Water Management Technologies Research Articles

Reducing Urban Runoff With Smart ET Controllers: Report Review

This article discusses a new report called the Residential Runoff Reduction Study that gives substantial support to the claim that landscape overwatering and urban runoff can be controlled with a new technology called the evapotranspiration (ET) controller. The four primary purposes of the study were: to expand earlier studies of evapotranspiration (ET) pager‐signal controller technology that have been used to manage irrigation water for residential homes and larger dedicated landscape areas; to evaluate the effectiveness of an education program for customers to enlist their aid in reducing runoff; to determine the connection between proper landscape water application and the quantity and quality of dry weather runoff into storm drain systems; and, to gauge acceptance of the water management technology (ET controllers) and the visual appearance of participant landscapes. The study area included five neighborhoods in Irvine, California. Data was gathered from the 18‐month study and evaluated for water efficiency and savings, dry season runoff changes, and changes in the quality of the dry season runoff water.

Farm water and soil management for improved water use in the North China Plain

AbstractThe rapid development of industry and urban areas, population growth and rising living standards have all resulted in an increased water demand for non‐agricultural uses in the North China Plain, therefore decreasing the water availability for irrigation. Technologies that favour a reduced demand and water‐saving practices in irrigation are required to assure the sustainability of water use in agricultural production. This paper presents main research results relative to the integration of water and soil management technologies which may contribute to improving the use of water and land in agricultural production, reducing demand for irrigation, and more efficient use of groundwater. Improved estimates of crop irrigation requirements, better irrigation scheduling for the winter wheat crop and improved surface irrigation systems, result in water saving corresponding to about 100 mm in very dry years and up to 250 mm in average years with a small yield increase. These savings represent 16–33% of water use during the wheat crop season. Improvements in soil management lead to improved soil fertility and physical properties (including hydraulic conductivity). These improvements produce potential increases in summer maize yields of between 10 and 20%. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Runoff water management technologies for dryland agriculture on the Loess

SUMMARY Arid and semi-arid environments undergo periodic seasonal agricultural droughts of varying extents and duration, erratic and ineffective rainfall of high intensity and short duration, with high surface runoff. High efficiency water-harvesting agriculture has been routinely used in the Loess Plateau agricultural production of China over the past 10 years. Localized habitat effect and regional water resource enrichment are the theoretical basis of high efficient water-harvesting agriculture. Features of this agricultural system are described, including: water harvesting of surface runoff from roads and collection in concrete yards on plastic sheets; water storage cellar tanks for harvesting runoff to provide life-saving/critical irrigation, with devices for water lifting and conveying such as hand pumps and pipelines; feasible methods of water use for limited supplies such as drip, hole, subsoil, and super-sheet irrigation; agronomic measures of high water use efficiency; and field micro-catchment for water harvesting and conservation to increase fallow efficiency in rainy seasons. Using the stored runoff water to irrigate the mulched winter wheat and spring corn, as well as vegetables and fruit trees, significant yield increasing and water use efficiency improvements have been achieved. Plastic mulching for increasing fallow efficiency in rainy seasons and improving yield of the next winter wheat crop have been developed and demonstrated. These techniques have provided obvious benefits in terms of soil and water conservation on slope farmland in the hill regions and remarkable effects of storing water and reducing drought in the dryland farming regions have been obtained.

Sustainable watershed management: an international multi-watershed case study.

Global freshwater resources are being increasingly polluted and depleted, threatening sustainable development and human and ecosystem health. Utilizing case studies from 4 different watersheds in the United States, Japan, Switzerland, and Brazil, this paper identifies the most relevant sustainability deficits and derives general vectors for more sustainable water management. As a consequence of the demographic and economic developments experienced in the last few decades, each watershed has suffered declines in water quality, streamflow and biotic resources. However, the extent and the cultural perception of these water-related problems vary substantially in the different watersheds, leading to specific water-management strategies. In industrialized countries, exemplified by the US, Switzerland, and Japan, these strategies have primarily consisted of finance- and energy-intensive technologies, allowing these countries to meet water requirements while minimizing human health risks. But, from a sustainability point of view, such strategies, relying on limited natural resources, are not long-term solutions. For newly industrialized countries such as Brazil, expensive technologies for water management are often not economically feasible, thus limiting the extent to which newly industrialized and developing countries can utilize the expertise offered by the industrialized world. Sustainable water management has to be achieved by a common learning process involving industrialized, newly industrialized, and developing countries, following general sustainability guidelines as exemplified in this paper.

Prehistoric agricultural fields and water management technology of the Safford Valley, southeastern Arizona

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Efforts afoot to stem the flow of invasive species from ballast water

With the U.S. National Invasive Species Act of 1996, or NISA, due for reauthorization next year by Congress, interest groups already are staking out their positions about how to protect the nation's waters from aquatic nuisance species that arrive in ballast water, and that can cause significant ecological and economic harm.At a Capitol Hill briefing on July 9, representatives of the U.S. shipping industry called for mandatory ballast management and a ballast water management standard. They also called for certification of ballast water management technologies and practices, which they noted still require much research; and for federal preemption of state regulations that they said present shippers with a confusing patchwork of rules.

