Transitioning out of Open Access: A Closer Look at Institutions for Management of Groundwater Rights in France, California, and Spain

[EN] Many regions around the world are transitioning out of open access to groundwater resources in order to tackle over extraction by irrigated agriculture. However, the state has limited capacities to regulate effectively agricultural groundwater use. This paper evaluates how users and public authorities can co-manage groundwater extraction by agriculture. Based on Schlager and Ostrom¿s ¿bundle of rights¿ framework, the paper examines how decisions over access and use of groundwater resources are made in France, Spain and California. The three cases share a common strive to involve groundwater users in decisions over how to reduce over extraction of groundwater resources. However, different choices were made regarding the institutional set-up for user involvement in allocation decisions. The paper presents the diversity of institutional arrangements influencing groundwater allocations in the three cases, and the relative involvement and power of users and public authorities over these institutions. The papers show the different ways in which ¿comanagement¿ may be made operational for managing agricultural groundwater use.This research benefited from funding of the EU H2020 RURECO project (grant agreement 750553) and from Montpellier University I-Site MUSE. This study has also received funding from the eGROUNDWATER project (GA n. 1921), part of the PRIMA programme supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programmeRouillard, J.; Babbitt, C.; Pulido-Velazquez, M.; Rinaudo, J. (2021). Transitioning out of Open Access: A Closer Look at Institutions for Management of Groundwater Rights in France, California, and Spain. Water Resources Research. 57(4):1-20. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028951S12057

Integrated assessment of future potential global change scenarios and their hydrological impacts in coastal aquifers - a new tool to analyse management alternatives in the Plana Oropesa-Torreblanca aquifer

[EN] Any change in the components of the water balance in a coastal aquifer, whether natural or anthropogenic, can alter the freshwater-salt water equilibrium. In this sense climate change (CC) and land use and land cover (LULC) change might significantly influence the availability of groundwater resources in the future. These coastal systems demand an integrated analysis of quantity and quality issues to obtain an appropriate assessment of hydrological impacts using density-dependent flow solutions. The aim of this work is to perform an integrated analysis of future potential global change (GC) scenarios and their hydrological impacts in a coastal aquifer, the Plana Oropesa-Torreblanca aquifer. It is a Mediterranean aquifer that extends over 75 km(2) in which important historical LULC changes have been produced and are planned for the future. Future CC scenarios will be defined by using an equi-feasible and non-feasible ensemble of projections based on the results of a multi-criteria analysis of the series generated from several regional climatic models with different downscaling approaches. The hydrological impacts of these CC scenarios combined with future LULC scenarios will be assessed with a chain of models defined by a sequential coupling of rainfall-recharge models, crop irrigation requirements and irrigation return models (for the aquifer and its neighbours that feed it), and a density-dependent aquifer approach. This chain of models, calibrated using the available historical data, allow testing of the conceptual approximation of the aquifer behaviour. They are also fed with series representatives of potential global change scenarios in order to perform a sensitivity analysis regarding future scenarios of rainfall recharge, lateral flows coming from the hydraulically connected neighbouring aquifer, agricultural recharge (taking into account expected future LULC changes) and sea level rise (SLR). The proposed analysis is valuable for improving our knowledge about the aquifer, and so comprises a tool to design sustainable adaptation management strategies taking into account the uncertainty in future GC conditions and their impacts. The results show that GC scenarios produce significant increases in the variability of flow budget components and in the salinity.This research work has been partially supported by the GESINHIMPADAPT project (CGL2013-48424-C2-2-R) with Spanish MINECO funds, the PMAFI/06/14 project with UCAM funds and the Plan de Garantia Juvenil from MINECO, co-financing by BEI and FSE. We would like to thank the Spain02 (AEMET and UC) and CORDEX projects and the Jucar Water Agency (CHJ) for the data provided for this study. We appreciate the valuable comments and suggestions provided by the editor and two anonymous referees.Pulido Velázquez, D.; Renau-Pruñonosa, A.; Llopis Albert, C.; Morell, I.; Collados-Lara, A.; Senent-Aparicio, J.; Leticia Baena-Ruiz (2018). Integrated assessment of future potential global change scenarios and their hydrological impacts in coastal aquifers - a new tool to analyse management alternatives in the Plana Oropesa-Torreblanca aquifer. HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES. 22(5):3053-3074. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3053-2018S30533074225Alcalá, F. J. and Custodio, E.: Spatial average aquifer recharge through atmospheric ride mass balance and its uncertainty in continental Spain, Hydrol. Process, 28, 218–236, 2014.Allen, R. G., Pereira, L. 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Management Alternatives of Aquifer Storage, Distribution, and Simulation in Conjunctive Use

