Sustainable Water Resources Management

Irrigation agriculture in Ethiopia can be improved by applying appropriate irrigation levels. Since water scarcity is the major problem in Ethiopia, and farmers apply water without knowledge of the amount of water to be applied, appropriate irrigation levels for maize crops should be investigated in the central Gondar zone, Ethiopia. This paper aims to investigate the effect of deficit levels of irrigation on crop parameters and evaluate the AquaCrop model for its predictability potential of water productivity. The experiment has four levels of water application (Full Irrigation (100%), 75%, 50%, and 25% of crop evapotranspiration) at 10 days of irrigation interval using Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Data collected in two experiments in the different seasons were soil moisture, canopy cover, biomass, and final yield. As high R2 (0.93) and Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) (0.91) values indicated, the model performed well in simulating canopy cover, above-ground biomass, and yield in all treatments except 25% full irrigation (FI) with prolonged water deficit. Grain yield measured from experiment 2 was within the range of 4.6 t/ha to 7.4 t/ha. Even though a high yield was found from FI, the measured water use efficiency was better in 75% FI treatment, indicating a potential for water-saving by this treatment than FI. Higher grain yield was observed for maize sown in January at experiment 1. This was attributed to the rainfall impact on the experiment since it was spring season in Ethiopia at which some rainfall in the region is pronounced. In addition, AquaCrop thoroughly underestimated the seasonal evapotranspiration values and the deviations were commonly bigger as stress levels increased. Therefore, AquaCrop can be used in the simulation of crop parameters, prediction of irrigated outputs, and assessing the impact of irrigation scheduling.

Sự đô thị hóa nhanh chóng làm gia tăng các bề mặt không thấm nước, từ đó ngăn cản quá trình nạp nước ngầm tự nhiên, và cuối cùng gây ra mối đe dọa nghiêm trọng đối với nhu cầu nước của thành phố do sự suy giảm mực nước ngầm. Trong bối cảnh này, việc tái nạp nước ngầm nhân tạo (GWR) bằng cách sử dụng lượng mưa dư thừa đang thu hút sự quan tâm tại các khu vực đô thị. Nghiên cứu này chọn Chittagong, thành phố lớn thứ hai và là thủ đô thương mại của Bangladesh, nơi đang đối mặt với vấn đề hạ mực nước ngầm. Tiềm năng của GWR đã được đánh giá bằng việc sử dụng phân tích quyết định đa tiêu chí (MCDA) kết hợp với các kỹ thuật địa không gian. Sau khi đánh giá các tập dữ liệu sơ cấp và thứ cấp, tám lớp chủ đề đã được sử dụng để xác định các vùng tiềm năng cho GWR, bao gồm: độ sâu ngập nước mưa đô thị, mật độ rãnh thoát nước, độ dốc, lượng mưa/lưu lượng nước, kết cấu đất, mực nước ngầm hiện có, đường địa chất và sử dụng/che phủ đất. Bằng việc sử dụng các kỹ thuật phân loại lại, các lớp chủ đề này đã được phân loại thành năm loại riêng biệt và được gán giá trị trọng số chuẩn hóa cụ thể bằng cách sử dụng quy trình phân tích hệ thống và phân cấp (AHP) trong môi trường ArcGIS. Sau đó, phương pháp kết hợp tuyến tính trọng số đã được áp dụng để dự đoán các vùng tiềm năng GWR. Toàn bộ khu vực nghiên cứu sau đó được chia thành năm loại, bao gồm: vùng tiềm năng thấp, trung bình, trung bình-cao, cao và rất cao. Phân tích cho thấy 5,5% tổng diện tích có tiềm năng cao cho GWR. Trong phân tích này, kiến thức chuyên môn và kinh nghiệm thực tiễn đã được sử dụng để phân tích dữ liệu và chuẩn bị bản đồ. Do đó, cùng với dữ liệu mặt đất có độ phân giải cao, các phát hiện của bài báo này dự kiến sẽ cung cấp thông tin hữu ích cho hệ thống hỗ trợ quyết định.

The Indus Basin Irrigation System is characterized as a gravity surface irrigation system, with minimal on-line or off-line storage and limited distribution control. An important characteristic is the limited water availability. On field irrigation within the Indus Basin Irrigation System is almost entirely using surface irrigation and only very few farms adopting pressurized irrigation systems. The objective of the warabandi management system that characterizes the Indus Basin Irrigation System is to distribute the limited available water as equitably as possible. This research evaluates surface irrigation under furrow and border strip irrigation using canal water and groundwater conjunctively. This paper presents results from a numerical model and field observations, to examine the precision surface irrigation paradigm within the water supply constraints imposed by the warabandi system of the Indus Basin Irrigation System. We conclude that laser grading within the IBIS is achievable at a modest cost and effort. Our findings suggest that the improved laser-graded profile persists for at least three crop seasons. Furrow irrigation can attain a high performance using either available canal or groundwater with low quarter distribution uniformity and low quarter application efficiency as performance indicators. Border irrigation can also attain a high performance provided irrigation is changed to fortnightly. Model predictions of advance curve and low quarter distribution uniformity are compared to field observations and in-situ measurement.

