictable and often result in mass casualties. Limited medical resources often affect the response to mass casualty incidents, undermining the ability of responders to adequately protect all of the casualties. Thus, the injuries of casualties are classified in hopes of fully utilizing medical resources efficiently in order to save the maximum possible number of people. However, as opinions on casualty prioritization are subjective, disagreements and disputes often arise regarding allocating medical resources. The present article focused on the 2015 explosion at Formosa Fun Coast, a recreational water park in Bali, New Taipei City, Taiwan as a way to explore the dilemma over the triage and resource allocation for casualties with burns over 90% and 50-60% of their bodies. The principles of utilitarianism and deontology in Western medicine were used to discuss the reasons and rationale behind the allocation of medical resources during this incident. Confucianism, a philosophical mindset that significantly influences Taiwanese society today, was then discussed to describe the "miracles" that happened during the incident, including the acquisition of assistance from the public and medical professionals. External supplies and professional help (social resources) were provided voluntarily after this incident, which had a profound impact on both the immediate response and the longer-term recovery efforts.

Sharing the cost of river basin adaptation portfolios to climate change: Insights from social justice and cooperative game theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girard, Corentin; Rinaudo, Jean-Daniel; Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel

2016-10-01

The adaptation of water resource systems to the potential impacts of climate change requires mixed portfolios of supply and demand adaptation measures. The issue is not only to select efficient, robust, and flexible adaptation portfolios but also to find equitable strategies of cost allocation among the stakeholders. Our work addresses such cost allocation problems by applying two different theoretical approaches: social justice and cooperative game theory in a real case study. First of all, a cost-effective portfolio of adaptation measures at the basin scale is selected using a least-cost optimization model. Cost allocation solutions are then defined based on economic rationality concepts from cooperative game theory (the Core). Second, interviews are conducted to characterize stakeholders' perceptions of social justice principles associated with the definition of alternatives cost allocation rules. The comparison of the cost allocation scenarios leads to contrasted insights in order to inform the decision-making process at the river basin scale and potentially reap the efficiency gains from cooperation in the design of river basin adaptation portfolios.

Management scenarios for the Jordan River salinity crisis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Farber, E.; Vengosh, A.; Gavrieli, I.; Marie, Amarisa; Bullen, T.D.; Mayer, B.; Holtzman, R.; Segal, M.; Shavit, U.

2005-01-01

Recent geochemical and hydrological findings show that the water quality of the base flow of the Lower Jordan River, between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, is dependent upon the ratio between surface water flow and groundwater discharge. Using water quality data, mass-balance calculations, and actual flow-rate measurements, possible management scenarios for the Lower Jordan River and their potential affects on its salinity are investigated. The predicted scenarios reveal that implementation of some elements of the Israel-Jordan peace treaty will have negative effects on the Jordan River water salinity. It is predicted that removal of sewage effluents dumped into the river (???13 MCM/a) will significantly reduce the river water's flow and increase the relative proportion of the saline groundwater flux into the river. Under this scenario, the Cl content of the river at its southern point (Abdalla Bridge) will rise to almost 7000 mg/L during the summer. In contrast, removal of all the saline water (16.5 MCM/a) that is artificially discharged into the Lower Jordan River will significantly reduce its Cl concentration, to levels of 650-2600 and 3000-3500 mg/L in the northern and southern areas of the Lower Jordan River, respectively. However, because the removal of either the sewage effluents or the saline water will decrease the river's discharge to a level that could potentially cause river desiccation during the summer months, other water sources must be allocated to preserve in-stream flow needs and hence the river's ecosystem. ?? 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the effect of alternative carbon allocation schemes in a land surface model (CLM4.5) on carbon fluxes, pools, and turnover in temperate forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montané, Francesc; Fox, Andrew M.; Arellano, Avelino F.; MacBean, Natasha; Alexander, M. Ross; Dye, Alex; Bishop, Daniel A.; Trouet, Valerie; Babst, Flurin; Hessl, Amy E.; Pederson, Neil; Blanken, Peter D.; Bohrer, Gil; Gough, Christopher M.; Litvak, Marcy E.; Novick, Kimberly A.; Phillips, Richard P.; Wood, Jeffrey D.; Moore, David J. P.

2017-09-01

How carbon (C) is allocated to different plant tissues (leaves, stem, and roots) determines how long C remains in plant biomass and thus remains a central challenge for understanding the global C cycle. We used a diverse set of observations (AmeriFlux eddy covariance tower observations, biomass estimates from tree-ring data, and leaf area index (LAI) measurements) to compare C fluxes, pools, and LAI data with those predicted by a land surface model (LSM), the Community Land Model (CLM4.5). We ran CLM4.5 for nine temperate (including evergreen and deciduous) forests in North America between 1980 and 2013 using four different C allocation schemes: i. dynamic C allocation scheme (named "D-CLM4.5") with one dynamic allometric parameter, which allocates C to the stem and leaves to vary in time as a function of annual net primary production (NPP); ii. an alternative dynamic C allocation scheme (named "D-Litton"), where, similar to (i), C allocation is a dynamic function of annual NPP, but unlike (i) includes two dynamic allometric parameters involving allocation to leaves, stem, and coarse roots; iii.-iv. a fixed C allocation scheme with two variants, one representative of observations in evergreen (named "F-Evergreen") and the other of observations in deciduous forests (named "F-Deciduous"). D-CLM4.5 generally overestimated gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration, and underestimated net ecosystem exchange (NEE). In D-CLM4.5, initial aboveground biomass in 1980 was largely overestimated (between 10 527 and 12 897 g C m-2) for deciduous forests, whereas aboveground biomass accumulation through time (between 1980 and 2011) was highly underestimated (between 1222 and 7557 g C m-2) for both evergreen and deciduous sites due to a lower stem turnover rate in the sites than the one used in the model. D-CLM4.5 overestimated LAI in both evergreen and deciduous sites because the leaf C-LAI relationship in the model did not match the observed leaf C-LAI relationship at our sites. Although the four C allocation schemes gave similar results for aggregated C fluxes, they translated to important differences in long-term aboveground biomass accumulation and aboveground NPP. For deciduous forests, D-Litton gave more realistic Cstem / Cleaf ratios and strongly reduced the overestimation of initial aboveground biomass and aboveground NPP for deciduous forests by D-CLM4.5. We identified key structural and parameterization deficits that need refinement to improve the accuracy of LSMs in the near future. These include changing how C is allocated in fixed and dynamic schemes based on data from current forest syntheses and different parameterization of allocation schemes for different forest types. Our results highlight the utility of using measurements of aboveground biomass to evaluate and constrain the C allocation scheme in LSMs, and suggest that stem turnover is overestimated by CLM4.5 for these AmeriFlux sites. Understanding the controls of turnover will be critical to improving long-term C processes in LSMs.

Identifying common traits among Australian irrigators using cluster analysis.

