Protection Of Water Resources Research Articles

Assessment of Variability and Attribution of Drought Based on GRACE in China from Three Perspectives: Water Storage Component, Climate Change, Water Balance

Understanding how drought is impacted by both natural and human influences is crucial to the sustainable utilization and protection of water resources. We established a drought severity index (DSI) based on the terrestrial water storage anomaly (TWSA) derived from the GRACE satellite to detect drought characteristics and trends over ten major river basins in China from 2002 to 2017. The influence of natural factors (terrestrial water storage components, precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff, NDVI, and teleconnection factors (ENSO, PDO, NAO, and AO)) and a human factor (LULC) on drought were investigated and quantified from the perspective of water storage components based on the Theil–Sen trend and Mann–Kendall test method, the perspective of climate change based on cross wavelet transforms, and the perspective of water balance based on Random Forest. The results indicated that (1) almost all humid and arid basins experienced major drought periods during 2002–2006 and 2014–2017, respectively. The southern IRB and central YZRB regions exhibited notable declines in DSI trends, while the majority of the HLRB, IRB, LRB, YRB, HRB, and SWRB experienced significant increases in DSI trends; (2) abnormal groundwater decreases were the main cause of drought triggered by insufficient terrestrial water storage in most basins; (3) ENSO was the strongest teleconnection factor in most humid basins, and NAO, PDO, and AO were the strongest teleconnection factors in the arid basins and PRB. Most significant resonance cycles lasted 12–64 months in 2005–2014; and (4) the influence of an anthropogenic driver (LULC) has become as important as, or more important than, natural factors (runoff and teleconnection factors) on hydrological drought.

Development of water resources protection planning and environmental design in urban water conservancy landscape based on ecological concept

Abstract With the development of society, water resources are gradually scarce and water pollution is becoming increasingly serious, which would seriously restrict the development of the urban economy. In response to the current problems of water scarcity and severe water pollution, this article will study the key points of urban environmental design development based on ecological concepts. This article will also use ecological concepts to divide water function zones based on different pollution-carrying capacities in different regions, which can be mainly divided into two levels. In the experimental analysis section, the Xiongan New Area will be analyzed. This article randomly selected three regions in the Xiongan New Area and studied the utilization rate of various types of water in these regions. The pollution capacity and main water resources of each region in the functional area were planned and designed. Through experiments, it can be found that based on ecological concepts, it is beneficial to improve the pollutant-carrying capacity of each functional area and reduce the total amount of ammonia nitrogen.

Information asymmetry in the graph model of conflict resolution and its application to the sustainable water resource utilization conflict in Niangziguan Springs Basin

With the increasing consumption of global water resources, research on sustainable water resource utilization has become a topic of urgent interest. Despite the promulgation of policies and laws on the protection of water resources, the sustainable utilization and development of water resources in China are still far from reaching their initially established targets. This is partly explained by real-life conflicts that arise, in which different decision makers (DMs) possess different levels of professional knowledge, social status, and even power in contexts where the parties’ ability to leverage information varies greatly. Sustainable water resource utilization conflicts between the government and factories exemplify the impact of this information asymmetry on the relationship between DMs for the purposes of conflict resolution. In this paper, it is assumed that if one DM in a conflict has more information, their information advantage will affect the policy formation of the other DM. Thus, to analyze and resolve relevant problems, the concept of information asymmetry between two DMs is integrated into the basic structure of the graph model for conflict resolution (GMCR). According to the mathematical expression of the information asymmetry preferences of DMs, a set of information asymmetry stability definitions can be introduced to determine the stable state for each DM. The sustainable water resource utilization conflict in Niangziguan Springs Basin is used as an exemplar to confirm the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed method. Stability analysis shows that when the government implements strict environmental policies by leveraging more information, factories should adjust their preference relations to follow the rules and regulations to protect water resource in practice. Finally, comprehensive sustainable utilization and development of natural resource mechanisms must be implemented not only for these factories but also for other industries in China.

