Source Of Water Use Research Articles

A regional hydrological model for arid and semi-arid river basins with consideration of irrigation

We develop a regional hydrological model that applies to arid and semi-arid regions, by explicitly considering the effect of irrigation on the hydrological processes. A new irrigation module is here integrated into the recently introduced Atmospheric and Hydrological Modelling System (AHMS) for the quantitative assessment of basin-scale hydrological response to climate change and the impact of anthropogenic activities on water resources. The land surface, channel routing and groundwater modules of the AHMS are extended here to incorporate the new module. We then apply the model to simulating the hydrological processes in the Yellow River Basin, an arid and semi-arid region where irrigation constitutes the most important source of water use. The model is calibrated and validated using in-situ and remote sensing observations. This study demonstrates the capability of the AHMS for regional hydrological modelling in arid and semi-arid basins where irrigation profoundly influences the water balance.

Water extended input-output analysis of the Croatian economy

The main objective of this paper is to identify the most important direct and indirect sources of water use in the Croatian economy and, based on that, to identify the key drivers of water use in the process of Croatian national production. For this purpose, water extended input-output model was constructed and empirically applied in the paper, based on which the indicators of direct, indirect, and cumulative water intensities of production sectors in the Croatian economy have been quantified and analysed, including their cumulative and indirect water use multipliers. Using the aforementioned model, the paper also assesses and analyses domestic, net imported, and total water footprints of production sectors in the Croatian economy, as well as the relative strength of pull-and-push effects of their water use. For the purpose of model construction, the last published input-output table of the Croatian economy for 2010 and the reference data of the Croatian official water statistics were used. The results of the model indicate that direct and indirect water use flows in the Croatian economy are mostly determined by intermediate processes of generating and using the output of the power, chemical, and oil-processing sector. Through the application of the model, it has also been found that these sectors dominate in the structure of the total water footprint of the Croatian economy, whereby the Republic of Croatia, overall, achieves a surplus in the international exchange of virtual waters. Given the new findings on indirect and cumulative water use flows in the Croatian economy, the author’s recommendation is that the multiplicative effects of inter-sectoral dependencies in the processes of national production on the total water use must be taken into account when conducting future activities of planning, management, and protection of Croatian water resources.

Assessment of the Open Water State in Water Use Point of the Population the Murmansk Region

The study of the ecological situation in lake basins, including the assessment of water pollution, has become relevant recently, since the quality of drinking water depends on the quality of surface water bodies. The paper reflects the main results of water quality assessment of Lower Vaengskoye Lake in the Murmansk Region in the period 2016–2017. Hydro-chemical studies included the following indicators: biochemical consumption of oxygen, mass content of ammonium, nitrites, nitrates, sulfates, iron, coloration and hardness of water, permanganate oxidation. Natural factors are decisive contributors to the chemical composition of water. The sanitary status of the lake was assessed using the methods of microbiological analysis of water from the surface sources of water use. According to the microbiological indicators in the studies, water meets the requirements of hygienic standards. According to sanitary-chemical indicators, there is a variance with the requirements of hygienic standards in 10% of all the studies conducted, namely in terms of coloration, permanganate oxidation, and iron. On the whole, the quality of the lake’s water during the period of the study was assessed by the value of the integral hydro-chemical index as “pure” water (by the value of WPI). The results of the tests make it possible to conclude that the degree of the anthropogenic burden on the reservoir studied is insignificant.

Linking Household Source of Water to Child Health Technology: Evidence from 2004-2011 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey

This study is caption ‘Household Source of Water and Child Health Outcomes: Evidence from 2004-2011 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey’. Contaminated source of water use for bathing, washing, drinking as well as in the preparation of food and poor hygienic environment are a major nuance to human health especially child health. To contribute in solving this problem, we shall examine the following objectives: (1) explore the determinants of household water supply, (2) quantify the effects of water source on child health outcomes; 3) decompose the water child health effects on child age 0 to 59 months; and (4) derived policy implication on the basis of our analysis. Methodologically, we will use the pool data of the third and fourth Cameroon demographic and health survey collected in 2004 and 2011 respectively after the 1991 and 1998 data. The 2SLS and ivprobit model that takes care of the endogeneity problem is used to estimate our results in STAA 11.0. Our result shows that factors such as parent literacy, breast feeding mothers, male household head; household social status, household size and urban residence are strong determinants of household source of water. We also observed that a marginal change in water supply will result to a corresponding increase in child health. Other factors positively associated with child health increase due to water effects include: household size, urban household residence. Child health of age 24 and 36 months is strongly affected by source of water supply. Other factors positively affecting children’s health of age 24 to 36 months are household size and place of residence. In terms of policy, we recommend that decision makers through the ministry of public health should intensify child health – good water supply campaigns, as well as to increase the supply of good drinking water following the WHO standards. This is a major step towards economic growth and poverty reduction in the different regions of Cameroon.

Climatic controls on sap flow dynamics and used water sources of Salix psammophila in a semi-arid environment in northwest China

Systematic field measurements were conducted to investigate the relationships between the sap flow of Salix bushes (Salix psammophila) and climatic variables and the sources of water use in the semi-arid Hailiutu River catchment in northwest China. The statistical analyses identified the controls of climatic factors on sap flow and the water use strategy of Salix bushes in periods characterized by different wetness conditions. Correlation analyses indicate strong positive correlations between diurnal sap flow, net radiation, air temperature and wind speed but a negative correlation with relative humidity. The peak values of sap flow occured at the same time as the peak values of net radiation but a few hours ahead of the peak values of temperature and the relative humidity minimum. Multiple regression equations between diurnal sap flow and climatic factors (i.e., net radiation, temperature, relative humidity and wind speed) can account for more than 80 % of the variations in sap flow. Correlation and multiple linear regression analyses between sap flow, soil water contents and groundwater level were used to quantify the water sources of S. psammophila. The results indicate that Salix bushes can use both soil water and groundwater for transpiration. In the dry periods, the cumulative transpiration of Salix caused a continuous decline of soil water contents and shallow groundwater levels. During rain events, sap flow was very low, but immediately after the rain, the peak value of sap flow increased significantly due to better soil water availability. The correlation and regression analysis identified a strong relationship between sap flow and groundwater levels that fluctuated at depths of 145.5–180.7 cm. Therefore, Salix bushes can be considered as groundwater-dependent plants in the Hailiutu River catchment.