PubMed

Kuehne, G; Bjornlund, H; Cheers, B

2008-01-01

In Australia there is a growing awareness that the over-allocation of water entitlements to irrigators needs to be reduced so that environmental flow allocations can be increased. This means that some water will need to be acquired from irrigators and returned to the environment. Most current water reform policies assume that irrigators are solely motivated by profit and will be willing sellers of water, but this might be an untenable approach. Authorities will need to consider new ways of encouraging the participation of irrigators in water reform. The main aim of this research was to identify the non-commercial influences acting on irrigators' behaviour, especially the influence of the values that they hold toward family, land, water, community and lifestyle. The study also aimed to investigate whether it is possible to group irrigators according to these values and then use the groupings to describe how these might affect their willingness to participate in environmental reforms. We clustered the irrigators into three groups with differing orientations; (i) Investors [25%]-profit oriented, (ii) Lifestylers [25%]-lifestyle oriented, (iii) Providers [50%]-family-succession oriented. This research indicates that when designing policy instruments to acquire water for environmental purposes policy-makers should pay more attention to the factors influencing irrigators' decision making, especially non-commercial factors. (c) IWA Publishing 2008.

Development of a fuzzy-stochastic programming with Green Z-score criterion method for planning water resources systems with a trading mechanism.

PubMed

Zeng, X T; Huang, G H; Li, Y P; Zhang, J L; Cai, Y P; Liu, Z P; Liu, L R

2016-12-01

This study developed a fuzzy-stochastic programming with Green Z-score criterion (FSGZ) method for water resources allocation and water quality management with a trading-mechanism (WAQT) under uncertainties. FSGZ can handle uncertainties expressed as probability distributions, and it can also quantify objective/subjective fuzziness in the decision-making process. Risk-averse attitudes and robustness coefficient are joined to express the relationship between the expected target and outcome under various risk preferences of decision makers and systemic robustness. The developed method is applied to a real-world case of WAQT in the Kaidu-Kongque River Basin in northwest China, where an effective mechanism (e.g., market trading) to simultaneously confront severely diminished water availability and degraded water quality is required. Results of water transaction amounts, water allocation patterns, pollution mitigation schemes, and system benefits under various scenarios are analyzed, which indicate that a trading-mechanism is a more sustainable method to manage water-environment crisis in the study region. Additionally, consideration of anthropogenic (e.g., a risk-averse attitude) and systemic factors (e.g., the robustness coefficient) can support the generation of a robust plan associated with risk control for WAQT when uncertainty is present. These findings assist local policy and decision makers to gain insights into water-environment capacity planning to balance the basin's social and economic growth with protecting the region's ecosystems.

Interactive Effects of Nutrient and Mechanical Stresses on Plant Morphology

PubMed Central

Puijalon, Sara; Lena, Jean-Paul; Bornette, Gudrun

2007-01-01

Background and Aims Plant species frequently encounter multiple stresses under natural conditions, and the way they cope with these stresses is a major determinant of their ecological breadth. The way mechanical (e.g. wind, current) and resource stresses act simultaneously on plant morphological traits has been poorly addressed, even if both stresses often interact. This paper aims to assess whether hydraulic stress affects plant morphology in the same way at different nutrient levels. Methods An examination was made of morphological variations of an aquatic plant species growing under four hydraulic stress (flow velocity) gradients located in four habitats distributed along a nutrient gradient. Morphological traits covering plant size, dry mass allocation, organ water content and foliage architecture were measured. Key Results Significant interactive effects of flow velocity and nutrient level were observed for all morphological traits. In particular, increased flow velocity resulted in size reductions under low nutrient conditions, suggesting an adaptive response to flow stress (escape strategy). On the other hand, moderate increases in flow velocity resulted in increased size under high nutrient conditions, possibly related to an inevitable growth response to a higher nutrient supply induced by water renewal at the plant surface. For some traits (e.g. dry mass allocation), a consistent sense of variation as a result of increasing flow velocity was observed, but the amount of variation was either reduced or amplified under nutrient-rich compared with nutrient-poor conditions, depending on the traits considered. Conclusions These results suggest that, for a given species, a stress factor may result, in contrasting patterns and hence strategies, depending on a second stress factor. Such results emphasize the relevance of studies on plant responses to multiple stresses for understanding the actual ecological breadth of species. PMID:17913725

Short dry spells in the wet season increase mortality of tropical pioneer seedlings.

PubMed

Engelbrecht, Bettina M J; Dalling, James W; Pearson, Timothy R H; Wolf, Robert L; Gálvez, David A; Koehler, Tobias; Tyree, Melvin T; Kursar, Thomas A

2006-06-01

Variation in plant species performance in response to water availability offers a potential axis for temporal and spatial habitat partitioning and may therefore affect community composition in tropical forests. We hypothesized that short dry spells during the wet season are a significant source of mortality for the newly emerging seedlings of pioneer species that recruit in treefall gaps in tropical forests. An analysis of a 49-year rainfall record for three forests across a rainfall gradient in central Panama confirmed that dry spells of > or = 10 days during the wet season occur on average once a year in a deciduous forest, and once every other year in a semi-deciduous moist and an evergreen wet forest. The effect of wet season dry spells on the recruitment of pioneers was investigated by comparing seedling survival in rain-protected dry plots and irrigated control plots in four large artificially created treefall gaps in a semi-deciduous tropical forest. In rain-protected plots surface soil layers dried rapidly, leading to a strong gradient in water potential within the upper 10 cm of soil. Seedling survival for six pioneer species was significantly lower in rain-protected than in irrigated control plots after only 4 days. The strength of the irrigation effect differed among species, and first became apparent 3-10 days after treatments started. Root allocation patterns were significantly, or marginally significantly, different between species and between two groups of larger and smaller seeded species. However, they were not correlated with seedling drought sensitivity, suggesting allocation is not a key trait for drought sensitivity in pioneer seedlings. Our data provide strong evidence that short dry spells in the wet season differentially affect seedling survivorship of pioneer species, and may therefore have important implications to seedling demography and community dynamics.

Terrestrial N Cycling And C Storage: Some Insights From A Process-based Land Surface Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaehle, S.; Friend, A. D.; Friedlingstein, P.

2008-12-01

We present results of a new land surface model, O-CN, which includes a process-based coupling between the terrestrial cycling of energy, water, carbon, and nitrogen. The model represents the controls of the terrestrial nitrogen (N) cycling on carbon (C) pools and fluxes through photosynthesis, respiration, changes in allocation, and soil organic matter decomposition, and explicitly accounts for N leaching and gaseous losses. O-CN has been shown to give realistic results in comparison to observations at a wide range of scales, including in situ flux measurements, productivity databases, and atmospheric CO2 concentration data. O-CN is run for three free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) sites (Duke, Oak Ridge, Aspen), and reproduces observed magnitudes of changes in net primary productivity, foliage area and foliage N content. Several alternative hypotheses concerning the control of N on vegetation growth and decomposition, including effects of diluting foliage N concentrations, down-regulation of photosynthesis and respiration, acclimation of C allocation patterns and biological N fixation, are tested with respect to their effect on long- term C sequestration estimate. Differences in initial N availability, small transient changes in N inputs and the assumed plasticity of C:N stoichiometry can lead to substantial differences in the simulated long-term changes in productivity and C sequestration. We discuss the capacity of observations obtained at FACE sites to evaluate these alternative hypotheses, and investigate implications of a transient versus instantaneous increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide for the magnitude of the simulated limiting effect of N on C cycling. Finally, we re-examine earlier model-based assessments of the terrestrial C sequestration potential using a global transient O-CN simulation driven by increases in atmospheric CO2, N deposition and climatic changes over the 21st century.

