Assessment Of Surface Water Resources Research Articles

Health risk assessment of surface water resources in the Nandom Municipality of Ghana

In Northern Ghana, reservoirs/dug-outs provide immeasurable services regardless of the season. A study was conducted in Kokoliguo and Nandom-Guo to evaluate health risks from exposure to surface waters. Samples were analyzed for pH, turbidity, conductivity, zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). Kokoliguo revealed mean levels of 7.52 pH units, 124 NTU, 89.6 µS/cm, 0.004 mg/L (Zn), 0.210 mg/L (Fe), 0.219 mg/L (Mn), 0.007 mg/L (Cu), 0.007 mg/L (Cd) and 0.001 mg/L (Pb). Nandom-Guo recorded mean levels of 7.72 pH units, 11.6 NTU, 240 µS/cm, 0.0375 mg/L (Zn), 0.601 mg/L (Fe), 0.220 mg/L (Mn), 0.009 mg/L (Cu), 0.003 mg/L (Cd) and 0.182 mg/L (Pb). The chronic daily intakeoral for Kokoliguo and Nandom-Guo users occurred in the order; Cu < Cd < Zn < Mn < Fe and Cu < Cd < Zn` < Mn < Fe, respectively. Dermal exposure for Kokoliguo and Nandom-Guo occurred in the order; Zn < Cu < Cd < Mn < Fe and Cd < Zn < Cu < Mn < Fe, respectively. Except for Kokoliguo, hazard index derm/oral fell below 1. Cancer riskoral level of Cd exceeded 10e−04 among users. On the contrary, cancer riskoral levels of Pb ranged from 10e−04 to 10e−07 whereas dermal exposure levels ranged from 10e−09—10e−07. The cancer riskoral values predict the risk of carcinogenesis due to Cd toxicity. This study recommends crop farmers desist from the use of synthetic fertilizers. Again, improved water sources should be developed for the communities for domestic uses.

Surface water resources assessment based on water quantity and quality coupling

Surface water resources assessment based on water quantity and quality coupling

Surface Water Resources Assessment and Planning with the QUAL2KW Model: A Case Study of the Maroon and Jarahi Basin (Iran)

Mathematical models are useful for predicting the reactions of watercourses such as rivers due to the entry of contaminants. Some of these models are able to simulate the effects of present and future loadings as well as aid managers and officials in making decisions even if the data are sparse. In other words, river water quality preservation requires more investment in wastewater treatment and/or the installation of collection and control systems; it may also limit activity expansion in the river basin. The conservation of watersheds such as the Maroon and Jarahi basin, which provide water for drinking and for industrial and agricultural use, is socio-economically vital. Therefore, the first stage of managing the conservation of water resources is understanding their qualitative changes. For this purpose, the QUAL2KW mathematical model was utilized to simulate the river water quality in this example region. According to the reported values of water quality parameters and pollutants at monitoring stations, it was established that the river is at a critical condition in terms of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) pollution due to the discharge of urban and industrial wastewater, as well as high electrical conductivity (EC) due to the drainage of agricultural lands. Based on the statistics calculated during the validation step, the authors concluded that the QUAL2KW water quality model is reliable in the simulation of qualitative parameters and the pollution data of the study area; namely the Maroon and Jarahi river basin located in the south-west of Iran. This will help stakeholders to better manage watersheds with sparse data. This region has been suffering from climate change which has led to droughts and the construction of several dams to retain water. For the second and third stations, the NASH (named after the mathematician John Forbes Nash) values were 0.96 and 0.92, respectively, indicating a relatively high model accuracy. The evaluation using the root mean square errors (RMSE) and NASH showed that the quality of water at the second station was better than the other two stations based on the coefficient of determination R2. Since there were three drains at station number 3, the wastewater entering the Maroon River had a higher level of contamination.

