Water International

Elmahdi, Amgad; Kheireldin, Khaled; Hamdy, Atef

doi: 10.1080/02508060608691948pmid: N/A

Abstract Integrated water resources planning and management are considered very complex issues. These issues are usually addressed through the multi-sectoral, interdisciplinary and hierarchal decomposition approaches. In general, integrated resource management indicates the consideration of water, social, socio-economic, economic and environmental issues. The current study aims at merging the GIS and Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques for the integrated water resource management of a cropped area. An area of about 120,000 Hectares located in the Northern Nile River Delta area with a coastal zone on the Mediterranean was selected and GIS was applied to represent the area's different environment, social, economic, and water factors. Different randomization cropping pattern distribution scenarios were proposed. Through the merging of GIS and MCE approaches, three scenarios were run and evaluated at three different levels: farm, canal catchment area and whole area. This merging resulted in a very powerful tool for the evaluation of different plans. The merging of GIS and MCE really facilitated the decision making process for these types of integrated water management problems.

Howe, Charles W.; Howe, John S.

doi: 10.1080/02508060608691949pmid: N/A

Abstract The water service industry has aggressively pursued contracts for the management or ownership of urban water utilities around the world. The industry has performed very well in terms of stock prices of publicly traded firms in comparison with the well-known stock price averages. However, there have been some widely publicized contract failures, the most dramatic being the cases of Cochabamba, Bolivia (2000) and Atlanta, Georgia, USA (2003). Such failures could discourage investment in the industry by depressing stock prices. A stock price index for a set of prominent firms is constructed that shows the highly favorable long term trend of WSI prices relative to the standard indexes. Then by using more formal “event analysis”, the study finds that there were no significant negative effects of the unfavorable events on the stock prices of the WSI sample. The formal announcements of these prominent contract cancellations apparently contained no surprises and little new information of industry-wide relevance because the industry was aware of the developing situations. Large firms in this risky industry build the expectation of occasional (even spectacular) failures into their company-wide plans.

Tan, Poh-Ling

doi: 10.1080/02508060608691950pmid: N/A

Abstract In the mid-1990s, Australia embarked on a program of reforms including the introduction of private property rights in water, the allocation of water for the environment, and increased public participation where new initiatives are proposed. Many of the water allocation and management practices adopted in the country have originated from states in the Murray-Darling Basin. This article considers the different approaches taken in NSW, Queensland and Victoria. In each of these states public participation has been an evolving process, giving rise to difficulties of a slightly different nature. The article outlines the policy and theory behind public participation, and sets out the legal provisions for its inclusion in water planning. It explores the main issues in the implementation of the legislation. The Australian experience suggests that policy makers and legislators did not initially draw upon the extensive research that was in existence on effective public participation. However, changes were made to make the processes more inclusive. Capacity building of participants, independent scientific support, and access to data were some of the most critical factors in effective public participation. Because the public had the opportunity to participate and influence decision-making in water allocation, some potential legal conflict was avoided. Of the states examined, Queensland had the best legislative template for public participation, although improvements could be made in many areas.

Watson, Nigel; Howe, Joe

doi: 10.1080/02508060608691951pmid: N/A

Abstract The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is potentially the most significant piece of water management legislation to be developed by the European Union (EU) in the last forty years. Whilst water legislation is already regarded by many people as the ‘gold plating’ of EU environmental policy, many of the previous regulations and policies have focussed on specific point and non-point source water quality problems and have stipulated stringent standards to be achieved within specified time limits. In sharp contrast, the WFD aims to establish a planning and management framework for sustainable use of water and the ecological restoration of entire river systems, many of which do not fit neatly within the political or administrative boundaries of the Member States. Public participation in planning and management decisions is a key aspect of the WFD. This paper describes the specific requirements of the WFD for public participation and examines their implementation in the Ribble basin in North West England. The Ribble is part of a EU river basin network designed to test the WFD implementation guidelines issued by the European Commission. Particular challenges associated with engaging stakeholders in WFD implementation are highlighted and recommendations for future practice are offered.

Dore, Mohammed H.I.; Whorley, David

doi: 10.1080/02508060608691952pmid: N/A

Abstract This paper analyzes recent developments regarding Missouri River management and water use, and the potential for an emerging inter-basin water dispute involving the Great Lakes. It is suggested that revisions to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' master manual for the Missouri River and increasing efforts to put Missouri River water to beneficial use in support of economic growth present the prospect of low water levels in the Mississippi River. With a history of looking to the Chicago diversion as a source for augmenting flows in the Mississippi River, it may yet again prove to be an irresistible temptation. The institutional capacity for managing such a water dispute seems surprisingly weak. The direction suggested is that mechanisms should be installed to ensure that Great Lakes water remains in its basin, consistent with watershed management practices. The recent efforts by the Great Lakes states and provinces represent an important development in this direction. It is further suggested that demand pressures in the Missouri River should be met through a similar commitment, potentially through a water sharing arrangement on the Missouri River, something which could be encouraged in part by ensuring stricter controls on the Chicago diversion.

