An enhanced ground water level monitoring approach for sustainable water resource management

Irrigated agriculture plays a vital role for the socio-economic development of the Mediterranean area, although it has significant impacts on both water and energy resources. Therefore, in a context in which water resources are also experiencing increasing pressures, there is an urgent need for supporting their sustainable management. This may be an extremely challenging task, especially at the local scale, due to the several interconnected dynamics affecting the state of a complex irrigation system. In fact, multiple actors are involved in decision-making processes, and the use of natural resources (and their mutual interactions) strongly depends on their behaviors, which affect the system as a whole. In this context, the present study proposes an integrated methodology, based on the Water Energy Food Nexus (WEFN), specifically focused on the sustainable management of water resources for irrigation. Firstly, a model based on Causal Loop Diagrams (CLD) is developed in order to get a deep insight into the key dynamics behind a complex irrigation system. Secondly, three indices based on the “footprint” concept are identified, in order to synthesize such dynamics. The integration of these two approaches support investigating the whole system and, particularly, understanding the influence of multiple decisional actors on it, as well as the role of a set of key drivers and constraints. This might also allow drawing some relevant conclusions, useful for supporting effective decisions oriented to a sustainable water resources management. Specific reference is made to a case study, the Capitanata irrigation system, located in the Southern Italy.

The National Seminar on Sustainable Water Resource Management in Era of Changing Climate (NSWRM-2014) on 10-11 January 2014 organised by the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development and Environmental Science and Technology, Banaras Hindu University, witnessed the presence of experts from environmentalists, industrialists and experts on water resources and its management. The deliberations and scientific discussions led to the conclusion that it is not just the resource but the natural capacity to sustain it that requires monitoring, understanding and stewardship. The focus of governance in India needs to move at a faster pace from conventional methods of sector-based water management to more integrated approach for sustainable water resource management. It is more of the people participation that is the future key towards sustainable water resource management in India.

Effective water-level regulation across interconnected lakes is essential for flood prevention, ecological balance, and sustainable hydropower operation. This study proposes a hybrid control and optimization framework integrating physical network-flow modelling, constrained optimization, and intelligent control parameter tuning. First, the Great Lakes system is represented as a directed network that captures inflows, outflows, and hydrological couplings. The optimal target levels of each lake are determined using Sequential Least-Squares Quadratic Programming (SLSQP) under multi-objective constraints of ecological stability and energy efficiency. A proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller is then established to regulate outflows, and its parameters are automatically tuned by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to minimize a composite performance index consisting of steady-state error, overshoot, and rise time. Furthermore, a global sensitivity analysis based on the Sobol method is conducted to quantify the influence of hydrological and climatic factors—including precipitation, evaporation, snowmelt, and temperature—on water-level dynamics. Simulation results show that the optimized controller effectively tracks target water levels with reduced overshoot and shorter adjustment time compared with conventional PID control. The sensitivity results reveal that precipitation and snowmelt dominate overall variance, highlighting seasonal vulnerability. The proposed framework demonstrates strong robustness and adaptability, providing a reliable approach for large-scale lake system regulation and sustainable water resource management.

Field survey of a sustainable sanitation system in a residential house

Water is a strategic, but also highly vulnerable, natural resource. This because the increasing demand from multiple uses, in many cases competing amongst them, seems to influence the concepts of sustainability of the exploitation. From the operational point of view, the studied system is an integrated decision support system. It is not only a platform to exchange information and assessments, but also a tool for conflict resolution, in the management of water resources, to obtain the consensus among all participants in the decisional processes. So the canonical “top-down” approach has been replaced with a “bottom-up” approach where all stakeholders become decision makers themselves. The application of the aforementioned approach was studied for the Tiber River basin and has been applied to the Province of Perugia area. The study focused to the building of a spatial database of hydrological data and multipurpose water withdrawals, together with the setting of the evaluation model for the surface water resources. This model bases its algorithms on regionalization procedures of flow parameters. For the definition of the river condition, hydrological indices calculated from the hydrological database have been used, while for the existing withdrawals, an analysis procedure has been developed, that from the point of interest directly selected on the map, finds out the upstream basin and, by means of overlay procedures, identifies the upstream water uses and the total flow that could be extracted. The potential of the system and the technologies used are contained in a WEB platform that allows the analysis of the database of water uses/withdrawals on the cartography, and the comparison with the hydrogeological characteristics of the sub-basin examined. The purpose of this study is to provide software tools that can be used as a support in water resource evaluation and management policies at the basin scale.