Unregulated drinking water initiative for environmental surveillance and public health.

PubMed

Backer, Lorraine C; Tosta, Nancy

2011-03-01

The critical public health need to assess and protect the drinking water used by 37 million Americans requires attention and resources. NCEH, in partnership with states, has begun the process to identify information available on unregulated drinking water sources to improve the availability of data to support decisive public health actions and resource allocation. Far more attention and resources are needed to complete this process.

Adaptation responses to increasing drought frequency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loch, A. J.; Adamson, D. C.; Schwabe, K.

2016-12-01

Using state contingent analysis we discuss how and why irrigators adapt to alternative water supply signals. This analysis approach helps to illustrate how and why producers currently use state-general and state-allocable inputs to adapt and respond to known and possible future climatic alternative natures. Focusing on the timing of water allocations, we explore inherent differences in the demand for water by two key irrigation sectors: annual and perennial producers which in Australia have allowed a significant degree of risk-minimisation during droughts. In the absence of land constraints, producers also had a capacity to respond to positive state outcomes and achieve super-normal profits. In the future, however, the probability of positive state outcomes is uncertain; production systems may need to adapt to minimise losses and/or achieve positive returns under altered water supply conditions that may arise as a consequence of more frequent drought states. As such, producers must assess whether altering current input/output choice sets in response to possible future climate states will enhance their long-run competitive advantage for both expected new normal and extreme water supply outcomes. Further, policy supporting agricultural sector climate change resilience must avoid poorly-designed strategies that increase producer vulnerability in the face of drought. Our analysis explores the reliability of alternative water property right bundles and how reduced allocations across time influence alternative responses by producers. We then extend our analysis to explore how management strategies could adapt to two possible future drier state types: i) where an average reduction in water supply is experienced; and ii) where the frequency of droughts increase. The combination of these findings are subsequently used to discuss the role water reform policy has to deal with current and future climate scenarios. We argue current policy strategies could drive producers to more homogeneous production systems over time, which ultimately entail risky adaptation options under future water supply availability or increased drought frequency scenarios. Lastly, our analysis has shown the flexibility of applying SCA toward examining uncertainty surrounding future states of nature under climate change.

Developing a Dynamic SPARROW Water Quality Decision Support System Using NASA Remotely-Sensed Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Hamdan, M. Z.; Smith, R. A.; Hoos, A.; Schwarz, G. E.; Alexander, R. B.; Crosson, W. L.; Srikishen, J.; Estes, M., Jr.; Cruise, J.; Al-Hamdan, A.; Ellenburg, W. L., II; Flores, A.; Sanford, W. E.; Zell, W.; Reitz, M.; Miller, M. P.; Journey, C. A.; Befus, K. M.; Swann, R.; Herder, T.; Sherwood, E.; Leverone, J.; Shelton, M.; Smith, E. T.; Anastasiou, C. J.; Seachrist, J.; Hughes, A.; Graves, D.

2017-12-01

The USGS Spatially Referenced Regression on Watershed Attributes (SPARROW) surface water quality modeling system has been widely used for long term, steady state water quality analysis. However, users have increasingly requested a dynamic version of SPARROW that can provide seasonal estimates of nutrients and suspended sediment to receiving waters. The goal of this NASA-funded project is to develop a dynamic decision support system to enhance the southeast SPARROW water quality model and finer-scale dynamic models for selected coastal watersheds through the use of remotely-sensed data and other NASA Land Information System (LIS) products. The spatial and temporal scale of satellite remote sensing products and LIS modeling data make these sources ideal for the purposes of development and operation of the dynamic SPARROW model. Remote sensing products including MODIS vegetation indices, SMAP surface soil moisture, and OMI atmospheric chemistry along with LIS-derived evapotranspiration (ET) and soil temperature and moisture products will be included in model development and operation. MODIS data will also be used to map annual land cover/land use in the study areas and in conjunction with Landsat and Sentinel to identify disturbed areas that might be sources of sediment and increased phosphorus loading through exposure of the bare soil. These data and others constitute the independent variables in a regression analysis whose dependent variables are the water quality constituents total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended sediment. Remotely-sensed variables such as vegetation indices and ET can be proxies for nutrient uptake by vegetation; MODIS Leaf Area Index can indicate sources of phosphorus from vegetation; soil moisture and temperature are known to control rates of denitrification; and bare soil areas serve as sources of enhanced nutrient and sediment production. The enhanced SPARROW dynamic models will provide improved tools for end users to manage water quality in near real time and for the formulation of future scenarios to inform strategic planning. Time-varying SPARROW outputs will aid water managers in decision making regarding allocation of resources in protecting aquatic habitats, planning for harmful algal blooms, and restoration of degraded habitats, stream segments, or lakes.

Possible mechanism linking ocean conditions to low body weight and poor recruitment of age-0 walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) in the southeast Bering Sea during 2007

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gann, Jeanette C.; Eisner, Lisa B.; Porter, Steve; Watson, Jordan T.; Cieciel, Kristin D.; Mordy, Calvin W.; Yasumiishi, Ellen M.; Stabeno, Phyllis J.; Ladd, Carol; Heintz, Ron A.; Farley, Edward V.

2016-12-01

Changes to physical and chemical oceanographic structure can lead to changes in phytoplankton biomass and growth, which, in-turn, lead to variability in the amount of energy available for transfer to higher trophic levels (e.g., forage fish). In general, age-0 (juvenile) walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) have been shown to have low fitness (determined by energy density and size), in warm years compared to average or cold years in the southeastern Bering Sea. Contrary to these findings, the year 2007 was a cold year with low fitness of age-0 pollock compared to the transition year of 2006 (transitioning from warm to cold conditions) and cold years, 2008-2011. In late summer/early fall (mid-August through September), significantly lower surface silicic acid concentrations coupled with low phytoplankton production and chlorophyll a (Chl a) biomass were observed in 2007 among 2006-2012 (P<0.05). We postulate that the low silicic acid concentrations may be an indication of reduced surface nutrient flux during summer, leading to low primary productivity (PP). The nutrient replenishing shelf/slope water exchange that occurred during late October-February (2006-2007) indicates that deep-water nutrient/salinity reserves for the start of the 2007 growing season were plentiful and had similar concentrations to other years (2006-2012). The spring bloom magnitude appeared to be slightly below average, and surface silicic acid concentrations at the end of the spring bloom period in 2007 appeared similar to other years in the middle domain of the southeastern Bering Sea. However, during summer (June-August) 2007, high stratification and the low number of storm events resulted in low flux of nutrients to surface waters, indicated by the low surface silicic acid concentrations at the end of summer (mid-August through September). Surface silicic acid may be useful as an indicator of surface nutrient enrichment (and subsequent PP) during summer since other macronutrients (e.g. nitrate) are usually near or below detection limits at this time, and diatoms are generally scarce during summer. Surface silicic acid concentration was also positively associated with the size of juvenile fish (age-0 pollock weight and length). This reinforces the theory that nutrient availability and primary productivity are important to energy allocation for higher trophic levels during summer, and possibly provides links between stratification and wind mixing, surface nutrient input, PP and juvenile fish size and condition.

