GIS-based flash flooding susceptibility analysis and water management in arid mountain ranges:Safaga Region,Red Sea Mountains,Egypt

The Safaga Region(SR)is part of the Red Sea mountain range in Egypt.Catastrophic flash flooding is now an inescapable event,wreaking havoc and causing massive loss of life and property.The majority of the floodwater,however,has been wasted as runoff to the Red Sea,which,if used wisely,could meet a fraction of the water demands for a variety of applications in this area.The current work aims to use GIS techniques to integrate remote sensing data for evaluating,mitigating,and managing flash floods in SR.The data set comprised Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission(TRMM)thematic rainfall data,1:50,000 scale topographical map sheets,geological maps,the ASTER Digital Elevation Model(ASTER GDEM),Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper"(ETM7+),and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager.The flash flood risk model of SR is developed using ArcGIS-10.3 geoprocessing tools integrating all the causal factors thematic maps.The final flood risk model for the SR suggests that 57%of the total basins in the SR are at high risk of flooding.Almost 38%of all basins are at moderate flood risk.The remaining 5%of basins are less prone to flooding.Flood-prone zones were identified,suitable dam-building sites were located,and extremely probable areas for water recharge were recognized.On the basis of reliable scientific data,structural and non-structural mitigation strategies that might reduce the damage susceptibility,alleviate the sensitivity of the flash flood,and best utilize its water supply were recommended.

A Hydrogen Iron Flow Battery with High Current Density and Long Cyclability Enabled Through Circular Water Management

The hydrogen-iron(HyFe)flow cell has great potential for long-duration energy storage by capitalizing on the advantages of both electrolyzers and flow batteries.However,its operation at high current density(high power)and over continuous cycling testing has yet to be demonstrated.In this article,we discuss our design and demonstration of a water-management strategy that supports high current and long-cycling performance of a HyFe flow cell.Water molecules associated with the movement of protons from the iron electrode to the hydrogen electrode are sufficient to hydrate the membrane and electrode at a low current density of 100 mA cm^(-2)during the charge process.At higher charge current density,more aggressive measures must be taken to counter back-diffusion driven by the acid concentration gradient between the iron and hydrogen electrodes.Our water-management approach is based on water vapor feeding in the hydrogen electrode and water evaporation in the iron electrode,thus enabling high current density operation of 300 mA cm^(-2).

Green Roof Performance for Stormwater Management in Equatorial Urban Areas Using Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)

Many Low Impact Developments (LIDs) have recently been developed as a sustainable integrated strategy for managing the quantity and quality of stormwater and surrounding amenities. Previous research showed that green roof is one of the most promising LIDs for slowing down rainwater, controlling rainwater volume, and enhancing rainwater quality by filtering and leaching contaminants from the substrate. However, there is no guideline for green roof design in Malaysia. Hence, Investigating the viability of using green roofs to manage stormwater and address flash flood hazards is urgently necessary. This study used the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) to evaluate the effectiveness of green roof in managing stormwater and improving rainwater quality. The selected study area is the multistory car park (MSCP) rooftop at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus. Nine green roof models with different configurations were created. Results revealed that the optimum design of a green roof is 100 mm of berm height, 150 mm of soil thickness, and 50 mm of drainage mat thickness. With the ability to reduce runoff generation by 26.73%, reduce TSS by 89.75%, TP by 93.07%, TN by 93.16%, and improved BOD by 81.33%. However, pH values dropped as low as 5.933 and became more acidic due to the substrates in green roof. These findings demonstrated that green roofs improve water quality, able to temporarily store excess rainfall and it is very promising and sustainable tool in managing stormwater.

Interactions of Water Management and Nitrogen Fertilizer on Nitrogen Absorption and Utilization in Rice

The interactions of water management and nitrogen fertilizer on nitrogen absorption and utilization were studied in rice with Wuxiangjing9 (japonica). The results showed that the nitrogen uptake and remaining in straw increased and the percentage of nitrogen translocation (PNT) from vegetative organs, nitrogen dry matter production efficiency (NDMPE) and nitrogen grain production efficiency (NGPE) decreased with nitrogen increasing. The nitrogen uptake and NGPE decreased when severe water stressed. However, rice not only decreased the nitrogen uptake but also increased the PNT from vegetative organs, NDMPE and NGPE when mild water stressed. There were obvious interactions between nitrogen fertilizer and water management, such as with water stress increasing the effect of nitrogen on increasing nitrogen uptake was reduced and that on decreasing NDMPE was intensified.

