Water Resources Management and Reservoir Operation

IWRM provides ideas to help us make social choices about water allocation, the sustainability of water resources and the infrastructure use to manage the resources establishment of an overall water policy and laws which use the basin as the scale of management. It is widely recognised that better water management and governance is the key to developing a sustainable, efficient and equitable water sector. The present study area is Thatipudi reservoir and its command area. The command area is characterised by highly fluctuating rainfall. This paper discusses on preparing GIS maps, water requirement for command area using crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling software, storage capacity of the reservoir and cropping pattern to implement IWRM on command area. Highly fluctuating rainfall and corresponding run-off water was analysed considering the irrigation requirements, conveyance efficiency, domestic water requirements and water release into the sea during the floods. The present study reveals that the current capacity of the reservoir is insufficient to cater the allocation needs and thus necessitates the increase in storage capacity to cater the water needs in dry season.

Two key factors which alter the hydrological system are human activity and climate change. They affect the spatial and temporal distribution of water and have unequal influence on hydrological system. Hence, the study of influence of climate change and human activity is of immense importance for planning schemes and strategies for water resources management. As a consequence of urbanization, there has been a change in Land Use and Land Cover (LULC), which resulted in an increase of surface runoff and degradation in water quality. Hydrological modelling is an important tool which is used by researchers all over the world for analyzing the influence of climate change and Land Use Land Cover Change (LULCC) on natural water sources and for predicting potential future impacts from various possible scenarios. Based on the future climate change scenarios, numerous basins may probably experience variation in the mean hydrological characteristics as well as in the magnitude and frequency of extreme events. The main goal of this paper is to give a brief review of studies done to evaluate the impacts of climate change and LULCC on hydrological regime. There is a widespread usage of Landsat series of data for hydrological modelling studies based on the period of analysis. And majority of the hydrological modelling studies used semi-distributed models like SWAT for their analysis as these aren’t much data intensive but gives reasonably accurate results. Based on the results of various modelling studies, it can be concluded that, depending on the characteristics of watershed and scenario assumptions, the combined effects of climate change and LULCC may ameliorate or deteriorate each other’s influence. These effects may vary with the season or land use classes involved in change. Hydrological modelling integrating future climate change and LULCC scenarios can be an effective tool in planning future water resource management strategies.

Water and energy are elementary requirements for well-being and prosperity of humans. They are mutually dependent on each other. Energy production involves a huge quantity of water and in turn, water structures need a huge amount of energy. This dependency is termed as ‘water-energy nexus'. As a result of population and economic growth, and higher living standard, future demand for both water and energy is anticipated to upsurge, particularly in the emerging economies like India. The majority of energy-linked water usage is for power generation, which is led by water-concentrated electricity generation from coal, natural gas, and nuclear materials. Majority of the water utilised at thermal power plants is for cooling purpose in addition to ash handling, boiler feed water, flue gas desulphurisation and for other applications in coal-fired power plants. Governing authorities shall impose limits on freshwater usage by power plants by framing regulatory norms. The present stress on freshwater supplies and increasing demand is compelling the power generating units to search for alternative sources or supplementary sources of water. Utilising water from such sources will help conserve fresh water for other uses, such as drinking and agriculture. The current paper discusses water resource management for coal-based thermal power plants. If further evaluates various alternatives or measures for water conservation in thermal power plants.

India is an immense nation with high spatial and temporal inconsistency of precipitation. The end target is to tap the available water assets and to use the water as per the necessity. Numerous dams have already constructed to tap the available water resources. But the storage capacity of these reservoirs is gradually reducing due to sedimentation. To decide the useful existence of reservoir and to evaluate the sedimentation rate in the reservoir, it is fundamental duty to conduct the surveys intermittently. If the actual sedimentation process evaluated in the reservoirs, measures can propose ahead of time, and reservoir operational plan can arrange for typical usage of water. Some traditional procedures of measurement of reservoir sedimentation like hydrographic surveys and inflow-outflow techniques are expensive and also tedious. Remote sensing method turns into a helpful instrument for assessment of reservoir sedimentation because of its spatial, spectral and time-related features, which give succinct, monotonous and auspicious information concerning the area of water spread of the reservoir. Because of the deposition of sediments in a reservoir, the water spread at a height continuously alters. Presently by looking at the decreasing area of water spread with time, the sedimentation rate in a reservoir can be determined easily. In the current research, the sedimentation rate and volume ascertain within the Thenmala reservoir were carried out utilising satellite data. The data of IRS-P6 satellite with LISS-III sensor for 6 different date of pass was used to extract the area of water spread. The initial elevation-area-capacity curves and the reservoir levels on the six date of pass were acquired from the authorities of the dam. Utilising the cone formula, the capacity in zone of live storage is calculated. Because of silt deposition inside the reservoir, 44.063 (M Cu.m) storage capacity lost in a traverse of 30 years, i.e. 1985–2014.

