Water Distribution Plans Research Articles

Developing a safe water atlas for sustainable drinking water supply in Sonargaon Upazila, Bangladesh

Bangladesh has been relying heavily on groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes since the 1960s. The access to safe drinking water has always been a challenge for Bangladesh due to the geogenic contamination in shallow aquifers. The objective of this study was to identify the depth for extracting safe water and to develop a safe water atlas for different unions of Sonargaon Upazila to ensure a year-round safe water supply. The concentrations of Arsenic, Iron and Manganese in groundwater were measured from 63 random water samples and compared with WHO and national drinking water quality standards. A lithological profile of the study area was developed to validate the indigenous knowledge of targeting safe depth based on sediment color. To address the challenges of groundwater depletion and contamination, the study identified and developed the technique of preparing safe water atlas for a specific region in Bangladesh, serving as a decision-making tool for households. The atlas identifies depths at which tube-wells can be installed to obtain uncontaminated groundwater, helping people make informed choices and avoid potential health risks. Additionally, the safe water atlas can support the development of safe drinking water distribution plans and assist local drillers and residents in decision-making processes.

Disparities between climate change facts and farmer’s awareness and perception in an arid region: A case study of the middle and lower reaches of the Heihe River Basin in northwest China

Arid areas are sensitive and vulnerable to climate change and may face more climate risks in the future under the background of global warming. The adaptability of society to future climate change impacts relies heavily on the awareness and perception of local populations. This study focuses on the middle and lower reaches of the Heihe River, which is the second-largest inland river in China, and examine the temperature and precipitation changes from 1981 to 2020, employing the Sen + Mann-Kendall trend analysis method. The local farmers and herdsmen were interviewed, and their variations in awareness and perception regarding climate change were assessed. The results show that local residents are highly sensitive to climate warming but not to precipitation increases, indicating that the communities faces substantial constraints imposed by limited water resources. Residents of the downstream desert area feel a wetter climate than those of the mountain and oasis areas in the middle reach, suggesting a greater water scarcity pressure in the latter. The increased allocation of ecological water to the downstream portion of the Heihe river, as implemented by the “97″ water distribution plan in 2000, may be a contributing factor to this phenomenon. The disparities in the fact and residents’ awareness and perception of climate change are different among the mountainous, oasis, and desert regions, which are influenced by regional differences in climate change, agricultural production conditions, and water policies. The government should consider these factors when formulating water policies to ensure successful and balanced development.

Управление системным водораспределением на основе экономико–математического моделирования и методов искусственного интеллекта

Purpose: scientific substantiation of methodological and information support for decision-making on water distribution in inter-farm irrigation systems. Materials and methods. The studies were carried out at the Gorodischenskaya irrigation system, which is typical for the conditions of the arid Volgograd region. The methodological basis of the study was systematic, comparative, heuristic and mathematical-statistical approaches. The implemented methods of formalized decision-making support include mathematical optimization, as well as forecasting the expected result, including on the basis of artificial intelligence methods. Results. Methodological approaches to planning system water distribution under conditions of water scarcity or under limited production and economic conditions are considered. The analysis of the methodology on managerial decision-making support based on artificial intelligence methods is carried out. The main requirements for the priority methods of information support of control actions are determined, including their practical applicability, rationality of the planned results, as well as ensuring sufficient accuracy of solving the optimization problem. Criteria for optimizing water distribution planning under conditions of low-water irrigation source or with limited production and economic conditions are systematized. It has been determined that using mathematical modeling and artificial intelligence contributes to the development of information technologies for optimizing water distribution. A basic economic-mathematical model including the gross output as a target function has been developed and tested. Conclusions. Testing the model on the materials of the Gorodischenskaya irrigation system data showed the possibility of increasing production up to 78.8 thousand rubles/ha. This is achieved by improving the quality of planning and management of water distribution under the conditions of water scarcity in the Lower Volga region.