Exploring effective policies for underground water management in artificial oasis: a system dynamics analysis of a case study of Yaoba Oasis

The development of oasis along the edge of the Tengerli Desert, where underground water is available, is one of the major strategies to reallocate 'ecological refuges' from their seriously degraded grasslands to agriculturally cultivable land. Yet, underground water resources, the major constraint, hate not been fully integrated in the development process. Therefore, the decline of water resources and deterioration of water quality caused by over-consumption of water resources has begun to hinder further development and has even fed to the abandonment of some oasis. A system dynamics modeling approach is applied to analyze the water use and water management structures in Yaoba Oasis as a case study. The study attempts to identify the characteristics of major feedback loops, which dominate the over-use of underground water resources leading to the deterioration of water resources in quantity and quality.

Modelling of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for Urban Water Management—Investment and Outscaling Implications at Basin and Regional Levels

This manuscript is an attempt to demonstrate effectiveness of nature-based solutions (NBS) and measures to reduce risk of flooding and environmental impact in urban settings. The nature-based solutions (NBS) were assessed as scenarios from experience of urban storm drainage and sewerage systems based on practices that improve urban water management through modelling using urban stormwater management model (SWMM). The model has been applied in a typical urban environment in the second city in Botswana, the City of Francistown, which has a population of more than one hundred thousand. By considering the 2-yr and 10-year storm events in a calibrated SWMM, NBS scenarios from a mix of low impact and drainage measures were considered. The considered NBS scenarios were used to determine their effectiveness in terms of reducing and controlling peak runoff, flood volumes, infiltration and evapotranspiration in the study area, which are vital in assessing the opportunity and challenge for sustainable management of water resources and associated tradeoff of investments in the urban contexts. The study demonstrates the usefulness of implementing effective measures for achieving NBS in urban context and possibility of outscaling at basin and regional levels.

Water Management for Improvement of Rice Yield,Appearance Quality and Palatability with High Temperature During Ripening Period

To clarify the optimal water management in large-scale fields under high temperatures at the ripening period,effective water managements during this period for improvement of yield,appearance quality and palatability were investigated.Compared with intermittent irrigation and flooded irrigation,the soil temperature with saturated irrigation remained low throughout the day,and the decrease rate of the bleeding rate of hills was the lowest.These results suggested that the saturated irrigation maintained root activity.For the three irrigation types,the number of spikelets per m2 and 1000-grain weight were similar,however,saturated irrigation resulted in significantly higher rice yield due to improvement in the percentage of ripened grains.The saturated irrigation produced a high percentage of perfect rice grains and thicker brown rice grain,furthermore,the palatability of cooked rice was excellent because protein content and hardness/adhesion ratio were both low.Thus,under high-temperature ripening conditions,soil temperature was lowered and root activity was maintained when applying saturated irrigation after heading time.The results indicated that saturated irrigation is an effective countermeasure against high-temperature ripening damage.

Transdisciplinary research for supporting the integration of ecosystem services into land and water management in the Tarim River Basin,Xinjiang,China

There is a growing need for both science and practice domains to collaboratively and systematically seek knowledge-based strategies for sustainable development. In recent years, transdisciplinary research has emerged as a new approach that enables joint problem solving among scientists and stakeholders in various fields. In this paper, we aim to introduce transdisciplinary research for supporting the integration of the concept of eco- system services into land and water management in the Tarim River Basin, Xinjiang, Northwest China. While a large number of ecosystem service studies have helped to raise the awareness for the value of nature in China, a number of challenges remain, including an improved understanding of the relationships between ecosystem structure, functions and services, and the interaction of the various ecosystem services. A meaningful valuation of ecosystem services also requires the consideration of their strong spatial heterogeneity. In addition, ways to introduce the con- cept of ecosystem services into decision-making in China need to be explored. Thus, successful integration of the concept of ecosystem services into actual land and water management requires a broad knowledge base that only a number of scientific disciplines and stakeholders can provide jointly, via a transdisciplinary research process. We regard transdisciplinary research as a recursive process to support adaptive management that includes joint knowledge generation and integration among scientists and stakeholders. System, target, and transformation knowledge are generated and integrated during the process of （1） problem （re）definition, （2） problem analysis and strategy development, and （3） evaluation of the impact of the derived strategy. Methods to support transdisciplinary research comprise participatory modelling （actor-based modelling and Bayesian Networks modelling） and partici- patory scenario development. Actor-based modelling is a semi-quantitative method that is based on the analysis of problem perspectives of individual stakeholders as depicted in perception graphs. With Bayesian Networks, com- plex problem fields are modelled probabilistically in a simplified manner, using both quantitative data and qualitative expert judgments. These participatory methods serve to integrate diverse scientific and stakeholder knowledge and to support the generation of actually implementable management strategies for sustainable development. For the purpose of integrating ecosystem services in land and water management in the Tarim River Basin through trans- disciplinary research, collaboration among scientists and institutional stakeholders from different sectors including water, agriculture, forestry, and nature conservation is required. The challenge is to adapt methods of transdisci- plinary research to socio-cultural conditions in China, particularly regarding ways of communication and deci- sion-making.