A distributed water balance approach to groundwater recharge estimation for Jeju volcanic island, Korea

Groundwater is a major source of water use in Jeju volcanic island of Korea. Due to highly permeable surface conditions, the island does not have any perennial streams or rivers. Therefore, accurate estimation of groundwater recharge and understanding groundwater system are critical to make a reliable water budget in the island. A distributed quasi steady state water balance model, WetSpass (Water and Energy Transfer between Soil, Plants and Atmosphere under quasi Steady State) was adopted to estimate spatially-varying groundwater recharge considering soil type, land use, topography, and groundwater depth. The results from the study using weather data from October 2006 to September 2007 indicated that the eastern and northern parts of the island showed relatively higher rate of recharge as compared with the western region. A total of 69% of recharge occurred in the middle of the Island where topographic elevation is greater than 200 m from the mean sea level. The total amount of recharge was 1,935.6 million tons, 41.8% of the total precipitation. The higher rate of recharge was observed in the watersheds where forest and bare soil as land uses, and sandy loam and clay loam as soil types are dominant. The total runoff was 1,142.7 million tons (24.7%) and the total evapotranspiration was 1,555.7 million tons (33.5%). The zonal hydraulic conductivities estimated with groundwater flow modeling and parameter estimation process showed a wide range of values from 1.2 m/d to 5,380 m/d. The results of groundwater flow modeling indicated that the crest of groundwater table is off-centered from the peak of Mt. Halla toward south.

An integrated approach to evaluate potential impact of precipitation and land-use change on streamflow in Srepok River Basin

To manage water resources effectively at a local level, decision makers need to under- stand how climate change and human activity may impact local streamflow as a precious natural source of water use. However, the impact is often not well studied with locally obtained data such as monitored flow. This paper presents an integrated approach to study potential impact of precipita - tion and land-cover change on local streamflow over the next decades. The study area is the Srepok River basin, a tributary sub-basin of the Mekong River. A hydrological model was developed in the Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) environment and calibrated using local precipitation and streamflow data. Several scenarios were developed considering climate change and socio-economic development in a GIS environment, and streamflow in 2025 and 2050 was estimated for each sce- nario. The paper ends with discussion on possible adaptations for a given area.

Correlation between δ 13C and δ 15N in C 4 and C 3 plants of natural and artificial sand-binding microhabitats in the Tengger Desert of China

Carbon isotope ratio (δ 13C) and nitrogen isotope ratio (δ 15N) of leaf in shrubs and overground matter in herbage were measured on plant species occurring in different aged artificial sand-binding microhabitats, as well as in natural habitat at the south-eastern margin of the Tengger Desert, China. Both δ 13C and δ 15N of C 3 and C 4 plants varied widely (− 28.12 ≤ δ 13C (‰) ≤ − 23.77 and − 4.45 ≤ δ 15N (‰) ≤ 3.66 for C 3 species, respectively; and − 15.79 ≤ δ 13C (‰) ≤ − 12.63 and − 7.56 ≤ δ 15N (‰) ≤ 1.08 for C 4 species, respectively), representing the different photosynthetic pathway (C 3/C 4) environmental controls. The relative abundance of C 4 species increased over the development of the sand-fixing vegetation, and the significant differences among sites in δ 15N of C 4 plants were found. Among the microhabitats, the isotopic pattern of artificial sand-fixing community is a cluster compared to that of natural vegetation and transitional zones in C 4 plants; however, this pattern of C 3 plants is different significantly. The biological soil crust had significant effect on δ 13C of C 3 plants, not for δ 13C of C 4 plants and δ 15N of both C 3 and C 4 species. Our results also describe a distinct pattern of dual-isotopic signatures, which indicated that a different water-use source and soil nitrogen compartment occurred and may promote the coexistence of different life forms in extreme poor water and nutrients ecosystems. With respect to C 4 plants, the gramineous plants based on family — level exhibit obviously negative isotopic values (both δ 15N and δ 13C) than those of chenopodiaceous plants, indicating a high water-use efficiency of gramineous C 4 plants and more 15N depleted, and these differences may be a result of different functional groups of C 4 species. For C 3 plants, the chenopodiaceous species also show more 15N enrichment than those of plants from other families (e.g. composite, leguminous plants and others). Contrast to previous studies, the δ 15N values of leguminous plants were not closer to the δ 15N of atmospheric nitrogen gas, indicating that leguminous plants in research region used nitrogen mainly from other N sources such as soil, rain/dust, not mainly from biological fixed nitrogen. The correlation between δ 13C and δ 15N of C 3 plants (except leguminous plants) were negative significantly ( P = 0.001), while there were positive relationship between δ 13C and δ 15N in C 3 leguminous plants ( P = 0.003) and C 4 plants ( P < 0.0001), indicating that in the water and nutrient limiting region the carbon and nitrogen discriminations are dependent and linked intimately, and vary with the plant species and photosynthetic pathway.