WATER RESOURCES PROJECTS

AND PLANNING

Water Resources Planning

• The Planning of a water-resources development project involves systematic consideration of the original statement of purpose, evaluation of alternatives and the final decision.

• It forms the basis for the decision to accept or to reject a particular project.

• It involves a thorough study of various alternatives, selecting the best alternative and the methods for the implementing the same to achieve the optimum benefits.

• Water-resources engineering is concerned with the utilisation of water, control of water, and water quality management.

• Water is utilized for various beneficial purposes such as irrigation, water supply, hydropower and navigation.

• Water is controlled and regulated for a variety of purposes such as flood control, land drainage, sewerage and bridges so that it does not cause damage to property, inconvenience to the public, or loss of life.

• Water-quality management or pollution control is also an important phase of water resources engineering to maintain the required quality of water for municipal and irrigation uses

and to preserve the environment and ecological balance.

The planning of a water-resources development

project generally consists of the following steps:

(1) Statement of objectives

(2) Collection of data

(3) Future projections

(4) Project formulation

(5) Project evaluation

(6) Environmental considerations

Various Purposes of Planning :

Main purposes :

1. Irrigation: The objective of irrigation is to increase the agricultural production. Various works required for irrigation are dams, reservoirs, wells, canals, distribution systems, drainage facilities, farmland grading, etc.

2. Hydroelectric powers: The objective of hydroelectric power development is generation of electric powers for economic development and improving living standards. The works include forebay, penstocks, turbines, generators, transformers, transmission lines, etc.

3. Flood control: Flood control works are required for prevention or reduction of flood damage, protection of areas, river regulation, recharging of water, etc. The various works and measures include dams, storage reservoirs, levees, flood walls, channel improvements, flood ways, flood-plain zoning, flood forecasting, etc.

4. Domestic and industrial water supply: The objective to be achieved is to provide safe and adequate water for domestic, industrial, commercial, municipal and other uses. The various works and measures adopted are dams, reservoirs, wells, conduits, pumping plants, treatment plants, distribution systems, etc.

5. Navigation: Inland navigation facilities are provided for transportation of goods and passengers. The various works and measures adopted are dams, reservoirs, canals, locks, channel improvement, harbour improvement, etc.

Secondary purposes :

1. Recreational: The objective is to provide recreational facilities for the health and welfare of the people. Various works and measures include reservoirs, swimming pools, facilities for boating and water sports, preservation of scenic beauty, etc.

2. Fish and wild life: The objectives in this case are improvement of habitat for fish and wild life, prevention of loss of fish and wild life, enhancement of sport facilities, expansion of commercial fishing, etc. The various works and measures are wild life refuges, fish hatcheries, fish ladders, reservoirs, regulation of stream flows, pollution control, land management, etc.

3. Drainage control: The objectives of drainage control are better agricultural production, urban development, protection of public health, prevention of waterlogging and salinity, etc. The various works and measures are ditches, tile drains, levees, pumping stations, etc.

4. Watershed management: The various objectives of the watershed management are conservation and improvement of soil, sediment reduction, runoff retardation, forest and grass land improvement, etc. The various works and measures include soil-conservation practices, forest and range management practices, debris detention dams, small reservoirs and farm ponds.

5. Sediment control: The objectives are reduction or control of silt load in streams, prevention of silting of reservoirs, preservation of fertility of soil, etc. The various works and measures adopted include soil conservation, afforestation, desilting works, revetment works, bank stabilisation, check dams, special reservoir operation, etc.

6. Salinity control: The objective is abatement or prevention of contamination of agricultural, industrial and municipal water supplies by different salts. The various works and measures include reservoirs for augmentation of low stream flows, barriers, ground water recharge, coastal jetties, etc.

7. Pollution abatement: The objectives is protection or improvement of quality of water supplies for municipal, domestic, industrial and agriculture, aquatic life and recreation. This includes treatment facilities, reservoirs for augmenting low flows, sewage-collection systems, legal measures to control pollution, cleaning of polluted rivers, etc.

8. Insect control: The objective is protection of public health, recreational values, forests, crops, and land. This includes drainage, extermination measures, proper design and operation of reservoirs and associated works.

