Multipurpose Project Research Articles

Optimal land and water resources allocation policies for sustainable irrigated agriculture

Conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater is being practiced in many regions of the world to bring more areas under irrigation, increase agricultural production and productivity, and also maintain overall system balance. Successful agricultural water management policies put the physical, hydro-geological, and socio-economic constraints on these integrated water supplies. To sustain these constraints, a linear programming (LP) model has been developed for optimal land and water resources allocation in various sectors of the Hirakud Canal Command, a multi-purpose irrigation project on the river Mahanadi in eastern India. To enhance the decision-taking ability of the Hirakud command area development authority, a menu-driven and user-friendly software has been developed by Visual-Basic that incorporates model-base, data-base, knowledge-base subsystems along with the user-interface. The model-base subsystem includes LP, groundwater balance, and evapotranspiration models. The data-base subsystem includes the meteorological, crop, and water resources data. The knowledge-base subsystem was developed from the knowledge derived from the results of the aforementioned models. Sensitivity analysis of the LP model parameters was performed by varying the parameters that affect the optimal cropping pattern and groundwater allocation. The result indicates that conjunctive use of 87% surface water and 13% groundwater is the sustainable water allocation policy of the command area. The model results also indicate that a 20% deviation in existing cropping pattern is the best alternative as it considered socio-economic need and also meets the entire food demand of the study area.

Landscape vulnerability and rehabilitation issues: a study of hydropower projects in Garhwal region, Himalaya

The Himalaya is known for its rich biodiversity, and it supports the Indian subcontinent with wide varieties of natural resources including the life-sustaining water. Its huge potential to develop micro-hydropower projects is untapped. Large-scale multi-purpose river valley projects are not feasible as the landscape of Garhwal region is highly vulnerable—ecologically fragile, geologically unstable and tectonically and seismically active. Here, the issues of landscape vulnerability and rehabilitation, due to the construction of hydropower projects, are renowned. In Garhwal region, the hydropower projects, which have been constructed and are under construction and proposed, are located in the densely populated river valleys, where terraced arable land is also available. These areas are highly prone to atmospherically triggered hazards—debris flows, flash floods, landslides, mass movements and rockfalls. Rehabilitation of the affected population has been remaining as a major challenge in all the river valley projects from the very onset of the commencement of hydropower projects in Garhwal region. This paper examines the landscape vulnerability and rehabilitation issues related to the hydropower projects in Garhwal region, Himalaya. The author collected the data from the primary and secondary sources and from the rapid field visits of the hydropower project sites. This study reveals that only micro-level hydropower projects are feasible in the fragile landscape of the Garhwal Himalaya, keeping vulnerability and rehabilitation issues in mind.

The Economics and Politics of 'Green' Flood Control: A Historical Examination of Natural Valley Storage Protection by the Corps of Engineers

Between 1972 and 1994, the New England Division of the US Army Corps of Engineers undertook five studies evaluating the benefits and costs of protecting natural valley storage (NVS) areas as a flood mitigation strategy in various watersheds. NVS lands function as natural reservoirs, temporarily storing floodwaters. In only one case—along the Charles River in Massachusetts—were the benefits found to outweigh the costs. Along the Charles, the Corps acquired approximately 8,500 acres of floodplain land to keep as open space in perpetuity. This paper reviews the five studies in detail to inform ongoing interest in green approaches to flood control. The analysis finds that large-scale land acquisition to contain major riverine flood events is difficult to justify by avoided flood damages alone. For such a project to generate net benefits, there must be significant amounts of NVS lands still undeveloped, substantial development pressure on those lands, and downstream areas that would sustain high levels of damage in the event of a flood. Perhaps more importantly, however, these studies raise two fundamental institutional questions: (1) Should the Corps, or the federal government more broadly, be involved in land acquisition? (2) Should regulating land use be preferred over purchasing NVS land? The economic and political issues uncovered in the historic examination of these five studies suggest an explanation for the current focus on other approaches to green flood control, such as multipurpose projects, levee setbacks, and green infrastructure to manage stormwater.

The network programming method in control over target programs

We consider the problem of optimizing programs with respect to cost. The state of a program is defined via several goals (criteria) based on a complex evaluation system. For each goal, there exist several projects that contribute to achieving this goal. A number of projects contributes to several goals (multipurpose projects). To solve the problem, we propose two methods. One is based on enumerating all possible ways to include multipurpose projects into the program. The other is based on a network programming technique. We give results of numerical experiments that compare these approaches.