Assessment of Surface Water Resources in Case of Muger Sub Basin, Ethiopia

Water resources assessment (WRA) is the process of measuring, collecting and analysing relevant parameters on the quantity and quality of water resources for the purposes of a better development and management of water resources. The aim of this research is Assessment of Surface Water Resource in Case of Muger Sub Basin in Ethiopia. The future possible local climate variables are extracted from Abbay basin RCM and then the bias-corrected with observed meteorological variables which are then used as input to the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model as climate data, in addition to climate data soil data, land use land cover, slope of the sub basin and weather Generator together are used to simulate future water yield of Muger sub-basin. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was adopted to perform runoff simulation. The good performance of the SWAT model was confirmed, with a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and determination coefficients (R2) of 0.76 and 0.99 respectively during calibration for monthly runoff, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) 0.63 and determination coefficients (R2) 0.99 respectively during validation for monthly runoff. The variation of precipitation in Muger sub basin decreased by (2010-2023), (2024-2037) and (2038-2050) from base period (1996-2009) will be 0.36%, 1.076% and 1.74% respectively, Maximum Temperature in sub basin increase from base period (1996-2009) by 0.55%, 2.32% and 4.6% and also minimum temperature in Muger sub basin increase by (2010-2023), (2024-2037) and (2038-2050) from base period (1996-2009) was 0.83%, 2.80 and 8.54% respectively. From this study, it was observed that due to climate change Average annual water yieldin Mugersub basinin (1996-2009), (2010-2023), (2024-2037), (2038-2050) is 4634.07 Mm3, 4525.92 Mm3, 4456.20 Mm3 and 4411.89 Mm3 respectively. Generally as Temperature increase in the study area the amount of rainfall decreases which directly affect the amount of water yield.

Assessment of Surface Water Resources in Great Ruaha River Sub-Basin Tanzania: Application of WEAP Model for Water Allocation and Utilization Impacts Analysis

The Great Ruaha River (GRR) sub-basin is one of the most important waterways in Tanzania as it supports important economic activities. The sub-basin is progressively faced with an inevitable situation of increasing water demand among competing users while the quantity and quality of water is diminishing. The focus of this study was to assess allocation of existing (2012) and future (up to 2025) quantities of surface water in the GRR sub-basin with consideration of priorities given in the Tanzania Water Resources Management Act, 2009 in the order: domestic, environment, agriculture, livestock and non-domestic. Simulation of water allocation scenarios of irrigation expansion (IE) and implementation of environmental flow requirements (EWD) and their impacts on met demands was done by using WEAP model. Results showed that under current and future conditions, available streamflows are sufficient for the first two water use priorities. Implementation of EWD and IE scenarios will change demands in comparison with reference scenario by 80%, -38% and 45% and shortages by 147%, 123% and 13% in Little Ruaha, Ndembera and Kisigo catchments respectively. To eliminate water shortages, construction of reservoirs, use of alternative supply sources (especially in agriculture) and water demand management measures are recommended.

Assessment of Surface Water Resources of Eastern Iraq

Large amounts of runoff is generated in western Iran and flows into eastern Iraq due to relatively intensive rainstorms along the international border line. Currently, most of this runoff is being wasted by evaporation instead of being stored and preserved for later uses. This paper is an attempt to (1) assess and harness the water resources of eastern Iraq, and (2) propose a storage scheme to use the harvested water in the water shortage times. The runoff of eight catchment areas (Mandali, Qazania, Tursaq, Mirzabad, Galal Badra, al-Chabbab, al-Teeb, and Dwaireeg) is estimated using regression equations derived for areas in the western and southern parts of the United States of America. Several models were selected from two states based on catchment area location, average terrain elevation, average annual precipitation, and slope of main stream. Observed runoffs of Tursaq, Galal Badra, and al-Chabbab streams are analyzed using normal probability plots. Statistical analysis shows that there is no a statistically significant difference between observed and predicted runoffs for different return periods. The study proposes a water reservoir to be constructed within al-Shiwiaja Marsh to accommodate runoff generated within Mandali, Qazania, Tursaq, Mirzabad, and Galal Badra streams. The capacity of the proposed reservoir is 3000 Mm3 and the expected inflow from these streams is projected to exceed the capacity of the reservoir. The proposed reservoir will contribute to the flow of the River Tigris during the non-rainy seasons. More studies are needed to propose and design a storage scheme for two remaining streams (al-Teeb and Dwaireeg).

Assessment of Surface Water Resources in the Big Sunflower River Watershed Using Coupled SWAT–MODFLOW Model

The groundwater level in the Big Sunflower River Watershed (BSRW) in the U.S. has declined significantly in the past 30 years. Therefore, it is imperative to assess surface water resources (SWR) availability in BSRW to mitigate groundwater use for irrigation. This research applied the coupled Soil and Water Assessment Tool–Modular Groundwater Flow model (SWAT–MODFLOW) to assess SWR in BSRW. This study aimed at: (1) Assessing the reliability of SWAT–MODFLOW in BSRW, (2) analyzing temporal and spatial variations of SWR, and (3) assessing the potential availability of SWR in BSRW. Calibration and validation results showed that SWAT–MODFLOW can well simulate streamflow and groundwater levels in BSRW. Our results showed that BSRW had lower average monthly total stream resources (MSR = 8.8 × 107 m3) in growing seasons than in non-growing seasons (MSR = 11.0 × 107 m3), and monthly pond resources (MPR from 30,418 to 30,494 m3) varied less than stream resources. The proportion of sub-basins in BSRW with stream water resources greater than 700 mm was 21% in dry years (229 to 994 mm), while this increased to 35% in normal years (296 to 1141 mm) and 57% in wet years (554 to 991 mm). The Water Stress Index (WSI) ranged from 0.4 to 2.1, revealing that most of the sub-basins in BSRW have net SWR available for irrigation. Our results suggested that surface water resources might be supplementary irrigation sources to mitigate the water resources scarcity in this region.

