Web Based Meta-database and its Role in Improving Water Resources Management in the Mediterranean Basin

Abstract

Water is a very crucial natural resource in the world and because of its selective availability among different countries; it will be the most precious commodity in the future. In the Mediterranean basin one can find a mosaic of countries rich in water and others poor. However, the common issue for all these countries is how to improve water resources management. ], which is a co-ordination action funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Program, aims to contribute to the achievement of improved governance and planning in the field of sustainable water management. In order to achieve this goal, DSS tools which can ease the problem of accessing information about an Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) for decision makers, scientific community, and other organizations must be created. An online database is one of these tools which can help in creating an IWRM. This tool can reduce information redundancy, eliminate unneeded expenses, and create regional cooperation in the area of water resources management. In this paper a new Web based meta-database about climate, remote sensing, and Geographic Information System (GIS) related to water resources management is introduced, and its role in improving water resources management is discussed.

Development of a Decision Support System for Sustainable Environmental Management and Stakeholder Engagement

“…Droubi et al [67] coupled WEAP with MODFLOW and Weng et al [68] developed a scenario-based DSS combining MCA and multi-objective optimisation. The idea of comparing problems with known, documented cases from an ad-hoc database [69] was implemented by Awad et al [70] with an online database for the Mediterranean Basin. Panagopoulos et al [71] developed a new DSS methodology for the optimal BMP placing to minimise diffuse surface water pollution using SWAT and genetic algorithms for economic and multiple environmental objectives.…”

The Integrated Management of Water Resources in Marina Baja (Alicante, Spain). A Simultaneous Equation Model

“…Chowdary et al 2009;De Lange et al 2010) and even in the same study area Peña et al 2005), or a combination of different techniques e.g. DSS and GIS (Awad et al 2009). Nevertheless, the literature reviewed did not offer a methodology that directly links urban and irrigation demands and makes them relevant to one another from a socioeconomic point of view.…”

Integrating water resources modelling and remote sensing in Karkheh river basin, Iran

“…Good policy design, research, monitoring and decision making always require that sufficient and reliable data is available (Oyebande, 2001;Awad et al, 2009). Lack of such data compromises the validity of information used for assessments and subsequent decision making (UNESCO, 2009).…”

“…Some of this essential information are streamflow and water availability, water consumption patterns by crops and other vegetation, and related crop productions (Albek, et al, 2004;Young, 2006;Awad et al, 2009 (Masih, 2011).…”