A furrow runs through it: An example of sustainable traditional irrigation in Western Cape Province,South Africa

Water and water related matters are important issues in water scarce countries like the Republic of South Africa. This is especially true for the agricultural sector that relies heavily on the availability of water for irrigation to ensure a secure food supply. In South Africa, present day irrigation projects rely on government subsidies and are usually large undertakings beyond the reach of individuals or small communities. The sustainability of such large irrigation projects is still a matter of debate. A 100 years ago a different set of rules applied. Irrigation could only be achieved by hand-dug furrows that supplied water in relatively small quantities to small farming communities. This paper investigated such a small community, the Leeukloof farming community in the Western Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa. For the past 93 years this community has maintained a furrow that supplies water not only to farms bordering the Perdeberg River, which supplies the furrow with water, but also to farms not bordering the river. The authors try to reconstruct the changes in agricultural practices brought about by the furrow, methods of water extraction during each phase, as well as the development and role of the furrow system. The perception by the community of the necessity of this method of water extraction from the river system is also investigated. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Long distance water transfer: the Chinese plans

The demand for water has been increasing steadily with increases in population and standard of living. The food and energy crises of the Seventies have made water resources development a priority issue in many countries. Agriculture currently accounts for 80 % of all global water consumption but hydroelectric generation does not consume any water. Since irrigation and hydropower generation are compatible uses of water, most recent water developments include both these uses.Quantity of water available to any country is limited, but demands are continually rising. Accordingly, water use has to be made more efficient and options like interregional water transfers have to be explored. The paper outlines the problems and prospects associated with long distance water transfer projects and discusses the latest plans for this type of development in the People's Republic of China.     

The impact of the development of water resources on environment in arid inland river basins of Hexi region, Northwestern China

Water resources use is a key parameter in the hydrological cycle, especially in arid inland of Northwest China, groundwater movement and circulation processes are closely related to the surface water, while recoverable and renewable groundwater mainly comes from the conversion of surface river water, and there is extensive transfer among rainfall, surface water and groundwater. Human activity, in particular, large-scale water resources exploitation and development associated with dramatic population growth in the last decades, has led to tremendous changes in the water regime. There are misuse and wastage of surface water with traditional multi-channel irrigation for most rivers, which in turn leads to over-exploitation of groundwater to augment supplies. This situation has been exacerbated by rapid population growth and socio-economic development, with decreased irrigational systems return to groundwater due to the irrigation system in the middle reaches of rivers in the Hexi region becoming better. The investigations of this study revealed that over the last decades, man-made oases have developed rapidly in various inland river basins. With the increasing human demand for water, the contradiction between water demand and water supply is becoming increasingly acute and the amount of groundwater usage significantly increased. Notwithstanding the annual surface water from mountains is relatively stable in the Hexi region, the recharges of groundwater have been reduced by 11.1%, with a maximum reduction of 50% in the Shiyang River basin. Groundwater abstraction increased by approximately six times, particularly in the Shiyang River basin, groundwater abstraction exceeds recharge by 4.1×10⁸ m³ year⁻¹ in recent decades. Consequently, the groundwater level has declined widely by 3–16 m, with a maximum decline of 45 m in several groundwater observation wells in the Minqin basin on the lower reaches of the Shiyang River basin. These cause serious human activity-induced environmental problems, such as water-quality deterioration, vegetation degradation, soil salinization and land desert desertification, etc. It is suggested that modernized irrigation technology and new regulation to cover water resources management and allocation with the river basins are urgently needed to achieve a sustainable development. The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of the development of water resources on the environment in arid inland river basins in Northwestern China, which were analyzed by comparing the three main river basins (i.e., the Shuilei, the Heihe and the Shiyang River basins) with different water resources development cases.     

Water for food production in Sub-Saharan Africa

Water control is an essential requirement if food and energy crises in Africa are to be resolved on a sustainable basis. The paper reviews the problems and prospects associated with the expansion of irrigation in Africa, where experiences with large and medium scale water management have been of comparatively recent origin. The present status of water development and management issues are approached carefully and cautiously, they can make an important and lasting contribution to the resolution of Africa's food crisis.     

Irrigation with saline water

The potential of the saline water for irrigation against the background of the world's food shortage is reviewed. It is shown that irrigation has improved food situation wherever it has been used. However, irrigation is always associated with salinity problems. Leaching techniques and drip irrigation suggest a partial solution for the problem. The objective of this paper is to review and examine additional solutions in order to increase the use of saline water for irrigation. A quantitative approach to further research on the use of saline water for irrigation is suggested. An analytical solution to the mass-balance equation of nutrients and salt in the soil, which includes a sink term for absorption by a plant, revealed some valuable derivatives, both for planning further research in irrigation with saline water and making decisions about fertilization and soil leaching throughout the growth period of a crop. Preliminary attempts to meaningfully increase the fertilization level of crops irrigated with saline water support the approach that was developed from one of the model's derivatives.     