Water is a strategic, but also highly vulnerable, natural resource. This because the increasing demand from multiple uses, in many cases competing amongst them, seems to influence the concepts of sustainability of the exploitation. From the operational point of view, the studied system is an integrated decision support system. It is not only a platform to exchange information and assessments, but also a tool for conflict resolution, in the management of water resources, to obtain the consensus among all participants in the decisional processes. So the canonical “top-down” approach has been replaced with a “bottom-up” approach where all stakeholders become decision makers themselves. The application of the aforementioned approach was studied for the Tiber River basin and has been applied to the Province of Perugia area. The study focused to the building of a spatial database of hydrological data and multipurpose water withdrawals, together with the setting of the evaluation model for the surface water resources. This model bases its algorithms on regionalization procedures of flow parameters. For the definition of the river condition, hydrological indices calculated from the hydrological database have been used, while for the existing withdrawals, an analysis procedure has been developed, that from the point of interest directly selected on the map, finds out the upstream basin and, by means of overlay procedures, identifies the upstream water uses and the total flow that could be extracted. The potential of the system and the technologies used are contained in a WEB platform that allows the analysis of the database of water uses/withdrawals on the cartography, and the comparison with the hydrogeological characteristics of the sub-basin examined. The purpose of this study is to provide software tools that can be used as a support in water resource evaluation and management policies at the basin scale.

Regional information on stream discharge is needed in order to improve flood estimates based on the limited data availability. Regional flood estimation is fundamental for designing hydraulic structures and managing flood plains and water resource projects. It is essential for estimating flood risks during recurrent periods due to suitable distributions. Regional flood frequency analysis is crucial for evaluating design flows in ungauged basins, and can complement existing time series in gauged sites and transfer them to ungauged catchments. Hence, this study aims to perform a regional flood frequency analysis of the Genale–Dawa River Basin of Ethiopia using the index flood and L-moments approach for sustainable water resource management. Three homogeneous hydrological regions were defined and delineated based on homogeneity tests from data of 16 stream-gauged sites, named Region-A, Region-B, and Region-C. The discordancy index of regional data for L-moment statistics was identified using MATLAB. All regions showed promising results of L-moment statistics with discordance measures (discordance index less than 3) and homogeneity tests (combined coefficient of variation (CC) less than 0.3). L-moment ratio diagrams were used to select best fit probability distributions for areas. Generalized extreme value, log-Pearson type III, and generalized Pareto distributions were identified as suitable distributions for Region-A, Region-B, and Region-C, respectively, for accurately modeling flood flow in the basin. Regional flood frequency curves were constructed, and peak flood was predicted for different return periods. Statistical analysis of the gauged sites revealed an acceptable method of regionalization of the basin. This study confirms that the robustness of the regional L-moments algorithm depends on particular criteria used to measure the performance of estimators. The identified regions should be tested with other physical catchment features to enhance flood quantile estimates at gauged and ungauged sites. Henceforth, this study’s findings can be further extended into flood hazard, risk, and inundation mapping of identified regions of the study area. Furthermore, this study’s approach can be used as a reference for similar investigations of other river basins.

Integrated management has become an essential approach for sustainable water resource management. However, if the concept seems relevant, its concrete application at the local scale has yet to be undertaken, with all the difficulties related to the complexity underlying the issue. The Rif is characterized by the multiplication and interdependence of uses, the overlapping responsibilities between public and private actors, the superposition of sectoral regulations, which raises the following question: Is the current management of water resources in the Rif mountains suitable for a future constraining on several aspects: socio-economic and climatic? The general objective of this work is to analyze the current management of water resources scientifically, politically, institutionally and legally, to identify the innovations needed for sustainable management and adaptation to climate change in the Rif Mountains. The systemic approach allowed us to highlight and prioritize the structuring elements of water management in the Nekor basin and their interactions. The crossing of hydrological data with socio-economic data allowed us to have a global and multidisciplinary vision of both uses and water resources, and of all the components of the system’s environment, the interdependencies influence the management system, despite the complexity accentuated by the lack of data. Indeed, it was difficult to identify the influence of each component. The current degradation of resources is only a reflection of a socio-cultural crisis that can only be remedied by a change in mentality, economic development, social equity and more solidarity between the city and rural communities.

Enhancing flocculation and dewatering performance of fine phosphate tailings: A sustainable approach for water resources management

This study employs morphometric analysis integrated with machine learning (Random Forest) to delineate groundwater potential zones (GWPZs) in the Neyyar Basin. A total of 60 morphometric parameters, categorized under linear, areal, relief, and drainage texture aspects, were extracted using SRTM DEM (30 m resolution) and analyzed to assess their influence on groundwater occurrence. Thematic layers such as geology, geomorphology, drainage density, lineament density, land use/land cover, soil type, slope, curvature, and rainfall were integrated with CGWB well yield and static water level data to train the Random Forest model. The results classified the basin into high (43.27%), moderate (21.78%), and low (34.96%) groundwater potential zones. High potential zones were observed in valleys, lower slopes, and fractured rock regions, where favorable infiltration and storage conditions enhance groundwater availability. Low potential zones were concentrated in steep terrains with high drainage density and low permeability, restricting recharge. The study confirms that morphometric parameters such as drainage density, bifurcation ratio, and relief characteristics are key indicators of groundwater occurrence, influencing infiltration, runoff, and storage capacity. By integrating detailed morphometric analysis with machine learning, this study enhances the accuracy of groundwater potential mapping, offering a robust approach for sustainable water resource management.