Development-driven forced displacement and compensation-based resettlement: experiences from the Jamuna multi-purpose bridge project

In 1998 the Jamuna Multi-Purpose Bridge (JMB), the largest infrastructure development project in Bangladesh was completed. Huge numbers of households were affected by the project and many were displaced. Only a handful of displaced people were resettled by the project. The JMB was the first development project in Bangladesh that included resettlement activities as an integral part of the project and introduced a resettlement action plan. In principle, the Revised Resettlement Action Plan endorsed the primary principle of Operational Directives 4:30 of the World Bank. The resettlement project's core objective was to improve the living standards of project-affected persons above their previous level, or at least reinstate their pre-project standard. To meet the goals, various grants and supports were given as compensation. The project has earned international admiration as an example for other projects to follow. This study investigates the extent to which Jamuna Multi-Purpose Bridge's compensation-based resettlement succeeded in reconstructing displaced households, and identifies discrepancies between policy and practice. It concludes with major findings and comparative analysis on the compensation principle, and provides opinions based on information gathered from the field.

To build or not to build? – That's the question

Highways, power plants, transmission lines,Irrigation projects, railways, multi-purpose projects;Coal mines, steel plants, nuclear plants, windmills,energy projects, and more – the list goes on and...

Socioeconomic Factors Hindering the Participation of Women in Managing Water Resources in Kajiado County, Kenya

The important role women play in water resources management has been recognized for a long time globally and in most societies, they are the ones primarily responsible for the management of household water supply and sanitation. In these societies, women also play the role of family care givers in terms of provision of food, nutrition, clean water and sanitation. Due to these roles, they depend directly on the availability of water resources and have therefore accumulated considerable knowledge on water in terms of location, quality and storage methods. Despite the significant roles that women play in water resources management, they face various challenges that hinder them from effectively participating in its management in various parts of the world. The purpose of this study was to examine the various socioeconomic factors inhibiting the participation of women in managing water in three Divisions of Kajiado County in Kenya. Semi structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and direct observations were used to collect data. The key factors found to affect the participation of women in water resources management were cultural practices, gender inequalities, lack of formal education, poor access to water sources and lack of decision making power and land ownership rights. It is recommended that concerted efforts be made to educate the local community, improve access to water sources through construction of multipurpose water projects and gender mainstreaming in water resources management in the County.

Supply demand ratio and water utilization index in jurala project command area, Andhra Pradesh, India

The Priyadarsini Jurala Project (PJP) is a multipurpose project constructed across the river Krishna, near Revulapalli village, mainly designed to irrigate low water requirement crops in the drought prone area of Mahabubnagar district, Andhra Pradesh. The irrigation performance assessment of any project is judged using performance indicators. Hence, the performance indicators namely supply demand ratio and water utilization index (WUI) were calculated, which will help to know whether water supplied is based on timely crop irrigation demand and also if the irrigation performance is appropriate at all the reaches in the command area. Crop area was monitored using two years remotely sensed (RS) data of IRS P6 LISS-III and AWiFs sensor. The principal crop grown in the command area during kharif season was paddy (0.0234 mha), of which 37.2% of the area was under right canal and 62.8% was under left canal. The monthly net irrigation requirement (NIR) of remote sensing derived cropping pattern was calculated for RMC and LMC using CROPWAT model. The calculated monthly supply-demand ratio showed that the irrigation supply was more than demand. The WUI was low for left canal as compared to the right canal.

Status of LHAASO updates from ARGO-YBJ

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) is a multipurpose project with a complex detector array for high energy gamma ray and cosmic ray detection. The array of 1km2 is composed of five types of detectors to measure shower arrival direction, total number of secondary particles, muon content, Cherenkov image and high energy gamma rays near shower core, respectively. The main scientific goals are (1) searching for galactic cosmic ray origins by extensive spectroscopy investigations of gamma ray sources above 30TeV; (2) all sky survey for gamma ray sources at energies higher than 300GeV; (3) energy spectrum and composition measurements of cosmic rays over a wide range covering knees with fixed energy scale and known fluxes for all species at the low energy end. In this paper, the progress on relevant detector developments is reported, including constructions of prototype detectors at Tibet site and coincidence operation with the ARGO-YBJ resistive plat chamber full coverage array at 4300m a.s.l. The energy spectrum of cosmic ray hydrogen and Helium nuclei up to 0.8PeV is reported as the first piece of physics measurements by the LHAASO experiment.