[EN] Aquifers are ubiquitous, and their water is easy to obtain with low extraction costs. On many occasions, these characteristics lead to overexploitation due to important water level declines, reduction of river base flows, enhanced seawater intrusion, and wetland affection. The forecasted increase in water demands and global warming will impact the future availability of water resources. Conjunctive use of surface and subsurface waters can help in mitigating these impacts. There are two main conjunctive use strategies: artificial recharge (AR) and alternate conjunctive use (ACU). AR stores waters that are not to be used directly in aquifers. ACU utilizes groundwater in dry periods, while surface waters are preferred in wet ones; this allows the increase of water supply with lower dam storage, economic gains, and environmental advantages. Efficient conjunctive use can prevent soil salinization and waterlogging problems in semiarid countries due to excessive recharge from irrigation return flows or other origins. Groundwater is a neglected and generally misused resource to maintain environmental conditions. When considering the solution to a water resources problem, groundwater should always be part of the design as an alternative or a complementary resource. Aquifers have large inertia, and changes in their volumes are only noticeable after years of observations. Unfortunately, groundwater observation networks are much poorer than surface ones, something that should be changed if groundwater is to come to the rescue in these times of climate change. Human and material resources should be made available to monitor, control, analyze, and forecast groundwater.This research was funded by AGREEMAR Project (PCI2022-133001 funded by Spain's MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, by European Union's NextGenerationEU/PRTR), the SIGLOAN project (RTI2018-101397-B-I00) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Programa Estatal de I + D + i Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad) and by project eGROUNDWATER funded by the PRIMA programme supported by the European's Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant number 1921.Sahuquillo, A.; Cassiraga, EF.; Gómez-Hernández, JJ.; Andreu Álvarez, J.; Pulido-Velazquez, M.; Pulido Velázquez, D.; Álvarez-Villa, ÓD.... (2022). Management Alternatives of Aquifer Storage, Distribution, and Simulation in Conjunctive Use. Water. 14(15):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14152332115141

Water

Water resources in the Mediterranean are scarce. They are limited, unevenly distributed and often mismatching human and environmental needs. Three quarters of the resource are located in the northern Mediterranean while three quarters of the needs are in the south and east. As a consequence, approx. 180 million people in the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries suffer from water scarcity (<1,000 m3 capita-1 yr-1). The main water user is agriculture, in particular on the southern and eastern rim. The percentage of irrigated land of the total cultivated area is 25% for the Mediterranean Basin and is currently increasing, likely with higher rates under even drier climate conditions in the future. Water demand for both tourism and agriculture peak in summer, potentially enhancing tensions and conflicts in the future. Municipal water use is particularly constrained in the south and will likely be exacerbated in the future by demographic and migration phenomena. In parallel, northern countries face additional risks in flood prone areas where population and urban settlements are rapidly increasing. Climate change, in interaction with other drivers (mainly demographic and socio-economic developments), has mainly negative consequences for the water cycle in the Mediterranean Basin, including reduced runoff and groundwater recharge, increased crop water requirements, increased conflicts among users, and increased risk of overexploitation and degradation. These impacts will be much more important for global warming higher than 2°C. Strategies and policies for water management and climate change adaptation are strongly interconnected with all other sectors (e.g., the Water-Energy and Food Nexus). Technical solutions are available for improving water use efficiency and increasing reuse. Seawater desalination is increasingly used as adaptation measure to reduce (potable) water scarcity in arid and semi-arid Mediterranean countries, despite known drawbacks in terms of environmental impacts and energy requirements. Promising solar technologies are under development, potentially reducing emissions and costs. Reuse of wastewater is a solution for agriculture and industrial activities but also recharge of aquifers. Inter-basin transfers may lead to controversies and conflicts. Construction of dams contributes to combat water and energy scarcities, but with trade-offs in terms of social and environmental impacts. Overall, water demand management, which increases water use efficiency and reduces water losses, particularly in urban environments, is crucial for a sustainable development. Maintaining Mediterranean diet or coming back to it on the basis of locally produced food and reducing food wastes may save water but also carbon emissions while having nutritional benefits

