World Water Resources Research Articles

Water security of mankind: global and regional dimensions

The article outlines modern and perspective water security of mankind, which means the population's ability to have sustainable access to the necessary quantity of acceptable water quality to maintain the existence, well-being and socio-economic development; protection against water-related pollution and disasters; conservation of ecosystems and political stability. The article notes that despite of a huge volume of water on the planet, its fresh resources contained in surface runoff and being the main source of water supply are limited. The work examines geographical, economic, political, anthropogenic factors creating the background for a global water management problem and threat to the water security of mankind. The article analyzes regional water management problems of Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and other regions; the research underlines the presence of significant political and economic difficulties with the use of the river flow of international river systems. The article considers prospects of the global threat to water security for mankind and ways to overcome it. A high correlation between the growth of the world population and the growth of global water consumption is substantiated. The research shows that by 2030 the water-resource potential of mankind will practically lose the capacity for self-recovery. There should be a strategy to solve the problem and a mechanism to implement it, including the creation of the International Fund for the Streamlining of the Use of the World's Water Resources and the Institute for its Regulatory and Legal Support under the auspices of the United Nations; electronic department of the United Nations with the functions of monitoring the state of water resources and access to them by the population, development of international regulations on water use, creation of design estimates, financing of water projects of global or international importance, monitoring the implementation of water management measures.

Emerging investigator series: design of hydrogel nanocomposites for the detection and removal of pollutants: from nanosheets, network structures, and biocompatibility to machine-learning-assisted design

Due to serious pollution of the world's water resources, effective methods for the detection and removal of pollutants must be developed.

Production vs. consumption management for sustainable agricultural resources

At 35%, world food production wastage is jeopardising the sustainability of global resources and the future of food security, especially considering that agriculture uses 60% and 37% of the world water and land resources. Ironically, rural populations are most exposed to poverty and hunger when they feed the world. Through a literature review, this paper will demonstrate that supply management, based on consumption, is a solution to food wastage and can in parallel, improve rural wealth, introduce sustainable agricultural practices, resolve major urban pressures and bring about global climate change adaptation. The concepts presented in this paper confront modern world agricultural policies as production management systems are being abolished throughout the world, including Canada.

Effects on Water Management and Quality Characteristics of Ozone Application in Chicory Forcing Process: A Pilot System

Agriculture is the largest user of world water resources, accounting for 70% of all consumption. Reducing water consumption and increasing water use efficiency in agriculture are two of the main challenges that need to be faced in the coming decades. Radicchio Rosso di Treviso Tardivo (RTT) is a vegetable that requires a water forcing process prior to final commercialization which presents a significant environmental impact due to the high water volumes used and then dispersed into the environment. The experiment was aimed at reducing the water use in the forcing process of RTT, by developing a pilot system with recycled water in a closed loop through ozone treatment. Concerning water quality, the redox potential value was higher in the ozonized system, whereas turbidity, pH and electrical conductivity of the ozonized system did not change significantly from the control. Yield and quality of plants obtained in the ozonized system did not significantly differ from the control plants except for the antioxidant activity that was higher in plants forced using the water treated with ozone. Our initial results suggest that the ozone treatment could be applied in the forcing process and is suitable for growers, saving up to 95% of water volumes normally used for this cultivation practice.

Editorial: Marine and freshwater quality management

Marine and freshwater are the essential components of the earth's hydrosphere and their quality management has been one of the most critical and overriding challenges for all the involved researchers, engineers and decision makers around the globe. The availability of the world's scarce water resources is increasingly limited due to the worsening pollution problems caused by the release of diverse, large quantities of pollutants from point or non-point sources into rivers, lakes, and oceans. Through the food chain, these pollutants can cause acute or chronic effects on the health of aquatic organisms and human beings. Within a global changing context, more effective quality management of marine and freshwater systems demands continuously improved knowledge and technologies, sound decisions and best practices, and benign legal and socio-economic environments to cope with the situation. This special issue on marine and freshwater quality management contains the selected papers presented during the International Conference on Marine and Freshwater Environments (iMFE2014), which was held in St. John's, Canada, from August 6 to 8, 2014. The conference was organized jointly by the 2014 Atlantic Symposium of the Canadian Association on Water Quality, the 2014 Annual General Meeting and 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Newfoundland and Labrador Section, the 2014 Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Information Sciences, and the 2nd International Conference of Coastal Biotechnology of the Chinese Society of Marine Biotechnology and Chinese Academy of Sciences. The areas of scientific interest on which over 110 papers and posters were presented in the conference covered an impressively wide range of topics with significant added-value for scientists, engineers, researchers and policy makers in the field. After a rigorous peer-review process, eight papers have been selected for publication in this special issue, addressing the following topics: (1) environmental modeling, risk assessment …