Utilization of broken rock in shallow gobs for mitigating mining-induced water inrush disaster risks and environmental damage: Experimental study and permeability model

Coal mining-induced groundwater losses may trigger water inrush disasters and surface ecological degradation. The compaction and seepage characteristics of broken rock in gobs can be used to find the balance point of water inrush prevention and water resource protection in shallow coal seam groups. These characteristics, as well as geological and engineering parameters of shallow coal seam mining, are experimentally determined in this study. The performed permeability tests revealed that the percentage of voids in broken rock exponentially decreased with the axial stress. The water seepage of broken rock in the compaction process conformed to the Forchheimer theory, with the permeability ranging from 10−1 to 10 D. The initial value and reduction range of mudstone permeability in the three lithologic samples were the smallest. The uniaxial compression strength reduction caused by the increase in unit mass water due to water saturation of natural rock samples were 5.8 and 3.2 % for coal and sandstone, respectively. Based on the experimental results on compaction and seepage of broken rock, the axial stress-percentage of voids-permeability model considering compaction and re-crushing was established. The mudstone roof was found to be the key rock stratum during re-mining for ecological protection and hydraulic connection evaluation of the overburden.

Research on the future climate change and runoff response in the mountainous area of Yongding watershed

Climate change has affected hydrological processes at global scale, and redistributed water resources in space and time. Anthropogenic activities even exacerbated the water resources problems. In this paper, Statistical DownScaling Model (SDSM) was used to downscale the predicted precipitation and temperature in the mountainous area of Yongding watershed under 4 SSP-RCP climate scenarios in 4 General Circulation Models (GCMs). Bayesian model averaging (BMA) method was employed for multi-model integration to reduce the impact of GCM uncertainty on climate change prediction. Then, the multi-model ensemble data were corrected by the Quantile mapping (QM) method. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was established in the study area considering the intensive human activities, including the water use in irrigation areas and regulation of the 8 large and medium-sized reservoirs. The SWAT model was applied to simulate the runoff response under the future climate change. The results showed that the maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin), precipitation (P) and runoff all show an upward trend under the four future climate scenarios. SSP585 scenario always showed the highest increase in temperature and precipitation. The simulated future annual runoff increases significantly compared with the reference period, indicating that the water shortage of the watershed may be alleviated in the future. The research results can provide a scientific basis for the decision-making of water resources management and protection in the watershed.

The Use of Tofu Whey from Food Industry Waste in Podological Care

The aim of the study was to create cosmetic formulations used for washing and conditioning based on natural whey derived from tofu. Tofu whey used in the production of hair cosmetics turns out to be valuable waste that replaces water. Whey is an ingredient rich in proteins, oligosaccharides and isoflavones. When trying to follow the principles of sustainable development, we need also to be responsible for protecting water resources. Using whey, we limit water consumption to the necessary minimum. Hence, we also support no water waste trend. Tofu whey, which is a valuable waste that replaces water, was used in the production of podology products. The research was conducted following the approval of the Bioethics Committee, resolution number 223/22. Tests confirming or excluding the properties and performance of tofu whey declared by the Ordering Party were carried out at probands’ homes and in the Dermatology Center (Centrum Dermatologii Sp. z o.o.) in Poznan. The probands were volunteers. A group of 30 people was selected for the study according to the indications for the use of the product submitted for experiments. The selection of probands was carried out after a preliminary assessment of the condition of feet and health. Due to the purpose of the product, the study involved people who declared a desire to improve the appearance and condition of their feet. The study used the imaging method with the participation of a microcamera.

Can water pollution control influence employment adjustment in enterprises?

