Growing Water Shortages Research Articles

Water productivity in fruit trees orchards under water scarcity

With growing water shortages, agriculture faces the challenge of increasing water productivity (WP). In this work, WP of two main crops, peach and olive, is evaluated for different cultivars and deficit irrigation practices. WP in peach was estimated over 4-7 years for three cultivars (early, mid-season and late-maturing), two rootstocks and two deficit irrigation strategies. In terms of yield/total water supply, the late maturing cultivar subjected to mild deficit irrigation, gave the highest WP (4.1 kg m-3), compared to the mid-season (3.0 kg m-3) and early cultivar (1.9 kg m-3). Full irrigation reduced slightly the performance of the most productive cultivar (3.7 kg m-3). Performances of early and mid-season cultivars were affected by rootstock. Interaction between mild deficit irrigation and vigorous rootstock induced better WP. Experimental work in olives targeted WP under contrasted environments. In northern Tunisia (450 mm annual rainfall), average yield for three cultivars ('Picholine', 'Chetoui' and 'Mansanille') planted at 6×6 m spacing on a clay soil, varied between 3.9-4.7 and 4.7-6.1 t ha-1, respectively when irrigation was increased from 100 to 200 mm. Under these restrictive conditions, the highest WP values were obtained for 'Picholine', respectively 0.77 and 0.86 kg m-3. However, in southern Tunisia (200 mm rainfall), the 'Chemlali' cultivar, conducted under intensive planting (4×4 m) on sandy soils, showed a drastic increase in production. With irrigation water supply of 200-400 mm, average yield reached 10-12 t ha-1, and WP 2.1 kg m-3. Adaptation to water scarcity is discussed on the basis of the obtained results.

How Emerging Technologies and Biomimicry can Help Solving Water Problems: Desert case Studies

By 2050, the global population is expected to rise to nine billion and there have been significant calls for a change in the way the world is dealing with growing water shortages. The approaching water crisis will threaten half of humanity by 2030. Our ever-increasing population is stretching our ability to provide clean water for our needs, from agriculture and manufacturing to the most basic one of all: drinking water.

邯郸市生态水网建设水源优化配置模型研究

面对日益凸显的缺水局面和生态环境恶化，邯郸市政府开发建设了邯郸生态水网工程，通过区域性调水，改善了区域严重缺水的现状。面对多种水源的调水选择，采用经济效益、社会效益和环境效益三大目标函数建立了水源优化配制模型。并对传统 “环境效益”函数进行了改进，凸显了“水质质量”指标在选取调水水源中的作用，这一改进对区域水环境修复起到至关重要的作用。 Faced with growing water shortages and deteriorating ecological environment, Handan municipal gov-ernment constructed ecological water network project and improved situation of severe water shortage through the regional water transfer. Confront with a variety of water diversion options, a water optimiza-tion model formulation was established by using economic, social and environmental benefits of the three objective functions. And the traditional “environmental benefits” function has been improved, emphasized the role of the “Water Quality” target in the selection of water diversion, which played a crucial role in environmental remediation.

Evaluation of changes in post-fire recharge under native woodland using hydrological measurements, modelling and remote sensing

Summary This paper examines the use of a controlled fuel reduction burn in native woodland to increase recharge to a shallow aquifer system for water supply in south-western Australia. Soil moisture trends from neutron probe measurements and watertable dynamics from piezometers under adjacent burned and unburned plots were compared to determine the difference in recharge resulting from the fire. Remotely sensed evapotranspiration (ET) subtracted from rainfall was used to independently estimate groundwater and soil moisture recharge and compare against a physically based model of soil–water fluxes. The use of naturally occurring chemicals ( n -alkanes and cycloalkanes) produced in the fire as tracers of the recharge pulse in the winter following the fire was tested. It was found that in the winter following the fire (annual rainfall 701 mm), water storage in the 9 m thick unsaturated zone increased by about 300 mm but recharge to the watertable was only about 60 mm. In the subsequent year (rainfall 630 mm), leaf area index in the burned woodland recovered to be about 10% less than the unburned plot, remotely sensed ET rose above that in the unburned plot and recharge was lower in the burned than unburned plot. This trend continued and, after 3 years, increased ET negated any early recharge gains, and there was a net decrease in recharge resulting from the fire. The combination of water balance measurements, modelling and remote sensing provides a robust method to gain hydrological understanding of recharge mechanisms. Further work is required to refine the use of burn residue chemicals as soil water tracers, particularly in improving instrument design for groundwater sample collection in fine textured soils. As climate continues to change and regions with growing water shortages seek innovative solutions, approaches such as controlled burning may be needed; however, in this example, the approach was unproductive and further the environmental consequences need to be evaluated to make an appropriate assessment of trade-offs and viability of this approach.