Effects of Water Management,Arsenic and Phosphorus Levels on Rice Yield in High-Arsenic Soil-Water System

Aerobic rice （Oryza sativa L.） cultivation is considered an alternative production system to combat increased water scarcity and arsenic （As） contamination in the food chain. Pot experiments were conducted at the Wheat Research Centre, Dinajpur, Bangladesh to examine the role of water management （WM）, As and phosphorus （P） on yield and yield attributes of boro （variety BRRI dhan 29） and aman （variety BRRI dhan 32） rice. A total of 18 treatment combinations of the three levels of As （0, 20 and 40 mg/kg） and P （0, 12.5 and 25.0 mg/kg） and two WM strategies （aerobic and anaerobic） were investigated. Yield attributes were significantly affected by increasing As levels. Grain yields of BRRI dhan 29 and BRRI dhan 32 were reduced from 63.0 to 7.7 and 35.0 to 16.5 g/pot with increasing As application, respectively, indicating a greater sensitivity of BRRI dhan 29 than BRRI dhan 32. Moreover, As toxicity was reduced with aerobic compared to anaerobic WM for all P levels. During early growth stages, phytotoxic symptoms appeared on BRRI dhan 29 and BRRI dhan 32 rice stems with increasing As levels without applying P under anaerobic WM. Under anaerobic and As-contaminated conditions, BRRI dhan 29 was highly susceptible to straighthead, which dramatically reduced grain yields. There were significant relationships between the number of effective tillers per pot and root dry weight, grain yield, and number of fertile and unfertile grains per pot for both BRRI dhan 29 and BRRI dhan 32 （P＆lt;0.001）. Our findings indicate that rice could be grown aerobically in As-contaminated areas with a reduced risk of As toxicity and yield loss.

Patterned catalyst layer boosts the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells by optimizing water management

Mass transport is crucial to the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells,especially at high current densities.Generally,the oxygen and the generated water share same transmission medium but move towards opposite direction,which leads to serious mass transfer problems.Herein,a series of patterned catalyst layer were prepared with a simple one-step impressing method using nylon sieves as templates.With grooves 100μm in width and 8μm in depth on the surface of cathode catalyst layer,the maximum power density of fuel cell increases by 10%without any additional durability loss while maintaining a similar electrochemical surface area.The concentration contours calculated by finite element analysis reveal that the grooves built on the surface of catalyst layer serve to accumulate the water nearby while oxygen tends to transfer through relatively convex region,which results from capillary pressure difference caused by the pore structure difference between the two regions.The separation of oxidant gas and generated water avoids mass confliction thus boosts mass transport efficiency.

Analysis of Economic and Socio-Environmental Indicators for Energy, Materials and Water Management and Proposal of Technologies and Alternatives for Sustainable Construction in Housing

The work presents technologies of materials,energy and water management that can be used for sustainable buildings,reducing costs and environmental impacts.The aim was to encourage the reduction of energy consumption,adequate water management and more sustainable material choices in new or existing buildings.For this,a diagnosis of existing technologies and alternatives was carried out in the first stage of the work.The second stage consisted of analyzing among the technologies and alternatives diagnosed from the methodology which can be applied in a fictitious case study of housing,its implementation and maintenance and viability analyzing,finally,environmental indicators,social and economic.The results showed that the best evaluated technologies/alternatives were in Energy:ventilation and natural light;in Water Management:double-action sanitary basin,flow restrictors,aerators with constant flow,and minicistern systems;and in Materials:bamboo,wood,soil-cement brick,earth,steel frame and wood frame,aggregate with ash from rice husks,aggregate with ash from sugarcane bagasse,glass,phase change materials,aggregate with residues of construction and demolition,Portland cement and cement with blast furnace slag;which can be used in the civil construction sector,and provide socio-environmental and economic benefits,encouraging new studies and its use for public/private buildings,aid in the elaboration of public policies to reduce costs and improve the quality of buildings.

