Using hydrologic and hydraulically derived geometric parameters of perennial rivers to determine minimum water requirements of ecological habitats (case study: Mazandaran Sea Basin—Iran) |
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| Authors: | Alireza Shokoohi Yang Hong |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Technical and Engineering, International University of Imam Khomeini, Qazvin, Iran;2. Department of Hydrology and Remote Sensing, School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA |
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| Abstract: | This paper studies one of the most important problems of dry countries that are confronted with water deficit and the competition of rivals to allocate water. Some common methods have been investigated for computing the minimum water requirement to save a river's biological activity. After a discussion of the currently used method in Iran (the Tenant Method), the application of some other methods, which are known as Hydraulic and Hydrological Methods, is illustrated. The case study is a river in the northern part of Iran and this research addresses the critical situation of this river in near future regarding the planned anthropogenic alteration and its consequences. It has been shown that the application of environmental water allocation methods that have no background in a region could be misleading. The first proposed method is the Texas Method, in which flexibility in water allocation helps to develop an integrated river management paradigm in the study area. The second preferred method is a Hydraulic Method, by which the implementation of morphological parameters or flow geometrical properties could sustain physical habitat within an acceptable range in terms of depth, width, velocity, and bed shear stress. In the case study, the Maximum Curvature Method was superior to the Slope Method. The investigation revealed that using a widely recommended slope of 1 for the discharge‐wetted perimeter function can lead to an overestimated and unacceptable discharge. The Tenant Method in respect to minimum environmental flow requirement yielded the weakest result, and it has been illustrated that its application might impose irrecoverable shock to the ecosystem. The Flow Duration Curve Method (the Q95 Method), in spite of its subjectivity, showed more compatibility with the river's condition in comparison with the Tenant Method. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | ecological water requirement environment river Texas Method Maximum Curvature Method Slope Method Tenant Method Flow Duration Curve Method Q95 |
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