Štambuk-Giljanović, Nives

doi: 10.1080/02508060608691953pmid: N/A

Abstract The purpose of this study was to monitor and evaluate the specific characteristics and properties of the most important water resources in Dalmatia, located in Southern Croatia, for a period of five years (1999–2003). The paper presents a detailed account of the water's chemical content, classification and concentration of salts. The bacteriological pollution levels are indicated by the total coliform bacterial levels (MPN coli/100 ml). The water characteristics are expressed by coefficients which represent the ratios between water ingredients. The Ca/Mg eq ratio, SO4/Cl eq ratio and K1, K2 for bicarbonate hardness were calculated. The hygienic characteristics of the water samples were expressed by the total coliform bacteria estimation (MPN coli/100 ml), the permanganate consumption (KMnO4) and biological oxygen demand (BOD5). Karst waters, i.e. rain waters, in Dalmatia are moderately hard, the SO4/Cl ratio is 0.38-1.6, non corrosive (K1 lower than 0.2) and not significantly mineralised (<500 mg/L minerals). Sulfate waters are generally hard, the SO4/Cl ratio is higher than 1.6, K1 is 0.2-0.65. Marine waters are quite hard or hard, particularly at the river estuaries, the SO4/Cl ratio is lower than 0.38, and K1 is higher than 0.65. Rain water direction equation, marine direction equation and sulfate direction equation are calculated on the base of SO4/Cl ratio. The groundwater and springs in Dalmatia are less polluted than surface waters. A majority of the water observed, 24 of 42 locations, have geometric average values of MPN coli<150/100 ml of water. This group includes the majority of springs in Dalmatia, as well as some sections of rivers studied. The highest bacteriological pollution was found at nine locations where MPN coli>1000/100 ml. Moderate pollution was found at nine locations where MPN coli is between 150–1000/100 ml of water. The water in Dalmatia is quite safe and mainly preserves its natural properties.

Matondo, Jonathan I.; Msibi, Kenneth M.

doi: 10.1080/02508060608691954pmid: N/A

Abstract The greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, and SF6) concentrations in the atmosphere have increased very much since the industrial revolution. The greenhouse gas effect has been projected to cause a global average temperature increase on the order of 1.4 to 5.8°C over the period of 1990 to 2100. The global average annual precipitation is projected to increase during the 21st century due to the greenhouse effect. The impact of climate change on hydrology and water resources in the three catchments of Swaziland (Komati, Mbuluzi and Ngwavuma) has been evaluated using General Circulation Model results (rainfall, potential evapotranspiration, air temperature etc.) as inputs to a rainfall runoff model. Three General Circulation Models (GCMs) namely: Canadian Climate Change Equilibrium (CCC-EQ); Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) and United Kingdom Transient Resilient (UKTR) were found appropriate for use to project the temperature and precipitation changes for Swaziland for year 2075. This information was used to generate the temperature, precipitation and potential evapotranspiration values for the three catchments for year 2075 which was input into a calibrated WatBall rainfall runoff model. Simulation results without taking into consideration of water use projections show that there will be high flows during the summer months but low flows during the winter months. Simulation results after taking into consideration of water use projections show a water deficit from June to September in both the Komati, and Ngwavuma catchments and a water deficit from May to September in the Mbuluzi catchment. This means that the environmental water needs and Swaziland's water release obligation in the three catchments to South Africa and Mozambique will not be met during the winter months under expected climate change conditions.

Yurtal, Recep; Seckin, Galip; Ardiclioglu, Mehmet

doi: 10.1080/02508060608691955pmid: N/A

Abstract Dynamic programming with successive approximation has been used in the past for optimizing multi-reservoir water resources systems. In this study, a State Incremental Dynamic Programming (SIDP) model is developed for energy optimization of multi-reservoir systems. A random file access method is used to generate initial and intermediate data and cope with the curse of dimensionality of dynamic programming. The conventional dynamic programming method is used for each single reservoir to find the initial trajectory of the reservoirs. Then, the computer program developed in the study is applied to the multipurpose-multi-reservoir system in lower Seyhan basin, which comprises six reservoirs, some serial and some parallel. Extended historical flows are used to first maximize firm energy in the critical period, and then total energy over the entire period of flow records. The program is run with 50-year long segments (20 flow scenarios) of the synthetic flow data generated by using the hec-4 generalized computer program to account for the stochastic nature of streamflows. A 20% approximate increase in total energy is obtained by using the developed model for the lower seyhan basin system as compared to that calculated previously by conventional methods.

Chappell, Nick A.

doi: 10.1080/02508060608691956pmid: N/A

Calder, Ian R.; Aylward, Bruce

doi: 10.1080/02508060608691957pmid: N/A