Decision making under uncertainty in environmental projects using mathematical simulation modeling

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-6135-yIn decision-making processes, reliability and risk aversion play a decisive role. The aim of this study is to perform an uncertainty assessment of the effects of future scenarios of sustainable groundwater pumping strategies on the quantitative and chemical status of an aquifer. The good status of the aquifer is defined according to the terms established by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). A decision support systems (DSS) is presented, which makes use of a stochastic inverse model (GC method) and geostatistical approaches to calibrate equally likely realizations of hydraulic conductivity (K) fields for a particular case study. These K fields are conditional to available field data, including hard and soft information. Then, different future scenarios of groundwater pumping strategies are generated, based on historical information and WFD standards, and simulated for each one of the equally likely K fields. The future scenarios lead to different environmental impacts and levels of socioeconomic development of the region and, hence, to a different degree of acceptance among stakeholders. We have identified the different stakeholders implied in the decision-making process, the objectives pursued and the alternative actions that should be considered by stakeholders in a public participation project (PPP). The MonteCarlo simulation provides a highly effective way for uncertainty assessment and allows presenting the results in a simple and understandable way even for non-experts stakeholders. The methodology has been successfully applied to a real case study and lays the foundations to performa PPP and stakeholders' involvement in a decisionmaking process as required by the WFD. The results of the methodology can help the decision-making process to come up with the best policies and regulations for a groundwater system under uncertainty in groundwater parameters and management strategies and involving stakeholders with conflicting interests.Llopis Albert, C.; Palacios Marqués, D.; Merigó -Lindahl, JM. (2016). Decision making under uncertainty in environmental projects using mathematical simulation modeling. Environmental Earth Sciences. 75(19):1-11. doi:10.1007/s12665-016-6135-yS1117519Arhonditsis GB, Perhar G, Zhang W, Massos E, Shi M, Das A (2008) Addressing equifinality and uncertainty in eutrophication models. Water Resour Res 44:W01420. doi: 10.1029/2007WR005862Capilla JE, Llopis-Albert C (2009) Gradual conditioning of non-gaussian transmissivity fields to flow and mass transport data. J Hydrol 371:66–74. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.03.015CHJ (Júcar Water Agency) (2016) Júcar river basin authority. http://www.chj.es/CHS (Segura Water Agency) (2016) Segura river basin authority. http://www.chsegura.es/Custodio E (2002) Aquifer overexploitation: what does it mean? Hydrogeol J 10:254–277EC (2000). Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 23 2000, establishing a framework for community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal of the European Communities L327/1eL327/72. 22.12.2000EC (2006) Directive 2006/118/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deteriorationGómez-Hernández JJ, Srivastava RM (1990) ISIM3D: an ANSI-C three dimensional multiple indicator conditional simulation program. 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Index-Based Cost-Effectiveness Analysis vs. Least-Cost River Basin Optimization Model: Comparison in the Selection of a Programme of Measures at the River Basin Scale