Under the background of increasing water pollution, the achievement of a harmonious development of human and water systems has become increasingly important to build an ecological civilization and achieve high-quality economic development. On this basis, this paper takes Chinese A-share listed companies as the research object, and examines whether environmental regulation of water resources can influence employment decisions of enterprises. The results showed that the environmental regulation of water resources reduced the number of workers absorbed by enterprises characterized by high pollution and water consumption. Mandatory innovation pressures imposed on high-pressure group by the environmental regulation of water resources prompted these industries to recruit more high-tech workers; while those industries that were not subjected to mandatory innovation pressures (i.e., the medium-pressure group) did not show an evident increase in demand for high-tech workers. The results of further analyses showed that, although the employment decisions of these two groups of enterprises differed, their enterprise values clearly improved after the implementation of this policy. This study provides important policy insights on how to achieve the protection of water resources and the optimization of the enterprise employment structure under the background of environmental regulation of water resources.

Water level recognition based on strong edge and sparse constraints

Abstract This paper takes the intelligent water level recognition instrument of Qingming Shanghe Park in Kaifeng as the experimental object, introduces the algorithm of strong edge and sparse constraint into the intelligent water level recognition instrument, and compares the recognition effect of the intelligent water level recognition instrument before and after the introduction of strong edge and sparse constraint algorithms. The results showed that the clarity value was approximately 10% higher, and the recognition speed was also significantly improved. The improvement of recognition speed can effectively promote the work efficiency of the whole method. Strong edges and sparse constraints can effectively improve the accuracy of water level identification, provide scientific and effective data and information for subsequent water resource management, and meet the needs of water resource managers to effectively grasp the law of water level. This can provide technical support for identification methods in other fields, and the ultimate goal is to promote the protection and management of water resources and reduce the harm of natural disasters on people.

Evaluating water policies under the changing conditions of climatic variables in North Khorasan Province, Iran

Abstract The paper aimed to evaluate the impacts of water pricing and quota policies under changing climatic conditions on the major production factors using economic-biophysical modeling. The data were collected by 382 questionnaires focusing on wheat, barley, cotton, alfalfa, and sugar beet crops in the 2017–2018 cropping year in North Khorasan Province, Iran. Climate change scenarios were defined as wet, moderate, and dry scenarios resulting from precipitation changes. The results showed that climate change scenarios reduce the total irrigated area of crops and total water used. Due to the effect of precipitation on crop yield, dry and moderate climate changes reduce the total gross income, while wet climate changes increase it. The scenarios of quota and pricing policies were then applied under climate change scenarios. The amount of water conserved by applying the quota policy was equal to the quota rate, while the impact of the pricing policy varied depending on the type of climate change. The highest amount of water conserved belonged to the conditions of dry climate change in Atrak and Central Desert catchments, which was about 6.8–8.6 and 3.83–14.48%, respectively. As the climate moves toward drought conditions in this province, the implementation of such policies can partially protect water resources.

Groundwater vulnerability assessment of nitrate pollution in the Ankang Basin: using an optimized DRASTIC-LY method.

This study retains the basic structure of DRASTIC model and obtains more specific evaluation results by adding land-use type and groundwater resource yield parameters, modifying the rating scale and weight of nine parameters. Comparison of the modified DRASTIC-LY vulnerability map with the map of the original DRASTIC-LY method revealed differences in 40.49% of the study area. The risk map shows that the very high vulnerability area decreased from 2.79 to 1.67%, while the high vulnerability area increased from 18.70 to 28.86%. Areas with low vulnerability increased by 10.15%, while areas with medium vulnerability decreased by 15.01%. The areas with very high groundwater vulnerability are mainly distributed in the Hanbin area on the north bank of the Han River, the areas with high are mainly concentrated on both sides of the Fujia River, while the areas with low are distributed in most areas in the west of the basin. The Pearson's correlation factor was 0.0583 in the original DRASTIC model, 0.1113 in the DRASTIC-LY method and 0.8291 in the modified DRASTIC-LY model, which indicated that the revised DRASTIC-LY model was more appropriate than the original model. The results can help the government with the protection of water resources.