Remote sensing applications for estimating changes on crop evapotranspiration of the most water intensive crops, due to climate change in Cyprus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papadavid, G.; Neocleous, D.; Stylianou, A.; Markou, M.; Kountios, G.; Hadjimitsis, D.

2016-08-01

Water allocation to crops, and especially to the most water intensive ones, has always been of great importance in agricultural process. Deficit or excess water irrigation quantities could create either crop health related problems or water over-consumption situation which lead to stored water reduction and toxic material depletion to deeper ground layers, respectively. In this context, and under the current conditions, where Cyprus is facing effects of climate changes, purpose of this study is basically to estimate the needed crop water requirements of the past (1995-2004) and the corresponding ones of the present (2005-2015) in order to test if there were any significant changes regarding the crop water requirements of the most water intensive trees in Cyprus. Mediterranean region has been identified as the region that will suffer the most from climate change. Thus the paper refers to effects of climate changes on crop evapotranspiration (ETc) using remotely sensed data from Landsat TM/ ETM+ / OLI employing a sound methodology used worldwide, the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL). Though the general feeling is that of changes on climate will consequently affect ETc, the results have indicated that there is no significant effect of climate change on crop evapotranspiration, despite the fact that some climatic factors have changed. Applying Student's T-test, the mean values for the most water intensive trees in Cyprus of the 1994-2004 decade have shown no statistical difference from the mean values of 2005-2015 decade's for all the cases, concluding that the climate change taking place the last decades in Cyprus have either not affected the crop evapotranspiration or the crops have manage to adapt into the new environmental conditions through time.

Developing a methodology for real-time trading of water withdrawal and waste load discharge permits in rivers.

PubMed

Soltani, Maryam; Kerachian, Reza

2018-04-15

In this paper, a new methodology is proposed for the real-time trading of water withdrawal and waste load discharge permits in agricultural areas along the rivers. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) is chosen as an indicator of river water quality and the TDS load that agricultural water users discharge to the river are controlled by storing a part of return flows in some evaporation ponds. Available surface water withdrawal and waste load discharge permits are determined using a non-linear multi-objective optimization model. Total available permits are then fairly reallocated among agricultural water users, proportional to their arable lands. Water users can trade their water withdrawal and waste load discharge permits simultaneously, in a bilateral, step by step framework, which takes advantage of differences in their water use efficiencies and agricultural return flow rates. A trade that would take place at each time step results in either more benefit or less diverted return flow. The Nucleolus cooperative game is used to redistribute the benefits generated through trades in different time steps. The proposed methodology is applied to PayePol region in the Karkheh River catchment, southwest Iran. Predicting that 1922.7 Million Cubic Meters (MCM) of annual flow is available to agricultural lands at the beginning of the cultivation year, the real-time optimization model estimates the total annual benefit to reach 46.07 million US Dollars (USD), which requires 6.31 MCM of return flow to be diverted to the evaporation ponds. Fair reallocation of the permits, changes these values to 35.38 million USD and 13.69 MCM, respectively. Results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology in the real-time water and waste load allocation and simultaneous trading of permits. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influential third party on water right conflict: A Game Theory approach to achieve the desired equilibrium (case study: Ilam dam, Iran).

PubMed

Zanjanian, Hossein; Abdolabadi, Hamid; Niksokhan, Mohammad Hossein; Sarang, Amin

2018-05-15

Allocating water to organizational stakeholders poses a vital challenge to water managers. Organizations which benefit from water as the primary factor input attempt to achieve their objectives using cost-effective and quick-return strategies, such as increasing the water rights. In such circumstances, lack of water probably results in the conflict. Recognizing the management approaches, organizational priorities, and the stakeholders' influence power can play a dominant role in analyzing the future of such conflicts. In this paper, we analyzed the conflict of water allocation in Ilam dam among organizational stakeholders. We defined the strategies based on the background of the game and organizational objectives. The influence power of stakeholders and the numerical weights of strategies were quantified based on the expert judgment method. The relative priorities of strategies were then calculated for each state of the conflict. We used the GMCR + model to study the actions of stakeholders. Results suggest that the Jihad Agriculture Organization and the Water and Wastewater Company withdraw more water; hence, there exists no water to meet the environmental water right. In this case, the participation of the third party, such as the Governorship and the Justice can change the future of the conflict, and result in moving to the optimal state. However, results from Inverse GMCR analysis demonstrate that Justice is the most influential third party that can move the conflict towards a desired equilibrium (optimal case). Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Asymmetric abstraction and allocation: the Israeli-Palestinian water pumping record.

PubMed

Zeitoun, Mark; Messerschmid, Clemens; Attili, Shaddad

2009-01-01

The increased attention given to international transboundary aquifers may be nowhere more pressing than on the western bank of the Jordan River. Hydropolitical analysis of six decades of Israeli and Palestinian pumping records reveals how ground water abstraction rates are as asymmetrical as are water allocations. The particular hydrogeology of the region, notably the variability in depth to ground water, variations in ground water quality, and the vulnerability of the aquifer, also affect the outcome. The records confirm previously drawn conclusions of the influence of the agricultural lobby in maintaining a supply-side water management paradigm. Comparison of water consumption rates divulges that water consumed by all sectors of the farming-based Palestinian economy is less than half of Israeli domestic consumption. The overwhelming majority of "reserve" flows from wet years are sold at subsidized rates to the Israeli agricultural sector, while very minor amounts are sold at normal rates to the Palestinian side for drinking water. An apparent coevolution of water resource variability and politics serves to explain increased Israeli pumping prior to negotiations in the early 1990s. The abstraction record from the Western Aquifer Basin discloses that the effective limit set by the terms of the 1995 Oslo II Agreement is regularly violated by the Israeli side, thereby putting the aquifer at risk. The picture that emerges is one of a transboundary water regime that is much more exploitative than cooperative and that risks spoiling the resource as it poisons international relations.

Pollution control costs of a transboundary river basin: Empirical tests of the fairness and stability of cost allocation mechanisms using game theory.