ПЛАНИРОВАНИЕ СИСТЕМНОГО ВОДОРАСПРЕДЕЛЕНИЯ: СОВРЕМЕННОЕ СОСТОЯНИЕ И ПРИОРИТЕТНЫЕ НАПРАВЛЕНИЯ СОВЕРШЕНСТВОВАНИЯ

Purpose: analytical assessment of the current methodological approaches to the systemic water distribution planning and determination of priority areas for its improvement. Materials and methods. The research material was the regulatory-procedural, legal-regulatory framework, publications on the planning and implementation of water supply for irrigation, the results of scientific research work on assessing the current state of system water use, data of fund documents and own author's research. The methodological basis of the work was: information-analytical approach, systemic and comparative analysis, heuristic forecast. Results. The necessity of methodical and technological improvement of system planning of water distribution, which guarantees water supply stability and the equality of each water consumer, is revealed. Based on the results of the information analysis, the priority tasks of scientific methodological substantiation, development, implementation and maintenance of water use procedures are classified, which will contribute to the development of irrigation that meets the requirements of innovative agricultural production. The following tasks have been identified: enhancing the use of existing solutions, improving the current provisions of theory and practice, preparing the breakthrough solutions for planning water use measures. Priority measures to improve the efficiency of water use control actions are proposed, including the replacement of the traditionally accepted decade water supply planning with daily planning, the organization of irrigation water supply from the end user, multi-criteria consideration of the diverse interests of the water use process participants based on digitalization. Conclusions. Implementation of the research results will require a large-scale consolidation of efforts and capabilities of both specialists in the field of land reclamation science and education, and practicing farmers, but the predicted effect of the water use system transformation will exceed their price.

A Decision Support System for Irrigation Management in Thailand: Case Study of Tak City Agricultural Production

Water is essential for agriculture in many world regions and for achieving sustainability in production systems. Maximizing net returns with the available resources is significant, but doing so is a complex problem, owing to the many factors that affect this process. In this study, a decision support system (DSS) incorporating a crop planning model is developed for identifying optimal cropping plans and irrigation management. The model estimates crop yield, production, water requirement, and net income. In this system, the Simulated Annealing algorithm (SA) is used as an optimization tool inside the DSS developed, and the result is as robust as the exact solution with higher computational efficiency. From the model applied, it is found that the current crop pattern and water distribution plan used in the study area should be improved. The computational analysis also found that of the five plans proposed, three plans could produce the highest generated income. On contrary, the current strategy used by Tak’s province farmer has the lowest generated income. This result shows that if a better-designed and more efficient crop planning method was, should be used instead.

Domestic Water Distribution Planning from Springs in Jatimulyo Village, Girimulyo District, Kulon Progo

During the dry season, most of the springs in Jatimulyo Village deliver less water. This condition causes difficulties for people in the area. Only two springs supply sufficient water for distribution. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the water distribution from the two springs, Mudal and Sumitro. This study aims to provide an alternative technical plan for the distribution of domestic water and to provide recommendations in the distribution and regulation of the use of water from the Mudal and Sumitro springs to the local authority and community in Jatimulyo Village. The distribution system relies on gravity so that it does not require any pump. This study has conducted using the hydraulic equation for water flow through a pipe to analyze the design water discharge required for each reservoir. For water distribution planning, counting the number of houses that will be served was conducted using Google Earth imagery. The results of this study indicate that from the Mudal spring, water distribution pipelines can cover 282 houses, with a total required water discharge of 1,632 liters/second. For the Sumitro spring, the first alternative scheme can serve 161 houses and requires 0.932 liters/second water discharge. As for the second alternative, it is estimated to be able to serve 138 houses with a total required water discharge of 0.799 liters/second. It is necessary to measure all spring discharge every month. It will help determining the fluctuation of the discharge of each spring.

Runoff optimization and control for basin water allocation

Abstract The water distribution plan for the three major irrigation districts (Changma, Shuangta, and Huahai) in the Shule River Basin in the planned year was analyzed in this study in an effort to resolve the insufficient natural endowment of water resources and contradiction between supply and demand throughout the basin. Based on this plan, and under the condition of satisfying the scheduling constraints of cascade reservoirs, the minimum total water supply shortage in the watershed was taken as the main goal coupled with the cascade reservoir runoff optimization control coefficient. An optimized dispatch model of the reservoir group was established accordingly. The large system coordination decomposition algorithm was called to solve the model and obtain the water scheduling scheme of each reservoir. After the optimal regulation of runoff, the water demand of the three major irrigation areas of Changma, Shuangta, and Huahai in the planned year is greater than the available water resources of the Shule River and the Petroleum River. The total surface runoff water shortage is 66.01 million m3, which cannot be satisfied. Among the reservoirs, Shuangta has the highest water shortage quota of 43.503 million m3, followed by Chijinxia with a water deficit quota of 22.18 million m3, and finally by Changma with a minimum water shortage quota of 0.3277 million m3. The results of this work may provide technical support for water resource allocation and regulations, as well as for the efficient usage of the Shule River Basin.