LONG‐TERM VARIATIONS IN SEASONAL WEATHER CONDITIONS IMPORTANT TO WATER RESOURCES IN ILLINOIS1

ABSTRACT: An analysis of historical relationships between seasonal weather conditions and water resource conditions in Illinois provides insights to the challenges of projecting such relationships under conditions of climate change. In Illinois for 1901–1997 there were major temporal shifts in types of seasonal conditions that have positive and negative effects on surface water and ground water supplies and their quality. Major seasonal effects came in the spring and summer seasons and when either wet‐and‐warm or dry‐and‐warm weather conditions prevailed in either season. Sixty percent of the summer seasons creating negative impacts occurred during only 40 years: 1911–1940 and 1951–1960. Seasons creating impacts relate well to the frequency of cyclone passages and to the incidence of El Niño or La Niña conditions. This reveals that future climate fluctuations that shift the frequency of cyclones and/or ENSO events will have profound effects on Midwestern seasonal conditions that affect water resources. Projecting future effects of climate change on water resources will need to consider how shifts in water use and water management technologies act to re‐define the seasonal weather conditions that are critical.

Development of Global Integrated Water Management Systems

The global water crisis continues, caused primarily by a continued increase in population, environmental degradation and climatic variability complicated by potential changes in climate. Solutions to water problems can no longer be viewed on a location-by-location basis. Solutions must be regional in scope, address the supply and demand issues and factor in non-structural approaches. The U.S. engineering profession has developed sophisticated integrated water management technology that is in demand internationally and has the potential to reduce the water crisis problems in developing countries.

Factors influencing adoption of land‐enhancing technology in the Sahel: lessons from a case study in Niger

AbstractTechnical change, through the introduction of land‐enhancing conservation technologies, is essential to economic growth in the Sahel. Tobit analysis was used to identify factors that motivate level and intensity of adoption of specific soil and water management technologies. The results show that higher percentage of degraded farmland, extension education, lower risk aversion, and the availability of short‐term profits are important for increasing the adoption and intensity of use of improved ‘tassa’ and half‐crescent shaped earthen mounds. Age and attitudes to differential gains between farm and non‐farm income showed no influence on adoption. Three main policy implications emerge from these findings. First, technologies should be targeted to locations that have large percentages ol degraded farmlands. The probability of adoption and intensity of use are likely to be high at such locations. Second, there is the need to provide extension education that demonstrates risk reduction capacities of conservation techniques. I his will make available information capable of stimulating adoption of land‐enhancing technologies. Finally, policy‐makers should not seek to target innovations to younger farmers because age has no relationship to adoption of the improved ‘tassa’ and half‐crescent shaped earthen mounds. Lessons from the case study have broad relevance to cropped areas in the Sahel.

Factors influencing adoption of land-enhancing technology in the Sahel: lessons from a case study in Niger

Abstract Technical change, through the introduction of land-enhancing conservation technologies, is essential to economic growth in the Sahel. Tobit analysis was used to identify factors that motivate level and intensity of adoption of specific soil and water management technologies. The results show that higher percentage of degraded farmland, extension education, lower risk aversion, and the availability of short-term profits are important for increasing the adoption and intensity of use of improved `tassa' and half-crescent shaped earthen mounds. Age and attitudes to differential gains between farm and non-farm income showed no influence on adoption. Three main policy implications emerge from these findings. First, technologies should be targeted to locations that have large percentages of degraded farmlands. The probability of adoption and intensity of use are likely to be high at such locations. Second, there is the need to provide extension education that demonstrates risk reduction capacities of conservation techniques. This will make available information capable of stimulating adoption of land-enhancing technologies. Finally, policy-makers should not seek to target innovations to younger farmers because age has no relationship to adoption of the improved `tassa' and half-crescent shaped earthen mounds. Lessons from the case study have broad relevance to cropped areas in the Sahel.

Systems approach for analyzing tradeoffs between income, risk and water use in rice-wheat production in northern India

Tradeoffs between expected income, income risk and water use in a rice-wheat (R-W) cropping system in a representative area in northern India were analyzed through a systems approach. The application of crop growth simulation models in conjunction with risk programming models captured both the technical possibilities as well as the socioeconomic context while evaluating risk-efficient production strategies based on their water-use implications on a macro scale (district). The expected income from R-W system in the selected district ranged from rupees (Rs) 3.58 to Rs 4 billion (1996 values) and the income risk, expressed in terms of the coefficient of variation, varied from 5 to 7%. Conflict between income and income risk was controlled through water-use options. For realizing an income level of Rs 3.58 billion, farmers used 38% more water to reduce their income risk. Tradeoff between water use and income risk was moderate (10: 1) at the current water use levels due to favorable policy environment. Promoting efficient water use in R-W system calls for rational water/energy pricing policies to reduce water use by 25% from the current level. Supportive water management technology and institutional policies would be more effective to economize the water use beyond 25% wherein, the water use-income risk trade off became acute (1.5:1).