Regionalisation of the watersheds, defined as the grouping of statistically similar watersheds is generally carried out for regional flood frequency analysis. This also helps in rainfall-runoff modelling. In this study, the catchment area of 43 stream gauge in the west flowing rivers of Kerala is grouped using fuzzy c means (fcm) clustering algorithm. The attributes in the feature vector and number of clusters are two deciding factors, which has no particular guidelines. Hence, three sets of feature vectors from the catchment characteristics formed for analysis. The first set includes catchment area (A), main channel length (Lc), the circulatory ratio (Rc), average rainfall (P), the total length of streams (Lu), the total number of streams (Nu). Lc, A, Rc, P, Lu, Nu, L-CV (L coefficient of variance) forms the second group and Lc, A, Rc, P, Lu, Nu, L-CV, latitude and longitude forms the third group. The fuzzy c means clustering was carried out with 4, 5 and 6 cluster numbers for each feature vector. The FCM clustering partitions the rescaled feature vector by minimising the objective function. Clusters were validated using cluster validity indices such as partition coefficient (PC), classification entropy (CE), partition index (SC), separation index (S) and Xie and Beni’s index (XB). L moments heterogeneity test (H Test) was used to test the homogeneity of each cluster. It was found that five clusters formed from the second group of feature vector with attributes Lc, A, Rc, P, Lu, Nu, L-CV produced homogeneous regions.

Landslide is a hazardous geological phenomenon and a common occurrence in hilly regions. It causes loss of life and destruction of property depending on the intensity of its occurrence. Landslide is the movement of mass of rock, earth or debris down the slope. One of the important triggering factors for landslide occurrence is rainfall and is usually considered for slope failure predictions, yet the relationship between rainfall and landslide occurrences is very complex. An attempt is made to understand the relationship between rainfall and landslide in the study area. A devastating landslide occurred in October 2009 in Kadwad village of Karwar taluk in Uttara Kannada district, killing 19 people and burial of several houses. On the same ill fated day, there occurred landslides at 21 more locations in Karwar. The landslide incidence was triggered due to heavy rainfall on 2nd and 3rd October 2009 which resulted in mass movement of debris. For this study, daily precipitation data from Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre/District Disaster Professional, Karwar and landslide records from media and other sources of that particular year were considered for the statistical analysis to understand landslide mechanism. Analysis shows a strong correlation between landslide occurrence and rainfall pattern. The landslide incidence is determined by the magnitude of the short episode of rainfall intensity with the threshold value of above 260 mm in that particular year. Thus the rainfall with less than the minimum threshold value did not cause triggering of landslide whereas landslide occurred above the threshold value. The possible cause for the triggering of Kadwad landslide is not due to saturation of soil caused by antecedent precipitation but it is due to short term intensive rainfall.

Irrigation potential of an area can be benefitted if we thrust on maximizing crop production by suitable allocation of limited resources to get optimal productivity. The Kulsi River Basin, located in the Southern bank of the Brahmaputra River, is the area of study. The gross command area and net irrigated area in the basin are 37,908 Ha and 23,882 Ha, respectively. The river basin is deficit of regular irrigation facilities, and only traditional cropping pattern (rain-fed conditions only) has been followed by the cultivators of the area. Hence, to promote the areas potential, the Kulsi Multipurpose Project Authority of Brahmaputra Board has proposed a multipurpose reservoir for the generation of hydropower, flood control, and irrigation. The capacity of the reservoir is 525.64 MCM, plant capacity is 55 MW, tail water level is 63 m, and dead storage of the reservoir is 85.86 MCM. Keeping in mind the benefits to be received by the proposed reservoir, the objective of the paper is mainly emphasized to compute the crop water requirement of the Kulsi Basin and to formulate a simulation and linear programming (LP) model to find the best possible cropping arrangement in order to maximize the net benefit of the crops.