Irrigation in sub-humid environments: a comparison of three cultures

The use of irrigation to intensify crop production is widespread. Superficial morphological, administrative, and socio-economic similarities between sites separated by time, space and culture prompted an analysis of three cultural groups in similar geographical settings to determine the extent of cross-cultural similarities in irrigation practice. The groups analyzed were Mormon settlements in the Wasatch Mountains of the United States, and Jewish and Arab settlements in the Jordan Valley of Israel and Jordan. Analysis of irrigation use among the three groups revealed marked similarities in organizational, administrative and technological practices. In each case, irrigation practice has progressed from simple community-based diversion to large-scale diversion schemes as population and political organization increased. Minor differences concerning ownership of water rights were the only notable exceptions to the broad similarity between the groups. In terms of water development practice, each group progressed through essentially similar stages, reflecting the level of water demand in each society. We hypothesize on the basis of the examination of the study groups that irrigation-based societies progress through a sequence of irrigation practices, from Stage 1 (simple diversion) to Stage 5 (societal-wide adoption of laws and projects to maximize efficiency of water use), as population growth intensifies demand on limited water resources in sub-humid environments.     

Water demand and supply in large cities in Japan

After WW II, water demand in Japan for municipal and industrial use has increased drastically in those large cities and industrial regions with rapid urbanization and high economic growth. This was true especially in the decades of 1950 and 1960.Water shortage continues to be serious in some large cities in summer months. The author attempts to explain the reasons for this water shortage by explaining the relation between population growth and water demand in large cities. To meet these water shortages, there has been active development of water resources including construction of dams and saline barriers in large river basins and modernization of the water use system to increase its efficiency and re-use capacity for sewage treatment etc.At the same time, water resources development projects have been encountering various environmental problems as well as increased local protest in the 1970s. The author discusses the present dimensions of these problems and also presents several ideas regarding water resources planning for the future.     

单位水量粮食生产能力分析

单位水量粮食生产能力是综合反映灌溉用水水平和粮食生产状况的重要指标.通过对各省(市、区)粮食生产能力的计算,结合各地自然地理条件及水资源开发利用状况的分析,认为我国粮食生产发展的潜力,主要在于提高粮食单产水平,提高灌溉水的利用效益,在水土资源较丰富的地区应适当发展灌溉面积.     

Diffuse pollution from livestock production in China

With economic development and living standard improvement, livestock and poultry production has grown up rapidly, also has become the leading source of pollution in vast rural areas in China.The estimated annual loss amount of COD, BOD, NH3-N from manure in 2001 is 7.28 million ton, 4.99 million ton and 1.32 million ton, respectively. The COD loss amount from manure is close to the sum of COD from industrial and domestic wastewater. Because animal waste and wastewater can enter water bodies from spills or breaks of waste storage structures ( due to accidents or excessive rain) , and non-agricultural application of manure to cropland, this contamination has resulted in quality degradation of surface and underground drinking water supplies. Areas with concentrated livestock operations are showing elevated nutrients and organic pollutant contents in surface waters. This widespread contamination of water has prompted governments at various levels to adopt regulations and measures to control the spreading of livestock pollution.     

The importance of water in the ecosystem and marine crisis in the gulf region

Conclusions As developing countries expand both agricultural and industrial activities over the coming decade, sensitive management of the limited available freshwater resources will become increasingly important. If their supplies consist solely of ground water, then some water deficit countries could end up by mining a non-renewable resource as it takes many thousands of years to replenish deep fossil groundwater stocks. Conservation and careful husbandry of existing stocks must therefore be carried out if the growing human populations of arid lands are to be protected from famine and poverty.The arid zones may provide more than sufficient food in a sustainable system despite the harsh natural conditions. In arid areas rainfall is low, biological cycling is limited by low soil moisture and evapotranspiration is high. The absence of leaching by infiltration results in a large active pool of nutrients and the addition of water by irrigation allows this potential fertility to be realised. Given the high insolation of desert lands and a man-made continuous water supply it is possible to obtain 2–4 crop harvest a year. However, the success of any future development is ultimately in the hands of the governments who control the management of water resources.Until recently pollution of the sea was relatively localised. It has now become a problem globally around coasts and even affects the open ocean. Enclosed and semi-enclosed seas are most vulnerable to degradation of their ecosystems and the Golf region has proved to be no exception to this, sensitivity exacerbated by weak currents and political instability leading to increasing oil pollution.The pollution in the Gulf is at its most harmful in the biologically diverse and productive areas around coastlines where pollution tends to concentrate and where human welfare is also most at risk. The outbreak of cholera and other waterborne disease in Iraq immediately following the Gulf war highlights the exceptional reliance people throughout the Gulf States must place of fresh water supplies. Continuing political instability in the region and its associated environmental damage will not, therefore, only threaten wildlife or fisheries but may threaten human welfare as water supplies are limited or decline in quality and industry, agriculture and health all suffer the consequences.     