Feedback regulation of irrigation via soil moisture monitoring and its effects on plant growth and physiology

Currently, 80% of the world's available fresh water resource is used for irrigated agriculture. Growers usually try to ensure profitable crop production rather than considering possible environmental impacts, which can lead to misjudgement of the plant's actual needs and result in under- or over-irrigation. To understand how manual watering influences soil water status, soil moisture sensors were deployed in a representative commercial nursery. By automatically scheduling irrigation according to soil moisture thresholds, this work tries to understand the effects of deficit irrigation (under-irrigation - applying less than full water requirements) on possible growth regulation through changes in leaf water status, gas exchange and plant hormone balance. Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum Mill. 'Ailsa Craig') were grown in a peat-based substrate in a controlled environment, and exposed to different irrigation treatments by varying the number of drippers in the pot (1 water deficit, 2 control). Hand-watering in a commercial nursery resulted in significant variation in soil water content that may compromise crop uniformity and quality. In contrast, feedback regulation of irrigation via soil moisture monitoring provides a useful tool to water plants according to their actual water needs, with significantly less variation in soil moisture. Under-irrigating containerised tomato plants significantly reduced evapotranspiration, crop fresh weight, height and leaf area and decreased leaf water potential and stomatal conductance. Although foliar concentrations of the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) varied throughout the treatment period, ethylene emission from shoot increased. However, the role of these plant hormones during water deficit requires further experimentation using mutants deficient in these hormones. Although deficit irrigation as applied here limited tomato vegetative growth, further long-term experiments (that measure fruit yield) are needed to evaluate whether automatic irrigation scheduling can be used as a water-saving technique.

Growth of Arabidopsis thaliana and Eutrema salsugineum in a closed growing system designed for quantification of plant water use

The identification of genetic determinants for water-use efficiency (WUE) and their incorporation into crop plants is critical as world water resources are predicted to become less stable over the coming decades. However, quantification of WUE in small model species such as Arabidopsis is difficult because of low plant water loss relative to root zone evaporation. Furthermore, measurements of long-term WUE are labor-intensive and time-consuming. A novel high-throughput closed-container growing system for measuring plant WUE is described. The system eliminates nearly all water loss from the media and does not require irrigation throughout the duration of a typical experiment. Using the model species Arabidopsis thaliana and Eutrema salsugineum, it was confirmed that under growth chamber conditions, this system: (1) eliminates the need for irrigation for as much as 30 days with media water content remaining above 80% full capacity; (2) allows for quantification of WUE in plants with a leaf area as small as ca. 20cm2; (3) does not inhibit plant growth; and (4) does not alter media conditions outside of an acceptable range for these species. The growing system provides an efficient high-throughput system for quantifying plant water loss and WUE.

Waste Generation and Management in Antarctica

Antarctica is the coldest continent on the earth. The Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean surround the continent. Antarctic continent covers 10% of the earth surface and has a surface area of nearly 14 million square kilometer. It also has 70% of the world's fresh water resources in the form of ice sheets. Thick ice sheets cover the whole continent (almost 98%). As a result of the environmental conditions, the remaining (2%) fraction without ice cover is basically the barren soil and rocks.Many countries have set up scientific research stations in Antarctica. There are about 65 scientific research stations in summer and 30 research stations in winter, which are currently operating for scientific investigations. India has two permanent scientific research stations in the Antarctica located in Schirmacher Oasis in Central Dronning Maud Land and in Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica. However, the activities due to operation and maintenance of the research station in Antarctica have impacts on the Antarctic environment. Besides, the scientific stations also generate waste materials and a significant part of it is discharged into the Antarctic environment, which may create impacts on the Antarctica. The assessment of waste materials emanating from various sources was carried out. The present paper attempts to highlight the environmental parameters observed during ISEA austral summer at Maitri and Bharti station, East Antarctica.