9. Artificial precipitation: The objective is to induce artificial precipitation within meteorological limits of the basin. The various works and measures include cloud-seeding equipment, meteorological instrumentation, etc.

Miscellaneous Purposes:

1. Employment: The objective is to provide employment and other sources for increased income in backward areas having a lot of unemployment and underdevelopment.

2. Acceleration of public works: The objective is to accelerate the construction of various public works for the development of region. Sometimes, the projects are planned that they may be executed on cost-sharing basis among various agencies, such as central government, state government, local bodies and private organisation, to accelerate the development.

3. Development of new water resources policies: The objective is to initiate new policies for the development, composition,

formulation and execution of the water-resources projects.

Stages in WR Planning :

Stage 1. The Project initiation stage : It begins with the statement of needs and includes preliminary planning, feasibility and field investigations.

Stage 2. The data collection stage : Detailed data are gathered for analysis and decision-making.

Stage 3. Project configuration stage : A large number of alternatives are investigated and a small number of promising alternatives are selected for detailed analysis.

Stage 4. Detailed planning stage : The design parameters, operation rules, costs, benefits etc. of the alternatives selected in stage 3 are determined, and the final project configuration is selected. Actually, this phase represents a detailed form of stages 2 and 3.

Stage 5. The Design stage : The final configuration is translated into detailed structural design.

Types of Projects

• The water-resources development projects are usually classified on the basis of the number of purposes serves:

(1) Single purpose projects: These projects are designed and operated to serve only one basic purpose.

(2) Multipurpose projects: These projects are designed and operated to serve two or more purposes

• It may be noted that a project which is designed for single purpose but which incidentally also serves other purposes is not a multipurpose project.

• Most of the major water-resources development projects in India are multipurpose projects.

• These projects are designed to serve a number of purposes to make effective use of water resources of the country.

• Although water resources are quite abundant but because the population is also increasing at a fast rate, it is desirable that the maximum use shall be made of the available water resources by developing multipurpose projects.

• Moreover, multipurpose projects are generally more economically viable because the increase in costs is often not proportional to the increase in benefits.

Water Requirements of Multipurpose Projects

• The purposes usually served are irrigation, hydropower, flood control, water supply, navigation, recreation, fish and wild life and sanitation.

• The water requirements for these functions are quite different. The successful use of stored water in a multipurpose project can be made for various purposes after studying the various requirements.

• If these requirements are compatible, the stored water is used more effectively because it would simultaneously serve more than one purpose.

1. Irrigation: Water requirements for irrigation in India are mostly seasonal.

→ The maximum demand of water for irrigation is during the winter months for Rabi crops.

→ However, there is usually a small demand of water for Kharif crops during the summer months just prior to the onset of the monsoon.

→ Water requirements for irrigation are generally higher in a year of low rainfall.

→ But the average demand does not vary greatly from year to year if the irrigated area remains the same.

2. Hydropower: Water requirements for hydropower depend upon the type of area served.

→ The power demand generally has a marked seasonal variation.

→ Moreover, hydropower production does not make consumptive use of water as the water released for hydropower can serve other purposes.

→ Water released for irrigation and water supply may be used to produce hydropower.

→ However, when irrigation demands are low in the rainy season, water has to be released only for hydropower.

→ If the power production is limited only during the period when irrigation demand exists, the load factors for the plant will go down and there will be a loss in overall efficiency.

3. Flood control: The basic requirement for flood control is that there should be a lot of empty space in the reservoir so that the flood water can be stored.

→ The flood control use is, therefore, not compatible with other uses which require that adequate water should be stored in the reservoir.

→ However, the flood control requirement is seasonal as it is only during the rainy season.

4. Water supply: Requirements for domestic water supply are more or less constant throughout the year.

→ The demand is somewhat more during the summer months.

→ With an increase in population, the water demand increases from year to year, and this factor should be considered while planning a water supply project.

→ Adequate reserve should be maintained to avoid water shortage during the periods of drought.

5. Navigation: Requirements for inland navigation are that there should be adequate flow in the river to maintain the required water depth.

→ Water is released from a storage reservoir to sustain downstream flow for navigation.

→ There is a marked seasonal variation in the demand.

→ Generally, peak releases are required during the summer months when the natural flow is low.

