Water resources management in the watershed of Volvi Lake

Abstract

The decrease of available water resources, the water quality degradation as well as the
 rapid increase of population combined with the growth of human activities, impose today
 the development of a science that concerns the Management of Water Resources. Lake
 Volvi faces a lot of problems, the most important being the water level drop, which is
 mostly due to the big quantities of water flowing through to Rihios River and to the wrong
 management of irrigation water. The study area of the present research consists of the
 watershed of Lake Volvi, situated in Northern Greece, 39 km away from the city of
 Thessaloniki. The objective of this study is the estimation of the water balance of the
 hydrologic basin of Lake Volvi with a Corporate Management program, using Visual
 Fortran and the creation of scenarios for better management of the water resources of
 the region. Lake Volvi is situated next to Lake Koronia, both of them belonging to a wider
 region that forms the geological basin of Mygdonia. Lake Volvi is the recipient of the
 water draining from Lake Koronia. The water that drains from Lake Volvi is discharged
 into the gulf of Strymonikos through Rihios River. Firstly, a close analysis is attempted for
 the estimation of the water balance of the entire hydrologic basin of Lake Volvi with the
 method of Turc, which is used widely throughout the world. Next, in order to simulate the
 lake, an administrative model is used, written in Visual Fortran. A rational management of
 the hydrological elements of the region is attempted with the creation of four alternative
 scenarios. After the execution of the Corporate Management program, the results show
 that the main problem for Lake Volvi is the water leaking to Rihios River. Moreover, the
 research also shows that it is important to reduce the water used for irrigation. As a final
 result, it is an imperative need to develop water resources management plans for the
 restoration of the entire region.