Water Resources of Belarus under Changing Climate Conditions: Current Status and Prognosis

The purpose of this study was the quantification of today’s surface water resources of the Republic of Belarus and the prognostic assessment of their transformation in the future by means of mathematical modeling. The assessment of surface water resources in Belarus for the period 1960–2009 was made. Redistribution of water resources in the basins of major rivers and administrative areas was registered. Comparative analysis of maps of annual runoff in Belarus showed that the Western Dvina river basin was characterized by insignificant increase of the values of runoff and the increase of the water content of the Pripyat Basin for different probabilities of exceedance of the level varied from 0.4 to 1.7 km3. For the Neman and Viliya, a decrease in runoff was revealed. For other watersheds, changes in runoff were not found. Obtained results are important for water resources management and forecasting of their changes both in Belarus and internationally. The studied model can be effectively used in flood management.

Hydrogeochemical investigation and qualitative assessment of surface water resources in West Bokaro coalfield, India

A hydrogeochemical study of surface water of the West Bokaro coalfield has been undertaken to assess its quality and suitability for drinking, domestic and irrigation purposes. For this purpose, fourteen samples collected from rivers and ponds of the coalfield were analysed for pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), major cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+), major anions (HCO3 -, F-, Cl-, SO4 2- and NO3 -) and trace metals. The pH of the analysed water samples varied from 7.3 to 8.2, indicating slightly alkaline in nature. The electrical conductivity (EC) value varied from 93 μs cm-1 to 906 μs cm-1 while the TDS varied from 76 mg L-1 to 658 mg L-1. HCO3 - and SO4 2- are the dominant anion and Ca2+ and Na+ the cation in the surface water. The concentration of alkaline earth metals (Ca2+ + Mg2+) exceed the alkali metals (Na+ + K+) and HCO3 - dominates over SO4 2- + Cl- concentrations in the majority of the surface water samples. Ca2+ -Mg2+ -HCO3 - and Ca2+ -Mg2+ -Cl- are the dominant hydrogeochemical facies in the surface water of the area. The water chemistry is mainly controlled by rock weathering with secondary contribution from anthropogenic sources. For quality assessment, analyzed water parameter values compared with Indian and WHO water quality standard. In majority of the samples, the analyzed parameters are well within the desirable limits and water is potable for drinking purposes. However, concentrations of TDS, TH, Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe are exceeding the desirable limits in some water samples and needs treatment before its utilization. The calculated parameters such as sodium absorption ration, percent sodium, residual sodium carbonate, permeability index and magnesium hazard revealed good to permissible quality and suitable for irrigation purposes, however, higher salinity, permeability index and Mg-ratio restrict its suitability for irrigation at few sites.

Numerical analysis of the combined rainfall-runoff process and snowmelt for the Alun River Basin, Heilongjiang, China

An accurate assessment of surface water resources would assist land and resource managers in any region. The objectives of this study were to develop a distributed hydrological numerical model for the calculation of rainfall-runoff when combined with snowmelt and to provide a practical method for estimating surface water resources in the semiarid area of western Heilongjiang Province, China. The Alun River Basin, with typical meteorological and hydrological characteristics of a semiarid area of western Heilongjiang Province, was chosen as the study area. Modeling of the vertical soil profile was conducted based on the investigation of physical properties of the underlying topography. A digital elevation model (DEM) and a map of the river channel network of the study area were generated by ArcMap in ArcGIS. Rainfall-runoff and snowmelt modules were developed using kinematic wave equations and the energy budget method, respectively. A distributed hydrological model for combining the snowmelt and the rainfall-runoff modules was developed using Fortran software. Numerical simulation of the observed river channel flow allowed model validation. Both annual and monthly runoff, runoff coefficient, and snowmelt runoff amounts were estimated through analyzing runoff calculation results from 2012 and 2013. The results indicated that the calculation accuracy of the model was within the allowable range of the error criterion (<0.03), the model exhibited relatively high efficiency, and the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) was more than 0.94; the annual runoff coefficients for 2012 and 2013 were 0.35 and 0.43, respectively; the runoff of the main snowmelt period (Mar 1 to Apr 15) accounted for 0.87 and 1.46 % of total annual runoff in 2012 and 2013, respectively. The results should provide a method that can be used for the accurate assessment of surface water resources and may provide the basis for the development of a numerical platform for estimating hydrological processes in the semiarid area of western Heilongjiang Province.

