Assesment of Water Resource and Wateshed Managment

In mining operations carried out below the water table, mine area could potentially affect the surrounding. With further deepening of the mine and quarry, the drawdown can impact on water supply wells and base flow. The variation in radius of influence under confined and unconfined aquifer condition is assessed using a hypothetical case study with three operational quarry sites. Average pit-wise radius of influence (R0) for the pit mine, under unconfined and confined aquifer conditions is 963 m and 61 km, respectively, whereas effective radius (Re) for total (cumulative) excavated mine area is 1.7 and 146 km, respectively. It means that the maximum and minimum value of overall impact/influence for the unconfined aquifer lies in-between 963 m and 1.7 km. Similarly that the maximum and minimum value of overall impact/influence for the confined aquifer lies in-between 61 and 146 km. Meanwhile, Re or effective radius for total (cumulative) excavated area seems more appropriate from evaluation viewpoint due to the overlapping (superposition) concentric mining quarries. Thus, assessment of quarry-wise and total radius of influence is of importance to fulfil targeted production, economically with minimum interruptions as part of the mine planning. Moreover, it helps us to assess, monitor and regulate the impact of a mine-dewatering program in the area. Also, the pumping test is often used to estimate radius of influence; it can trigger the inflow or radius of influence. Estimate of the radius of influence using analytical equation mainly independent of discharge/abstraction from the aquifer stands as a preferred choice for the prediction of radius of influence at the quarry/mine pit. There is a strong rationale that policies should be informed by such analytical assessment because it helps us to prevent or minimize negative impacts as part of regulation and pit-mining management and are useful tools for practitioners to design economically efficient and cost-effective in situ groundwater remediation systems, to contain contaminant plumes, to evaluate the surface–subsurface water interaction and to verify numerical models.

Streamflow measurements are of paramount importance in water resources engineering. It is the
basic data required for planning and design of various structures and water resource projects such
as culverts, bridges, operation of hydropower plants, flood protection works, flood plain zoning,
flood warning systems, and assessment of available water resource potential. an accurate and
continuous record of streamflow data is, therefore, of greatest importance. However, continuous
measurement of discharge is very costly, time-consuming, requires skilled labor, and sometimes
even impractical during floods. Maintaining a continuous record of the stage in a river is rather
easy and accurate as compared to streamflow. The relationship between stage and discharge is a
single-valued nonlinear relationship especially in nonalluvial streams which is further utilized for
estimation of discharge corresponding to observed stages. The accuracy of the estimated discharge
depends on the accuracy in the estimation of parameters of the stage-discharge relationship at a
river section. In this study, in the rating curve parameters were estimated using two methods:
conventional method and Excel solver is an optimization tool in Microsoft Excel. The former
consisted of regression analysis and gave rating curve values as slope and intercept of the
regression line. The latter consisted of linear programming solver to optimize linear equation’s
coefficients. Our findings showed that the development of the rating curve parameters by
conventional method, failed to describe the stage–discharge relationship accurately.
The results of the solver in Excel were compared with conventional method of regression analysis.
The statistical parameters such as root mean square error (RME), correlation coefficient (R),
Percent bias (PBIAS), Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), index of agreement (IoA) criteria was
computed for assessment of the performance of these methods for the rating curve development.
It has been found that the performance of the Excel solver is better than that of the conventional
method.
Keywords: Stage, streamflow, rating curve parameters, perennial rivers, flood.

The purpose of this paper is to explicate the importance of control of water supplies and infrastructure in the realisation of the end goals of the Islamic State. This paper will examine how and when the Islamic State takes control of water infrastructure, how it manages this infrastructure, and offer an interpretation of why the organisation does so in the context of the historical significance of water conflict in this region and of the goals of the Islamic State. I will also briefly discuss how this ought to affect the response of the international community to the Islamic State. I present the thesis that there are two, perhaps conflicting, parts to the Islamic State’s water management strategy. Firstly, it has demonstrated that it is using water as a weapon. That is, it is using water as a force of destruction or a means of deprivation to serve its purpose of territorial acquisition. Secondly, it is using water as a means of state-building. Providing water to citizens is a way of legitimising the actions of the Islamic State. Moreover, whoever controls water in this region has leverage and power, allowing the Islamic State to buy local support in terms of social outreach, recruitment and funding. The conflict between these strategical purposes arises in the fact that destruction and deprivation are contrary to building a functioning state.

