Assessment and Management of Water Resources in Developing, Semi-arid and Arid Regions

Abstract

Assessing and managing water resources in developing and dryland regions is still fraught with difficulties. The typical tool chain of water resources management starts with the collection of data, subsequently processes and analyses the collected information within the natural and socio-economic setting, and finally generates end products that inform decision-making. However, several of these steps often turn out to be problematic when faced with development issues and severe strains on water resources.Many of these regions are characterised by very complex hydrological systems that often exhibit extreme behaviour, such as strong monsoon seasons or extended drought. Commonly used models and analysis techniques may not represent these processes, or at best they are seldom tested for adequacy and robustness. The complexity of the water cycle contrasts strongly with the poor data availability, which limits the number of analysis techniques and methods available to researchers. Finally, technical solutions should take into account the socio-economic setting in which they will be embedded, and address the need for capacity development to ensure that newly introduced technologies and solutions improve the regional skills in water resources management.This special issue aims to highlight the diversity and complexity of the issues faced in a context of development and resources scarcity. It brings together a collection of papers that Water Resour Manage (2012) 26:841-844

A Multi-Objective Input–Output Linear Model for Water Supply, Economic Growth and Environmental Planning in Resource-Based Cities

“…According to the characteristics of industrial emission in Ordos, we found that the emission of Sulfur-dioxide (SO 2 ) and Oxynitride (NO x ) account for 36.6% and 35.2%, respectively, of the total output of industrial waste gas, while 80.2% of SO 2 emission and 86.9% of NO x emission were discharged from the electricity and water production industry and the downstream of coal mining industry, which illustrates that SO 2 and NO x are typical air pollutants in Ordos. Therefore, we choose SO 2 and NO x as the indicators for measuring air quality. SO 2 and NO x are mainly emitted from industrial manufacturing and households:…”

“…As shown in Figure 3, the intensity of energy consumption declines from 135.1 thousand ton per billion RMB in 2012 to 94.5 thousand ton per billion RMB in 2025; the emission of water pollutant COD falls from 103,400 ton to 66,845 ton with a reduce rate of 3.3% annually; the emission of air pollutant SO 2 and NO x decrease from 224,424 ton and 205,440 ton to 142,583 ton and 103,697 ton with annual reduce rates of 3.3% and 4.9%, respectively, which are all in line with the planning. …”

“…With the continuous development of socioeconomics, water resource and environment capacity [1] have become the most important constraints for sustainable development in many regions [2], especially in Chinese resource-based cities whose leading industries are the exploitation and processing of local natural resources [3]. In China, most of the resource-based cities are located in semi-arid or arid regions [4] that suffer from water scarcity.…”

Integrated Water Resource Management and Energy Requirements for Water Supply in the Copiapó River Basin, Chile

“…Moreover, such studies are of particular interest in arid regions where multiple stakeholders and water users face extremely intense competition for limited freshwater resources for municipal, industrial/mining, irrigation and environmental/ecological uses. Many of these regions also have complex hydrological systems and poor data availability [22], posing a challenge for IWRM.…”

Benefits of Riverine Water Discharge into the Lorian Swamp, Kenya

“…In the developing world, a common feature in small and medium-sized river basins that drain into arid lands is the lack of meteorological and hydrological records [6]. In such cases, remote sensing has potential to offer information to complement the poor hydrological record.…”