상관 다기능 저류지 조성의 경제적 편익 평가(II): 레크리에이션용수 공급편익을 중심으로

물에 대한 기능 중 레크리에이션 기능은 빼놓을 수 없는 중요한 기능중의 하나이다. 그러나 레크리에이션 편익에 대한 정량적 연구는 매우 미흡한 실정이다. 이에 본 연구는 실험선택법을 적용하여 레크리에이션 편익을 추정하고자 한다. 레크리에이션과 관련된 몇 개의 속성과 가격속성으로 이루어진 여러 개의 대안 중에서 선호하는 한 가지를 응답자로 하여금 선택하게 함으로서 개별 속성에 대한 한계지불의사액(MWTP) 정보를 도출한다. 분석결과 레크리에이션 용수 10,000톤의 추가적인 확보에 대해 각 가구는 연간 3원의 MWTP를 갖는 것으로 추정되었다. 또한 레크리에이션 용수의 수질을 1등급 개선시게 되면 각 가구는 연간 645.5원의 MWTP를 갖는 것으로 분석되었다. 아울러 레크리에이션 시설의 추가적인확보에 대해 각 가구는 연간 1,518.6원의 MWTP를 가졌다. 이와 같은 정량적 정보는 다기능 저류지 조성 여부와 관련된 의사결정에서 유용한 정보로 활용될 수 있을 것이다. There is imminent need to find a way to measure the recreational benefits of water so that appropriate actions can be taken to make a multi-purpose reservoir. Therefore, this study attempts to apply a choice experiment to quantifying the recreational benefits of a multi-purpose reservoir, using a specific case study of Sangkwan multi-purpose reservoir. We consider the trade-offs between price and attributes of recreational attributes for selecting a preferred alternative and derive the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) estimate for each attribute. The results show that the MWTP for providing additional 10,000 ton of water is estimated to be 3 won per household per year. The MWTP for improving 1 level of water quality is computed to be 645.5 won per household per year. Moreover, the MWTP for providing recreation facilities is calculated to be 1,518.6 won per household per year. This study allows us to provide policy-makers with useful quantitative information that can reduce uncertainty in the decision-making process related to a multi-purpose reservoir construction projects.

Subsurface structures using a new integrated geophysical analysis, South Aswan, Egypt

The Aswan High Dam located at the north of Nasser Lake in Aswan, Egypt, has a vital role because it is a multipurpose project for sustainable irrigation development, hydropower, and navigation improvement. In this work, we aim to detect the hazardous subsurface structures that control the South Aswan area and their causative source depths, through the application of both normalized standard deviation filters and deconvolution procedures. These computational approaches utilize a three-dimensional Euler homogeneity equation with unprescribed structural indices that is based on the properties of the differential similarity transformation on the available Bouguer gravity data. Hence, without any bias to a definite structural element (structural index), an automatic identification of the effective structural indices in the area is given. Moreover, possible vertical magnetic contacts are estimated from the reduced to pole magnetic anomaly map through an application of the tilt-depth technique. The mean focal depth of the earthquakes changes over time and migrates to shallower depths. The number of shallow events is increasing dramatically, whereas the corresponding magnitudes are decreasing. The integration of potential field data analysis with the new seismological and water level catalog (for the duration of 30 years) shows that the area began a hazardous cycle of activity (MI > 4) that could continue over the next few years.

Dynamic Emergy Analysis in the Efficiency Evaluation of a Multipurpose Hydropower Project

A dynamic approach is taken in this study to assess the efficiency of the various functions of the Xiaolangdi multipurpose project using the emergy evaluation method. These functions include flood control, ice jam prevention, sediment reduction, water supply and power generation. Through simulation modeling, both emergy inflows and outflows can be continuously tracked and the variations and uncertainties properly measured for different stages in the operation of the Xiaolangdi multipurpose project on an annual basis. Dynamic emergy analysis provides an alternative way to evaluate the efficiency of a multipurpose hydropower project.

Hydrogeomorphic variability due to dam constructions and emerging problems: a case study of Damodar River, West Bengal, India

