Growing energy demand and targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are driving a significant hydropower (HP) generation expansion in the Alpine area. However, despite its advantages, HP implementation causes several impacts on the ecological status of river systems and the preservation of characteristic landscapes. The use of decision-making tools, like multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, can provide helpful support to achieve more sustainable solutions for complex water management problems. In Aosta Valley (NW Italy), an MCDM experimental approach is being applied to define the optimal environmental flow scenario to be released by HP plants, in an attempt to balance energy production needs, economic profitability and environmental safeguard. Four criteria are considered (energy, environment and fishing, landscape, economy) and key stakeholders are involved in the entire decision-making process. However, there is a need to test also other MCDM methodologies in order to understand if an alternative approach could be more suitable for future, more complex, HP management decisions. Therefore, in this paper, seven different MCDM methods are applied to an existing small run-of-the-river HP plant for the selection of the optimal flow release scenario, i.e., SAW, WPM, AHP, TOPSIS, VIKOR, ELECTRE III, and the initially adopted method, SHARE MCA. The results obtained with the application of the different MCDM methods are investigated and statistically compared. The strengths and weaknesses of the different methodological approaches are also discussed. Based on the comparative results and the consequent evaluations, SHARE MCA, WPM, and VIKOR appear to have the most interesting characteristics in terms of overall feasibility.
The increasing number of water abstractions and water-use conflicts in alpine regions represents a significant threat for these fragile aquatic ecosystems. The use of tools, like multicriteria analysis (MCA), can support related decision-making processes towards sustainable solutions. In this paper, an innovative approach to assess water withdrawals sustainability by integrating the MesoHABSIM (Mesohabitat Simulation Model) into an MCA framework is presented and discussed. The methodology was implemented by replacing, within the MCA assessment, Water Framework Directive biological indicators with the MesoHABSIM based river Habitat Integrity Index, related to watercourse discharge and morphology, which allows quantifying the impacts of withdrawals on river ecosystems and fish communities. The resulting MCA procedure considers four criteria (energy, environment and fishing, landscape, economy) and requires only the use of measurable indicators based on watercourse discharge and its continuous monitoring. It was tested in Aosta Valley region (NW Italy) to both ex ante and ex post scenarios, for different types of water withdrawals and, currently, 20 experimentations, involving 58 hydropower plants and 12 farmer consortia, are ongoing. The proposed MCA process demonstrated its applicability with an increased decision-making quality and involved stakeholders’ satisfaction and is being officially endorsed in the regional River Strategic Plan.
<p align="justify">Mountain rivers are threatened by various natural and human-induced impacts, all of them potentially altering the availability of habitats for fish communities. These impacts include, among others, climate- change-associated reduction of discharge and water abstraction by humans, e.g., for hydropower production and irrigation. A quantitative assessment of future water, and subsequent fish habitat, availability is therefore pivotal to the effective and sustainable management of water resources in mountain basins.</p> <p align="justify">In this work, we investigated the effect of climate change on discharge and fish habitat availability in two alpine catchments in the Western Italian Alps.</p> <p align="justify">Historical discharge was modeled by means of a relatively simple rainfall-runoff model (TUWmodel), whereas discharge projections were computed under different state-of-the-art greenhouse gas scenarios both for the near future (2041-2060) and the far future (2080-2099). Discharge was then translated into habitat availability with the MesoHABSIM (Mesohabitat Simulation Model) methodology, an approach that allows to simulate the variations in habitat availability for the local fish population (brown and marble trout).</p> <p align="justify">We found significant changes in future runoff, in turn leading to marked changes in fish habitat availability, with contrasting response in glaciated vs non glaciated basins.</p> <p align="justify">We demonstrated that the combination of a hydrological model, climate scenarios and habitat modeling allows the depiction of future ecological scenarios for alpine rivers, thereby representing a potential support for water resources management and decision-making.</p> <p align="justify">&#160;</p>
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.