The aim of this study was to measure the main indicators of farmers' adaptation capacity response to the decreasing groundwater level in the Kazerun plain, Iran. For this purpose, 10 adaptation capacity indicators including local networks, confidence in government, interaction and mutual relation, labor and time, financial and infrastructure, inventing and innovation, adopting management, riskability, governance, knowledge and information have been measured and analyzed by the second-order confirmatory factor analysis model based on the 291 samples of farmers according to Cochran's formula. The results of factor analysis, prioritization of farmers' adaptation capacity indicators to cope with groundwater depletion, showed that the most important indicators were “adaptive management” (T-value = 5.51), “finance and infrastructure” (T-value = 3.94), and “local networks” (T-value = 3.38). The results also showed that most of the indicators for estimating adaptation capacity have a high impact on the adaptation of local stakeholders, except for the government confidence index (average extracted variance = 0.501). The findings suggested that human capital such as farmer reciprocity should be strengthened in the studied villages to enhance farmers’ adaptive capacity to drought and water crises.

Dyes are complex unsaturated aromatic compounds used as coloring agents in different industries like textile, paper, tannery, photography, etc. The dye industries have sprouted like mushrooms with inappropriate dye effluent treatment technologies. Thus, the current situation demands effective and sustainable wastewater treatment methods. This review article covers the classification of dye, the impact of dye effluent on humans and its environment, the drawbacks of treatment approaches, the making of value-added products, and energy production from dye effluents. This review discussed various regular technologies that had already been applied; the advanced and sustainable physicochemical and biological approaches (hybrid constructed wetland, advanced oxidation method, nano photocatalysis, and ceramic membrane filtration) will be implemented in the future by reviewing. Though the recent technologies obtained are successful, the several downsides like high operating costs, the use of chemicals, secondary pollutant production, the need for adequate equipment, high electricity consumption, membrane fouling, scalability, and sludge disposal are the headache of the researchers. Among those technologies, the approaches like microbial remediation, phytoremediation, constructed wetland (MFC-CW), and fungal remediation are sustainable solutions in terms of treatment and resource recovery from dye effluent. The primary goal of this review article is to spread ideas about traditional and advanced treatment technologies to scientists and researchers currently engaged in dye effluent management.

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is an important technique for improving groundwater recharge and maintaining aquifer levels. There are many examples from around the world that demonstrate the advantages of managed aquifer recharge. Despite the numerous benefits and demonstrated advantages of MAR, uptake has been lower than expected. The financial and economic performance of MAR is a key determinant of its global uptake. There are few studies of the financial characteristics and performance of different kinds of MAR schemes. This study contains an analysis of financial data from 21 MAR schemes from five countries. Although MAR schemes are highly heterogeneous, it is possible to draw some conclusions about factors that affect the costs of storing water underground and recovering it for use. The costs of MAR schemes vary substantially. Schemes using infiltration and spreading basins using untreated water are relatively cheap. Schemes using recharge wells, bores and expensive infrastructure are relatively costly. When advanced water treatment is needed, this involves significant extra costs. Other key factors that affect MAR scheme costs include the range of objectives to be met, frequency of use of the scheme, hydrogeological conditions that affect infiltration rates and well yields, and the source and end use of water stored underground. Priorities for further research include additional disaggregation of capital and operating costs and inclusion of a wider range of scheme types, sources of water and countries.

Groundwater level changes, mostly depletion, are widespread around the world due to the high population and industrial growth. Numerical models can provide relevant information in a data scares location and thus could be great means to save both money and time. In this study, an attempt was made to analyze changes in the groundwater level using the widely accepted MODFLOW-2005 model. This study covered 22 wards among the 41 wards of Chittagong city in Bangladesh and the simulation was run for the year 2009–2016. Compare to the observed water heads, the simulated model could reasonably predict water heads with a residual of less than 10%. From 2009 to 2016, the model outcome showed a depletion rate of about 4.75 m/year in the central part of the city. Finally, the model was run for the year 2020 to predict the future condition of the water head. From this, there are five wards in the central part facing a serious groundwater lowering problem. Thus, to save this natural resource more comprehensive strategies as well as ground extraction regulations should be made. And in this context, this study will provide an overview of this urgent issue in this city.

In tannery, liming is the first and indispensable chemical operation where raw hides/skins are treated with sodium sulfide and calcium hydroxide. Liming process releases wastewater containing soluble sulfide in the effluent. In this study, soluble sulfide in the wastewater was estimated during hair burning liming process in the tannery. The soluble sulfide content in liming wastewater was determined by titrimetric method following the official methods of analysis of Society of Leather Technologist and Chemists. It was estimated that, in Bangladesh, yearly 208–623 metric ton soluble sulfide is discharged only from the cowhide processing during hair burning liming process. The sulfide has an adverse impact on the environment including water bodies, atmosphere, land, and plant. Liming wastewater mixing with lower pH wastewater releases hydrogen sulfide gas which has negative effects on the human health and atmosphere. Tanner should use the alternative unhairing methods, e.g., enzymatic, sweating for the cleaner production.