A screening level fate model of organic contaminants from advanced water treatment in a potable water supply reservoir

Augmentation of potable water sources by planned indirect potable reuse of wastewater is being widely considered to address growing water shortages. Environmental buffers such as lakes and dams may act as one of a series of barriers to potable water contamination stemming from micropollutants in wastewater. In South-East Queensland, Australia, current government policy is to begin indirect potable reuse of water from reverse osmosis equipped advanced water treatment plants (AWTPs) when the combined capacity of its major storages is at 40% capacity. A total of 15 organic contaminants including NDMA and bisphenol A have been publically reported as detected in recycled water from one of South-East Queensland’s AWTPs, while another 98 chemicals were analysed for, but found to be below their detection limit. To assess the natural attenuation in Lake Wivenhoe, a Level III fugacity based evaluative fate model was constructed using the maximum concentrations of these contaminants detected as input data. A parallel aquivalence based model was constructed for those contaminants, such as dichloroacetic acid, dalapon and triclopyr, which are ionised in the environment of Lake Wivenhoe. A total of 247 organic chemicals of interest, including disinfection by-products, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, xenoestrogens and industrial chemicals, were evaluated with the model to assess their potential for natural attenuation. Out of the 15 detected chemicals, trihalomethanes are expected to volatilise with concentrations in the outflow from the dam approximately 400 times lower than influent from the AWTPs. Transformation processes in water are likely to be more significant for NDMA and pharmaceuticals such as salicylic acid and paracetamol as well as for caffeine and the herbicides dalapon and triclopyr. For hydrophobic contaminants such as cholesterol and phenolic xenoestrogens such as 4-nonylphenol, 4-t-octylphenol and bisphenol A, equilibrium between water and sediments will not be attained and hence fate processes such as removal in outflow are predicted to become relatively important.

Origin and Extent of Fresh Paleowaters on the Atlantic Continental Shelf, USA

While the existence of relatively fresh groundwater sequestered within permeable, porous sediments beneath the Atlantic continental shelf of North and South America has been known for some time, these waters have never been assessed as a potential resource. This fresh water was likely emplaced during Pleistocene sea-level low stands when the shelf was exposed to meteoric recharge and by elevated recharge in areas overrun by the Laurentide ice sheet at high latitudes. To test this hypothesis, we present results from a high-resolution paleohydrologic model of groundwater flow, heat and solute transport, ice sheet loading, and sea level fluctuations for the continental shelf from New Jersey to Maine over the last 2 million years. Our analysis suggests that the presence of fresh to brackish water within shallow Miocene sands more than 100 km offshore of New Jersey was facilitated by discharge of submarine springs along Baltimore and Hudson Canyons where these shallow aquifers crop out. Recharge rates four times modern levels were computed for portions of New England's continental shelf that were overrun by the Laurentide ice sheet during the last glacial maximum. We estimate the volume of emplaced Pleistocene continental shelf fresh water (less than 1 ppt) to be 1300 km(3) in New England. We also present estimates of continental shelf fresh water resources for the U.S. Atlantic eastern seaboard (10(4) km(3)) and passive margins globally (3 x 10(5) km(3)). The simulation results support the hypothesis that offshore fresh water is a potentially valuable, albeit nonrenewable resource for coastal megacities faced with growing water shortages.

TORAY TAPS CHINA

IN BEIJING late last month, Japan’s Toray Industries and China National BlueStar held a ceremonial ground-breaking for a $73 million plant that will produce reverse-osmosis membranes for water purification. The venture, owned 50.1% by Toray and 49.9% by BlueStar, is based on a simple principle: The Japanese side provides the technology, and the Chinese side contributes a local sales network. Whereas Toray is a world-class inventor and producer of water treatment membranes, BlueStar is one of China’s largest chemical conglomerates. “I hope that our technology can provide solutions to some of China’s water shortages and environmental challenges,” Sadayuki Sakakibara, president and chief executive of Toray, said at the event. China is probably the world’s most dynamic market for companies active in water treatment (C&EN, May 11, page 18). Its planned fix for the growing water shortages plaguing the northern part of the country has long been to build huge canals to divert water from the ...