Increasing water scarcity challenges conventional approaches to managing water resources. More holistic tools and methods are required to support the integrated planning and management of fresh water resources at the river basin level. This paper compares an index-based cost-effectiveness analysis (IBCEA) with a least-cost river basin optimization model (LCRBOM). Both methods are applied to a real case study to design a cost-effective portfolio of water demand and supply management measures that ensures compliance with water supply and environmental targets. The IBCEA is a common approach to select programmes of measures in the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. We describe its limitations in finding a least-cost solution at the river basin level and highlight the benefits from implementing a LCRBOM. Both methods are compared in a real case study, the Orb river basin, in the south of France. The performances of the programmes of measures selected by the two methods are compared for the same annual equivalent cost. By ignoring the spatial and temporal variability of water availability and water demands in the river basin and the interconnection among its elements, the aggregated approach used in the standard IBCEA can miss more cost-effective solutions at the river basin scale.This paper is based on work conducted as part of several projects over more than 6 years. It benefited from the financial and technical support of the Agence de l'Eau Rhone Mediteranee et Corse; Conseil General de l'Herault; Conseil Regional du Languedoc Roussillon et ONEMA. Funding was partly provided by the IMPADAPT project /CGL2013-48424-C2-1-R) from the Spanish ministry MINECO (Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad) and European FEDER funds. Corentin Girard is supported by a grant from the University Lecturer Training Programme (FPU12/03803) of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain. We are very grateful to Y. Caballero (BRGM), S. Chazot (BRLi), E. Vier and F. Aigoui (GINGERGROUP) and L. Rippert and his team from the SMVOL for their help during the project and for the data provided. We thank as well the two anonymous reviewers, the Associated Editor and Editor-in-Chief of Water Resources Management, for their useful and encouraging comments during the review process.Girard-Martin, CDP.; Rinaudo, J.; Pulido-Velazquez, M. (2015). Index-Based Cost-Effectiveness Analysis vs. Least-Cost River Basin Optimization Model: Comparison in the Selection of a Programme of Measures at the River Basin Scale. 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Trading water to improve environmental flow outcomes

As consumptive extractions and water scarcity pressures brought about by climate change increase in many world river basins, so do the risks to water-dependent ecological assets. In response, public or not for profit environmental water holders (EWHs) have been established in many areas and bestowed with endowments of water and mandates to manage water for ecological outcomes. Water scarcity has also increasingly spawned water trade arrangements in many river basins, and in many instances, EWHs are now operating in water markets. A number of EWHs, especially in Australia, begin with an endowment of permanent water entitlements purchased from irrigators. Such water entitlements typically have relatively constant interannual supply profiles that often do not match ecological water demand involving flood pulses and periods of drying. This article develops a hydrologic-economic simulation model of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray-Darling Basin to assess the scope of possibilities to improve environmental outcomes through EWH trading on an annual water lease market. We find that there are some modest opportunities for EWHs to improve environmental outcomes through water trade. The best opportunities occur in periods of drought and for ecological outcomes that benefit from moderately large floods. We also assess the extent to which EWH trading in annual water leases may create pecuniary externalities via bidding up or down the water lease prices faced by irrigators. Environmental water trading is found to have relatively small impacts on water market price outcomes. Overall our results suggest that the benefits of developing EWH trading may well justify the costs. © 2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.Jeffery D. Connor, Brad Franklin, Adam Loch, Mac Kirby, Sarah Ann Wheele

Effect of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion on the total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of wild Mediterranean edible plant extracts