DESIDS: An Integrated Decision Support System for the Planning, Analysis, Management and Rehabilitation of Pressurised Irrigation Distribution Systems

Pressurized irrigation distribution systems (PIDSs) play a vital role in irrigation intensification, especially in the Mediterranean region. The design, operation and management of these systems can be complex, as they involve several intertwined processes which need to be considered simultaneously. For this reason, numerous decision support systems (DSSs) have been developed and are available to deal with these processes, but as independent components. To this end, a comprehensive DSS called DESIDS has been developed and tested. This DSS has been developed to bear in mind the needs of irrigation district managers for an integrated tool that can assist them in taking strategic decisions for managing and developing reliable, adequate and sustainable water distribution plans which provide the best services to farmers. Hence, four modules were integrated in DESIDS: (i) irrigation demand and scheduling module; (ii) hydraulic analysis module; (iii) operation and management module; and (iv) design and rehabilitation module. DESIDS was tested on different case studies, proving itself a valuable tool for irrigation district managers, as it provides a wide range of decision options for the proper operation and management of PIDSs. The developed DSS can be used as a platform for future integrations and expansions, and to include other processes needed for better decision-making support.

The Allocation of Water Resources in the Midstream of Heihe River for the "97 Water Diversion Scheme" and the "Three Red Lines".

Rapid economic and societal development increases resource consumption. Understanding how to balance the discrepancy between economic and social water use and ecological water use is an urgent problem to be solved, especially in arid areas. The Heihe River is the second-largest inland river in China, and this problem is notable. To ensure the downstream ecological water use, the “Water Distribution Plan for the Mainstream of the Heihe River” (97 Water Diversion Scheme) controls the discharge of Yingluo Gorge and Zhengyi Gorge, while the “Opinions of applying the strictest water resources control system” (Three Red Lines) restricts the water use. With the development of the economy and agriculture in the midstream, Zhengyi Gorge’s discharge cannot reach the Heihe River’s ecological water downstream. This paper is under the constraints of the “97 Water Diversion Scheme” of Heihe River and the “Three Red Lines” of the total water use control index for Zhangye County. We constructed a water resource allocation model for the midstream of Heihe River to reasonably allocate water resources in the Heihe River’s midstream and downstream. This model is divided into three parts: Establish the mathematical equation, simulate the water consumption under the different inflow conditions, and ensure each water user’s demand. The result showed that if we fail to confine total water consumption in the midstream, through the reasonable allocation of water resources, the real water use and water consumption of the middle Heihe River will be greater than the “97 Water Diversion Scheme” and the “Three Red Lines.” If we confine water consumption, they will be within the “97 Water Diversion Scheme” and the “Three Red Lines,” at the same time, they can reach the downstream of the Heihe River’s ecological water. Besides, under the premise of satisfying the economic water and ecological water downstream of the Heihe River, returning farmland to wasteland and strengthening water-saving measures will improve water efficiency and be more conducive to allocating water resources.

Development of the Plan of Distribution of Surface Water Resources for River Basins of the North-Eastern Slope of the Lesser Caucasus

