Estimation of Blue and Green Water Potentials of Türkiye under Global Climate Change Effects

This study analyzed the impact of global climate change scenarios on the water resources of Turkiye by means of various climate and hydrological simulations projected for this century. An integrated approach was used by coupling regional climate models and a semi-distributed hydrologic model to assess the climate change impacts. A regional climate model, that is the output of 3 global models (HadGEM2-ES, MPI-ESM-MR and CNRM-CM5.1), has been conducted with RCP4.5 & RCP8.5 emission scenarios for whole the country at the watershed-scale with a resolution of 10x10 km. Hydrological simulations were conducted by using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) Model to determine the variation of surface and groundwater resources based on climate change projections. Blue water flow (water yield + deep aquifer recharges), green water storage (soil water), and water surplus/deficit projections have been conducted considering the current and projected status for water-consuming sectors of domestic, industry, agriculture, and ecosystem services. Results attained were further evaluated through statistical methods regarding blue water flow and green water storage potential of the country. The main purpose of the study was to aid the legal authorities, and decision-makers in prioritizing the environmental measures to be taken for mitigation of climate change impacts on Turkiye in the long- run. The work was the first country-wide hydrological modelling study through globally accepted climate change scenarios

DETERMINATION OF LAND-USE DYNAMICS IN A LAGOON WATERSHED BY REMOTELY SENSED DATA

Extensive use of land and water resources results in changes in land-use and properties; wetlands are drained, reservoirs are built, settlements extend, and forests are converted to farmlands. Such changes affect the hydrology and ecology of a watershed. Further effects are pollution of the environment and deterioration of habitats. To follow the temporal change of land-use and corresponding properties, extensive laborious studies include data gathering from various state offices and field surveys. Remote sensing (RS) supported analyses, on the other hand, reduce the necessary manpower

Water quality assessment and meta model development in Melen watershed - Turkey

Istanbul, being one of the highly populated metropolitan areas of the world, has been facing water scarcity since the past decade. Water transfer from Melen Watershed was considered as the most feasible option to supply water to Istanbul due to its high water potential and relatively less degraded water quality. This study consists of two parts. In the first part, water quality data covering 26 parameters from 5 monitoring stations were analyzed and assessed due to the requirements of the "Quality Required of Surface Water Intended for the Abstraction of Drinking Water" regulation. In the second part, a one-dimensional stream water quality model with simple water quality kinetics was developed. It formed a basic design for more advanced water quality models for the watershed. The reason for assessing the water quality data and developing a model was to provide information for decision making on preliminary actions to prevent any further deterioration of existing water quality. According to the water quality assessment at the water abstraction point, Melen River has relatively poor water quality with regard to NH4+, BOD5, faecal streptococcus, manganese and phenol parameters, and is unsuitable for drinking water abstraction in terms of COD, PO43-, total coliform, total suspended solids, mercury and total chromium parameters. The results derived from the model were found to be consistent with the water quality assessment It also showed that relatively high inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations along the streams are related to diffuse nutrient loads that should be managed together with municipal and industrial wastewaters. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

DataSheet1_Climate change adaptation exertions on the use of alternative water resources in Antalya, Türkiye.docx

This study presents the payback periods of applying rainwater harvesting (RWH) and/or graywater reuse (GWR) systems as alternative water resources in different building typologies, such as a hospital, shopping mall, and hotel. These buildings are under operation in the Antalya Province of Türkiye, which is a large city having the densest tourism activities. The significance of the work performed through the cost-benefit analyses for the selected case studies basically lies on the water savings while serving to four of the sustainable development goals, namely, clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, and climate action. These efforts may be considered valuable urban-based solutions toward climate change effects. Thorough surveys on the existing selected typologies are conducted regarding their water consumption and probable water savings via reuse activities. As-built plumbing projects and plans are also investigated during the accomplishment of the comprehensive design work leading to the calculation of the total investment and operation costs of the rainwater harvesting and graywater reuse practices. The up-to-date prices are used in monetary terms, and euro currency is used to make the results more meaningful by the interested parties. All the selected typologies undergo cost-benefit analysis for both of the alternative water reuse systems. The payback periods are calculated as 6, 2, and 9 years for RWH and as 5, 6, and 9 years for GWR for the hospital, shopping mall, and the hotel, respectively. The water savings for RWH varied between 20% and 50% whereas for GWR, the range was 48%–99%. Both of the systems are performed for the shopping mall simultaneously, and the resulting payback period is found to be 5 years, and water saving reached 72%. Recent information on the amortization periods in the literature states that less than a decade demonstrates achievable and highly acceptable applications. As such, the design attempts in this study also correlated with these findings. However, feasibility of these practices may be increased by encouraging the public on their utility and benefit of water savings. As is the case in many of the developed countries, incentives like tax reductions and even exemptions may be realized to achieve better applicability of these alternative technologies.</p

Application of Watershed Modeling System (WMS) for integrated management of a watershed in turkey

Watershed models, that enable the quantification of current and future pollution loading impacts, are essential tools to address the functions and conflicts faced in watershed planning and management. In this study, the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) version 7.1 was used for the delineation of boundaries of Koycegiz Lake-Dalyan Lagoon watershed located in the southwest of Turkey at the Mediterranean Sea coast. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was created for one of the major streams of the watershed, namely, Kargicak Creek by using WMS, and DEM data were further used to extract stream networks and delineate the watershed boundaries. Typical properties like drainage areas, characteristic length and slope of sub-drainage areas have also been determined to be used as model inputs in hydrological and diffuse pollution modeling. Besides, run-off hydrographs for the sub-drainages have been calculated using the Rational Method, which produces valuable data for calculating the time variable inflow and input pollution loads to be further utilized in the future water quality models of the Creek. Application of WMS in the study has shown that, it is capable to visualize the results in establishing watershed management strategies

Implementation of soil survey and analyses for promoting watershed modelling applications

Soil is an important component of a watershed. Understanding soils and their interactions with the other components are, thus, considered to be critical and essential for conservation of resources and management of the watershed. Development of soil sampling and analysis programs are crucial for these purposes. Site-specific soil data are needed to identify current soil characteristics, as well as to validate datasets gathered for watershed-scale modelling of non-point sources (NPS) of pollutants arising from various land-use activities, hydrodynamics and water quality. The Koycegiz Lake-Dalyan Lagoon watershed, located in the southwest of Turkey along the Mediterranean Sea Coast, was selected as the study area for watershed modelling purposes. Development of soil sampling plans, their practical optimization, soil analyses and interpretation are presented in this article. The soil analyses conducted include physical, chemical and specific soil characteristics. Within the framework of this study, soil fertility parameters are presented and evaluated. Such an approach used is recommended for especially developing countries where up-to-date data sets are not fully available and/or centrally publicized

Estimation of monthly diffuse nutrient loads for a watershed in Turkey

Diffuse pollution has a complex nature depending on various land-use activities like agriculture, livestock breeding and forestry. In this study, an alternative methodology is applied for decreasing the spatial uncertainty of diffuse nutrient load estimations. It is applied in the Melen Watershed, Turkey, which is an important watershed from where additional water will be supplied for the megacity Istanbul via interbasin water transfer. Monthly diffuse nutrient loads were estimated for each subwatershed by utilizing remote sensing (RS) and geographical information systems (GIS). Estimated nutrient loads were considerably different in various months due to the temporally irregular fertilizer application and meteorological conditions. Temporal differences were also predicted in the spatial distribution of the nutrient loads. The methodology is applicable in watershed protection studies, especially where necessary etudes should be conducted in the short term and with limited data. Such efforts in identifying and determining the diffuse loads are important for sustainable management of the watershed