6. Recreation: The basic requirements for recreation is that the reservoir should remain nearly full during the recreation season to permit boating, fishing, swimming and other water sports.

→ Moreover, there should not be sudden large drawdowns which may create several problems.

→ However, reservoirs are seldom designed to serve recreation alone.

→ The reservoirs designed for other purposes may have recreation as an incidental purpose.

7. Fish and wild life: For protection of fish, there should not be large and rapid fluctuations in water level of the reservoir, particularly during the spawning period.

→ Moreover, the flow of water of downstream of the dam should not be completely stopped, as it would lead to the destruction of fish and wild life.

→ Fish ladders or other suitable arrangements are required at the dams to permit migratory fish to travel upstream as well as downstream.

→ However, the construction of a reservoir causes a major change in habitat for existing fish and wild life, and there may be a decrease or an increase in species of fish and wild life.

8. Sanitation: The requirement for proper sanitation is that there should be adequate flow downstream of the dam.

→ Sanitation requirements are compatible with other uses as these can be easily combined with the release of water for other uses.

→ Sometimes there is another requirement in some areas that the reservoir should be operated such that there is less mosquito growth.

→ This is usually achieved by causing rapid fluctuations of water level.

Project Formulation

• Once the basic data and the projections of future conditions are assembled, actual formulation of the project can commence.

• This is a phase of planning where imagination and skill are required.

• The important first consideration is the compilation of a list of alternatives.

• The planning process should be an evaluation of all possible alternatives with respect to project features and water use.

• Planning should consider alternative and competing uses for water as well as the various possibilities for control and delivery of the water.

The first step in project formulation is the definition of the boundary conditions that restrict the project. For eg :

1. One or more aspects of water development can be eliminated on the basis of physical limitations ,i.e. no navigation on torrential mountain streams.

2. Maximum land areas usable for various purposes may be definable. This does not exclude possibility of alternative uses for a given parcel of land.

3. A policy decision may reserve certain lands for specific purposes, i.e. Parks and recreational areas.

4. Legal constraints may reserve certain lands or prohibit certain activities or actions.

Studies Required1. Purpose and Scope of project.

2. National Objective of the project.

3. State and Local Concerns.

4. Alternative Plans.

5. Accounts.

6. Period of Analysis.

7. Risk and Uncertainty.

8. Cost Allocation.

Water Resources Management

Water Supply Management

Water Excess Management

Environmental Restoration

1. Biological sciences

2. Engineering

3. Physical sciences

4. Social sciences

Biological Sciences:

1. Ecology

2. Entomology

3. Fisheries

4. Food technology

5. Forestry

6. Horticulture

7. Limnology

8. Marine science

9. Microbiology

10. Plant science

11. Public health

12. zoology

Engineering :

1. Agriculture

2. Chemical

3. Civil

4. Environmental

5. Industrial

6. Mechanical

7. Systems

Physical Sciences :

1. Chemistry

2. Climatology

3. Computer Science

4. Geology

5. Hydrology

6. Mathematics

7. Meteorology

8. Oceanography

9. Physics

10. Soil Science

11. statistics

Social Sciences :

1. Economics

2. Education

3. Geography

4. History

5. Law

6. Planning

7. Political Science

8. Public Administration

9. Resource Development

10. Sociology

Generalized WRE Models

Generalized Model Model Developer

KYPIPE Pipe Network Analysis University of Kentucky

EPANET Pipe Network Water Quality Analysis

Environmental Protection Agency

HEC-RAS River Analysis System Hydrologic Engineering Centre

FLDWAV Flood Wave Model National Weather Service

HEC-FFA Flood Frequency Analysis Hydrologic Engineering Centre

HEC-HMS Hydrologic Modelling System Hydrologic Engineering Centre

SWMM Stormwater Management Model Environmental Protection Agency

SWAT Soil & Water Assessment Tool Agricultural Research Service

MODFLOW Modular Groundwater Flow Model

U.S. Geological Survey

HEC-FDA Flood Damage Analysis Hydrologic Engineering Centre

HEC-RESSIM Reservoir Simulation System

Hydrologic Engineering Centre

HEC-5 Flood Control & Conservation Systems

Hydrologic Engineering Centre

WRAP Water Rights Analysis Package Texas A&M University

MODSIM River Basin Network Flow Model

Colorado State University

RiverWare Reservoir and River Operations USBR, TVA, CADSWES

Projects Implementation

• Public participation in planning: Planning agencies are required to seek participation of interested members of the public in the planning process.