Evaluating the impact of ponds in sustaining crop production: a case of Zhanghe irrigation system in China

Ponds are small reservoirs located in irrigated areas that allow farmers to capture rainfall, store surplus water from irrigation canals and conserve water from other sources. These ponds allow the users to obtain water on-demand providing built-in flexibility by storing water close to water users. Though ponds have been used widely in irrigated areas for many years, a recent increase in the construction of ponds because of growing water shortages and government policies are placing greater need on understanding their role in sustaining crop production. We evaluated the impact of ponds in sustaining agricultural production, specifically the impact of ponds on cost of irrigation, crop area and production. Multivariate regression models were developed to assess the impact of ponds. The results of an assessment of the impact of access to pond water indicated that it reduces the total cost of irrigation. However, the effect is not statistically significant, whereas access to pond water had some positive but non significant impact on rice area and yield. The results did not show any significant increase in yield and rice area because of the similar quality of ponds and the ZIS canal water; the ZIS contributes around 20% to pond water. However, comparing yield using pond water and rainfed agriculture may show a significant impact of pond water. We envision that ponds will continue to play vital roles in sustaining agricultural production.

Examining economies of scale and cost‐benefit of small multi‐purpose storage ponds in the Zhanghe irrigation system, China

AbstractPonds are small reservoirs located in irrigation areas that allow farmers to capture rainfall, store surplus water from irrigation canals, recycle and use water on a needs basis. Though ponds have been widespread in some irrigated areas in China for many years, recent increases in the construction of ponds due to growing water shortages and government policies generate interest in understanding the economies of scale and effectiveness of the investment.The results of a multi‐output, multi‐input translog cost function show that moderate economies of scale exist for large‐size ponds (>10 000 m3) and trivial economies of scale exist for medium‐size ponds (>1000 m3 to <10 000 m3). Small‐size ponds (<1000 m3) reveal diseconomies of scale. The economic evaluation indices indicate that all ponds were profitable with healthy internal rates of return, positive net present values and cost–benefit ratios >1. However, when family labour cost was included, small and medium ponds failed to justify their investment. Overall, larger ponds offer higher economic benefits than small and medium‐size ponds. Efficiency gains could result by constructing large size community ponds that are also economically viable. However, technical guidelines and optimum size limits may effectively need to be established to reduce the possible occurrence of serious environmental and social problems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Economic evaluation of small multi-purpose ponds in the Zhanghe irrigation system, China

Ponds are small reservoirs that allow farmers in irrigated areas to capture rainfall, store surplus water from irrigation canals, and conserve water from other sources. Though ponds have been used widely in irrigated areas for many years, recent increases in the construction of ponds due to growing water shortages and government policies generate interest in understanding effectiveness of investing in ponds.We examine the economics of small, medium, and large ponds. All sizes of ponds are profitable with healthy internal rates of return, positive net present values and benefit–cost ratios larger than 1. However, when the imputed cost of family labor is included, small and medium ponds fail to justify investment. Overall, larger ponds offer higher economic benefits than small and medium ponds. Efficiency gains can be achieved by constructing large ponds, which are also economically viable.

Deep Water: The Epic Struggle Over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment (review)

Reviewed by: Deep Water: The Epic Struggle over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment Paul Josephson (bio) Deep Water: The Epic Struggle over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment. By Jacques Leslie . New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2005. Pp. 368. $25. In Deep Water, Jacques Leslie, a journalist, offers an account of his visits to dams on river systems in India, South Africa, and Australia. In each setting, he relates his discussions with an individual central to the dams: in India, the antidam activist Medha Patkar; in South Africa, the American anthropologist Thayer Scudder; and in Australia, the water-resources manager Donald Blackmore. Leslie became involved in the study of dams because of a heartfelt worry about growing water shortages, about the disproportionate impact of such water-melioration technologies as dams, irrigation systems, and hydroelectricity stations on the poor and very poor—including the loss of lands, lifestyle, and culture—and about their seemingly irreversible negative environmental impacts. Medha Patkar has devoted her life to fighting dam projects on the Narmada River, notably the Sardar Sarovar Dam, because of its displacement of indigenous people and its environmental impacts. She has threatened to drown herself in the waters rising behind the dam as protest against the inequities of the project, especially its disproportionate effect on the tribal people who are one-tenth of India's population, but half of those displaced by dams. Leslie discusses the role of the World Bank and other international organizations in pushing for dams as solutions to poverty. Indian engineers and planners view dams and irrigation systems as the way to solve India's serious problem of water demand. But for Medha Patkar, the dams are a symbol of patriarchy and globalization, with devastating consequences for tribal people who are forced out of their homes to lands less fertile. Paradoxically though expectedly, the engineers for the Sardar Sarovar live in spacious, clean, air-conditioned quarters, and more funds may have been devoted to these facilities than for resettlement. [End Page 210] Similarly, on the Zambezi River in Zambia, the Okavango River in Botswana, and the Orange River in Lesotho, dams have pushed peoples further into poverty. Still, Thayer Scudder, who has served as a consultant on big dam projects for decades, remains convinced of their utility and believes it possible to work both with those supporting the projects and with NGOs that oppose them in order to arrive at a good dam with benefits to all. In this discussion, Leslie raises the issue that dams must be inherently political, but does not address it head-on. Yet his discussion of South African projects should leave no doubt that decisions to build them are both deeply political and technical. For what is a dam? It is newly built roads and an airstrip, quarries, a power station and power lines, demand located far from supply, bulldozers and police to remove the poor so that construction can proceed, resettlement carried out poorly with families and communities split up and moved to infertile land. And while a dam is all about water, paradoxically many resettlement communities have no piped water five years later. In the last section of Deep Water, Leslie discusses the efforts of Donald Blackmore to use a bureaucracy to solve conflicts over water use among locals, farmers, fisheries, and power producers through integrated catch-basin management on the River Murray basin. Blackmore has had many successes, even though the basin has suffered through 150 years of deforestation, sheep grazing, increasing salinity of soils, and displacement of Aborigines. Much of Leslie's information is anecdotal and in many places his book resembles "stream of reporting" rather than systematic analysis, because he refuses to draw conclusions from the rich stories he has gathered. Even so, Deep Water has nuggets of important information for those interested in the history of big water projects in the late twentieth century. The book has no index, bibliography, or footnotes, but there are a few maps to help place the reader. Paul Josephson Paul Josephson teaches history at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Copyright © 2007 The Society for the History of Technology