Mounding often occurs beneath engineering structures designed to infiltrate reuse water. AQTESOLV software and a spreadsheet solution for Hantush, together with soil moisture water balance (SWAGMAN farm model), were used for quantitatively predicting the height and extent of groundwater mounding underground to assess the groundwater-flow simulations of infiltration from a hypothetical irrigation site. Horizontal and vertical permeability, aquifer thickness, specific yield, and basin geometry are among the aquifer and recharge properties inputs. For 2.2 ha sites, the maximum heights of the simulated groundwater mound ranges up to 0.29 m. The maximum areal extent of groundwater mounding measured from the edge of the infiltration basins of 0.24 m ranges from 0 to 75 m. Additionally, the simulated height and extent of the groundwater mounding associated with a hypothetical irrigation infiltration basin for 2.2 ha development may be applicable to sites of different sizes, using the recharge rate estimated from the SWAGMAN farm model. For example, for a 2.2 ha site with a 0.0002 m/day recharge rate, the irrigation infiltration basin design capacity (and associated groundwater mound) would be the same as for a 1.1 ha site with a 0.0004 m/day recharge rate if the physical characteristics of the aquifer are unchanged. The study claimed that the present modelling approach overcomes the complications of solving the Hantush equation for transient flow. The approach utilised in this study can be applied for other purposes such as measuring the feasibility of infiltrating water, attenuation zone, risk mitigation essential for decision-makers and planning regulators in terms of environmental effects and water use efficiency.

A groundwater resources assessment has been carried out for the Lake Nyasa Basin east Africa, with reference to sub catchments further to the whole basin wise analysis, including quantification of potential yields from the aquifers. Numerical groundwater models, MODFLOW-SURFACT coupled with Visual MODFLOW, were used to assess sub-basin groundwater sustainability (Via “Zone Budget” software package). The model has been calibrated to observed hydraulic head and processed baseflow estimate. It is concluded that the aquifer system is sustained by episodic recharge and the long-term gaining storage which represents the maximum extractable volume. Future predictions of groundwater usage indicate that by 2035 the percentage of annual safe yield extracted will increase to between 11.3 and 103%. Model result suggests that there is a need to revise the current estimate of sustainable yield based on future climate change conditions and projected population growth, which would decrease spring flows substantially and decrease hydraulic head basin-wide. It also suggests that by 2035 some sub catchments will be nearly at or exceeding the annual safe yield leaving no room for socio-economic development, or the need to reduce existing socio-economic demands to meet domestic demands. Besides to improving the natural replenishment capacity through artificial recharge technique, the other option is to increase the percentage of total recharge allocated to the annual safe yield from 10% of the total annual recharge to 20% in these catchments. This provides a basis for management of individual groundwater scheme in sustaining livelihood activities or implications of policies and to develop a plan for potential groundwater extraction scenarios pertaining to water use and allocation.

