Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems

Harmonisation of thematic maps in the European Union – setting up different types of environmental analytical maps
Vanda Turczi^1,2, Philippe Quodverte¹ & Jesús Reyes Nuñez²

1 CEDETE, University of Orléans, France

[e-mail]

2 Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 51-61
Groundwater and global hydrological change – current challenges and new insight
R. TAYLOR¹, L. LONGUEVERGNE², R. HARDING³, M. TODD⁴, B. HEWITSON⁵, U. LALL⁶, K. HISCOCK⁷, H. TREIDEL⁸, K. DEV SHARMA⁹, N. KUKURIC¹⁰,
W. STUCKMEIER¹¹ & M. SHAMSUDDUHA¹

1 Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK

[e-mail]

2 Department of Geological Sciences and Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences,
The University of Texas at Austin, USA

3 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK

4 Department of Geography, University of Sussex, UK

5 Climate Systems Analysis Group, University of Cape Town, South Africa

6 Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, USA

7 School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

8 UNESCO-IHP, Paris, France

9 National Rainfed Area Authority, New Delhi, India

10 International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands

11 Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hannover, Germany
Abstract As the world’s largest accessible store of freshwater, groundwater plays a critical role in enabling communities to adapt to freshwater shortages derived from low or variable precipitation and high freshwater demand. As highlighted by the IPCC in 2001 (TAR) and 2007 (AR4), our knowledge of how groundwater systems respond to changes in climate and abstraction remains severely limited. Although new diagnostic tools such as the global aquifer map (WHYMAP) and satellite monitoring of changes in total water storage under the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) have recently been developed, their deployment is greatly constrained by a dearth of reliable and sustained observations of groundwater systems. Land-surface models (LSMs) embedded in general circulation models and offline macro-scale hydrological models continue to employ simplistic characterisations of groundwater systems due, in part, to the absence of global or continental-scale data sets to test or tune these models. Structural modelling challenges, such as the long response times of some groundwater systems to hydrological change and substantial uncertainty in projections of precipitation and evapotranspiration, persist. New insight regarding the relationship between global hydrological change and groundwater systems, including the impacts of intensive abstraction for irrigation on groundwater storage and changing rainfall intensity on groundwater recharge, have recently been developed from basin-scale studies where reliable groundwater observations exist. These studies provide a compelling case for the expansion of groundwater monitoring networks and compilation of a global groundwater archive (IGRAC), comparable to that for other components of the hydrological system (e.g. WMO, GRDC, WGMS), to improve understanding and management of the groundwater system under global hydrological change.

Key words groundwater; climate change; modelling; monitoring; GRACE

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 62-69
Practical approaches to water management under climate change uncertainty
EUGENE Z. STAKHIV

UNESCO-ICIWaRM, Institute for Water Resources, Alexandria, Virginia 22315, USA

[e-mail]
Abstract Water resources management is in a difficult transition phase, trying to accommodate the large uncertainties associated with climate change, while struggling with implementing a difficult set of principles and institutional changes associated with integrated water resources management (IWRM) and adaptive management (AM). Water management is the principal medium through which many of the projected impacts of global warming will be felt and ameliorated. Many standard hydrological practices, based on assumptions of a stationary climate and variability, can be extended to accommodate numerous aspects of climate uncertainty. Adaptations of various strategies developed by the water management profession to cope with contemporary uncertainties and climate variability can also be effectively employed during this transition period, as a new family of hydrological tools and better climate change models are developed. “Robust decision-making” is among the new approaches being advocated for planning and designing water resources infrastructure under climate uncertainty.

Key words climate uncertainty; integrated water resources management; adaptive management; robust decision-making

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 70-71
Towards risk-based river basin management as an approach to overcome wicked water problems
JOS BRILS

Deltares, Daltonlaan 400, 3584 BK Utrecht, The Netherlands

[e-mail]

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 72-73
Assessing adaptive capacity of water governance regimes under climatic uncertainty
MARGOT HILL

Research Group on Climate Change and Climate Impacts, University of Geneva, Site de Batelle / D, 7, Chemin de Drize, CH-1227 Carouge / GE, Switzerland

[e-mail]

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 74-76
Creation of adaptation mechanisms: the key to more cost-effective and environment-friendly water management
Inom Normatov, Uktam Murtazaev & Nabi Nasirov

Institute of Water Problems, Hydropower and Ecology, Academy of Sciences Republic of Tajikistan, 12 Parvin Street, Dushanbe 734002, Tajikistan

[e-mail]

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 77-78
Modelling water availability and climate change with satellite remote sensing data
EBENEZER YEMI OGUNBADEWA

Remote sensing/GIS Unit, Geography Department, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo-State, Nigeria

[e-mail]

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 79-82
Development of an integrated model INDOCLIM for understanding the future state of a river basin
Heru Santoso¹ & Hery Harjono²

1 Research Centre for Geotechnology – LIPI, LIPI Campus, Jl. Sangkuriang, Bandung 40135, Indonesia

[e-mail]