The Need for Agricultural Water Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper discusses the current and future conditions that affect water resources and the constraints of water (agricultural) management in sub-Saharan Africa and suggests remedial measures to be considered by policy makers. The pressure on the quantity and quality of water resources is rising in sub-Saharan Africa due to the increased demand of water for agriculture and other purposes as a result of increase in population and food demand. The availability of water is also under threat from changing climate and as a result, water scarcity is expected in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. On the other hand, the availability of water for agriculture is expected to further shrink due to the increasing demand of water for other purposes like industry, manufacturing and environmental requirement. The current poor efficiency rate of irrigation systems and massive expansion of irrigated area is expected to further exacerbate the water scarcity. Hence, a water management policy focused on maximization of water use efficiency and water productivity should be prioritized in order to meet the food demand of the growing population and cope with water scarcity problems. Engineering and management intervention integrated with strong society awareness and participation is considered very crucial in enhancing water use efficiency and crop water productivity.

Development and Forecasting Drought Indices Using SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index) for Local Level Agricultural Water Management

Drought is primarily an agricultural phenomenon that refers to conditions where plants are responsive to certain levels of moisture stress that affect both the vegetative growth and yield of crops. It occurs when supply of moisture stored in the soil is insufficient to meet the optimum need of a particular type of crop. Causes of drought in Bangladesh are related to climate variability and non-availability of surface water resources. While it may be possible to indicate the immediate cause of a drought in a particular location, it often is not possible to identify an underlying cause. Therefore, to improve all these services in favour of enhancing agricultural production and reducing food insecurity in Bangladesh, it is mandatory to develop an effective way for disseminating the SPI data indicating drought indices to farmers, and enhance drought and climate resilience. To develop future plan and policy in agricultural sector of Bangladesh, it is vital to understand the previous droughts events with accurate indicators. Since this study will contribute to the agricultural development of Bangladesh therefore there is an obvious need to understand the change of drought frequency all over Bangladesh using a standardized drought index. The main intention of this project is to prepare a proper baseline for forecasting drought indices using SPI data. So, the final outcome of this project would be a knowledge base where a proper forecasting tools and dissemination networks can be updated/developed for farmers.

On the Use of Agent Based Modelling for Addressing the Social Component of Urban Water Management in Europe

The paper aimed to provide a review of different tools that estimate how human behavior changes by water management strategies and quantify this change to support the decisions of urban water managers. To support decision makers, it is essential to be able to model the urban water system’s human part explicitly and link it to the hydro system’s response, rather than only explore the reaction of the system based on scenarios. To do so, tools are needed that can model the human part of the system, explore its reaction to potential changes and dynamically link back this to the techno-environmental model of the water system. This work reviews state-of-the-art ABMs that are publicly available focusing on the human part of the urban water system in Europe. The review leads to the proposals of three pillars for future development of ABMs for urban water management in Europe: end-user enablement;Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence integration and adversaries modelling.

Improving Water Quantity and Quality Supply Security by Managed Artificial Recharge Technologies in the Lower Llobregat Aquifers Integrated into a Conjunctive Surface and Groundwater Management Scheme for Barcelona,Spain

The large concentration of human population,industry and services in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona has to confront scarce water resources,serious seasonal and inter-annual variations and quality deficiencies in the sources.A large fraction of these water resources are in the medium-size Llobregat River basin and the remaining ones correspond to a surface water transfer,seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation.Groundwater dominated water resources availability before 1950.Afterwards,water supply has evolved progressively to integrated water resources management,which includes serious water quality concerns to deal with population density,river pollution,seawater intrusion in the main aquifer,and brine generation in the mid Llobregat basin due to old mining of saline minerals.The role of the alluvial aquifers has progressively evolved from being the main water source to reserve storage to cope with seasonal and drought water resources availability.River-enhanced recharge and artificial recharge are needed to assure enough groundwater storage before surface water becomes scarce and/or suffers a serious temporal loss of quality.Enhanced river recharge started in 1950.Treated river water injection in dual-purpose wells was put into operation in the early 1970s.Basin and pond recharge was added later,as well as a deep well injection barrier along the coast to reduce seawater intrusion and to allow increased groundwater abstraction in moments of water scarcity.There is a progressive evolution from solving water quantity problems to consideration of water quality improvement during recharge,with attention to emergent concern pollutants in river water and in reclaimed water to be considered for artificial recharge.Improvement of artificial recharge operation activities has been introduced and research is being carried out on the difficult behavior to degrade organic pollutants during infiltration and in the terrain.This paper presents the different activities carried out and presents the research activities,and comments on the economic,social and administrative issues involved as well.