PubMed

Shi, Guang-Ming; Wang, Jin-Nan; Zhang, Bing; Zhang, Zhe; Zhang, Yong-Liang

2016-07-15

With rapid economic growth, transboundary river basin pollution in China has become a very serious problem. Based on practical experience in other countries, cooperation among regions is an economic way to control the emission of pollutants. This study develops a game theoretic simulation model to analyze the cost effectiveness of reducing water pollutant emissions in four regions of the Jialu River basin while considering the stability and fairness of four cost allocation schemes. Different schemes (the nucleolus, the weak nucleolus, the Shapley value and the Separable Cost Remaining Benefit (SCRB) principle) are used to allocate regionally agreed-upon water pollutant abatement costs. The main results show that the fully cooperative coalition yielded the highest incremental gain for regions willing to cooperate if each region agreed to negotiate by transferring part of the incremental gain obtained from the cooperation to cover the losses of other regions. In addition, these allocation schemes produce different outcomes in terms of their fairness to the players and in terms of their derived stability, as measured by the Shapley-Shubik Power Index and the Propensity to Disrupt. Although the Shapley value and the SCRB principle exhibit superior fairness and stabilization to the other methods, only the SCRB principle may maintains full cooperation among regions over the long term. The results provide clear empirical evidence that regional gain allocation may affect the sustainability of cooperation. Therefore, it is implied that not only the cost-effectiveness but also the long-term sustainability should be considered while formulating and implementing environmental policies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pan-European household and industrial water demand: regional relevant estimations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernhard, Jeroen; Reynaud, Arnaud; de Roo, Ad

2016-04-01

Sustainable water management is of high importance to provide adequate quality and quantity of water to European households, industries and agriculture. Especially since demographic, economic and climate changes are expected to increase competition for water between these sectors in the future. A shortage of water implies a reduction in welfare of households or damage to economic sectors. This socio-economic component should be incorporated into the decision-making process when developing water allocation schemes, requiring detailed water use information and cost/benefit functions. We now present the results of our study which is focused at providing regionally relevant pan-European water demand and cost-benefit estimations for the household and industry sector. We gathered consistent data on water consumption, water prices and other relevant variables at the highest spatial detail available from national statistical offices and other organizational bodies. This database provides the most detailed up to date picture of present water use and water prices across Europe. The use of homogeneous data allowed us to compare regions and analyze spatial patterns. We applied econometric methods to determine the main determinants of water demand and make a monetary valuation of water for both the domestic and industry sector. This monetary valuation is important to allow water allocation based on economic damage estimates. We also attempted to estimate how population growth, as well as socio-economic and climatic changes impact future water demand up to 2050 using a homogeneous method for all countries. European projections for the identified major drivers of water demand were used to simulate future conditions. Subsequently, water demand functions were applied to estimate future water use and potential economic damage caused by water shortages. We present our results while also providing some estimation of the uncertainty of our predictions.

A Spatial Decision Support System to incorporate hydro-economic modeling results in the management of water resources under decentralized institutional arrangements in a semiarid reservoir region in Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moraes, M. G. A.; Souza da Silva, G.; Siegmund-Schultze, M.

2016-12-01

The integration of economic and hydrological components in models, aimed to support evaluating alternatives of water allocation policies, is promising, though, challenging. Worldwide, these models have been used primarily in academia, and so far seldom by water managers for practical purposes. Ideally, the models should be available through a Decision Support System. The São Francisco River Basin in Northeast of Brazil has around 48% of its area in a semi-arid region. Irrigation and public water supply are the primary water use sectors, along with hydropower utilization. The water for electricity generation is stored in two large reservoirs, built 30 to 50 years ago under the premise of regulating flows for hydropower and controlling floods. Since 20 years, however, the law stipulates the multiple uses paradigm in a participatory and decentralized way. So far, only few rules laid down. Studies revealed that most of the respective institutions still needed to update their routines to the new paradigm.A hydro-economic model was developed and applied in order to determine the economically optimal water allocation of main users in that semiarid reservoir region. In order to make this model available to the decision makers, a minimum required is some form of manipulating data entry and output as well as some graphical interfaces. We propose a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) with dedicated hydro-economic modules in a web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) environment for integrated water resource management. The open model platform will include geoprocessing tasks and water user related data management. The hydro-economic geoprocessing will link to generic optimization modeling systems, such as EXCEL Solver, GAMS and MATLAB. The institutions that are deliberating or deciding over water allocation at different scales could use the generated information on potential economic benefits as a transparent basis for discussion. In addition, they can use the SDSS to include constraints into the model in order to account for further objectives, such as preference given to specific uses or timing of uses. This information, and corresponding policies, can foster enhanced economic welfare and sustainable water use, as well as help to solve water use conflicts.

A Spatial Decision Support System to incorporate hydro-economic modeling results in the management of water resources under decentralized institutional arrangements in a semiarid reservoir region in Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alcoforado de Moraes, Márcia; Silva, Gerald; Siegmund-Schultze, Marianna

2017-04-01

The integration of economic and hydrological components in models, aimed to support evaluating alternatives of water allocation policies, is promising, though, challenging. Worldwide, these models have been used primarily in academia, and so far seldom by water managers for practical purposes. Ideally, the models should be available through a Decision Support System. The São Francisco River Basin in Northeast of Brazil has around 48% of its area in a semi-arid region. Irrigation and public water supply are the primary water use sectors, along with hydropower utilization. The water for electricity generation is stored in two large reservoirs, built 30 to 50 years ago under the premise of regulating flows for hydropower and controlling floods. Since 20 years, however, the law stipulates the multiple uses paradigm in a participatory and decentralized way. So far, only few rules laid down. Studies revealed that most of the respective institutions still needed to update their routines to the new paradigm. A hydro-economic model was developed and applied in order to determine the economically optimal water allocation of main users in that semiarid reservoir region. In order to make this model available to the decision makers, a minimum required is some form of manipulating data entry and output as well as some graphical interfaces. We propose and present the first features of a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) with dedicated hydro-economic modules in a web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) environment for integrated water resource management. The open model platform should include geoprocessing tasks and water user related data management. The hydro-economic geoprocessing will link to generic optimization modeling systems, such as EXCEL Solver, GAMS and MATLAB. The institutions are deliberating or deciding over water allocation at different scales could use the generated information on potential economic benefits as a transparent basis for discussion. In addition, they can use the SDSS to include constraints into the model in order to account for further objectives, such as preference given to specific uses or timing of uses. This information, and corresponding policies, can foster enhanced economic welfare and sustainable water use, as well as help to solve water use conflicts.

Potential depletion of surface water in the Colorado River and agricultural drains by groundwater pumping in the Parker-Palo Verde-Cibola area, Arizona and California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leake, Stanley A.; Owen-Joyce, Sandra J.; Heilman, Julian A.