Flux footprint models delineate the source area of micrometeorological fluxes as measured by the eddy covariance (EC) system. An  accurate knowledge of flux footprint is crucial for effective interpretation of measured fluxes and upscaling to a regional scale with the help of satellite data. Flux footprint models are derived based on the assumption that “measured fluxes are originated from a homogeneous cropland system.” For small and fragmented land-holdings of the Indian agricultural system, this assumption is often violated, hence questioning the applicability of existing models. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of various footprint models to a mixed fetch (heterogeneous) cropland system. Field-scale experiments were conducted in continuous cotton (C3) sugarcane (C4) plots located in Nandikandi village, Telangana, India. Two low height EC towers capturing homogeneous fluxes from individual fields and one tall EC tower capturing heterogeneous fluxes from the combinations were used in the study. Half hourly fluxes are calculated as the covariance between vertical wind velocity and scalar concentration of interest (water vapor, air temperature, or carbon dioxide). Three analytical models (viz. Hsieh, Schuepp, and Kormann and Meixner) were applied along with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model, considering unstable (daytime) and stable (night time) flux measurements. Our results conclude that, for homogeneous croplands, the Schuepp model performs best during unstable atmospheric condition and Hsieh model performs best in stable atmospheric conditions. Hseih model is suitable in representing the source area fluxes in a mixed fetch condition for all atmospheric stability conditions.

The freshwater resources are likely to be severely impacted by climate change as reported by many researchers around the globe. India already facing a shortage of freshwater resources due to rapid urbanization and industrialization and acceleration of economic development activities. Assessment of water resources plays a key role in the development of the economy of any nation. Northeastern states of India are blessed with huge water resources. The region faces inconsistent circumstance as devastating floods in monsoon months and water scarcity in non-rainy periods at many places. Most of the areas having high reliefs or undulating terrains where rainwater does not get sufficient time to infiltrate into the soil. As a result, quick runoff is dominant in the region, and ultimately reduces the recharge of springshed, and results in the reduction of discharge of many springs and streams during the non-rainy season. To overcome freshwater stress in the region, a proper understanding of the water cycle, its management, and development of various infrastructure is highly required. Though some problems could not be solved due to the lack of hydrological data like spring discharge data, water quality, etc. The alternate use of environmental isotope technologies aids researchers to estimate origin, recharge source age, and its movement within the hydrologic cycle can be of ultimate solutions. The stable isotopes (Deuterium and Oxygen-18) are excellent indicators of the water circulation, whereas radioisotopes (Tritium and Carbon-14) distinct value in detecting the mean residence time (MRT). This methodology has special value in terms of its cost-effectiveness and the investigative encouragement of the specialists. This paper presents the use of isotopic hydrology for sustainable development of the water resources of northeastern region of India.

Hydraulic transients occur as a direct result of rapid variations of flow field in pressurized (closed-conduit) systems. The change in velocity from valve closures or pump operations causes pressure surges that are propagated away from thesource throughout the pipeline. If the maximum pressures exceed the bar ratings(mechanical strength) of the piping material, different types of failure such as pipe bursts canoccur. Similarly, if the minimum pressure drops below the vapour pressure of the fluid, cavitationcan occur and can be detrimental to the pipeline system. The purpose of present study is to asses and simulate the hydraulic transients in a pipe line network of treated effluent rising main of Mpophomeni sanitation scheme using Bentley HAMMER V8i. A total of five scenarios were simulated using different combinations. The simulation results shows that the transient pressures in the pipeline exceeded the bar rating of the pipe where the burstsor cavitation may occur for the simulated scenarios. This study shows that the transient pressures in pipe line system were reduced to safe limit after providing water hammer protection devices.