Model predictive control for water management and energy security in arid/semiarid regions

This paper aims to develop a realistic operational optimal management of a water supply system in an arid/semiarid region under climate change conditions.The developed model considers the dynamic variation of water demand,rainfall,weather,and seasonal change in electricity price.It is mathematically developed as a multi-constraint non-linear programming model based on model predictive control principles.The model optimises the quantities of water supplied by each source every month and improves the energy efficiency in a water supply system with multiple types of sources.The effectiveness of the developed MPC model is verified by applying it to a case study and comparing the results with those obtained with an open loop model.Results showed that using the MPC model leads to a 4.16%increase in the water supply cost compared to the open loop model.However,when considering uncertainties in predicting water demands,aquifer recharges,rainfall,and evaporation rate,the MPC model was better than the open loop model.Indeed,the MPC model could meet the water demand at any period due to its predictability of variations,which was not the case with the open loop model.Moreover,a sensitivity analysis is conducted to verify the capacity of the developed model to deal with some phenomena due to climatic changes,such as in rainfall.

Evaluation of water management on arsenic methylation and volatilization in arsenic-contaminated soils strengthened by bioaugmentation and biostimulation

Arsenic(As) fate in paddy fields has been one of the most significant current issues due to the strong As accumulation potential of rice plants under fooded conditions. However,no attempt was done to explore As methylation and volatilization under non-fooded conditions. Herein, we investigated the effects of water management on As methylation and volatilization in three arsenic-contaminated soils enhanced by biostimulation with strawderived organic matter and bioaugmentation with genetic engineered Pseudomonas putida KT2440(GE P. putida). Under fooded conditions, the application of biochar(BC), rice straw(RS)and their combination(BC+RS) increased total As in porewater. However, these effects were greatly attenuated under non-fooded conditions. Compared with RS amendment alone, the combination of GE P. putida and RS further promoted the As methylation and volatilization,and the promotion percentage under non-fooded conditions were significantly higher than that under fooded conditions. The combined GE P. putida and RS showed the highest efficiency in As methylation(88 μg/L) and volatilization(415.4 μg/(kg·year)) in the non-fooded soil with moderate As contamination. Finally, stepwise multiple linear regression analysis presented that methylated As, DOC and p H in porewater were the most important factors contributing to As volatilization. Overall, our findings suggest that combination of bioaugmentation with GE P. putida and biostimulation with RS/BC+RS is a potential strategy for bioremediation of arsenic-contaminated soils by enhancing As methylation and volatilization under non-fooded conditions.

Sequential reactant water management by complementary multisite catalysts for surpassing platinum hydrogen evolution activity

Alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)offers a near-zero-emission approach to advance hydrogen energy.However,the activity limited by the multiple reaction steps involving H_(2)O molecules transfer,absorption,and activation still unqualified the thresholds of economic viability.Herein,we proposed a multisite complementary strategy that incorporates hydrophilic Mo and electrophilic V into Ni-based catalysts to divide the distinct steps on atomically dispersive sites and thus realize sequential regulation of the HER process.The Isotopic labeled in situ Raman spectroscopy describes 4-coordinated hydrogen bonded H_(2)O to be free H_(2)O passing the inner Helmholtz plane in the vicinity of the catalysts under the action of hydrophilic Mo sites.Furthermore,potential-dependent electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)reveals that electrophilic V sites with abundant 3d empty orbitals could activate the lone-pair electrons in the free H_(2)O molecules to produce more protic hydrogen,and dimerize into H_(2) at the Ni sites.By the sequential management of reactive H_(2)O molecules,NiMoV oxides multisite catalysts surpass Pt/C hydrogen evolution activity(49 mV@10 mA∙cm^(-2) over 140 h).Profoundly,this study provides a tangible model to deepen the comprehension of the catalyst–electrolyte interface and create efficient catalysts for diverse reactions.

Effects of the fertilizer and water management on amino acids and volatile components in Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and wines

The amino acids and the volatile substances in grapes and wines play important roles in their quality,and the concentrations of these substances can be changed by how a vineyard is managed,e.g.,irrigation and fertigation regimes.This study aimed to evaluate the effect of fertilizer and water management on the distribution of amino acids,the volatile component profiles,and the sensory characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and wines.The results showed that the amino acid concentration in grape berries was the highest under the 100%local fertilizer rate(HF)and 100%water irrigation quota(HW)treatment,and the volatile component concentration in wine was the highest under HF and 80%water irrigation quota(MW)treatment.The effect of irrigation on the amino acid content in grapes was greater than that of fertigation.The synergistic effect of fertilizer and water on arginine,serine,and glutamine in grape berries was significant.The interactive effect of fertigation and irrigation on the volatile substance in grapes was greater than that of fertigation and irrigation alone.The influence of irrigation on volatile substances in wines was greater than that of fertigation.In addition,there was also a correlation between the concentrations of multiple amino acids in grapes and volatile components in wines.Principal component analysis showed that the wine from the HFMW treatment had the best quality among all treatments.