2013-01-01

Water use along the lower Colorado River is allocated as “consumptive use,” which is defined to be the amount of water diverted from the river minus the amount that returns to the river. Diversions of water from the river include surface water in canals and water removed from the river by pumping wells in the aquifer connected to the river. A complication in accounting for water pumped by wells occurs if the pumping depletes water in drains and reduces measured return flow in those drains. In that case, consumptive use of water pumped by the wells is accounted for in the reduction of measured return flow. A method is needed to understand where groundwater pumping will deplete water in the river and where it will deplete water in drains. To provide a basis for future accounting for pumped groundwater in the Parker-Palo Verde-Cibola area, a superposition model was constructed. The model consists of three layers of finite-difference cells that cover most of the aquifer in the study area. The model was run repeatedly with each run having a pumping well in a different model cell. The source of pumped water that is depletion of the river, expressed as a fraction of the pumping rate, was computed for all active cells in model layer 1, and maps were constructed to understand where groundwater pumping depletes the river and where it depletes drains. The model results indicate that if one or more drains exist between a pumping well location and the river, nearly all of the depletion will be from drains, and little or no depletion will come from the Colorado River. Results also show that if a well pumps on a side of the river with no drains in the immediate area, depletion will come from the Colorado River. Finally, if a well pumps between the river and drains that parallel the river, a fraction of the pumping will come from the river and the rest will come from the drains. Model results presented in this report may be considered in development or refinement of strategies for accounting for groundwater pumping in the river aquifer connected to the Colorado River in the study area.

A new conceptual model to understand the water budget of an Irrigated Basin with Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foglia, L.; McNally, A.; Harter, T.

2012-12-01

The Scott River is one of four major tributaries in the Klamath River Basin that provide cold water habitat for salmonid populations. The Scott Valley is also a major agricultural growing region with extensive alfalfa and hay productions that are key to the local economy. Due to the Mediterranean climate in the area, discharge rates in the river are highly seasonal. Almost all annual discharge occurs during the winter precipitation season and spring snowmelt. During the summer months (July through September), the main-stem river becomes disconnected from its tributaries throughout much of Scott Valley and relies primarily on baseflow from the Scott Valley aquifer. Scott Valley agriculture relies on a combination of surface water and groundwater supplies for crop irrigation during April through September. Conflicts between ecosystem services needs to guarantee a sustainable water quality (mainly in-stream temperature) for the native salmon population and water demands for agricultural irrigation motivated the development of a new conceptual model for the evaluation of the soil-water budget throughout the valley, as a basis for developing alternative surface water and groundwater management practices. The model simulates daily hydrologic fluxes at the individual field scale (100 - 200 m), allocates water resources to nearby irrigation systems, and tracks soil moisture to determine groundwater recharge. The water budget model provides recharge and pumping values for each field. These values in turn are used as inputs for a valley-wide groundwater model developed with MODFLOW-2000. In a first step, separate sensitivity analysis and calibration of the groundwater model is used to provide insights on the accuracy of the recharge and pumping distribution estimated with the water budget model. In a further step, the soil water budget and groundwater flow models will be coupled and sensitivity analysis and calibration will be performed simultaneously. Field-based, local-scale analysis allows for the evaluation of different management alternatives and their impact on recharge to groundwater or the streamflow. Management alternatives to be evaluated will include, for example, artificially increased spring irrigation recharge, deficit irrigation, use of more efficient irrigation practices. Furthermore, from the perspective of the local groundwater committee, it will be critical to be able to evaluate the effect of each field on the total water budget.

Multimedia transmission in MC-CDMA using adaptive subcarrier power allocation and CFO compensation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chitra, S.; Kumaratharan, N.

2018-02-01

Multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) system is one of the most effective techniques in fourth-generation (4G) wireless technology, due to its high data rate, high spectral efficiency and resistance to multipath fading. However, MC-CDMA systems are greatly deteriorated by carrier frequency offset (CFO) which is due to Doppler shift and oscillator instabilities. It leads to loss of orthogonality among the subcarriers and causes intercarrier interference (ICI). Water filling algorithm (WFA) is an efficient resource allocation algorithm to solve the power utilisation problems among the subcarriers in time-dispersive channels. The conventional WFA fails to consider the effect of CFO. To perform subcarrier power allocation with reduced CFO and to improve the capacity of MC-CDMA system, residual CFO compensated adaptive subcarrier power allocation algorithm is proposed in this paper. The proposed technique allocates power only to subcarriers with high channel to noise power ratio. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated using random binary data and image as source inputs. Simulation results depict that the bit error rate performance and ICI reduction capability of the proposed modified WFA offered superior performance in both power allocation and image compression for high-quality multimedia transmission in the presence of CFO and imperfect channel state information conditions.

How should leaf area, sapwood area and stomatal conductance vary with tree height to maximize growth?

PubMed

Buckley, Thomas N; Roberts, David W

2006-02-01

Conventional wisdom holds that the ratio of leaf area to sapwood area (L/S) should decline during height (H) growth to maintain hydraulic homeostasis and prevent stomatal conductance (g(s)) from declining. We contend that L/S should increase with H based on a numerical simulation, a mathematical analysis and a conceptual argument: (1) numerical simulation--a tree growth model, DESPOT (Deducing Emergent Structure and Physiology Of Trees), in which carbon (C) allocation is regulated to maximize C gain, predicts L/S should increase during most of H growth; (2) mathematical analysis--the formal criterion for optimal C allocation, applied to a simplified analytical model of whole tree carbon-water balance, predicts L/S should increase with H if leaf-level gas exchange parameters including g(s) are conserved; and (3) conceptual argument--photosynthesis is limited by several substitutable resources (chiefly nitrogen (N), water and light) and H growth increases the C cost of water transport but not necessarily of N and light capture, so if the goal is to maximize C gain or growth, allocation should shift in favor of increasing photosynthetic capacity and irradiance, rather than sustaining g(s). Although many data are consistent with the prediction that L/S should decline with H, many others are not, and we discuss possible reasons for these discrepancies.

Guidelines and techniques for obtaining water samples that accurately represent the water chemistry of an aquifer

USGS Publications Warehouse

Claassen, Hans C.

1982-01-01

Obtaining ground-water samples that accurately represent the water chemistry of an aquifer is a complex task. Before a ground-water sampling program can be started, an understanding of the kind of chemical data needed and the potential changes in water chemistry resulting from various drilling, well-completion, and sampling techniques is needed. This report provides a basis for such an evaluation and permits a choice of techniques that will result in obtaining the best possible data for the time and money allocated.

Opportunities for woody crop production using treated wastewater in Egypt. II. Irrigation strategies

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Egypt's share of Nile waters is allocated according to international treaty obligations and is fixed at 55.5 billion cubic meters annually. As a result, Egypt will not be able to meet increasing water demand using freshwater from the Nile and has been developing non-conventional wastewater reuse st...

Geology as destiny: cold waters run deep in western Oregon.

Treesearch

Sally Duncan

2002-01-01

The summer of 2001 brought the second-worst drought on record in Oregon, resulting in historically low streamflows and reservoir levels, stressed aquatic ecosystems, and even dramatic confrontations between irrigators and federal resource agencies in the Klamath basin. These events underscore the critical and growing importance of water availability and allocation in...