The recent interest in wild edible plants is associated with their health benefits, which are mainly due to their richness in antioxidant compounds, particularly phenolics. Nevertheless, some of these compounds are metabolized after ingestion, being transformed into metabolites frequently with lower antioxidant activity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of the digestive process on the total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of extracts from four wild edible plants used in the Mediterranean diet (Beta maritima L., Plantago major L., Oxalis pes-caprae L. and Scolymus hispanicus L.). HPLC-DAD analysis revealed that S. hispanicus is characterized by the presence of caffeoylquinic acids, dicaffeoylquinic acids and flavonol derivatives, P. major by high amounts of verbascoside, B. maritima possesses 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, quercetin derivatives and kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, and O. pes-caprae extract contains hydroxycinnamic acids and flavone derivatives. Total phenolic contents were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu assay, and antioxidant activity by the ABTS, DPPH, ORAC and FRAP assays. Phenolic contents of P. major and S. hispanicus extracts were not affected by digestion, but they significantly decreased in B. maritima after both phases of digestion process and in O. pes-caprae after the gastric phase. The antioxidant activity results varied with the extract and the method used to evaluate the activity. Results showed that P. major extract has the highest total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity, with considerable values even after digestion, reinforcing the health benefits of this species.European Union (FEDER funds through COMPETE)European Union (EU)European Union (FEDER)European Union (EU)Programa de Cooperacion Interreg V-A Espana - Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 [0377_IBERPHENOL_6_E]project INTERREG - MD. Net: When Brand Meets PeopleFCT Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technolog

Services météorologiques et climatiques pour la gestion hydroélectrique

Congrès SHF: "HydroES 2016", Grenoble, FRA, 16-/03/2016 - 17/03/2016International audiencePredictions in hydroelectricity systems aim to help managers and stakeholders to guarantee people safety and dam security (in the case of reservoir-based systems) against extreme events, as well as to optimize energy production and the economic value of water resources. In a society moving towards a low-carbon economy, hydropower has the advantage of being a renewable source of energy that can be stored and reallocated in space and time and thus better handle the natural variability of hydrometeorological hazards and the occurrence of extreme events and/or peak demands. Hydropower water reservoirs may also be storage facilities to be operated in a sharing environment: not only for energy production purposes, but also for domestic and agriculture water supply, environment protection, tourism, flood protection, etc. Improved predictability of hydrometeorological events (reservoir inflows and extremes), and improved risk assessment techniques are crucial to the operational decisions taken at different time and space scales in hydropower operational systems. Examples in France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden illustrate the broad spectrum of potential collaborations between weather and climate services providers, water resources researchers and European energy production companies. In this short communication, we also highlight the challenges and open opportunities that may further strengthen the usefulness of climate and weather inputs for the hydropower sector

Reducing the computational cost of unconfined groundwater flow in conjunctive-use models at basin scale assuming linear behaviour: The case of Adra-Campo de Dalias

The optimization of conjunctive-use management models (with different competing demands, several reservoirs and aquifers, and a high interconnection among elements) over long time horizons requires the use of computationally-efficient groundwater flow models. A review of conjunctive use models and some methods applied to reduce the computational cost of the groundwater flow model has been performed, with special attention to the assumption of linear behaviour. The effect of considering invariant transmissivity in a conjunctive-use management model at the basin scale has been analyzed using as case study the Adra-Campo de Dalías system (Southeast of Spain). The system includes an unconfined aquifer not hydraulically connected to the river in which significant drawdown, relative to the saturated thickness, can appear. The basin scale system also includes storage in a reservoir, flows in several river segments and canals, and a second simpler aquifer. The management formulation seeks the best conjunctive operation of reservoir and aquifer to meet urban and irrigation demands while satisfying minimum flow and aquifer head constraints over a time horizon of several years. The effect of the linear assumption has been studied by comparing and analyzing management model results obtained modeling the aquifer as confined and as unconfined. Groundwater flow is simulated in the optimization model using the response matrix method. The optimization problem is solved using sequential linear programming (SLP) in the unconfined case and using linear programming (LP) when confined behaviour is assumed. Although the drawdown are significant, the difference in results is minor, suggesting that the use of a linear assumption may be valid in many basin scale conjunctive management problems in which the aquifer is not hydraulically connected to the river system. Nevertheless, the assumption should be tested, if possible, in each management problem with unconfined aquifers in which significant drawdown appears