2 Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto 10, Jakarta 12710, Indonesia

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 85-90
A parsimonious modelling approach for water management in dryland areas
SAKET PANDE¹, HUBERT H. G. SAVENIJE², LUIS. A. BASTIDAS³ &
ASHVIN K. GOSAIN⁴

1 Center for World Food Studies (SOW-VU), De Boelelaan 1105, VU University, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

[e-mail]

2 Hydrology Division, Department of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, TU Delft, The Netherlands

3 Civil and Environmental Engineering and Utah Water Research Laboratory, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA

4 Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India
Abstract This paper deals with development of parsimonious models for dryland areas. The modelling approach is to capture the dominant processes of dryland areas in a data-limited environment. Two processes, evaporation and subsurface flows, are identified as dominant and are modelled at monthly time steps for a study area in western India. The area is represented by interconnected linear (in storage–discharge relationship) reservoirs, and each reservoir is parameterized to represent the two fluxes. The parameters are estimated based on GRACE (terrestrial storage change) and MERRA2D (evaporation flux) data simultaneously. Finally, parsimony in parameters of the overall model (of interconnected linear reservoirs) is achieved by regionalizing recession parameters in terms of soil characteristics. This study elicits an approach that is urgently needed in data and water scarce regions.

Key words parsimonious modelling; dryland modelling; water management in drylands; water management in India

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 91-99
An approach for matching accuracy and predictive capability in hydrological model development
F. Fenicia^1,2, H. H. G. Savenije² & L. Hoffmann¹

1 Centre de Recherche Public Gabriel Lippmann, Belvaux, Luxembourg

[e-mail]

2 Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
Abstract Hydrological applications are often unique. Each case study is different from the other, both because of the purpose of the application, and because of the variability of nature. Our tools, including models and diagnostic techniques, are often too rigid to adapt to each new requirement. This impacts our ability to address complex water-related problems both in engineering and in research. This paper shows the advantages of a flexible model structure in application to a case study. A variety of models are generated, which are applied to a headwater catchment in Luxembourg. The models are evaluated with an adapted GLUE methodology. GLUE has been often criticized for the subjective choices involved in its application, such as the selection of a discriminating threshold to separate “good” and “bad” models. Here we introduce a non-arbitrary flexible threshold which is automatically determined at a selected accuracy of prediction, with the objective of balancing predictive capability and parameter uncertainty. These tools aim at facilitating the understanding of the system’s behaviour, which is essential to assess the impact of human activities on water and vice versa.

Key words hydrological models; FLEX; GLUE; Luxembourg


Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 100-101
Time series-based soft computing tool for wicked water problems
Bindu Garg

5 Terrase des Reflets, F-92400 Courbevoie, France

[e-mail]
Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 102-103
Hydrochemical characterization of groundwater in the Guadalquivir River aquifer in western Jaén: application of geostatistical techniques
ROSARIO JIMÉNEZ-ESPINOSA & JUAN JIMÉNEZ-MILLÁN

Department of Geology, University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, Edificio B3, 23071 Jaén, Spain

[e-mail]

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 104-105
Application of WMS in flow discharge prediction for the ungauged Wadi Bougous, Algeria
K. Khanchoul¹, Z. Boukhrissa¹ & A. Bouchebcheb²
1 Department of Geology, Badji Mokhtar University, BP12, Sidi Amar, 23000 Annaba, Algeria

[e-mail]

2 National Agency of Hydraulic Resources, Annaba, Algeria

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 106-108
Modélisation des eaux de la Rivière Sebou, vers une gestion transdisciplinaire
Mohammed IGOUZAL & ABDELLATIF MASLOUHI

Université Ibn Tofail, Faculté des Sciences, Département de Physique, BP 133, Kénitra 14000, Morocco

[e-mail]

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 111-126
Modelling and decision making in water resource management
HECTOR M. MALANO

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia
[e-mail].
Abstract Water resource systems modelling is a powerful tool to support evidence-based decision making in water management. Traditionally, water management decision making has been based on a single discipline rather than a multi-disciplinary and integrative approach involving physical, environmental, economic and socio-cultural dimensions. Water management has many of the characteristics of “wicked problems” – decisions are always made in an environment of great uncertainty, complexity and imperfect knowledge. To take into account this context, water management decision making must adopt a “whole-of-system and adaptive” approach that draws from a number of disciplines and can adapt to the continuously changing environmental, economic and social imperatives. Scenario planning provides a flexible and adaptive framework to couple modelling and science with decision making through an on-going collaborative partnership between decision makers and modellers. This is the opposite approach to the traditional one-off periodic planning activity which attempts to eliminate uncertainty from any strategic decision making. Integration of water resource modelling and decision making entails two dimensions – integration of the water cycle, economics and environmental modelling processes and integration of modelling with stake­holder support – a wide array of the models available to support one or more of these processes are usually not integrated. The modelling framework needed to support decision making must be selected to meet the needs of the specific system and nature of decisions supported. As such, a generic modelling framework must be constructed to integrate the multiplicity of physical, economic and environmental processes specific to each system. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the application of this scenario planning approach to supporting water management decisions: the Musi sub-basin, Andhra Pradesh, India, and the South Creek catchment, Sydney, Australia. In each case the nature of the decion-making environment, the scenario analysis and modelling framework are presented with a summary analysis of results and lessons learned. There are several prerequisites for this decion-making framework to succeed, including receptive institutions and a requirement for independent scrutiny, transparency and a sound modelling and scientific methodology.