In the first multipurpose river valley planning of India, the vast resources of Damodar River Basin (DRB) (eastern India) are not only to be envisioned in their entirety but also to be developed in a unified manner where the water, land, and people are simultaneously bounded in a seamless web. Four large dams (Konar, Tilaiya, Maithon, and Panchet), Durgapur barrage, and Tenughat reservoir are built to tamp the flood-prone Damodar River using water resource in an integrated method. The functionality of Damodar fluvial system is controlled by dams, barrage, weirs, sluices, embankments, and canals, maintaining a dynamic equilibrium between fluvial processes and anthropogenic processes. Carrying more than 50 years of legacy, the existing drainage and flood control system of Damodar Valley Corporation has aggravated a number of hydrogeomorphic problems especially in lower DRB, viz. siltation of river bed and reservoirs, uncontrolled monsoonal stream flow, declining carrying capacity of lower course, drainage congestion, low-magnitude annual floods, channel shifting, de-functioned canals, decay of paleochannels, decline of ground water level, and less replenishing of soils with fresh silts. The present paper is mainly tried to investigate the pre-dam and post-dam hydrogeomorphic variability in relation to flood risk and drawbacks of Damodar Valley Multipurpose Project. Specifically, the annual peak flow of Damodar shifts from August to September due to dam construction and reservoir storage. Applying the annual flood series of log Pearson type III distribution, we have estimated post-dam 5-year peak discharge of above 5,300 m3 s−1 and 100-year flood of above 11,000 m3 s−1. Due to siltation, the bankfull discharges of sample segments are gradually declined up to 4,011 m3 s−1, 2,366 m3 s−1, and 1,542 m3 s−1, respectively, having recurrence interval of 1.18–3.18 years only. With the regulation of monsoon flow, the standard sinuosity index is gradually increased downstream, having high dominance of hydraulic factors in respect of topographic factors. The upstream section of study area (Rhondia to Paikpara) now shows the dominance of aggradational landforms, braiding, avulsion, high width–depth ratio, breaching of right bank, and valley widening, but downstream of Barsul the phenomena of bank erosion, confined sinuosity, low width–depth ratio, and narrowness are more pronounced.

Why Eastern Himalayan countries should cooperate in transboundary water resource management

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal in the Eastern Himalayas are interconnected by the common river systems of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna (GBM). The GBM basin is home to approximately 700 million people, comprising over 10% of the world's population. The economy and environment of the region depend on water, but while the need for water is increasing, poor management and climate-related effects are making water supplies erratic. Upstream–downstream interdependencies necessitate developing a shared river system in an integrated manner through collaboration of the riparian countries. This paper examines the opportunities for, and potential benefits of, regional cooperation in water resource management. It suggests that the benefits can increase considerably when a regional (river basin) perspective is adopted that promotes optimum use of water resources for consumptive and non-consumptive use. Regional cooperation can bring additional economic, environmental, social, and political benefits through multi-purpose river projects, which help by storing monsoon water, mitigating the effects of floods and droughts, augmenting dry season river flows, expanding irrigation and navigation facilities, generating hydropower, and enhancing energy and environmental security. A broader framework to facilitate regional cooperation in transboundary rivers in the Eastern Himalayan region is suggested.

Water and Hydropower in the Green Economy and Sustainable Development of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region

Water storage projects in the Himalayan region are thought of primarily in the context of hydropower generation, which can be perceived as an opportunity driven approach. However, water scarcity is a major problem in the basins of the ten rivers originating in the region, especially in the dry season. This is due to high intra-annual rainfall variability, which may get worse due to population growth and climate change and variability. Water storage projects may, therefore, have to be thought of in the context of water scarcity, which can be perceived as a challenge driven approach for water storage capacity development. This paper suggests that to increase the pace of development of constructed storage systems such as large multi-purpose projects that provide water availability as well as hydroelectric power benefits, institutional mechanisms may have to be crafted for benefit-sharing between upstream and downstream communities affected by storage projects. Until that time, it may be necessary to increase the pace of hydropower development in the region through small- and medium-size hydropower projects. This paper discusses the economic, environmental, technological, financial, and institutional barriers to the development of small hydroelectric power plants in the region. It also discusses the role of the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and raising carbon finance under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as potential solutions to partially overcome environmental and financial barriers respectively.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v10i0.7097 Hydro Nepal Vol.10 January 2012 11-19

Fish Diversity at Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project Area in Mahakali River

A study was carried out to prepare a baseline information on water quality and freshwater fish diversity at Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project area in Mahakali river. The study was conducted in autumn (October 2008) and summer (June 2009). A total of 24 fish species belonging to 3 orders, 4 families and 13 genera were recorded during the investigation period. Cypriniformes was the most dominant order accounting 75% of total fish species. Siluriformes and Synbranchiformes accounted for 21% and 4% of fish species composition respectively. Spawning and rearing areas in study sites were evenly distributed providing a suitable habitat for both cold and warm water fish species. The water quality parameters, i.e., water temperature (20.50-22.63 0C), DO (8.58-11.85 mg/l) and pH (6.93-7.20) were found within the suitable range supporting diverse fish species. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 2 (2012) 225-230 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i2.7741

Getting personal while narrating the ‘field’: a researcher's journey to the villages of the Narmada valley

In this article, I discuss my experiences, dilemmas and emotions following my field surveys conducted in the rehabilitated villages of Sardar Sarovar. The Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) is a multi-purpose river valley project that has dislocated thousands of Adivasis and non-Adivasis from their traditional lands. I have used the narrative method to research and gain insights into the lifestyle changes of the Adivasis displaced by the SSP. Accordingly, I reflect critically on the negotiation of ethics and insider–outsider status in international field research and pay close attention to the importance of reflexivity, positionality and power struggles.