The article is devoted to the development of a plan for distribution of surface water resources for river basins of the North-Eastern slope of the Lesser Caucasus within Azerbaijan in compliance with the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive. This is, in fact, the first such plan for the country’s river basins. Its main components are consisted of existing surface water resources, the quantity of environmental flow, water use indicators for drinking water supply and irrigation. Some of these components have been determined based on the data over the recent years, while others have been calculated using specific methods or estimated indirectly. The volume of environmental flow, as one of the priority components of the plan, had been determined in two different ways. Given that the water resources of the studied region are limited, the amount of environmental runoff was taken at 20% of the long-term annual runoff in water distribution plan. The main water user in the region is agriculture. Eleven water reservoirs have been built with the aim to achieve rational use of river runoff. Water losses in the irrigation systems of the region are at least 21%. The plan is designed both for the modern period and for 2035. It is shown that the water management balances of the studied river basins are characterized positively. However, if the extremely dry period of 2014–2020 is going to continue, the situation may worsen. A number of gaps were identified in the process of compiling the plan that affect the accuracy of evaluation of individual components. These gaps concern technical, legislative and institutional issues. It was noted that the approach used in this study could be used in other river basins of the country. It is also necessary to include groundwater resources and their use in water allocation plan.

Numerical Simulation of Gate Control for Unsteady Irrigation Flow to Improve Water Use Efficiency in Farming

In the case of irrigation, to implement the water distribution plan, the flow needs to be changed through the gate which leads to the occurrence of unavoidable unsteady flow. In order to improve the level of irrigation management, it is necessary to understand the changes taking place in the canal water flow during the process of water distribution. The de Saint-Venant equations were solved based on the method of characteristics and a model was built to simulate the unsteady flow in the channel of the Yintang irrigation district. Then, the obtained results were validated by the employed model. On the basis of simulation results, a model for the variations in the gate opening was established based on the theory of under-gate discharge. In this study, the simulation results, as established from the model, are very consistent with the simulation results of existing commercial software and a simple design for the operation was conducted from the adjustment of gate openings and multi-stage gate operation modes. Overall, the established gate control model built in this study is reliable, which provides a basis for the decision-making process for the relevant staff.

Unregulated disinfection By-products in drinking water in Quebec: A meta analysis

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) are formed primarily by the reaction of natural organic matter and disinfectants. DBPs that are not regulated are referred to as unregulated DBPs (U-DBPs) and they are in majority in total DBPs. U-DBPs can be more toxic than regulated DBPs. U-DBPs such as haloacetonitriles (HANs), haloacetonitriles (HKs) and halonitromethanes (HNMs) are widely present in drinking water supplies in different regions of the world. This study investigated the occurrence of U-DBPs and their variability in drinking water in the Province of Quebec (Canada), using the water quality database of 40 municipal water systems generated by our research group. The concentrations of HANs, HKs, and their compounds, including chloropicrin (CPK), were highly variable in different water systems in Quebec. The concentration range of these U-DBPs is in line with drinking water concentration ranges in different regions of the world. Factors such as system size, water source, season, pH, total organic carbon content, free residual chlorine and disinfectant types cause significant variations in the concentrations of HANs, HKs and their constituent compounds, including CPK, in drinking water in Quebec. This information is valuable for decision making concerning source water selection, water distribution planning, water treatment plant design including disinfection, and overall drinking water quality management related to U-DBPs. Moreover, U-DBPs and regulated DBPs are strongly correlated, although the degree of correlation can vary with water source, system size and season, indicating that regulated DBPs can be used as surrogates of U-DBPs.

Assessment of Irrigation Performance in Large River Basins under Data Scarce Environment—A Case of Kabul River Basin, Afghanistan

The Kabul River basin (KRB) of Afghanistan, a lifeline of around 10 million people, has multiplicity of governance, management, and development-related challenges leading to inequity, inadequacy, and unreliability of irrigation water distribution. Prior to any uplifting intervention, there is a need to evaluate the performance of irrigation system on a long term basis to identify the existing bottlenecks. Although there are several indicators available for the performance evaluation of the irrigation schemes, we used the coefficient of variation (CV) of actual evapotranspiration (ETa) in space (basin, sub-basin, and provincial level), relative evapotranspiration (RET), and temporal CV of RET, to assess the equity, adequacy, and reliability of water distribution, respectively, from 2003 to 2013. The ETa was estimated through a surface energy balance system (SEBS) algorithm and the ETa estimates were validated using the advection aridity (AA) method with a R2 value of 0.81 and 0.77 at Nawabad and Sultanpur stations, respectively. The global land data assimilation system (GLDAS) and moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) products were used as main inputs to the SEBS. Results show that the mean seasonal sub-based RET values during summer (May–September) (0.37 ± 0.06) and winter (October–April) (0.40 ± 0.08) are below the target values (RET ≥ 0.75) during 2003–2013. The CV of the mean ETa, within sub-basins and provinces for the entire study period, has an equitable distribution of water from October–January (0.09 ± 0.04), whereas the highest inequity (0.24 ± 0.08) in water distribution is during early summer. The range of the CV of the mean ETa (0.04–0.06) on a monthly and seasonal basis shows the unreliability of water supplies in several provinces or sub-basins. The analysis of the temporal CV of mean RET highlights the unreliable water supplies across the entire basin. The maximum ETa during the study period was estimated for the Shamal sub-basin (552 ± 43 mm) while among the provinces, Kunar experienced the highest ETa (544 ± 39 mm). This study highlights the dire need for interventions to improve the irrigation performance in time and space. The proposed methodology can be used as a framework for monitoring and implementing water distribution plans in future.