Numerous human daily activities required the water resources as the fundamental natural resources. Hence, the appropriate and efficient sustainable approaches should be analyzed to reach sustainable water resource management targets. Therefore, this Paper introduced the overall status quo of freshwater resources, then focused on identifying water resource status in British Columbia, the West Coastal Province of Canada near the Pacific Ocean. With analysis regarding water resource management approaches from climatology, scientific and sociological perspectives. Furthermore, the interpretation of the relations between water resources and human activities revealed the four principles that were adopted by the provincial government to determine appropriate water resource management approaches. Water reusing, water quality monitoring and pricing strategies were identified as potential scientific instruments to reveal the efficiency of current water resource management proposals. Besides adjusting the water parameter standards, indigenous knowledge and public participation should be concluded to revise current water management strategies. Furthermore, the integration of the analysis with the actual and practical water requirements and patterns in British Columbia revealed the coherency of current water management approaches with sustainable water usage goals. Through these analyses accompanied with multiple case studies and research, the goals toward sustainable water resource allocation and methods to improve current water resource management plans were clarified.

Sustainable water resource management is a crucial national and global issue (Currell et al., 2012). In arid areas, groundwater is often the major source of water or at least a crucial supplement to other freshwater resources for agriculture, industry and domestic consumption (Vrba and Renaud, 2016). The complexity associated with groundwater-surface water interactions creates uncertainty about water resource sustainability in semi-arid environments, especially with urbanization and population growth. Flood irrigation in the early 1900s increased the shallow groundwater table in the Treasure Valley (TV), but with increasing irrigation efficiencies, they have been declining since the 1960s with a mean decline rate of about 2.9-3.9x10^-9 (m/s) (Contor et al., 2011). Quantifying how much surface water is being exchanged with the shallow groundwater table through canals in the TV is necessary for gaining a better understanding of groundwater-surface water interactions in this heavily managed system. This knowledge would help evaluate alternative management options for achieving sustainable management of existing water resources. The key objectives of this project are to determine the seepage rate through some canal reaches in the TV, evaluate the integration of the gain and loss method, remote sensing, GIS, hydrogeophysical simulation, and direct current (DC) resistivity geophysical methods for water resource management. We hypothesize that the underlying lithology and size of canals affect the magnitude of the seepage rate. Flow measurements were collected weekly between July and August 2020 in canal reaches representing different sizes and lithological units to determine the seepage rate using the reach gain/loss method. Canal variability and measurement uncertainty were included in seepage estimation for the entire TV using 3 alternative scaling approaches. DC resistivity was used as a complementary method to monitor the seepage effect on the shallow GW aquifer over 2 months. This research evaluates to what extent canal size and its underlying lithology affects the seepage rate, and how the integration of methods may provide additional insight into groundwater exchange-surface water.

- Groundwater depletion has become a major challenge in India due to extensive extraction and limited natural recharge. Identifying suitable locations for artificial groundwater recharge (AGR) is essential for ensuring long-term water sustainability. This study presents a hybrid machine learning framework that integrates K-Means clustering, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), and XGBoost to delineate AGR potential zones. The method combines unsupervised spatial zoning, deep feature extraction, and ensemble classification to capture non-linear interactions among hydrogeological, topographic, and climatic factors. Using nine thematic layers, including rainfall, geology, geomorphology, slope, and drainage density, the framework was applied to the Shivamogga district of Karnataka, India. The proposed model achieved an overall accuracy of 99.67%, outperforming conventional and two-stage hybrid approaches. High recharge potential was observed in lateritic and valley regions with favorable infiltration characteristics, while low-potential zones were found in steep and less permeable terrains. The results demonstrate the robustness of multi-stage integration for reliable groundwater recharge mapping and provide a scalable approach for sustainable water resource management in data-rich regions. Key Words: groundwater recharge, machine learning, neural networks, water management, hybrid approach, spatial analysis

This article describes a combination of the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) framework and the logical framework approach (LFA) to develop water management strategies for a lagoon floodplain in Thailand. The DPSIR framework identified the cause-effect relationship between water and anthropogenic activities. LFA developed management strategies based on a systematic and logical approach. DPSIR analysis for the issue of water shortages for irrigated areas revealed the need for income from agriculture is a major driver, as indicated by agricultural development policy. The driver exerted pressure on increasing irrigation water demand, which increased the risk of a water shortage. The impact of water shortage was indicated by loss of farmer income. Existing responses led to inadequate problem-solving, for example, the promotion of mixed farming. Using data captured from DPSIR analysis for LFA analysis, proposed strategies to address the root causes of “ineffective irrigation water allocation” focused on improving (1) the performance of rotating irrigation systems; (2) monitoring water allocation; and (3) water use efficiency. The strategies developed using the combined DPSIR framework and LFA are effective because: (1) this method provides insight into complex water systems; (2) the strategies are developed logically to solve the problem at its root cause; and (3) there is intensive stakeholder participation and in-depth study of the area. This method is a helpful tool for developing a management strategy for a complex water system and is suitable for application by decision-makers. Stakeholder verification is required for future research to ensure that the strategies are appropriate and capable of being implemented.

Identifying and prioritizing risks in urban rainwater harvesting projects: an ISM-MICMAC approach for sustainable water resources management