Assessment of water scarcity and its impacts on sustainable development in Awash basin, Ethiopia

Equitable access and rational use of water resources is important to cope with water scarcity. The optimal allocation of limited water resources for various purposes is required for sustainable development. Awash river basin is one of the most utilized river basins in Ethiopia. There is increasing demand for water due to recent population growth in the basin because of Urbanization. Excessive water abstraction without properly assessing the available water resources in the basin contributes to water scarcity. The basin exhibits two extreme hydrological events, flooding and drought at different seasons of the year. This paper mainly focuses on surface water resources assessment of the Awash basin, and the temporal gap between water supply and demand. The paper also discusses the impacts of these gaps on sustainable development and suggested few recommendations to minimize it. Using SWAT model, the annual average surface water available is estimated around 4.64 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) as compared to the estimated demand of about 4.67 BCM in the basin for 1980–2012. This shows that on an average, the demand exceeds the availability by 0.03 BCM during the study period. Seasonal water deficit is even serious. A detailed seasonal analysis for the last 2 years (2011–2012) shows that the demand exceeds supply by 1.27 and 2.82 BCM during December–April of 2011 and 2012, respectively. However, there is a surplus supply of 1.67 and 3.16 BCM during June–September months of the same year.

Hydrogeochemical Study of Surface Water Resources of Orlu, Southeastern Nigeria

Hydrogeochemical assessment of surface water Resources of Orlu and its environs was carried out in order to evaluate the chemical composition and quality profile with respect to the environmental setting of the study area. A total of six samples were collected, from different rivers and streams traversing different communities in the area, and analyzed for major cations and anions as well as trace elements like Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb and As. The major cation concentrations determined were in the order of Ca2+> Na+> K+> Mg2+ with mean values of 4.14, 3.78, 1.60 and 1.19 mg/L respectively and that of the major anion concentration of the surface water is of the order HCO32-> Cl-> SO42-> NO3- with mean values of 19.83, 11.67, 3.45 and 0.24 mg/L respectively. Two major water groups were identified based on characterization on the Piper Trilinear diagram. They include Ca-(Mg)-Na-HCO3 and Ca-Mg-(SO4)-HCO3. This reflects diverse effects of bedrock lithologies, base exchange processes, precipitation and weathering. The pollution index (PI) value of 9.10 (which is greater than the critical value of unity) shows that the surface water bodies in the area are slightly polluted by the trace elements and as such not fit for domestic use as those parameters exceeded the maximum permissible level set by the Nigerian Industrial Standard (2007) and the World Health Organization (2006) Standard. Finally the electrical conductivity (EC) values of 13.0 to 97.0 µs/cm and total dissolved solids (TDS) values of 8.0 to 66.0 mg/L, alongside the estimated sodium absorption ratio (SAR) of 1.74 revealed a fresh water grade that is fairly suitable for agricultural purposes. Key words: Hydrogeochemistry, pollution index, water facies, water quality.

Assessment of surface water resources and evapotranspiration in the Haihe River basin of China using SWAT model

AbstractQuantitative assessment of surface water resources (SWRs) and evapotranspiration (ET) is essential and significant for reasonably planning and managing water resources in the Haihe River basin which is facing severe water shortage. In this study, a distributed hydrological model of the Haihe River basin was constructed using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, well considering the reservoirs and agricultural management practices for reasonable simulation. The crop parameters were independently calibrated with the observed crop data at six experimental stations. Then, sensitivity ranks of hydrological parameters were analysed, which suggested the important parameters used for calibration. The model was successfully calibrated using the monthly observed data of discharge in around 1970–1991 and actual ET (ETa) in 2002–2004 for the mountainous area and Haihe plain, respectively. Meanwhile, good agreements between the simulated and statistical crop yields in 1985–2005 further verified the model's appropriateness. Finally, the calibrated model was used to assess SWRs and ETa in time and space during 1961–2005. Results showed that the average annual natural SWRs and the ETa were about 17.5 billion cubic metre and 542 mm, respectively, both with a slight downward trend. The spatial distributions of both SWRs and ETa were significantly impacted by variations of precipitation and land use. Moreover, the reservoir in operation was the main factor for the noticeable decline of actual SWRs. In the Haihe plain, the ETa with irrigation was increased by 46% compared with that under rainfed conditions. In addition, this study identified the regions with potential to improve the irrigation effects on water use. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Maximum Grade Approach to Surplus Floodwater of Hyperconcentration Rivers in Flood Season and its Application