Construction and Application of a Water Resources Spatial Equilibrium Model: A Case Study in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

The Yangtze River Economic Belt, as crucial component of China’s “T-shaped” strategy for territorial development and economic layout, has been challenged by the unbalanced spatial distribution of water resources, which has seriously affected high-quality development in harmony with the social economy and ecological environmental protection. In this study, we aim to enhance the conceptual definition of water resource spatial equilibrium. Additionally, we propose a water resource spatial equilibrium evaluation model based on a variable set and partial connection number. This model effectively addresses the limitations of traditional methods by incorporating fuzzy indices and dynamic information, which have previously been overlooked. The spatiotemporal characteristics and future evolutionary trend of water resource spatial equilibrium were analyzed in 11 provinces and 110 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 1999 to 2018. The results showed that the conceptual definition of water resource spatial equilibrium involves the water resource endowment, water resource development, water resource utilization, water resource supply and demand, water resource matching, and water resource protection. The water resource spatial equilibrium in the 11 provinces gradually improved following a temporal trend; in terms of the spatial trend, the south was better than the north and the west was better than the east. These provinces were sorted as follows: Yunnan > Sichuan > Zhejiang > Jiangxi > Hunan Province > Guizhou > Hubei > Chongqing > Anhui > Jiangsu > Shanghai. The evolutionary trend increased except in Yunnan. The water resource spatial equilibrium of the 110 cities showed that the spatial trends of the three major urban agglomerations were much better than in the other regions, and the temporal trend steadily improved. The 11 provinces and 110 cities could be divided into three and five categories, respectively, according to their spatiotemporal trends. City-scale research on water resource spatial equilibrium can effectively identify and optimize the control area compared with using a provincial scale. When the control targets were set to 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%, the proportion of the administrative area based on the city scale decreased by 1.20%, 4.99%, 10.52%, and 19.05%, respectively.

Capable of Obtaining Potable Water from Air with Solar Energy A Software and Hardware Supported System Suggestion

Fresh water is one of the most important resources consumed. However, droughts due to global climate change, rapid population growth and increasing construction sector activities and the lack of importance to protect fresh water resources during these activities increase the problems related to water. With this study, it is aimed to raise awareness of people about the protection of fresh water resources. For this purpose, a software and hardware supported system has been developed to obtain fresh water by cooling and condensing the humidity in the air with the help of thermoelectric modules and fans. The developed system can automatically become active or passive according to the weather conditions and uses less energy than its counterparts. The system, which can also operate independently of the grid with solar energy, can also purify the water obtained by producing ozone gas with the effect of static electricity on the surface where water droplets form and make it drinkable.

A First Step towards Developing a Decision Support System Based on the Integration of Environmental Monitoring Activities for Regional Water Resource Protection

The topic of diffuse pollution is of particular interest from technical, scientific, and administrative management points of view. Diffuse pollution is defined as the contamination or chemical, physical, or biological alterations of environmental matrices caused by diffuse sources and not attributable to a single origin. In this study, various sources of diffuse pollution such as nitrates, pesticides, metals, and plastics were analysed. This was aimed at the implementation of a decision support system able to represent the state of environmental matrices degradation, with particular attention to water resources, and to make decisions evaluating similar environmental contexts. The potential of the developed system makes it possible to identify areas with the same environmental characteristics, referring to the various activities that create diffuse pollution and areas with the same pressure values on the environmental matrices. The system provides the political decision-maker with greater awareness of the environmental state, thus enabling him to apply more accurate land management policies. The created system, based on open-source software, which can be implemented with additional available data sources, is characterised by a data processing workflow that provides output information at the municipal level, so that it can be managed both by mayors and regional managers who are able to share the same information with all.