Sustainable Agriculture, People and the Resource Base: Impacts on Food Production

Summary Jules N. Pretty, ‘Sustainable Agriculture, People and the Resource Base: Impacts on Food Production’, Forum for Development Studies, 1997:1, pp. 7–32. As this century draws to a close, agricultural development faces some unprecedented challenges. But the views on how to proceed vary hugely, and there are five distinct schools of thought. Sustainable agriculture seeks the integrated use of a wide range of pest, nutrient, soil and water management technologies. Contrary to popular opinion, such regenerative and low-input (but not necessarily zero-input) agriculture can be highly productive, provided farmers participate fully in all stages of technology development and extension. But there remains a huge challenge to find ways to spread or ‘scale up’ the processes which have brought about these transitions. For sustainable intensification of agriculture to spread widely, there is a need for fundamental reform of both policies and policy formulation processes.

Transport of herbicides and nutrients in surface runoff from corn cropland in southern Ontario

The risk of surface-water contamination by herbicides is greatest following application to cropland when the active ingredients are at the maximum concentration and the soil is the most vulnerable to erosion following cultivation. This study determined the magnitude of surface runoff losses of herbicide and nutrients at, and subsequent to, application. The first of three weekly 10-min, 2.6-cm rainfalls were simulated on triplicated 1-m plots (a set) on which corn had been planted and the herbicide (metolachlor/atrazine, 1.5:1.0) and fertilizer (28% N at 123 kg ha−1) had just been applied. Identical simulations were applied to two other adjacent plot sets (protected from rainfall) 1 and 2 wk following herbicide application. Runoff (natural, simulated) was monitored for soil, nutrient and herbicide losses. Concentrations of total phosphorus in surface runoff water and nitrate N in field-filtered samples were not significantly influenced by the time of the rainfall simulation but exceeded provincial water-quality objectives. Atrazine and metolachlor runoff losses were greatest from simulated rainfall (about 5% loss) immediately following application. Subsequent simulated rainfall usually resulted in < 1% herbicide runoff losses. Herbicide concentrations in all plot runoff samples exceeded provincial drinking-water quality objectives. Since herbicide surface transport is primarily in the solution phase (not via association with soil particles), water-management conservation technologies are the key to retaining these chemicals on cropland. Key words: Herbicide, runoff, rainfall simulation, partitioning, water quality

INSTITUTIONS AND TECHNOLOGY: KEYS TO BETTER WATER MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACTSeven considerations which bear upon the achievement of better water management are discussed. First, separation of judgments of fact from judgements of value is helpful in deciding upon what actions to take. Second, separation of social values from matters of individual or group interest is crucial to institutional design. Third, achieving economically efficient water management may create a surplus of benefits which can be divided among the parties in order to resolve conflicts. Fourth, surpluses also can be used inappropriately, whether to reward undesirable behavior or to penalize unjustly. Fifth, avoidance of external costs is best achieved through restructuring of rewards and penalties. Sixth, technological solutions are too easily selected in place of less costly institutional change. Seventh, water management technology is too often selected in place of more cost‐effective, water‐related technology. Selected examples of each of these considerations are offered. However, better water management is not easy to define. The social process criterion adopted in this paper is discussed briefly.

Evaluation of water management systems in a tubewell irrigated farm

Land development, improved systems of irrigation and drainage, and proper irrigation scheduling are becoming more and more important for the success of command area development of the various major and minor irrigation schemes. For realistic planning and execution of such programmes or for improving existing ones, a systematic evaluation of the various components of the existing systems would be necessary but is invariably lacking. This paper presents an attempt made in this direction at C.S.S.R.I. farm, Karnal (India) to evaluate the integrated effect of water management technology on the efficiency of the irrigation system. The parameters selected for evaluation were the efficiencies of pumping, conveyance and field application. Besides these three parameters, water use efficiency, an index of crop production per unit of water applied, was also evaluated. Investigations revealed that pumping efficiency for electrically driven centrifugal pumps was about 52% and the corresponding value for diesel engine run pumps sets was 30%. The conveyance efficiency in the study area was as high as 93% because the seepage loss in the field channels laid in the alkali soils of the study area was only 7%. The field layout for water application in the study area consisted of long, narrow borders. The water application efficiency for this system was 58% for a wheat crop and 42% for rice. The overall system efficiency for wheat crops was observed to be 54% as against a value of 39% for rice. The observed average total water requirements and water use efficiencies for wheat were 46 cm and 70 kg/ha cm −1 and for rice 150 cm and 46 kg/ha cm −1, respectively. At these efficiencies, it was also noted that a cavity tubewell would command an area of 4.5 ha, with rice and wheat as the principal crop rotation. From this study, it can be inferred that reasonably high irrigation system efficiencies (54% as against the national average of about 30%) are possible with good water management at farm level.