Dam break analysis helps to predict the breach flood hydrograph and its time of arrival at desired locations along with depth and velocity of flow. This paper illustrates a case study on dam break analysis of Hidkal Dam using one-dimensional hydraulic model HEC-RAS with the help of river geometry generated by DEM. The present study illustrates the simulation of flood hydrograph under PMF scenario for both piping and overflow failure modes. The peak flow values as obtained from the model are 72,020.57 m³/s and 78,384.21 m³/s at the downstream of the dam and the corresponding inundation area estimated to be of 74.32 km² and 78.19 km² for piping failure and overtopping failure, respectively. The flow depth is found to vary from 30.39 m to 13.09 m for piping failure and 34.98 m to 13.86 m for overtopping failure at the downstream of the dam and the end of river reach, respectively.

This study deals with the suitability and performance of the irrigation system in the Kokernag, a hilly and mountainous area in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Based on the variation in the soil texture, soil depth and output of paddy fields, the whole study area was divided into two zones, namely zone A, covering the middle portion of the Kokernag valley constituting the main paddy fields and zone B, covering the area around the nallah Bringi. The suitability of this irrigation system was assessed using parametric approach. This parametric evaluation was based on soil texture, soil depth, slope and drainage of that area. These factors were rated (0–100) based on their characteristics and importance for surface irrigation. Then, capability index was developed for each zone using the rating of above mentioned factors. On comparing this capability index with various suitability classes, it was found that the zone A was highly suitable, whereas zone B was marginally suitable for surface irrigation system. Further, the suitability analysis was carried on the basis of the availability of water and socio-economic background of that area. It was concluded that the existing system of irrigation is suitable in both the zones. The performance was evolved using physical and financial performance indicators in both the zones. Based on these performance indicators, the irrigation system in zone A was performing better than that of zone B.

In present study, the temporal changes in the suspended sediment concentration and sediment yield pattern of Burhanpur sub-catchment, which is a part of Upper Tapi basin, India, are investigated. The variation of sediment yield during three decades, viz. 1980–1989, 1990–1999 and 2000–2010 is correlated with the changes in the land-use land-cover and climatic pattern within the sub-catchment. The changes in the pattern of monsoon rainfall intensity were investigated using modified Mann–Kendall (MMK) test while land-use land-cover within the sub-catchment was investigated by classifying the decadal images of the sub-catchment. The analysis of observed data revealed that sediment concentration is very high, even for small-to-moderate flows during the onset on monsoon, due to availability of unconsolidated sediments after a long dry period of October–May months. The monsoon rainfall intensity has shown decreasing trend over the sub-catchment during the period 1980–2010. Also, agricultural areas are found to be increasing with time at the expense of forest cover, fallow and scrub lands. The waterbodies, in the form of minor storage structures, are increased during the period 1990–2010. The excessive trapping of sediments within the sub-catchment due to the development of minor storage structures (waterbodies) was responsible for reduction of sediment yield within the Burhanpur sub-catchment.

Hydrological modeling is a widely used technique to simulate the hydrological response in a basin due to precipitation for the purpose of basin water management by water resource planners. In hydrological studies, estimating surface runoff in a watershed based on the rate of precipitation received and quantifying discharge at the outlet is important. An analysis has been done for developing hydrologic model for the calculation of probable maximum flood (PMF) using probable maximum precipitation (PMP), over a watershed. PMP is defined as “the greatest depth of precipitation for a given duration that is physically possible over a given storm area at a particular geographical location at a certain time of the year.” The focus of the study is firmly on PMP estimates derived through statistical approach (Hershfield’s method). The probable maximum flood (PMF) is the flood that can be predicted to be measured using a hydrologic HEC-HMS model from the most extreme combination of critical meteorological and hydrologic conditions that are reasonably possible in particular drainage area. To compute loss, rainfall excess conversion to runoff, and flow routing, methods like initial and constant rate, Snyder’s unit hydrograph, and Muskingum routing were chosen, respectively. The study presents a methodology for portraying the PMP estimation for Maithon watershed by analyzing individual steps within the PMP derivation procedure. Calculated PMP value has been used in HEC-HMS model to compute the PMF for Maithon catchment.