A reflection on the first 50 years of Water Resources Research

AbstractThe year 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of Water Resources Research (WRR), which was founded in 1965. More than 15,000 papers have been published in WRR since its inception, and these papers have been cited more than 430,000 times. The history of hydrology and the water sciences are also reflected in WRR, which has served as a premier publication outlet and instigator of scientific growth over the last 50 years. The legacy of WRR provides a strong scientific foundation for the hydrology community to rise to the challenges of sustainable water resources management in a future where dramatic environmental change and increasing human population are expected to stress the world's water resources from local to global scales.

Transformation of water resource management: a case study of the South-to-North Water Diversion project

Water transformation plays a crucial role in the rational allocation and avoiding over-exploitation of natural resources. Mega water transformation project will not only bring opportunities for ecological and economical use of water resources, but also contribute towards regional industrial and societal transformations. The scarcity of water is a serious issue for north China, accordingly the Chinese government decided to implement the South-to-North Water Diversion project in order to transfer water from the water rich south China to China's northern region. The South-to-North Water Diversion project is the largest water diversion project in the world involving significant long distance and inter-basin water transfer features. The management of this mega project faced a number of significant challenges as it had to contend with a variety of issues including politics, the economy, society, local culture, the environment and the local ecology. This project has also drawn global attention to the question of how to coordinate, manage and implement the world's largest water resource project. This study focuses on management practices of the South-to-North Water Diversion project by investigating the project's eastern and central routes. The three project management approaches that were used in this project, i.e. project owner direct management, project consignment management, and agent construction management (Daijianzhi) were investigated. Management regulations, control measures and common issues associated with the South-to-North Water Diversion project were also examined. These included: land acquisition and resettlement, bidding and tendering, construction supervision, quality management, cost management and schedule management. A questionnaire survey was conducted with key project participants in order to identify the key factors that contribute towards cost overruns and delays in the project. This is one of very limited number of studies which have in-depth investigation of mega water transformation projects in a systematic manner. The findings are expected to assist both academics and industry practitioners gain a better understanding of management practices in this mega water transformation project. This is particularly useful as the project team has to deal with a variety of sustainability related issues apart from traditional project management duties. Similarly, the lessons learnt from this case study will provide a valuable reference for the management of mega engineering projects and act as useful inputs for an international benchmarking exercise.

World Water Resources and Achieving Water Security

Water is the elixir of life and a principal indicator of sustainable development. It is important to understand the magnitude of water resources, the hydrological cycle, and the impact of land use and management. Large area of Earth's surface is covered by water, but renewable fresh water resources are finite (∼2.5% of the total), unequally distributed geographically, and prone to eutrophication and pollution. Conceptually, water resources comprise of four categories: (i) blue water is the fresh surface and ground water (e.g., water in lakes, rivers, and aquifers), (ii) green water is the precipitation on land that is stored in the soil for plant use, (iii) gray water is contaminated by human use, and (iv) virtual water is embedded in agricultural and industrial produce. Water scarcity, when demand exceeds supply, occurs wherever the per capita availability of renewable freshwater is <1700 m3/yr. In contrast, water stress occurs when the per capita availability of renewable freshwater is <1000 m3/yr. Therefore, water security exists when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and clean water that meets their basic needs for an active and healthy life. Water footprint, the amount of water required to produce goods and services for human consumption, is increasing with increase in world population and its growing affluence. Thus, sustainable management of water involves technologies to increase the green water storage in soil, purify the gray water, reduce export of virtual water, increase water use efficiency, and desalinize brackish water.