Quantitative Assessment of Temperature Sensitivity of the South Fork Nooksack River under Future Climates using QUAL2Kw

EPA Science Inventory

The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program, established by the Clean Water Act, is used to establish limits on loading of pollutants from point and nonpoint sources necessary to achieve water quality standards. One important use of a temperature TMDL is to allocate thermal loads...

[The clinical use of cryopreserved human skin allografts for transplantation].

PubMed

Martínez-Flores, Francisco; Chacón-Gómez, María; Madinaveitia-Villanueva, Juan Antonio; Barrera-Lopez, Araceli; Aguirre-Cruz, Lucinda; Querevalu-Murillo, Walter

2015-01-01

The biological recovery of human skin allografts is the gold standard for preservation in Skin Banks. However, there is no worldwide consensus about specific allocation criteria for preserved human skin allografts with living cells. A report is presented on the results of 5 years of experience of using human skin allografts in burned patient in the Skin and Tissue Bank at the "Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitacion" The human skin allografts were obtained from multi-organ donors. processed and preserved at -80 °C for 12 months. Allocation criteria were performed according to blood type match, clinical history, and burned body surface. Up to now, the Skin and Tissue Bank at 'Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitacion" has processed and recovered 125,000 cm(2) of human skin allografts. It has performed 34 surgical implants on 21 burned patients. The average of burn body surface was 59.2%. More than two-thirds (67.7%) of recipients of skin allografts were matched of the same to type blood of the donor, and 66.6% survived after 126 days hospital stay. It is proposed to consider recipient's blood group as allocation criteria to assign tissue; and use human skin allografts on patiens affected with burns over 30% of body surface (according the "rule of the 9"). Copyright © 2015 Academia Mexicana de Cirugía A.C. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

An inexact mixed risk-aversion two-stage stochastic programming model for water resources management under uncertainty.

PubMed

Li, W; Wang, B; Xie, Y L; Huang, G H; Liu, L

2015-02-01

Uncertainties exist in the water resources system, while traditional two-stage stochastic programming is risk-neutral and compares the random variables (e.g., total benefit) to identify the best decisions. To deal with the risk issues, a risk-aversion inexact two-stage stochastic programming model is developed for water resources management under uncertainty. The model was a hybrid methodology of interval-parameter programming, conditional value-at-risk measure, and a general two-stage stochastic programming framework. The method extends on the traditional two-stage stochastic programming method by enabling uncertainties presented as probability density functions and discrete intervals to be effectively incorporated within the optimization framework. It could not only provide information on the benefits of the allocation plan to the decision makers but also measure the extreme expected loss on the second-stage penalty cost. The developed model was applied to a hypothetical case of water resources management. Results showed that that could help managers generate feasible and balanced risk-aversion allocation plans, and analyze the trade-offs between system stability and economy.

Transboundary aquifers: conceptual models for development of international law.

PubMed

Eckstein, Yoram; Eckstein, Gabriel E

2005-01-01

More than one-half of the world's population is dependent on ground water for everyday uses such as drinking, cooking, and hygiene. In fact, it is the most extracted natural resource in the world. As a result of growing populations and expanding economies, many aquifers today are being depleted while others are being contaminated. Notwithstanding the world's considerable reliance on this resource, ground water resources have long received only secondary attention as compared to surface water, especially among legislatures and policymakers. Today, while there are hundreds of treaties governing transboundary rivers and lakes, there is only one international agreement that directly addresses a transboundary aquifer. Given that many of the aquifers on which humanity so heavily relies cross international borders, there is a considerable gap in the sound management, allocation, and protection of such resources. In order to prevent future disputes over transboundary aquifers and to maximize the beneficial use of this resource, international law must be clarified as it applies to transboundary ground water resources. Moreover, it must be defined with a firm basis in sound scientific understanding. In this paper we offer six conceptual models is which ground water resources can have transboudary consequences. The models are intended to help in assessing the applicability and scientific soundness of existing and proposed rules governing transboundary ground water resources. In addition, we consider the development of international law as it applies to ground water resources and make recommendations based on the models and principles of hydrogeology. The objective is the development of clear, logical, and science-based norms of state conducts as they relate to aquifers that traverse political boundaries.

Programmers manual for static and dynamic reusable surface insulation stresses (resist)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ogilvie, P. L.; Levy, A.; Austin, F.; Ojalvo, I. U.

1974-01-01

Programming information for the RESIST program for the dynamic and thermal stress analysis of the space shuttle surface insulation is presented. The overall flow chart of the program, overlay chart, data set allocation, and subprogram calling sequence are given along with a brief description of the individual subprograms and typical subprogram output.

Evaluating the Soil Vulnerability Index (SVI), an index to characterize inherent vulnerability of croplands to runoff and leaching

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil erosion and nutrient loss from surface runoff and sub-surface flows are critical problems for croplands in the United States. Assessing cropland vulnerability to runoff and leaching is needed for watershed or regional land use and land management planning and conservation resources allocation. ...

Impact analysis of government investment on water projects in the arid Gansu Province of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhan; Deng, Xiangzheng; Li, Xiubin; Zhou, Qing; Yan, Haiming

In this paper, we introduced three-nested Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) production function into a static Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model. Through four levels of factor productivity, we constructed three nested production function of land use productivity in the conceptual modeling frameworks. The first level of factor productivity is generated by the basic value-added land. On the second level, factor productivity in each sector is generated by human activities that presents human intervention to the first level of factor productivity. On the third level of factor productivity, water allocation reshapes the non-linear structure of transaction among first and second levels. From the perspective of resource utilization, we examined the economic efficiency of water allocation. The scenario-based empirical analysis results show that the three-nested CES production function within CGE model is well-behaved to present the economy system of the case study area. Firstly, water scarcity harmed economic production. Government investment on water projects in Gansu thereby had impacts on economic outcomes. Secondly, huge governmental financing on water projects bring depreciation of present value of social welfare. Moreover, water use for environment adaptation pressures on water supply. The theoretical water price can be sharply increased due to the increasing costs of factor inputs. Thirdly, water use efficiency can be improved by water projects, typically can be benefited from the expansion of water-saving irrigation areas even in those expanding dry area in Gansu. Therefore, increasing governmental financing on water projects can depreciate present value of social welfare but benefit economic efficiency for future generation.

Evaluating the effect of alternative carbon allocation schemes in a land surface model (CLM4.5) on carbon fluxes, pools, and turnover in temperate forests

DOE PAGES

Montané, Francesc; Fox, Andrew M.; Arellano, Avelino F.; ...

