A GIS based spatial decision support system for modelling contaminant intrusion into water distribution systems

The paper presents a GIS based spatial decision support system for modelling contaminant intrusion into water distribution system. Three models have been developed to simulate the process and risk of contamination. A seepage model predicts the contaminant zone of pollution sources and the change of concentration during migration through soil. A pipe condition assessment model ranks the condition of water pipe in terms of the potential of contaminant ingress. An ingress model combines the geometry algorithm with contaminant zone to obtain the potential pollution areas of water distribution pipe. The three models were integrated with ArcView GIS for supporting decision making for risk mitigation. Zone VIII of water supply system in Guntur, India was selected for the case study. The contaminant ingress potential and potential pollution area of water pipes were displayed as thematic maps in GIS. The areas resulting in high risk were identified from the GIS maps. The availability of resources for maintenance activities are limited in developing countries. Thus GIS based spatial decision support system helps to achieve maximum risk reduction

Performance based optimization of land and water resources within irrigation schemes: 1. Method

This is a journal article. The published version is at ASCE Civil Engineering Database (http://oedb.asce.org)Optimum land and water allocation to different crops grown in different regions of an irrigation scheme is a complex process, especially when these irrigation schemes are characterized by different soils and environment and by a large network of canals. At the same time if the water supply in the irrigation schemes is limited, there is a need to allocate water both efficiently and equitably. This paper describes the approach to include both productivity (efficiency) and equity in the allocation process and to develop the allocation plans for optimum productivity and/or maximum equity for such irrigation schemes. The approach presented in this paper considers the different dimensions of equity such as water distribution over the season, water distribution during each irrigation, benefits generated. It also includes distribution and conveyance losses while allocating water equitably to different allocation units. This paper explains the approach with the help of Area and Water Allocation Model (AWAM) which uses the simulation-optimization technique for optimum allocation of land and water resources to different crops grown in different allocation units of the irrigation scheme

Performance based optimization of land and water resources within irrigation schemes: 2. Application

This is a journal article. The published version is at ASCE Civil Engineering Database (http://oedb.asce.org)The Area and Water Allocation Model (AWAM) which uses simulationoptimization technique for optimum allocation of land and water resources to different crops cultivated in different allocation units of the irrigation scheme was modified to include both productivity and equity in the process of developing the allocation plans for optimum productivity and/or maximum equity. This paper illustrates the potential of this approach with the help of a case study on Nazare medium irrigation scheme in India. The allocation plans were developed for optimization of different performance parameters (productivity and equity) for different management strategies based on irrigation amount and irrigation interval and cropping distribution strategies of free and fixed cropping. The results indicated that the two performance objectives productivity and equity conflict with each other and in this case, equitable water distribution may be preferred over free water distribution at the cost of a small loss in productivity. Though these results relate to one case study, they show the value of the approach of incorporating productivity and equity in the allocation process with the help of the simulation-optimization model described in the companion paper. 1 Director, (E-mail: [email protected]; Fax: +44 (0) 1509 211079. 2 Associate Professor, Mahatma Phule Agricultural University, Rahuri, India-413722 and Academic Visitor (E-mail: [email protected]/[email protected]) 3 Senior Lecturer (E-mail: [email protected]) Water Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC), Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3T

Quantification of morphometric characterization and prioritization for management planning in semi-arid tropics of India: A remote sensing and GIS approach

Planning of watershed at micro-level is indispensable for sustainable development, particularly in the fragile semi-arid tropics. Morphometric characterization is important to recognize hydrological behavior of the basin for carrying out management strategies. Previous prioritization methods suffer from cavities in which uncertainties were associated with morphometric variables of watershed ecosystem. Keeping this in view, geospatial-statistical techniques were used for identifying critical and priority sub-watersheds in water scarce region of India. A novel Weighted Sum Analysis (WSA) technique was developed for ranking of each hydrological unit concerning the weightages obtained from morphometric parameters. Considering WSA approach, sub-watersheds were alienated into very high, high, medium, low and poor priority zones. The results illustrate that 51.66% of sub-watersheds are in the moderately to highly susceptible zones, which shows potential areas for preferential conservation works planning. The WSA is viable approach and will be useful to different stakeholders such as agriculturists and natural resources managers for better decisions making. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V