The severe soil erosion in the Chinese Loess Plateau has resulted in a considerable wastage of surface runoff (floodwater) in flood season due to high sediment concentration in runoff. To address the water scarcity problem, it is a viable solution to utilize the floodwater. A maximum grade approach (MGA) is presented to calculate the coefficient of surplus floodwater in flood season. The raw data sequences are analyzed in a four-step process. An upper triangle of grades is obtained after the third step. A relationship between coefficient of surplus floodwater and sediment concentration in runoff is achieved in terms of the upper triangle. The surplus floodwater in flood season then can be determined. A case study of water diversion from the Jinghe River (the second tributary of the Yellow River, China) to the Jinghuiqu Irrigation District for irrigation was performed. The monthly data sequences of runoff volume, water diversion and sediment concentration in runoff from May to September for the period 1933–2001 are employed. A 16-grade upper triangle is obtained based on the MGA. A functional relationship between the coefficient of surplus floodwater (y, %) and the sediment concentration in runoff (x, %) is achieved as \(y = 0.0191x + 0.1516 (R^{2\thinspace } = 0.9738)\). Results demonstrate that the average annual surplus floodwater in flood season and available surface water resources in the Jinghe River over 69-year time span are 978 and 909 million cubic meter (mcm), respectively, when the limit of sediment concentration for river water utilization is set as 10%. The irrigation district still has a potential of available water diversion of 509 mcm over 1981–2001 time span. Compared with the traditional methods, the MGA produces more reasonable and effective results. The MGA has the ability of rapidly estimating the surplus floodwater under different limits of sediment concentration and is a useful tool for available surface water resources assessment.

The assessment of surface water resources for the semi‐arid Yongding River Basin from 1956 to 2000 and the impact of land use change

AbstractThe assessment of surface water resources (SWRs) in the semi‐arid Yongding River Basin is vital as the basin has been in a continuous state of serious water shortage over the last 20 years. In this study, the first version of the geomorphology‐based hydrological model (GBHM) has been applied to the basin over a long period of time (1956–2000) as part of an SWR assessment. This was done by simulating the natural hydrological processes in the basin. The model was first evaluated at 18 stream gauges during the period from 1990 to 1992 to evaluate both the daily streamflows and the annual SWRs using the land use data for 1990. The model was further validated in 2000 with the annual SWRs at seven major stream gauges. Second, the verified model was used in a 45‐year simulation to estimate the annual SWRs for the basin from 1956 to 2000 using the 1990 land use data. An empirical correlation between the annual precipitation and the annual SWRs was developed for the basin. Spatial distribution of the long‐term mean runoff coefficients for all 177 sub‐basins was also achieved. Third, an additional 10‐year (1991–2000) simulation was performed with the 2000 land use data to investigate the impact of land use changes from 1990 to 2000 on the long‐term annual SWRs. The results suggest that the 10‐year land use changes have led to a decrease of 8·3 × 107 m3 (7·9% of total) for the 10‐year mean annual SWRs in the simulation. To our knowledge, this work is the first attempt to assess the long‐term SWRs and the impact of land use change in the semi‐arid Yongding River Basin using a semi‐distributed hillslope hydrological model. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Surface water resources assessment in scarcely gauged basins in the north of Spain

This paper describes a study developed to estimate available surface water resources in twelve basins in the north of Spain by means of numerical tools. These basins are characterized by their small surface area, short length, steep slope, and scarce hydrological gauging. The available information has conditioned the use of a lumped continuous simulation hydrological model. The HEC-HMS program with continuous soil moisture accounting (SMA) model was chosen. The model development is described in detail, focusing on the methodology used to fill the incomplete daily rainfall series and to establish the daily uniform precipitation over the sub-basins taking advantage of the results provided by a previous study with different time scale. Several techniques were used to calibrate and validate the hydrologic model, since few stream gauges were available. Comparison between observed flow data and results provided by simulation was in good agreement. The model application allowed assessment of the daily flow series at different main stream locations during a continuous time period up to thirty-three water years. These series have been used as input data for instream flows studies following the guidelines of the European Water Framework Directive. The processing of results allowed for analysis of the hydrological behaviour of the selected basins focusing in low water periods.