Use of major ion chemistry and trace and rare earth elements to characterize hydraulic relations, mixing processes and water–rock interaction in the Dong Van karst aquifer system, Northern Vietnam

The effectiveness of using a groundwater geochemistry approach in karst hydrogeologic research is highlighted. In particular, this approach is useful for preliminary investigations, such as for the study described here on the Dong Van karst aquifer system in Northern Vietnam. Analyses of different groundwater chemistry parameters complement each other, to clarify hydrochemical processes that are occurring in the karst system. The results of this study show that major ion composition can be used to clarify water chemistry signatures, as well as to identify the mixing processes and water–rock interactions in aquifers. Meanwhile, trace element concentrations and rare earth element patterns can be used as potential natural tracers when some processes are not revealed through conventional hydrochemical methods. These natural tracers can also be used to identify contaminant sources and/or contaminant transport pathways in karst aquifers. Viewed holistically, the groundwater geochemistry approach provides scientific information to establish a basic hydrogeological conceptual model and to estimate the water balance, which has implications for water resources protection and management in karstic systems.

Assessment of Water Quality of Tigris River at El- Kut Dam, Iraq

The Tigris River in Iraq has fundamental roles in local society as a source of water for recreation; domestic use; irrigation; as well as receives of agricultural and municipals wastewater. The Canadian Council of Ministries of the Environment (CCME) Water quality Index (WQI) used for rating of water quality in Tigris River before and after El-Kut Dam indicates that the quality of water is in between marginal and fair water rank. The quality parameters determined for sources of the area showed that the water of Tigris River at all the sites was quite within the acceptable range and shows that the overall quality of water is suitable and safe for domestic and irrigation purposes. The water quality index is potentially useful as a decision tool in environmental planning and decision-making activities related to water resource protection, improvement and utilization towards a sustainable water resource management in the province of Wasit.

Pd NPs/MGO[sbnd]COOH based electrochemical sensor for detection of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine

Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) was used as hydrazine fuels in the aerospace field because of its high specific impulse and advantageous storage properties. In the development of the defense industry, large quantities of wastewater-containing UDMH, a carcinogenic chemical, are often released into the environment. In fact, accumulation of low concentrations of UDMH over a long period of time can also be hazardous to the human health and the environment. Therefore, rapid and accurate detection methods of UDMH at low concentrations are urgently needed in the defense industry sector in order to protect water resources and the environment. Herein, a carboxy-functional group ligand was constructed to act synergistically with metal nanoparticles for the detection of UDMH in wastewater. An in situ electrochemical deposition method was used to synthesize Pd NPs/monolayer carboxylated graphene oxide (MGOCOOH) which was employed, for the first time, as a high-efficient electrode to detect UDMH in aqueous medium. The experimental findings showed the linear range of Pd NPs/MGOCOOH electrode detection of UDMH ranging from 0.1 to 0.9 μg.L−1 and the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.012 μg.L−1 (S/N = 3). The Pd NPs/MGOCOOH electrode was employed for sensing of UDMH in water from the tap with good recovery rate. To define the possible structure of UDMH during detection process, Gaussian software was utilized to calculate the possible structure intermediates of UDMH at the B3LYP-D3BJ/def2tzvp level. Finally, the possible mechanisms are discussed. These findings show that the obtained Pd NPs/MGOCOOH composite electrode can serve as a prospective sensing composite for the detection of industrial contaminants in wastewater.

Overlapping governmentalities and the cosmo-politics of Mongolian water- and miningscapes

Since transitioning to a market-based economy, Mongolia has experienced a mining boom that turned extractive industries into a key contributor to the country’s national budget. However, benefits from mining activities are allocated unevenly, with increasing rural poverty and degradation of water resources that threaten the livelihood and health of pastoralists, in particular. Regulatory efforts to improve the protection of water resources are confronted with severe implementation challenges as notions of what constitutes appropriate interpretations of the rules and appropriate ways of behaving diverge.Applying Foucault’s concept of governmentality and tying it to the literature on social imaginaries, I show how different rationalities overlap in Mongolian water- and miningscapes. They shape an extractive imaginary perpetuated by technical- managerial truth claims, an increasing monetization of social and social-environmental relationships, an imperative for industrial-economic development, and a state that performs sovereignty by enforcing procedures rather than substantive laws. However, an alternative, cosmo-political imaginary exists that derives its moral imperatives and individual incentive structures from an understanding that human land-use is contingent on the approval of spiritual entities that inhabit nature. As multiple governmentalities exercise power simultaneously, their interaction produces subjectivities that align with various and contradictory positions towards mining and that require negotiation. This challenges simplistic accounts of a homogeneous ‘state’ or ‘community’, as well as a priori assumptions about the interests and rationalities that motivate the behavior of stakeholders. It thus supports a call for environmental governance research and practice to give more attention to the cognitive-symbolic dimension of social-environmental interactions.