Coping with water scarcity: the case of the Calnistea catchment (Romania)

The Calnistea catchment lies in the southern part of Romania in a region that has been confronted lately with serious water scarcity problems generated primarily by summer heat waves and long periods of drought. The high temperatures, excessive evapotranspiration and scant precipitation have a negative impact on water resources and especially on the river system, which is at the mercy of meteorological conditions, because all the streams in the area originate in the plain. Consequently, mean annual discharges are very low and more often than not, many rivers run dry. In order to avoid such an unwanted phenomenon people have built earth dams across the valleys thus creating chains of ponds, which are used to regulate the flow. Even so, however, most of the years the rivers look like mere threads of water oozing gently through their sediments. Under the circumstances, it is no wonder that irrigation systems are missing, which explains the low agricultural productivity. The most important asset of the region is the groundwater, as it represents the only source of drinking water for the population. Groundwaters are stored in superposed aquifers, most of them confined, generally having good hydrogeological properties. Water quality complies with the standards for drinking water and that is why groundwaters are used as such for domestic consumption. The problem is that in the past years, population increase has put more pressure on this resource and consequently water table sank. The growing depletion of groundwaters has brought about thirst, famine, poverty and despair, sad realities that local authorities are striving to control. Given this necessity the present study aims at making several proposals of what could be done on a short and middle term in order to increase the water supplies of the region and thus alleviate the people??s suffering.     

Scinario of arsenic pollution in groundwater: West Bengal

目前,西孟加拉地区地下水砷污染问题日益严重并且已经波及到食物链中.由于吸收了砷污染地下水,谷物和蔬菜中砷含量日渐累积,超出了健康规定范围.尽管提出了若干补救方案,但是考虑到农业人口的社会经济状况,建议使用地表水灌溉方案.然而,实际中该方案仍然较难施行,且并无其他更经济有效的措施.若干年后,含水层可以减缓严酷的健康环境现状并为人们提供安全的饮用水.     

Hunger and river basin development in Africa: Some socioeconomic issues

New concerns with African drought and famine have redirected attention to the great potential of African rivers dramatically to increase food production. The recent history of irrigation, however, has proved otherwise. This is partly due to policy makers' failure systematically to consider the socio-economics of land/water use in river basins in their development plans. This paper focuses on the socioeconomic dimensions of African river basin development and argues that a better incorporation of such systems in development plans will aid African countries more effectively to achieve their food production and development goals.     

Evapotranspiration management based on the application of SWAT for balancing water consumption: A case study in Guantao,China

Rapid social and economic development results in increased demand for water resources. This can lead to the unsustainable development and exploitation of water resources which in turn causes significant environmental problems. Conventional water resource management approaches, such as supply and demand management strategies, frequently fail to restore regional water balance. This paper introduces the concept of water consumption balance, the balance between actual evapotranspiration (ET) and target ET, and establishes a framework to realize regional water balance. The framework consists of three stages: (1) determination of target ET and actual ET; (2) quantification of the water-saving requirements for the region; and (3) reduction of actual ET by implementing various water saving management strategies. Using this framework, a case study was conducted for Guantao County, China. The SWAT model was utilized to aid in the selection of the best water saving management strategy by comparing the ET of different irrigation methods and crop pattern adjustments. Simulation results revealed that determination of SWAT model parameters using remote sensing ET is feasible and that the model is a valuable tool for ET management. Irrigation was found to have a greater influence on the ET of winter wheat as compared to that of maize, indicating that reduction in winter wheat cultivation is the most effective way to reduce regional ET. However, the effect of water-saving irrigation methods on the reduction of ET was not obvious. This indicates that it would be difficult to achieve regional ET reduction using water-saving irrigation methods only. Furthermore, selecting the best water saving management strategy by relying solely on the amount of reduced ET was insufficient, because it ignored the impact of water conservation measures on the livelihood of the agricultural community. Incorporating these considerations with our findings, we recommend changing the current irrigation method to sprinkler irrigation and replacing 20% of the winter wheat-maize cultivated area with cotton, as the best strategy to achieve water balance in the study area.     