Quality and Stability Analysis for the Rainfall Water and Surface Runoff Water in Southeast Region of Beijing Municipality

In this study, water sampling was carried out extensively through collection of natural rainfall and municipal surface runoff water samples in the southeast region of Beijing Municipality during the period of June 2002 to July 2004. Chemical tests and measurements of collected water samples were conducted in the laboratory in order to evaluate rainwater quality and to analyze chemical stability of rainwater. The test results show that the collected rainfall water and surface runoff water were soft water and belonged to bicarbonate-calcium Type-I water category. The results also show that their pH levels were closely related to the strength of alkaline constituents in the rainwater. Water quality analysis indicated that the rainwater collected from the study region had been contaminated to a certain degree by nitrogen and organic compounds from intensive human activities. Water stability analysis focuses mainly on the potential of precipitation-dissolution of carbonate calcium (CaCO3). The results show that only the rainwater samples collected from traffic roads were oversaturated with respect to CaCO3 and had a tendency to precipitate, while other rainwater samples were unsaturated with respect to CaCO3 and had the potential to keep dissolving CaCO3 into rainwater. The results obtained in this study may help to develop better rainwater utilization strategies for alleviating the growing water shortage pressure faced by the City of Beijing.

Malnutrition, Disease, and the Developing World

We commend the generosity of Bill Gates for his plan to reduce human diseases, especially in developing countries (“Bill Gates plans a hit list, with NIH's help,” M. Enserink, 31 Jan., p. [641][1]). Tuberculosis, malaria, AIDS, and other diseases are increasing worldwide ([1][2]). One of the factors contributing to these increases is a rise in malnutrition, which is making people more susceptible to a wide array of diseases. According to the World Health Organization, more than 3 billion people worldwide are malnourished (including calorie, protein, vitamins, iron, and iodine deficiencies) ([2][3]). People are dying from any one or combinations of nutrient deficiencies, but of equal concern is their increased susceptibility to infections. Unfortunately, to successfully tackle the problem of human diseases, we cannot deal only with one aspect of the problem. World population is increasing rapidly and is projected to double to 12 billion in about 50 years ([3][4]). Food production per capita, based on cereal grains, which are estimated to provide about 80% of the world's food, has been declining for nearly two decades ([4][5]). More than 99% of the world's food comes from agriculture. Growing water shortages are plaguing agricultural production. Agriculture consumes more than 70% of the world's fresh water ([5][6]). In some areas, water is so polluted that it is unsafe for agricultural production and human use. Reports indicate that 90% of human infections with diseases in developing countries are attributed to polluted water ([6][7]). Thus, we encourage a holistic approach to reducing the disease burden in developing countries. Such an effort would include reducing population growth, increasing the food nutrient supply, providing clean sources of fresh water, and researching prevention and treatment of the various diseases plaguing humans. Placing emphasis only on measures to decrease death rates, without at the same time dealing with the factors that affect birth rates, would greatly exacerbate the world's population problem ([7][8]). In addition, improving economic development, increasing education and political stability, and increasing support of research are needed to help reduce the human burden of diseases and malnutrition. 1. [↵][9]1. D. Pimentel 1. Y. Kim , in Biological Invasions: Economic and Environmental Costs of Alien Plant, Animal, and Microbe Species, D. Pimentel, Ed. (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2002), pp. 331-354. 2. [↵][10]1. WHO , Micronutrient Malnourishment: Half the World's Population Affected (No. 78 (World Health Organization, Geneva, 1996), pp. 1-4. 3. [↵][11] (2002)Population Reference Bureau, Washington, DC. 4. [↵][12]Vital Signs: The Trends that are Shaping Our Future (Norton, New York, 2001). 5. [↵][13]Vital Water Graphics, Water Use and Management (United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, 2002)(see [www.unep.org/VitalWater/15.htm][14]). 6. [↵][15]Effects of the Current and Future Population on Food Supply (Alternative Energy Institute, )(see [www.altenergy.org/2/population/effects/effects.html][16]). 7. [↵][17]See [www.bized.ac.uk/virtual/dc/copper/theory/th10.htm][18]. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.299.5607.641b [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #ref-3 [5]: #ref-4 [6]: #ref-5 [7]: #ref-6 [8]: #ref-7 [9]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [10]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [11]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [12]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4 in text [13]: #xref-ref-5-1 View reference 5 in text [14]: http://www.unep.org/VitalWater/15.htm [15]: #xref-ref-6-1 View reference 6 in text [16]: http://www.altenergy.org/2/population/effects/effects.html [17]: #xref-ref-7-1 View reference 7 in text [18]: http://www.bized.ac.uk/virtual/dc/copper/theory/th10.htm