Use of Nonlinear Membership Functions and the Water Stress Index for the Environmentally Conscious Management of Urban Water Systems: Application to the City of Morelia

This article proposes a multiobjective optimization strategy based on a fuzzy formulation for the sustainable design and planning of water supply chains in urban areas that considers simultaneously economic and environmental objectives. Harvested rainwater and reclaimed water are considered as alternative sources to reduce freshwater consumption while maximizing water revenues and minimizing land usage. As opposed to other models that attempt to minimize water consumption, this work seeks to minimize the water stress index, which quantifies the impact of freshwater consumption with respect to the specific location where the withdrawals take place. We illustrate the capabilities of this approach through its application to a real case study based on the city of Morelia in Mexico, in which we show that the use of alternative water sources along with an appropriate water distribution plan can reduce the impact over natural reservoirs.

Water Delivery Performance of A Secondary Canals in terms of Equity and Reliability in Sindh Pakistan

This study was conducted on three secondary canals (namely Belharo, Bareji and Mirpur distributaries) of Nara Canal command, Mirpurkhas, Sindh Pakistan. Study was conducted for two consecutive years i.e.; 2014-15. Gauges were installed at head, middle and tail reaches of these canals and discharges were monitored on weekly basis. It was observed that, on the average, distributaries were carrying excessive volumes of water during the year thus the total efficiency and PF was poor. The excessive volumes of water in the distributaries suggest that the water among the end users was not distributed judicially. Generally, the parity of water supply was also ‘poor’ thus the reliability was also graded as ‘poor’ In order to increase the performance of irrigation system, there is need to minimize system’s conveyance losses and improve water application efficiency. This could be done through proper management and water distribution plans at tertiary canal levels. There is need to continuously monitor and measure the water diverted to the canals and make sure that water reaches at middle and tail reaches

Water allocation and water consumption of irrigation agriculture and natural vegetation in the Heihe River watershed, NW China

To implement effective water resource management strategies, a sufficient data basis about the hydrologic situation must be available. An important parameter is the water consumption by the natural environment, e.g., evapotranspiration (ET). This study delivers actual evapotranspiration rates (ETa) computed on the basis of Landsat TM/ETM+ and MODIS data. Vegetation mappings recorded during a field work campaign in 2012 allowed the correlation of ET rates to certain units of vegetation. The study site is located in the Heihe river basin, Northwest China, where the landscape is characterized by extending land under cultivation along the middle reaches and ecologically valuable Tugai vegetation further downwards. Due to the arid climate, all agriculture depends on irrigation with water taken from the Heihe River. As a result of a massive expansion of irrigated land in the last decades, an imbalance with regard to water allocation has developed. It is characterized by an overexploitation of the water resources in the middle reaches and a strong degeneration of the natural Tugai vegetation along the lower reaches due to water shortage. As a response, a water distribution plan has been adopted to define target amounts of water that shall reach the lower parts of the river. Total values of the ETa over the whole vegetation period for corn, dates, orchards and grapes amount to 667.7, 762.2, 703.5 and 483.9 mm, respectively. For forest vegetation (ground coverage 80 %) and for shrub vegetation (80–100 % ground coverage), values of 496–530 mm and 177–233 mm were calculated, respectively. Areas with lower ground coverage show significantly lower ETa values. Spatially, ETa values decrease from the center towards the border of the oasis and from the middle towards the lower reaches. Agricultural land presents the largest water consumer. The total ETa values over the vegetation period amount to 2.15 km3 (middle reaches) and 0.28 km3 (lower reaches), respectively. On this basis, a minimum discharge of 0.34 km3 was calculated to maintain the natural vegetation downstream.