Soil and water are the two major resources in the Earth's hydro biological and geological systems. The hydrology of arid areas has become a topic of interest recently for hydrologists as water shortage at these areas can affect the agriculture, irrigation, and industry as a whole. This has also prompted water resource planners to more thoroughly investigate water resource crisis at arid areas. In this respect, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), a semi-distributed hydrological model, can be a subsidiary tool to be used in the prediction of surface runoff (blue water). This paper presents the application of SWAT on the Roodan watershed, which is located in the southern part of Iran and has 215 mm of annual precipitation. SWAT was engaged to know more about the daily flow and to evaluate the runoff volume. Three continuous scenarios were defined over the 21 years (1988-1992, 1993-2001, 2002-2008) for the land use map as it was found that continuous update of this layer were basically done during these periods. Results of sensitivity analysis showed that parameters related to transmission losses are most sensitive for this watershed. Furthermore, the SWAT had also visualized from the input data that the sub basins which have been designated for agricultural activities from 1988 to 2008 were at the southwest, center and northeast parts of Roodan watershed. Strength of modeling was evaluated by percentage of observations covered by the 95 Percentage prediction uncertainty (P-factor) and relative width of 95 % probability band (R-factor). The P and R factors in this study were recorded at, for calibration and validation periods, 50 % and 0.18 (calibration), and 50 % and 0.17 (validation) respectively. Nash-Sutcliffe and PBIAS obtained for calibration period were 0.75 and 1.5 %, and those for validation period were 0.64 and 21 %. However, results showed an underestimation trend for most peak flows during the modeling of daily stream flow. Nevertheless, the annual runoff volume for calibration and validation periods depicted a promising performance and thus validated the usage of SWAT as a subsidiary hydrological tool for water management projects attributed with stream flow and runoff volume.

Climate change is severely impacting the hydrological cycle and consequently, water management. This will in turn have significant effects on human development and security. Climate change will increase the number of people living in water stressed regions globally. Deteriorating water resources due to climate change have numerous negative ramifications, such as increasing food insecurity, transboundary conflicts and rising health problems among other socioeconomic consequences. Ethiopia confronted many adverse impacts which are manifestations of variable climate. Yet there are indications by which these impacts will continue to influence the socioeconomic activities of the community at larger scale. The northern, southern and southeastern dry land regions of Ethiopia have repeatedly faced increased frequency of meteorological drought episodes, famines and outbreaks of diseases which are believed to be linked with climatic change. The droughts have highly impacted the agriculture of the country and brought about the loss of crops, animals and above all the loss of millions of people. Flood hazards have increased in recent decades. Looking beyond command and control policy and regulatory measures, emphasizing on market based approaches falls within proactive measures that can mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. Despite the number of strategies that have been identified to help countries to cope with the impacts of climate change on water resources, no single approach is adequate to address the problems. Since many of the impacts are subjective in nature, the holistic approach via the application of integrated methods is much solicited in addressing the challenges of climate change.

This study aims to show the impact of hydrological and geological conditions of the Badovc watershed (Kosovo) to water balance at Badovc Lake. The geological formations of the Lake basement consist of limestone, terrigenous formations, magmatic and metamorphic rocks which are fissured at different extent and show different water permeability features. Analysis of the water balance, i.e. the difference of inflow-outflow at the lake for year 2014, showed a deficit of 3,682,905 m³ water which can be considered as water loss from Lake. The raise of the water level at Hajvalia mine with114m for the period 2004-2014 along with increase of pH value of mine water from 6.5 to 7.0 is attributed to water infiltration from the lake basement toward mine voids. Infiltration of the water from Lake towards mine was probably helped by activation of cleavages during explosions at the mine and the lack of measures to consolidate rocks during construction of the Lake dam.

Water as a resource is essential to human life beside been the most fundamental resource for his socioeconomic development. Within the land-lock Northern Nigeria, the surface water and groundwater resource remain the only source of the region fresh water. With contemporary pronounced effects of climate change as well as various anthropogenic activities, there is consequential rise in demand of fresh water. Consequently, both quantity and quality of fresh water resource is threatened largely due to recent population explosion. However, most developing regions of the world require new methods and innovative approaches for fresh water management, conservation, and judicious uses. Nonetheless, the dependence of arid and semi-arid regions on irrigation holds a special place in the water scarcity and management debates. This study was carried out along the river Anumma in Ngalda area of Yobe State, Nigeria. The study revealed that there is an active pollution largely associated to higher fertilizers and pesticides residues. The study also reaffirmed the calls for immediate action and adoption of sustainable agricultural practices along riverine communities in order to safe-guide the region most precious resource (water).