• Public hearings in which proposed plans are discussed and in which opportunity is provided for the public to ask questions and voice opinions are legally required in many instances.

• A citizen advisory body is appointed to sensitize planners and citizens to project impacts.

• Project evaluation: When the alternatives have been defined, the planners task is to provide data which aids in the choice among alternatives.

• Each alternative must be specified in sufficient detail so that costs can be reliably estimated.

• All costs, including those induced by the project, should be included.

• The methods used for both cost and benefit estimate should assure that the resulting values for the various alternatives are truly comparable.

• Financial considerations in planning: A project that cannot be financed is useless. Hence an important element in planning of a water project is consideration of the means by which the project will be financed.

• Local agencies are required to provide land, easements, and right-of-way and are required in many instances to pay for maintenance and operation of the project.

• The federal government has various grant programs that serve as incentives for local agencies to undertake certain type of projects.

• Some projects are sponsored by the federal government; some by the individual states; some by irrigation, water conservation and flood-control districts formed under state law; and others by counties, cities and special districts.

• Local governmental bodies finance projects in a variety of ways: through taxes, special assessments, revenues collected for services received and bond issues.

• Input from financial specialists is essential in order to develop a good plan for financing, a prime requisite for the successful implementation of a project.

• Environmental considerations in planning: Uncontrolled population growth combined with an increased per capita production of waste products threaten severe pollution of air, water and land with attendant damage to flora and fauna and possible danger to man.

• Population growth and technologic capability combine to drastically alter the natural landscape with cities, highways, dams and other engineering works.

• Water projects needed to maintain public health and safety and the accepted amenities will be included in the public works.

• The growing environmental concern poses a dilemma for engineers faced at one extreme by demands that all construction cease and at the other extreme by pressure to get on with building as rapidly as possible.

• A new set of social values-moral, philosophic, and aesthetic- joint technical standards and economic evaluation as decision factors in the planning process.

• The basic problem of population control will be met, either by man or nature, but the water-resources planner of the future must give more thought to environmental problems.

Social & Environmental Aspects

Consequences of water-resources projects might include:

1. Degradation of downstream channel or coastal beaches by loss of sediment trapped in a reservoir.

2. Loss of unique geological, historical, archaeological, or scenic sites flooded by a reservoir.

3. Flooding of spawning beds for migratory fish preventing their reproduction or destruction of spawning gravel by channel dredging or lining.

4. Change in stream water temperature as a result of a reservoir leading to changes in aquatic species in the stream.

5. Release of reservoir bottom water that may be high in dissolved salts or low in oxygen resulting in a change in aquatic species.

6. Drainage of swamps, potholes, etc; decreasing the opportunity for survival of aquatic or amphibious animals or waterfowl.

7. Creation of a barrier to normal migration routes of land animals by a reservoir.

8. Change in water quality as a result of drainage from an irrigation project which may encourage growth of algae in the receiving water or lead to a change in aquatic species as salinity of the receiving body increases.

9. Damage to higher species by reason of toxic materials discharged to a stream and concentrated in the food chain.

10. Damage to fish by passage through pumps or turbines or over the spillways of high dams.

11. Damage to stream-bank vegetation by alteration of flow patterns in a stream.

Conflict Resolution

• Conflicts last longer and are more deeply rooted than disputes.

• They tend to arise over non-negotiable issues such as fundamental human needs, intolerable moral differences, or high-stakes distributional issues regarding essential resources, such as money, water, or land.

• To truly resolve a conflict, the solution must go beyond just satisfying the parties' interests as occurs in dispute settlement.

• To end or resolve a long-term conflict, a relatively stable solution that identifies and deals with the underlying sources of the conflict must be found..

• This is a more difficult task than simple dispute settlement, because resolution means going beyond negotiating interests to meet all sides' basic needs, while simultaneously finding a way to respect their underlying values and identities .

• True conflict resolution often requires a more analytical, problem-solving approach than dispute settlement.

• The main difference is that resolution requires identifying the causal factors behind the conflict, and finding ways to deal with them.

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