A GIS-Based DSS for Management of Water Distribution Networks (Rafah City as Case Study)

The water problem in Gaza Strip in Palestine is complicated; in reason of consumed water exceed the renewable water and high population density. The water situation is very important for mangers that are responsible of distribution, operation and maintenance of water networks to build an effective and complete comprehensive management of water distribution networks system. The main aim of this research is to study and evaluate the existing operation & maintenance system which is applied in Rafah area in Gaza strip which selected as pilot study area. The proposed system deals with a huge quantity of data which is needed to propose an effective system that can save time, cost, and minimize the mistakes in managing operation & maintenance systems for water distribution networks, Geographic Information System Technology is selected as one of tool decision which deals with such quantity of data and can be linked with other software which can achieve the aim of this study. The research depended on the use of Arc GIS 9.3 datasets and Water CAD/WaterGEMS hydraulic modeling based on Decision Support System for proposed water distribution plan systems, proposed operation & maintenance systems, and use pipe condition index to assist operation & maintenance manager to take the best decision which saving time, effort, and cost.

Farmer's Behaviour in Rice Irrigation in Monsoon Asia: Facts and Fallacies

Large-scale gravity-fed irrigation projects in Monsoon Asia have been for some years described in irrigation literature as 'anarchy-ridden', which threatens the sustainability of irrigation investment and lowers farmers' incomes. The literature attributed anarchy in the systems to farmers' opportunistic behaviour and corrup tion and inefficiency among irrigation officials. One major strategy suggested in irrigation literature to address this twin problem is to establish farmer organizations, which would mobilize farmers to participate collectively in irrigation management and also to check irrigation agency irregularities. This article examines the veracity of this model in a comparative context, by looking at five major irrigation systems in Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. Although the study found some evidence to support this model, it however overwhelmingly shows that irrigation agencies have often to deal more with inappropriate technology and faulty con structions, water scarcity and poor water distribution planning, than with farmers' opportunistic behaviour. In fact, farmers have developed their own methods of mitigating adverse impacts of shortages and poor deliveries of water, which could hardly be labelled as 'anarchic'.

The choice between desiccation of wetlands or the spread of Rhine water over The Netherlands

The dry summer of 1976 triggered a wholesale installation of sprinkler systems for agriculture. This dry summer also revealed areas in The Netherlands most susceptible to drought, namely sandy regions and the coastal fringe. This resulted in distribution of Rhine water to new areas, and in quantities hitherto unknown. The Second National Water Management Plan (1982) consequently focussed on enlarging the capacity of water distribution works. This distribution has led to a multitude of ecological effects, such as changes in salinity and nutrient concentration, as well as the spreading of contaminants. Consequently, the Third National Water Management Plan (1990) includes fewer distribution works because of the adverse environmental effects and the reduced feasibility due to increasing costs and decreasing agricultural benefits. A climatic change as predicted may result in climatic conditions in The Netherlands resembling those of France or the Mediterranean, implying drier summers and more precipitation in winter. An increased frequency of dry summers will no doubt revive water distribution plans now shelved and may even bring new ones to the drawing board. An increase in Rhine water distribution will have serious consequences for many aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as will a lowering of the groundwater table. In this paper we will discuss the dilemma of choosing between allowing increased desiccation of wetlands as the climate becomes drier or increasing the distribution of Rhinewater and the potential ecological effects of these choices. Alternative strategies to water management also are discussed.

Optimum allocation of water resources by mathematical programming

Optimization of water distribution plans is facilitated by transportation programming. Application of the technique to minimizing total cost of water conveyance is illustrated with an example. Extension of the method, using the principle of decomposition of linear programmes, permits selection of optimum areas for development. Results of a large scale application to the Orange and Vaal River basins in South Africa are presented.