Research and Development Priorities in Water Security

There exists a strong link between water security and food security. Both are affected by the water–soil–climate nexus, social and political conflicts, growing energy demand with emphasis on biofuels and the virtual water trade. Sustainable development necessitates research on site‐specific and generic researchable issues on water resources and their management. In the context of food security, sustainable intensification of rainfed and irrigated croplands needs technology for an efficient conversion of blue water (rivers, lakes, ground water, and precipitation) into green water enhancing water use efficiency (WUE) and decreasing losses. The problem of excessive groundwater depletion (Ogallala in the United States, Indo‐Gangetic Plains, North China Plains) must be addressed. Improving desert farming is a high priority. Water quality, affected by agriculture and industrial runoff, can cause algal bloom and anoxia in surface water. The impact of soil degradation on water quantity needs site‐specific research. Water governance and policy issues are specifically relevant in water‐scarce regions and trans‐boundary watersheds. Growing urbanization and industrial use requires cost‐effective measures for safe use of gray water. The need for research focus on adaptation and mitigation of climate change, and managing the risks of extreme events cannot be overemphasized. Similar to soils, the finite world water resources must never be taken for granted.

Operation of sprinkler irrigation systems at night using saline water at the hot and dry climate condition

Abstract. Development of sprinkler irrigation in order to increase irrigation efficiency is in the agenda of agriculture policymakers’ section. In most areas, reduced water quality by reducing the quantity of water is encountered. Consequently, in such circumstances that sprinkler irrigation by poor quality water is done on farms, due to the dissolved ions absorption by leaves results in plant toxicity and leaf-burning, which ultimately leads to reduced crop performance. On the other hand, in conditions of evaporation, high temperature and wind, sprinkler irrigation will have an adverse effect on crop performance. However, experience in Qom province has shown that even in adverse conditions, sprinkler irrigation can be done. As the study area in this research is considered in hot and dry part of country and also located in a desert area, its water consists of very high sodium and chlorine levels and the quality is poor as well. However, due to nightly sprinkler irrigation that has been done several years on this farm, optimal performance of crops is achieved. In this study, we examined the factors affecting this action in order to disseminate this method of sprinkler irrigation and use of saline water, an effective step has done to overcome the limitations of the world's water resources.

Facing the challenges of water efficiency

Climate change and spiraling population growth are putting an increasing strain on the world's water resources. Global water technology company Xylem is using its expertise to minimise the impact and provide a safe and sustainable water supply. Senior vice president Tomas Brannemo reveals how these challenges are being met.

Современное состояние мировых водных ресурсов и основные направления по увеличению их доступности

Современное состояние мировых водных ресурсов и основные направления по увеличению их доступности

Projection of future world water resources under SRES scenarios: an integrated assessment

Changes in water resources availability, as affected by global climate warming, together with changes in water withdrawal, could influence the world water resources stress situation. In this study, we investigate how the world water resources situation will likely change under the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) by integrating water withdrawal projections. First, the potential changes in water resources availability are investigated by a multi-model analysis of the ensemble outputs of six general circulation models (GCMs) from organizations worldwide. The analysis suggests that, while climate warming might increase water resources availability to human society, there is a large discrepancy in the size of the water resource depending on the GCM used. Secondly, the changes in water-stressed basins and the number of people living in them are evaluated by two indices at the basin scale. The numbers were projected to increase in the future and possibly to be doubled in the 2050s for the three SRES scenarios A1b, A2 and B1. Finally, the relative impacts of population growth, water use change and climate warming on world water resources are investigated using the global highly water-stressed population as an overall indicator. The results suggest that population and socio-economic development are the major drivers of growing world water resources stress. Even though water availability was projected to increase under different warming scenarios, the reduction of world water stress is very limited. The principal alternative to sustainable governance of world water resources is to improve water-use efficiency globally by effectively reducing net water withdrawal.Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor D. Gerten

English

Establishment of tariff structures and economic pricing regimes are contemporary issues in the water supply sector. The need to determine the economic price for water production has taken the centre stage in the face of dwindling world water resources. This paper reports the development of a System Dynamics (SD) model for the determination of the unit cost of domestic water production schemes in a developing economy. The dynamics and interconnectivities of the production factors of water production are considered. The model was applied to the University of Ibadan, Nigeria domestic water supply scheme for which extensive and historical data are available. The capability of SD Vensim software was used to examine some critical scenarios. The unit cost of production obtained using field data compares well with unit costs already established for some countries. The results of the scenarios investigation, confirm the model developed, can handle the various dynamics of water supply production and thus assist water utilities to determine appropriate tariffs to be charged on their consumers. Also, the unit rate of N107/m3 compare very well with the Lagos state water tariff of N100/m3.   Key words: domestic water supply, production factors, unit cost, scenario investigations.