China's Unfinished Economic Revolution

China's Unfinished Economic Revolution offers a fundamentally different interpretation of China's economic reform. The common view that China's gradualistic approach has served it well overlooks the fact that state-owned banks for the last two decades have channeled a large share of sharply rising household savings into what are mostly unreformed, money-losing companies. The result is that several of China's largest financial institutions now are insolvent. To avoid a major domestic banking crisis the book argues that China must recapitalize and restructure its domestic banking system and end the long-standing practice of making lending decisions based on political rather than economic criteria. Nicholas Lardy explains that this course will inevitably be costly in political terms, in part because it will lead for a time to a slower rate of economic growth. But the alternative is even less attractive --permanently slower growth, continued macroeconomic instability, an inability to meet the expectations of the international community for the opening of its domestic financial markets, and insufficient resources to deal with severe environmental deterioration, growing water shortages, and a rapidly aging population. This timely book also analyzes the new reform initiatives China has launched in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, suggests additional steps that must be taken, and evaluates the implications for U.S. policy.

Rhineland on the Way to its Thousandth Anniversary or Water-Administration in the Next 100–200 Years

An inventory is made of the effects of sea level rise and expected climatic change on the level of the district water authorities in the Netherlands and especially the “hoogheemraadschap” of Rhineland in the next 100-200 years. Special attention is paid to the effects on land utilization, coastal defence and water control. The first is hard to describe by lack of research, the second can already be determined in terms of cost; the third can be described in its effects on brackishness and water provision with indication of policies and measures to be taken. Preliminary conclusions are that larger efforts on coastal defence - even with present techniques - will be a realistic answer in terms of cost. The foreseen increase of brackishness in area and salt concentration, will give a significant extra need for fresh water. High cost and even higher risks have to be expected with regard to measures to neutralize the effects of a water surplus in winter and a growing water shortage in (late) summer, while the cost will further grow. Because of the effect a larger area must be drained off and water has to be raised higher as the Netherlands will sink in relation to the North Sea.

Inhumanities of Urban Planning

As pressure of numbers causes the rate of urbanization to increase, human populations face two pervasive threats. The first is the deterioration of the relationship between man and his physical habitat. Possibly to double to six billion by A.D. 2000, man will press hard on his natural resources. He is already interfering with life-essential metabolisms to a dangerous extent, perhaps irreversibly. The smog of Los Angeles, the growing water shortage in the northeastern United States, and the mounting pollution problems of the Great Lakes are some of the more obvious, evidence that the auspices for further urbanization in ever vaster agglomerations, notwithstanding our technological ingenuity, are not benign. The second threat is the ambiguity of our psychic habitat-that environment of ideas, values, enjoyments, aspirations, and satisfactions in which we live out our lives. This ambience, related in ways we little understand to the natural and man-made objects of our world, may be congenial to high civilization Of, dominated by degraded values, it may be inimical to life-enhancing satisfactions.