2017-09-22

How carbon (C) is allocated to different plant tissues (leaves, stem, and roots) determines how long C remains in plant biomass and thus remains a central challenge for understanding the global C cycle. We used a diverse set of observations (AmeriFlux eddy covariance tower observations, biomass estimates from tree-ring data, and leaf area index (LAI) measurements) to compare C fluxes, pools, and LAI data with those predicted by a land surface model (LSM), the Community Land Model (CLM4.5). We ran CLM4.5 for nine temperate (including evergreen and deciduous) forests in North America between 1980 and 2013 using four different C allocationmore » schemes: i. dynamic C allocation scheme (named "D-CLM4.5") with one dynamic allometric parameter, which allocates C to the stem and leaves to vary in time as a function of annual net primary production (NPP); ii. an alternative dynamic C allocation scheme (named "D-Litton"), where, similar to (i), C allocation is a dynamic function of annual NPP, but unlike (i) includes two dynamic allometric parameters involving allocation to leaves, stem, and coarse roots; iii.–iv. a fixed C allocation scheme with two variants, one representative of observations in evergreen (named "F-Evergreen") and the other of observations in deciduous forests (named "F-Deciduous"). D-CLM4.5 generally overestimated gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration, and underestimated net ecosystem exchange (NEE). In D-CLM4.5, initial aboveground biomass in 1980 was largely overestimated (between 10 527 and 12 897 g C m -2) for deciduous forests, whereas aboveground biomass accumulation through time (between 1980 and 2011) was highly underestimated (between 1222 and 7557 g C m -2) for both evergreen and deciduous sites due to a lower stem turnover rate in the sites than the one used in the model. D-CLM4.5 overestimated LAI in both evergreen and deciduous sites because the leaf C–LAI relationship in the model did not match the observed leaf C–LAI relationship at our sites. Although the four C allocation schemes gave similar results for aggregated C fluxes, they translated to important differences in long-term aboveground biomass accumulation and aboveground NPP. For deciduous forests, D-Litton gave more realistic C stem/C leaf ratios and strongly reduced the overestimation of initial aboveground biomass and aboveground NPP for deciduous forests by D-CLM4.5. We identified key structural and parameterization deficits that need refinement to improve the accuracy of LSMs in the near future. These include changing how C is allocated in fixed and dynamic schemes based on data from current forest syntheses and different parameterization of allocation schemes for different forest types. Our results highlight the utility of using measurements of aboveground biomass to evaluate and constrain the C allocation scheme in LSMs, and suggest that stem turnover is overestimated by CLM4.5 for these AmeriFlux sites. Understanding the controls of turnover will be critical to improving long-term C processes in LSMs.« less

Evaluating the effect of alternative carbon allocation schemes in a land surface model (CLM4.5) on carbon fluxes, pools, and turnover in temperate forests

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Montané, Francesc; Fox, Andrew M.; Arellano, Avelino F.

How carbon (C) is allocated to different plant tissues (leaves, stem, and roots) determines how long C remains in plant biomass and thus remains a central challenge for understanding the global C cycle. We used a diverse set of observations (AmeriFlux eddy covariance tower observations, biomass estimates from tree-ring data, and leaf area index (LAI) measurements) to compare C fluxes, pools, and LAI data with those predicted by a land surface model (LSM), the Community Land Model (CLM4.5). We ran CLM4.5 for nine temperate (including evergreen and deciduous) forests in North America between 1980 and 2013 using four different C allocationmore » schemes: i. dynamic C allocation scheme (named "D-CLM4.5") with one dynamic allometric parameter, which allocates C to the stem and leaves to vary in time as a function of annual net primary production (NPP); ii. an alternative dynamic C allocation scheme (named "D-Litton"), where, similar to (i), C allocation is a dynamic function of annual NPP, but unlike (i) includes two dynamic allometric parameters involving allocation to leaves, stem, and coarse roots; iii.–iv. a fixed C allocation scheme with two variants, one representative of observations in evergreen (named "F-Evergreen") and the other of observations in deciduous forests (named "F-Deciduous"). D-CLM4.5 generally overestimated gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration, and underestimated net ecosystem exchange (NEE). In D-CLM4.5, initial aboveground biomass in 1980 was largely overestimated (between 10 527 and 12 897 g C m -2) for deciduous forests, whereas aboveground biomass accumulation through time (between 1980 and 2011) was highly underestimated (between 1222 and 7557 g C m -2) for both evergreen and deciduous sites due to a lower stem turnover rate in the sites than the one used in the model. D-CLM4.5 overestimated LAI in both evergreen and deciduous sites because the leaf C–LAI relationship in the model did not match the observed leaf C–LAI relationship at our sites. Although the four C allocation schemes gave similar results for aggregated C fluxes, they translated to important differences in long-term aboveground biomass accumulation and aboveground NPP. For deciduous forests, D-Litton gave more realistic C stem/C leaf ratios and strongly reduced the overestimation of initial aboveground biomass and aboveground NPP for deciduous forests by D-CLM4.5. We identified key structural and parameterization deficits that need refinement to improve the accuracy of LSMs in the near future. These include changing how C is allocated in fixed and dynamic schemes based on data from current forest syntheses and different parameterization of allocation schemes for different forest types. Our results highlight the utility of using measurements of aboveground biomass to evaluate and constrain the C allocation scheme in LSMs, and suggest that stem turnover is overestimated by CLM4.5 for these AmeriFlux sites. Understanding the controls of turnover will be critical to improving long-term C processes in LSMs.« less

Dwarf mistletoe affects whole-tree water relations of Douglas fir and western larch primarily through changes in leaf to sapwood ratios.

PubMed

Sala, Anna; Carey, Eileen V; Callaway, Ragan M

2001-01-01

Dwarf mistletoes induce abnormal growth patterns and extreme changes in the biomass allocation of their hosts as well as directly parasitizing them for resources. Because biomass allocation can affect the resource use and efficiency of conifers, we studied the influences of dwarf mistletoe infection on above-ground biomass allocation of Douglas fir and western larch, and the consequences of such changes on whole-tree water use and water relations. Sap flow, tree water potentials, leaf:sapwood area ratios (A L :A S ), leaf carbon isotope ratios, and nitrogen content were measured on Douglas fir and western larch trees with various degrees of mistletoe infection during the summer of 1996 in western Montana. Heavy dwarf mistletoe infection on Douglas fir and western larch was related to significant increases in A L :A S . Correspondingly, water transport dynamics were altered in infected trees, but responses were different for the two species. Higher A L :A S ratios in heavily infected Douglas firs were offset by increases in sapwood area-based sap flux densities (Q SW ) such that leaf area-based sap flux densities (Q L ) and predawn leaf water potentials at the end of the summer did not change significantly with mistletoe infection. Small (but statistically insignificant) decreases of Q L for heavily infected Douglas firs were enough to offset increases in leaf area such that whole-tree water use was similar for uninfected and heavily infected trees. Increased A L :A S ratios of heavily infected western larch were not offset by increases of Q SW . Consequently, Q L was reduced, which corresponded with significant decreases of water potential at the end of the summer. Furthermore, mistletoe-infection-related changes in A L :A S as a function of tree size resulted in greater whole-tree water use for large infected larches than for large uninfected trees. Such changes may result in further depletion of limited soil water resources in mature infected stands late in the growing season. Foliage from infected trees of both species had lower water use efficiencies than non-infected trees. Our results demonstrate substantial changes of whole-tree processes related to mistletoe infection, and stress the importance of integrating whole-tree physiological and structural processes to fully understand the mechanisms by which pathogens suppress forest productivity.