Application of Fuzzy Multi-objective Decision Making Model for Adapted Cropping Pattern to climate change:A Case Study of Pishin River Basin of Iran

DOI: 10.6007/IJAREMS/v3-i2/900 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJAREMS/v3-i2/900 Abstract: Water management denotes one of the most critical problems that face the national interests in the current and near future, especially in the middle east, where, according to UNESCO, the main interstate conflicts over water occur/will occur in that region. Given that agricultural irrigation water accounts for 80% consumption of the world's water resources, better agricultural systems management can play a critical role in the peaceful resolution of such crisis. Agricultural sector of Iran on the basis of special climate and geographic position poses many challenges and problems. Among these challenges, crop selection and water management are very important. That is, to decide on the proper set of crops to be cultivated and a proper irrigation scheme. So farmers must balance conflicting objectives when planning production. Conflicts may embrace economic, environmental, cultural, social, technical, and aesthetic objectives. Selecting the best combination of management uses from numerous objectives is difficult. Fuzzy Multi-Objective Decision making (FMCD) Models provides a systematic technique for selecting alternatives that best satisfy the farmer's objectives when objectives or restrictions are not clear. Fuzzy multiple criteria decision making models generally rely on the aggregation of the objectives to form a decision function and it allows trade-off among the objectives, and has been shown to be suitable to model decision making behavior. Such decisions are made to realize a certain objectives that typically include the maximization of net profit and the minimization of required investment, minimization of water consumption. So in this research an adapted crop pattern was determined by using Fuzzy Multi- Objective decision making model.

Operating mechanism and set pair analysis model of a sustainable water resources system

There is no alternative to the world's water resources, and their increasing scarcity is making it difficult to meet the world population's water needs. This paper presents a sustainable water resources system (SWRS) and analyzes the operating mechanism that makes it possible to evaluate the status of such a system. A SWRS can be described as a complex coupling system that integrates water resources, social, economic and ecological systems into a whole. The SWRS's operating mechanism is composed of dynamic, resistance and coordination components, and it interacts with and controls the system's evolution process. The study introduces a new approach, set pair analysis theory, to measure the state of a SWRS, and an evaluation index system is established using the subsystems and operating mechanism of a SWRS. The evaluation index system is separated into three levels (goal level, criteria level and index level) and divides the index standard into five grades. An evaluation model of the SWRS based on set pair analysis theory is constructed, and an example of SWRS evaluation in Shanghai is presented. The connection degrees of the index in the three levels are calculated, and the connection degree of the goal index is calculated to be 0.342, which classifies the city's SWRS condition as grade 2. The sustainable use of water resources in the region is determined to be at a relatively adequate level that meets the requirements of sustainable development.

Removal of Prorocentrum minimum from seawater using dissolved air flotation

As world water resources struggle to support a growing population, desalination is attracting more attention. High algal removal rates achieved by dissolved air flotation (DAF) can protect down-stream reverse osmosis membranes from fouling and shutting down during high-biomass harmful algal bloom events. This study was designed to investigate the factors affecting algal cell removal using DAF in a simulated bloom of the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum. The addition of sodium hypochlorite and adjustment of the pH were also investigated as ways to reduce coagulant dosage. Prorocentrum minimum presented a negatively charged surface. The optimum FeCl 3 dose was 60 mg/L at the lowest density tested (∼5×103 cells/mL), removing 90% of cells. At a higher density (40–50×103 cells/mL), 90 mg/L of FeCl 3 removed over 90% of the cells. Results suggest that the dominant mechanism for P. minimum removal was sweeping flocs, with charge neutralization constituting an important step. Adding 1 mg/L of sodium hypochlorite may have reduced surface charge. pH appeared to be a determining factor for total organic carbon (TOC) removal. At a lower pH, TOC removal was maintained at 70% while the coagulant dosage was reduced by half and algae removal was not compromised.