Eco-environmental problems and effective utilization of water resources in the Kashi Plain, western Terim Basin, China

Since ancient times, water resources, mainly from melting snow in the high mountains, have nourished a large area of an oasis in the Kashi Plain in the western Terim Basin, China. In the last half-century, however, the rapid growth of population and the overexploitation of water, soil, and biological resources have led to drought, salinization, and desertification in the area, and consequently have hindered the development of sustainable agriculture. In this study, groundwater reservoirs with sustainable water supplies equivalent to 44.65×10⁸ m³/year were identified, which has made it possible to implement several projects in the area to improve the ecological and agricultural environment. Three strategies are proposed for the integrated development and management of both surface-water and groundwater resources in the area. Electronic Publication     

Simulation of groundwater flow and environmental effects resulting from pumping

In coastal lowland plains, increased water demand on a limited water resource has resulted in declining groundwater levels, land subsidence and saltwater encroachment. In southwestern Kyushu, Japan, a sinking of the land surface due to over pumping of groundwater has long been recognized as a problem in the Shiroishi lowland plain. In this paper, an integrated model was established for the Shiroishi site using the modular finite difference groundwater flow model, MODFLOW, by McDonald and Harbaugh (1988) and the modular three-dimensional finite difference groundwater solute transport model, MT3D, by Zheng (1990) to simulate groundwater flow hydraulics, land subsidence, and solute transport in the alluvial lowland plain. Firstly, problems associated with these groundwater resources were discussed and then the established model was applied. The simulated results show that subsidence rapidly occurs throughout the area with the central prone in the center part of the plain. Moreover, seawater intrusion would be expected along the coast if the current rates of groundwater exploitation continue. Sensitivity analysis indicates that certain hydrogeologic parameters such as an inelastic storage coefficient of soil layers significantly contribute effects to both the rate and magnitude of consolidation. Monitoring the present salinization process is useful in determining possible threats to fresh groundwater supplies in the near future. In addition, the integrated numerical model is capable of simulating the regional trend of potentiometric levels, land subsidence and salt concentration. The study also suggests that during years of reduced surface-water availability, reduction of demand, increase in irrigation efficiency and the utilization of water exported from nearby basins are thought to be necessary for future development of the region to alleviate the effects due to pumping.     

Hydrogeological Characterisation And Water-Supply Potential Of Basement Aquifers In Tropical Africa

Crystalline basement rocks, with a mantle of weathered alternation products, occur beneath very extensive areas of tropical Africa. Low-productivity aquifers are widely, but rather unpredictably, present in this formation. They yield small water supplies vital to the rural population for domestic purposes and for livestock watering. On a more localised basis, a potential may exist to develop larger supplies that are adequate for small towns or for small-scale irrigation. This paper reviews advances in the understanding of this extensive hydrogeological system, resulting from British research and experience since 1980.     

Towards a pro-community-based water resource management system in Northwest Cameroon: practical evidence and lessons of best practices

This paper examines community-based water supply management (CBWSM) in three rural districts of Northwest Cameroon as well as a review of the literature focusing on some successful community-based natural resource management initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. Using empirical and secondary data collected through participatory research methods, it is argued that CBWSM has failed to achieve sustainable water supplies in Northwest Cameroon. Findings revealed that centralized control, the prevalence of poverty, passive involvement of public, private and grassroots community has continued to thwart water supplies within these districts. It is important to note that in any natural resource management system, power becomes a crucial factor as it determines who has and does not have access to common-pool resources. This paper argues that argues that strong traditional leadership, resolute devolution, and active participation of rural communities will facilitate and invigorate a platform for capturing the views of diverse user groups and this can bring about a people-centered and community-driven development process. Some aspects of best practice arising from successful case studies in Cameroon can contribute significantly to promoting the development of effective CBWSM in other rural communities with similar characteristics in and out of Cameroon. This will be possible only if rural groups are involved and engaged in the management of their resources while integrating some aspects of best practice.

     

引大工程供水区水资源优化配置模型及方案研究

引大入秦工程是由大通河向甘肃中部兰州市永登县秦王川地区跨流域引水的以农业灌溉为主要目的大型调水工程。工程建成通水后,对改变当地农业生产条件和贫困面貌、安置贫困山区移民、促进秦王川地区的经济社会发展发挥了重要作用。但是,由于各种因素的综合影响,工程在设计效益的发挥等方面存在一些问题,集中表现在供水能力未能充分发挥、工程水资源配置没有实现最优化。在收集到翔实的第一手资料的基础上,将引大灌区和周边可能的供水范围作为一个统一的研究对象即引大工程供水区,根据供水区的供需水现状和用水发展趋势,采用水资源系统分析理论中的最优化技术,建立以经济效益、社会效益和环境效益最优为目标、以供需水量为约束条件的优化配置模型,通过求解模型,确定近期和远期供水区的水资源在各子区不同用水部门间的最优化配置方案,为富余水源寻找出路,这对最大限度地发挥工程效益,促进区域经济社会的可持续发展具有重要作用。