Dams are invariably used for multipurpose benefits to the society such as generation of hydropower, irrigation, water supply, flood control, and others, but with associated high risk. As it retains huge amount of water, there is always a risk of formation of breach. There is a need to study the breaching aspects of a dam. In this paper, a hydraulic model named MIKE11 developed by Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI) is used to carry out simulation of flood resulting from the failure of Indravati multipurpose dam in the Odisha state. Propagation of the flood wave at its downstream reaches is studied, and the consequent inundation map of the downstream submerged areas is prepared. Digital elevation map of the study area is obtained from USGS site and is converted into ARCII with the help of ArcGIS software. Simulations carried out posed a challenge due to the availability of low-resolution topographic data, stiff slope of the channel, obstructions at the downstream side of dam, and other factors.

The optimal reservoir policy is a complex problem to optimize. This paper introduces the improved teaching learning-based optimization (TLBO) by introducing the elitist concept, in order to improve the convergence, global searchability and faster evolution process. The objective of the present study is to maximize the water allocation for Ukai reservoir, India, to supply water for irrigation, domestic and industrial uses at different dependable inflow. Elitist teaching learning-based optimization (ETLBO) algorithm has been used to optimize water allocation, using four different models having dependable inflow as 60, 65, 70 and 75%. The results from ETLBO are compared with ordinary TLBO, differential evolution (DE), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and linear programming (LP). It was observed that ETLBO performed better in terms of better global searchability and faster convergence than TLBO, DE, PSO and LP.

This study proposes a density prediction model for reservoir sediment deposition using artificial neural networks (ANNs). To compute the reservoir capacity loss, it is necessary to estimate the weight per unit submerged sediment volume as the sediment transported in a river is measured in gravimetric terms as sediment load. Understanding the sensitivity of the estimated density to relate catchment sediment yield with the reservoir deposition rate, ANNs are utilized to precisely compute submerged sediment density. A dataset with 262 field observed densities for the reservoirs which always remain submerged is prepared and used. Three input variables, sand, silt, and clay proportion are selected. Then, the method of training and validation of the ANNs for the density prediction is presented. The model results show that the ANN model is flexible and robust to capture the complex physical process and is better than the Lara Pemberton empirical relationship. The proposed trained network, having the best predictive capability, is given as a MATLAB code.

Hydropower technology has been around for more than a century. Hydropower comes from converting the energy in flowing water—using a water wheel or a turbine—into useful mechanical power. This power is then converted into electricity by an electric generator. Micro-hydropower systems are small hydropower plants that have an installed power generation capacity of less than 100 kilowatts (KW). Many micro-hydropower systems operate “run of river,” which means that no large dams or water storage reservoirs are built, and no land is flooded. Depletion of fossil fuel and the inability to meet the rising demand of electricity is some drawbacks for the economic development of India. This paper presents the study to investigate the possibility of the micro-hydro power generation and its advantages in India.

The study is based on runoff simulation using the SIMHYD and AWBM model of the Narmada River at Barman. The NSE and R² values of AWBM for calibration are 0.751 and 0.821 and for the validation are 0.797 and 0.862, respectively, while the NSE and R² values of SIMHYD for calibration are 0.814 and 0.731, and for validation period 0.700 and 0.755, respectively. AWBM accuracy values indicate a better agreement between the observed and simulated runoff than the SIMHYD model. It is concluded that AWBM is more suitable for Barman command to simulate the basin’s hydrological response to the rainfall and predict daily runoff with a better degree of accuracy. Further study is carried out to estimate the irrigation water requirement based on rainfall pattern knowledge to achieve the proper crop calendar of Barman command. For estimating the irrigation water requirement of a wheat crop, 12 years (2001–2012) average climatic data, including 12 years (2001–2012) of annual rainfall data, is used. The probability analysis of rainfall was (at 20, 50, and 80%) conducted to better understand rainfall behavior. CROPWAT model is used to calculate the reference evapotranspiration (ET_O) by using climatic parameters (like maximum and minimum temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity, and sunshine hours). It is found that the rainfall for dry, wet, and at normal probability year are 598 mm, 1168 mm, and 866 mm, respectively, and corresponding irrigation water requirement estimated by CROPWAT are 274 mm, 264.7 mm, and 269.5 mm.