Key words water resource systems; modelling; scenario planning; decision making; planning;
multi-discipline modelling framework

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 129-136
Hydroinformatics and ecohydrology tools for ecologically sustainable development in northern China
HUILI GONG, JING ZHANG, DEMIN ZHOU, XIAOJUAN LI & YUN PAN

3D Information Acquisition and Application Key Laboratory of Education Ministry, College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, #105 West 3rd Ring Road North, 100048 Beijing, China

[e-mail]
Abstract Due to natural and human disturbances (e.g. urban expansion), ecosystems have been changed dramatically on time scales ranging from years to decades. Especially in recent years, the ecohydrological system in northern China (including Inner Mongolia and around the Beijing area) has faced several environmental issues such as the shrinking of wetlands, water table decline, water quality deterioration, grassland degradation, dune expansion and the urban heat island effect. These merging issues make it necessary to consider the social context of interactive processes linking hydrology and ecology; hence the need for the Ecohydrology Approach. This transdisciplinary challenge requires an integration of various types of information, knowledge and techniques referred to as hydroinformatics for ecologically-sustainable development. In this study, the current conditions and problems of ecohydrology in northern China are reviewed. A transdisciplinary ecohydrological framework is proposed for future research, which incorporates remote sensing, geographic information systems and geographic positioning systems to extract hydro-ecological information for coupling ecohydrological models of different scale and resolution to simulate regional environmental change over time under various climate, land-use and environment management scenarios. The remote sensing (RS) monitoring of resources and the eco-environment around the Beijing area are also introduced. The large-scale remote sensing data processing system CASMImageInfo can be used to fast process hydro-ecological elements monitored by RS for the system. The proposed research plan is to study long-term regional hydrological change in the metropolitan and surrounding areas, and to determine the functionality and water cycle changes under controlled environment conditions in response to vegetation growth. The framework provides an opportunity for linking hydrology and ecology, as well as integration with modern information technology, leading to ecologically sustainable development of the region.

Key words remote sensing; geographic information system; hydro-ecological model; monitoring; human disturbance

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 137-139
Considering aquatic habitat properties in integrated river basin management – an ecohydrological modelling approach
JENS KIESEL, NICOLA FOHRER & BRITTA SCHMALZ

Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Institute of Natural Resources Conservation,
Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Olshausenstr. 75, D-24118 Kiel, Germany

[e-mail]

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 140-142
Managing the impacts of climate change on water governance
Beatrice Mosello

Environmental Studies Unit, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies,
11A Avenue de la Paix, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland

[e-mail]

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 145-158
A spiral approach to IWRM: the IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level
YASURO NAKAJO

Japan Water Agency, Land Axis Tower Bldg. 11-2 Shintoshin, Chuo-ku, Saitama City, Saitama 330-6008, Japan

[e-mail]
Abstract The principles and concepts of IWRM have been widely recognized, but the implementation of IWRM is not progressing satisfactorily in many basins. A mechanism to translate the principles into practical applications has been needed. As a tool to fill the gap, the set of Guidelines for IWRM at River Basin Level was developed, introducing a “spiral model” and “keys for success”, etc. The evolutionary, adaptive implementation of the IWRM process is illustrated by the spiral model, and keys for success can be used for overcoming difficult situations at each step in the practical process that begins with “recognizing/identifying” pressing issues or needs, then “conceptualizing” the problem itself and formulating possible solutions, “coordination and planning” among stakeholders in order to reach an agreement, and “implementing/monitoring/evaluating” the plan and its outcomes. This paper is an introduction to the Guidelines through a case study of the IWRM process for the Tone River in Japan.

Key words IWRM; integrated water resource management; guidelines; river basin; spiral model; process;
keys for success; sector perspectives; tools

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 159-160
Management of annual runoff renewal as the tool for inexhaustible water use
ELENA ASABINA

Ugra State University, 16, Chekhov str., 628012 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

[e-mail]

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 161-162
Water efficiency and effective water management – a shared responsibility
DAGMAR BLEY & GÜNTER KLEIN

Water Strategy Initiative Office, Project Management Agency at German Aerospace Center, Heinrich-Konenstr.
1, D-53227 Bonn, Germany

[e-mail]

Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems Kovacs Colloquium, July 2010  (IAHS Publ. 338, 2010), 163-165
International Centre for Coastal Ecohydrology – applying the Ecohydrology approach for the sustainable functioning of coastal ecosystems