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The governance of water supply and demand
Published in Liz Sharp, Reconnecting People and Water, 2017
Thames Water currently supplies about 2,500 million litres of clean water per day (Ml/d). Pressures on Thames Water’s water supply system result from a combination of what they see as ‘demand’ and ‘supply’ factors. Demand, incorporating household use, commercial use and leakage, is expected to increase by about 10 per cent, or 250Ml/d. This is largely the result of the growing population. Water supply is achieved largely from surface water abstraction supported by storage reservoirs and some groundwater abstraction. The implementation of the EU’s Water Framework and Habitats Directives means that the water company needs to reduce its surface and groundwater abstraction by about 21Ml/d by 2040. Meanwhile, predicted changes in climate mean that there will be less water available, further reducing the amount that can be abstracted by an estimated 90Ml/d (Thames Water, 2014b). The anticipated increase in demand, combined with the decrease in supply, will lead to a 360Ml/d difference between the water available and that needed in 2040. Thames Water’s Water Resource Management Plan describes how the company intends to address this, presenting what they view as the ‘combination of schemes that solve the supply–demand deficit at least long term cost’ (Thames Water, 2014b: 20).
The Science–Policy–Stakeholder Interface (SPSI) in Land- and Water-Use Interactions
Published in Geoffrey D. Gooch, Per Stålnacke, Science, Policy and Stakeholders in Water Management, 2010
S. Manasi, K. J. Joy, Suhas Paranjape, Udaya Sekhar Nagothu, Dale Campbell, N. Latha, Maria Manuela Portela, António Betamio de Almeida, Marta Machado, K. V. Raju, Santiago Beguería Portugues
As already mentioned, in the Tagus River Basin, water abstraction for irrigation and urban supply, as well as industrial pollution emissions affect water quantity and quality; this sometimes compromises the terrestrial aquatic ecosystems. In Spain and Portugal potential water stress is related to water availability for the different sectors, especially because of the contrasting interactions between agriculture and urban water supplies. To mitigate water scarcity for these types of demand and to produce hydroelectricity power, large dams were built in the Tagus Basin with the total reservoir capacity of 11,140hm3 (0.2hm3 per square kilometre), in Spain, and 2750hm3 (0.11hm3 per square kilometre), in Portugal. In Spain a water transfer system from the Tagus River Basin to another basin (the Segura River) was implemented in 1978 with a yearly volume of transferred water that has not exceed 600hm3 but that may increase to 1000hm3 in the future, diminishing the total water availability in the Tagus downstream basin.
Streamflow Quality in Low-Flow Conditions
Published in Saeid Eslamian, Faezeh Eslamian, Handbook of Drought and Water Scarcity, 2017
This chapter has provided the definition for the water quality criteria and the critical low-flow condition. The characteristics of the low stream flow and their effects on the stream’s water quality are very important for water resources planning, pollution control, conservation, and sustainable use. We have illustrated the effective factors on low flow, including natural and human impacts. The typical natural factors are the climate, physiographic characteristics, geology, land use, and storage characteristics. Water abstraction for industrial, agricultural, and domestic use; urbanization; land use change; and water control structures in the river are major human impacts which affect mainly the dry season and the frequency of this period on low flow.
Freshwater management in Aotearoa-New Zealand: is trading a viable option for water quantity allocation?
Published in Australasian Journal of Water Resources, 2022
Douglas Booker, Katherine Booker, Carla Muller, Channa Rajanayaka, Andre Konia
It is possible that trading mechanisms could also provide a dynamic water allocation framework (Table 1) within which environmental river flows can be monitored, evaluated and improved following adaptive management principles, with flexibility to re-allocate water for higher value uses. If the environment is recognised as a water user, trading allows transfer of water rights to the environment to support ecological, cultural, aesthetical and recreational values. However, practical experiences internationally show water trading is not an easy solution to over-allocation (Seidl, Wheeler, and Zuo 2020) and does not guarantee environmental protection. Water is not a ‘normal’ good because its value derives from its location, timing, reliability, use and quality as well as quantity (Wheeler et al. 2017). Water also exhibits many public externalities from private consumption e.g. water abstraction can cause environmental harm to river ecosystems. There are multiple requirements for, and barriers to, the successful application of water trading strategies (Grafton et al. 2011; OECD 2015; Marston and Cai 2016; Wheeler et al. 2017). Nevertheless, catchments within Australia, the United States, Chile and China are using market mechanisms to manage water scarcity (Wheeler and Garrick 2020; Wheeler 2021).
Groundwater irrigation and management in northern China: status, trends, and challenges
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2020
Jinxia Wang, Yuting Jiang, Huimin Wang, Qiuqiong Huang, Hongbo Deng
Kemper (2007) indicated that a water resources fee can provide incentives to use groundwater more efficiently. This is especially true if this fee is tied to the volume of groundwater used. Since the early 1980s, water resources fees have been introduced in certain provinces in northern China, e.g., Tianjin, Shanxi and Beijing (Shen, 2015); they are also included in the 2002 Water Law. In 2006, the central government issued the Regulations on the Management of Water Abstraction and Permit and Collection of Water Resources Fee. The fee is collected by the water administration departments at the county level based on approved water abstraction permits. Where an abstraction permit is approved by river basin management organizations, the fee is collected by the relevant provincial department for the location of the water intake, based on the actual water abstraction volume and fee standards (Shen, 2015).
Status, trends, and future dynamics of freshwater ecosystems in Europe and Central Asia
Published in Inland Waters, 2019
R. E. Gozlan, B. K. Karimov, E. Zadereev, D. Kuznetsova, S. Brucet
Increased salinity due to global warming, water abstraction, and pollution may also have negative consequences for the ecosystem structure, function, biodiversity, and ecological state of lakes, temporary and permanent ponds, wetlands, and reservoirs (Brucet et al. 2009, Jeppesen et al. 2015, Cañedo-Argüelles et al. 2016). Enhanced salinisation may also promote changes in fish assemblages, leading to a greater importance of small-bodied and/or planktivorous species, and therefore, a strengthening of eutrophication effects (Brucet et al. 2010, Jeppesen et al. 2010).