Piano key weir (PKW) is becoming increasingly popular for dissipation of excess discharge from spillways in old and newly constructed hydraulic structures. The relationship between discharge and head thus warrants necessary attention. The relationship between discharge and head for piano key weirs with increasing developed ratio for free flow over PKW for a constant channel width is investigated. Further, the variation of increasing developed length ratio in constant channel width with the power exponent of the head is analyzed. Nonlinear regression analysis was performed using the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm. The parameter estimate and ANOVA table were prepared for flow over piano key weirs from data available in the literature. The analysis shows a decreasing dependence on the exponent of the head with increasing developed length ratio for the same channel width.

Water, the driving force of nature, is the life sustaining resource present on the earth. Depleting groundwater tables and wells running dry has forced the researchers and policymakers to come up with an efficient solution to optimize water use and save water. With rainfall behaviour being uncertain and diminishing surface water sources, there is a critical need to look out for alternate water source. In this scenario, grey water use provides an efficient option. Grey water is the waste water generated from showers, laundry washing, washbasins and sinks. It does not come in contact with organic impurities which result in lower BOD as compared to black water (water generated from toilet flushing). The basic idea is to separate grey water from domestic sewage. Depending on the type of grey water and its level of treatment, it can be reused for various purposes like irrigation, flushing, floor washing, watering gardens, automobile washing, etc. Studies have suggested that recycling grey water can save up to 70% of fresh water consumption. To control the growing water imbalance, grey water use has huge potential to be used as sustainable alternate resource. Present study characterizes different types of grey water in terms of water quality parameters and suggests a low-cost treatment system for its further use.

In water resources engineering, the real-life problems are mostly involved with the nonlinear formulations. It is becoming a difficult task for large-scale nonlinear optimization problems to obtain the optimal solutions. Since various conflicting demands such as irrigation, power production, industrial water supply, municipal water supply, etc., should be satisfied with water available in reservoir, the optimal operating policy for multipurpose reservoir is a necessity. In this study, the metaheuristic techniques like particle swarm optimization (PSO) and teaching–learning-based optimization (TLBO) approaches are developed to overcome the limitations of conventional techniques. The main objective of this paper is to develop a policy for optimizing the total release of water for irrigation, power generation and industries during non-monsoon period with the case study of the multipurpose Hirakud reservoir of Odisha state in India. The TLBO and PSO models are implemented in MATLAB, and the developed programs are executed on a 4 GB RAM, 64-bit operating system, Quad core processor, and it is observed that the computational time required for iteration of TLBO and PSO is 10 h 33 min and 11 h 37 min, respectively, whereas in PARAMsavak supercomputer of 64 GB RAM, Ubuntu-operating system, 28 logical core processor the computational time required for 300 iterations of TLBO and PSO are 1 h 22 min and 1 h 54 min, respectively. Therefore, supercomputer is used for running the model as it saves computational time. On comparing the policy developed by PSO and TLBO methods for reservoir operation problems, it is observed that the release of water for irrigation, power generation, and industrial purpose are more by using TLBO than that of the release by other techniques, keeping strict surveillance on arriving at the dead storage level of the reservoir at the end of the non-monsoon period.

Temporal and spatial soil moisture status in variable-saturated zone plays a vital role in agricultural water management, groundwater recharge and solute transport of that region, and it is fundamentally regulated by plant growth and its water extraction rate along with soil properties and weather conditions. The soil moisture distribution pattern at soil element scale is regulated by Richard’s equation integrated with a sink term representing water uptake rate by plants. For obtaining soil moisture dynamic across the root zone of a site-specific area, Richards equation-based model coupled with sink term is numerically solved using finite-difference method. The developed model is tested for simplified case(s) and applied over a wheat-cropped site in Patna region of Bihar, India, with pedotransfer functions obtained from soil sample analysis. Stimulation results for a period of 120 days show that out of 24 cm irrigation applied and 10.61 cm rainfall occurred, 47.2% has been lost as evapotranspiration, 28.9% of the water has been stored in the soil column as soil moisture, and 23.9% of the water has recharged to groundwater table. Based on these results, an irrigation schedule is recommended for an optimal utilization of both rainwater and irrigation water for a better management of available water resources.