Reconstrucción probabilística mediante aprendizaje automático del sistema acuífero de la cuenca del Po (Italia)

AbstractA machine-learning-based methodology is proposed to delineate the spatial distribution of geomaterials across a large-scale three-dimensional subsurface system. The study area spans the entire Po River Basin in northern Italy. As uncertainty quantification is critical for subsurface characterization, the methodology is specifically designed to provide a quantitative evaluation of prediction uncertainty at each location of the reconstructed domain. The analysis is grounded on a unique dataset that encompasses lithostratigraphic data obtained from diverse sources of information. A hyperparameter selection technique based on a stratified cross-validation procedure is employed to improve model prediction performance. The quality of the results is assessed through validation against pointwise information and available hydrogeological cross-sections. The large-scale patterns identified are in line with the main features highlighted by typical hydrogeological surveys. Reconstruction of prediction uncertainty is consistent with the spatial distribution of available data and model accuracy estimates. It enables one to identify regions where availability of new information could assist in the constraining of uncertainty. The comprehensive dataset provided in this study, complemented by the model-based reconstruction of the subsurface system and the assessment of the associated uncertainty, is relevant from a water resources management and protection perspective. As such, it can be readily employed in the context of groundwater availability and quality studies aimed at identifying the main dynamics and patterns associated with the action of climate drivers in large-scale aquifer systems of the kind here analyzed, while fully embedding model and parametric uncertainties that are tied to the scale of investigation.

Novel Threshold Self-Regulating Water Extraction Method

Water resources are crucial for human activities and sustainable socioeconomic development. Understanding surface water information can play a key role in water resource management, which affects the global water cycle and ecological environments. Considering the Hailar River water body as an example, this study proposes a new threshold self-learning water body extraction method (TSLWEM) based on modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) data. The optimal water extraction thresholds determined by the TSLWEM algorithm for four test images were −0.0030, 0, 0.1990, and −0.0800. The TSLWEM algorithm effectively identified the target water body with recognition accuracies of 98.08%, 99.93%, 93.39%, and 93.20% for the four test images. Moreover, it can accurately identify small tributaries, such as lakes and rivers. The TSLWEM algorithm is suitable for Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) data, which can effectively monitor and map complex surface water in temperate and semiarid regions while improving the accuracy of water body identification. The study’s findings provide technical support for the protection of water resources as well as their rational utilization and monitoring.

Inorganic Hydrogeochemistry in the 21st Century.

Chemical and isotopic processes occur in every segment of the hydrological cycle. Hydrogeochemistry-the subdiscipline that studies these processes-has seen a transformation from "witch's brew" to credible science since 2000. Going forward, hydrogeochemical research and applications are critical to meeting urgent societal needs of climate change mitigation and clean energy, such as (1) removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing gigatons of CO2 in soils and aquifers to achieve net-zero emissions, (2) securing critical minerals in support of the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies, and (3) protecting water resources by adapting to a warming climate. In the last two decades, we have seen extensive activity and progress in four research areas of hydrogeochemistry related to water-rock interactions: arsenic contamination of groundwater; the use of isotopic and chemical tracers to quantify groundwater recharge and submarine groundwater discharge; the kinetics of chemical reactions and the mineral-water interface's control of contaminant fate and transport; and the transformation of geochemical modeling from an expert-only exercise to a widely accessible tool. In the future, embracing technological advances in machine learning, cyberinfrastructure, and isotope analytical tools will allow breakthrough research and expand the role of hydrogeochemistry in meeting society's needs for climate change mitigation and the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies.