Showing papers on "Water scarcity published in 1980"

Vulnerability of Water Supply Systems to Droughts

Abstract: This summary completion report describes the project work completed in three areas: 1) the development and preliminary testing of drought severity and vulnerabi lity ind~ces, 2) the impacts of Utah I s 1977 drought, and 3) an operation comparison of stochastic streamflow models. l'he drought indices were evaluated for three municipal and three irrigation water supply systems in Utah. It was concluded that a continuous loss function to define the effects of water shortage would be more appropriate than the existing assumption that droughtrelated losses occur suddenly at a certain degree of water shortage. Information on the impacts of Utah I s 1977 drought was collected by surveys of municipal and rural domestic systems, water users in Salt La,ke County, and farmers, stockmen, ranchers, and irrigation company officials. Survey results were used to examine drought effects in different regions of the state and with respect to size of municipal supply systems. Despite severe restrict ions placed on Salt Lake County water users most did not cons ider the experience an "undue burden." The comparison of five stochastic streamflow models on four Utah streams lead to a preliminary model choice strategy which is based on the historical estimates of the lag-one autocorrelation and Hurst coefficients.

Real-Time Forecasting/Control of Water Resource Systems; Selected Papers from an IIASA Workshop, October 18-21,1976

Abstract: When water resource systems are not under control, the consequences can be devastating. In the United States alone, flood damage cost approximately $1.5 billion annually. These losses can be avoided by building more reservoirs to hold the flood waters, but such construction is very expensive, especially because reservoirs have already been built on the best sites. A better and less expensive alternative is the development of more effective management methods for existing water resource systems, which commonly waste approximately 20 percent of their capacities through mismanagement. Statistical models first appeared in hydrology at the beginning of the 1970s. Hydrologists began to use the techniques of time series analysis and system identification in their models, which seemed to give better results than the earlier, deterministic simulation models. In addition, real-time control of water resources was being developed at the practical level and on-line measurements of rainfall and runoff from a catchment were becoming available. The conceptual models then in use could not take advantage of measurements from the catchment, but on-line measurements now allow an operator to anticipate flood waters upstream or a water shortage downstream. This book contains selected papers from a workshop devoted to the consolidation of international research on statistically estimated models for real-time forecasting and control of water resource systems. The book is divided into three parts. The first part presents several methods of forecasting for water resource systems: distributed lag models, maximum likelihood identification, nonlinear catchment models, Kalman filtering, and self-tuning predictors. The papers in the second part present methods for controlling stream quality and stream flow, and the third part describes forecasting in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Poland.

Water pollution control by agreement: the French system of contracts

Abstract: The French have made a concerted effort to improve efficiency in water management through area-wide organizations and charges for water withdrawal and effluent disposal. Lack of data makes it impossible to judge how successful these innovations have been in solving the problems of water scarcity and pollution. In some parts of France, river conditions have improved; in others, there has been little or no change, particularly in areas where pollution is severe. One reason for this is that effluent discharge fees are too low; polluters prefer to pay the fee rather than clean up. Many exceptions are made; high levels of pollution are tolerated in certain activities, particularly where an export market exists or technological change to reduce pollution would be very costly and difficult to accomplish. The system of contrats de branche, negotiated and signed by a particular sector of industry to reduce a specific problem of water quality by setting a date to reach an effluent-discharge goal, is an attractive means of dealing with this difficulty. 45 references, 6 figures, 5 tables.

The economic effects of changes in water use in the Tucson basin, Arizona.

Abstract: Potential economic side-effects of water shortages in Tucson, Ariz., are discussed. Groundwater in the Tucson area is being drawn at a rapid rate/ as a result, the water table in the Tucson basin is being lowered. Several lawsuits have arisen from the water crisis. Water problems in the Tucson area will have little impact on that area's economic well-being. 1 map, 12 references.

ICPRB and Washington Metro Water Management

Abstract: Wastewater and water supply planning and management in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area is fragmented among local, state, and Federal governments and agencies. The writers review the background and current status with the purpose of showing the positive role that can be played by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River basin (ICPRB). The paper details several examples of technical assistance and coordination provided by ICPRB: (1)The Sewer Expansion Simulation (SES), an interactive computer program developed by ICPRB to guide users in the preparation of alternatives for satisfying needs for sewage conveyance and treatment capacity; (2)studies of the use of raw and finished water interconnections among the major water supply systems to meet peak summer demands; and (3)the use of risk analysis during a 1977 drought to guide in the operation of the reservoir source for one of the major water supply systems in the metropolitan area.

The Water Problem

Abstract: New editions of Wasser Kalender 1979 [1) and the Manual on Water [2) have been published. A bibliography on water resources in arid and semiarid regions contains 140 abstracts, 31 of which are new entries. The bibliography covers reports on water quality, resource management, potable water, consumption and irrigation, particularly those in the western regions of the U.S. [3). Causes of the shortage of clean water were examined with heavy emphasis placed on the problems of the U.S. Among the solutions that the aurhor suggests are desalination and weather modification [4). The trend of the future and solution to the water crisis will come primarily from increasing emphasis placed on tapping underground reservoirs and desalination of seawater. The solution will also involve judicions water management [5).