Multi Objective Simulation-Optimization Approach in Pollution Spill Response Management Model in Reservoirs

In this study, a Pollution Spill Response Management Model (PSRMM) is developed to provide an emergency response on reservoir operation during accidental injection of hazardous material to reservoirs. PSRMM consist of spatial system analyzing (SSA) model, 2D hydrodynamic and water quality simulation model (CE-QUAL-W2), and multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) algorithm. CE-QUAL-W2 model is applied for spatial and temporal analysis of water body in simulation routine of PSRMM. Also, in an advanced modeling framework, CE-QUAL-W2 is coupled with MOPSO algorithm to obtain desirable near optimal reservoir operation strategy and/or emergency planning in selective withdrawal framework. The simulation-optimization (SO) routine of PSRMM provides pareto optimum reservoir operation strategy in selective scheme to minimize reservoir cleanup time and to reduce the magnitude and frequency of water quality standard violations. The proposed tool is applied in Ilam reservoir in Iran, as a multipurpose hydraulic project providing water for drinking, irrigation, and flood control during an accident spill of conservative hazardous material. Different scenarios are defined and tested employing the proposed PSRMM for managing accidental spill of conservative pollutant into the reservoir.

Runoff and Sediment Load from the Right Bank Valleys of Mosul Dam Reservoir

Mosul Dam is a Multipurpose Project on the River Tigris in Iraq with 11.11 billion m 3 storage capacity. It is used to store the water for irrigation, hydropower generation, and flood control. As in other dams in the world, this dam also have sedimentation problem. Sediment accumulation in its reservoir can effect the dam operation (pumping station, hydropower plants, and bottom outlets) and it will definitely shorten the life span of the dam. In this study, the SWAT (soil and water assessment tool) under GIS (Geographical Information System) was applied to simulate the yearly surface runoff and sediment load for the main three valleys on the right bank of Mosul Dam Reservoir. The simulation considered for the twenty one years begin from the dam operation in 1988 to 2008. The resultant values of the average annual sediment load are 35.6×10 3 , 4.9×10 3 , and 2.2×10 3 ton, while the average values of sediment concentration are 1.73, 1.65, and 2.73 kg/m 3 for the considered valleys one, two and three respectively. This implies that significant sediment load enters the reservoir from these valleys. To minimize the sediment load entering the reservoir, a check dam is to be constructed in suitable sites especially for valley one. The check dam can store the runoff water and trap the sediment load, and then the flow can be released to the reservoir.

Multi-Purpose Melamchi Project, Nepal

Several years ago, a volunteer project study team prepared a concept level Technical Report on the Multi-Purpose Melamchi Project (the MPMP, by Dan Jantzen, Bikash Pandey, Ratna Sansar Shrestha and Odd Hoftun, 2008). The ongoing Melamchi Project is single purpose project, to provide drinking water for the Kathmandu Valley. The Study Team wrote that the present Melamchi Project scope is limited and that its full potential should be harnessed by making it multi-purpose so that the more benefits are accrued to the people of Melamchi-Bagmati corridor. The MPMP authors propose a wide range of initiatives in hydropower generation, and making available additional water for irrigation in the Bagmati Irrigation Project. The cost estimates were prepared by Sanima Hydro and Engineering (P.) Ltd.; the Preliminary Environmental Assessment was undertaken by Dr. Toran Sharma; and the Irrigation Analysis was by Dilip Karki.Furthermore, the study team has proposed to implement the MPMP as a Public-Private Partnership, where the hydropower component is taken by the private sector. In addition to the 26km Melamchi-Sundarijal tunnel, other long additional tunnels are proposed in the Himalayan Geology.These ideas and proposals need to be further discussed for the benefits and risks, alike. The following is the Executive Summary of the MPMP report. The four figures presented are self-explanatory.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v9i0.7070 Hydro Nepal Vol.9 July 2011 35-37