Hydrological Guidelines for Reservoir Operation to Enhance Water Governance: Application to the Brazilian Semiarid Region
The Brazilian water legislation advocates that some uses have priority over others, but this aspect has never been clearly addressed, generating conflicts. Water authorities usually refer to hydrological models to justify their decisions on water allocation. However, a significant group of stakehold...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2018-11-01
|
Series: | Water |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/11/1628 |
id |
doaj-09bdad2396e44ad2b2854fc7ffa12dd3 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-09bdad2396e44ad2b2854fc7ffa12dd32020-11-24T20:57:00ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412018-11-011011162810.3390/w10111628w10111628Hydrological Guidelines for Reservoir Operation to Enhance Water Governance: Application to the Brazilian Semiarid RegionJosé Carlos de Araújo0George Leite Mamede1Berthyer Peixoto de Lima2Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza CEP 60455-900, CE, BrazilInstitute for Engineering and Sustainable Development, University of International Afro-Brazilian Integration, UNILAB, Redenção CEP 62790-000, CE, BrazilCOGERH, Water Resources State Company, Fortaleza CEP 60824-140, CE, BrazilThe Brazilian water legislation advocates that some uses have priority over others, but this aspect has never been clearly addressed, generating conflicts. Water authorities usually refer to hydrological models to justify their decisions on water allocation. However, a significant group of stakeholders does not feel qualified to discuss these models and is excluded from the decision process. We hereby propose a hydrologically robust method to correlate water uses with their respective reservoir alert volumes, which should empower the less formally educated stakeholders. The method consists of: (i) generating the water yield versus reliability curve, using a stochastic approach; (ii) generating the yield versus alert volume family of curves, using a water-balance approach; (iii) calibrating the key parameter T (depletion duration) using field data; and (iv) associating each water use with its alert volume. We have applied the method to four of the largest reservoirs (2 × 10<sup>3</sup>⁻2 × 10<sup>2</sup> hm<sup>3</sup>) in the semi-arid Ceará State. The results indicate that low-priority water uses should be rationalized when the reservoir volume is below 20%, whereas uses with very high priority should start rationalization when it is below 11%. These hydrological guidelines should help enhance water governance among non-specialist stakeholders in water-scarce and reservoir-dependent regions.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/11/1628reservoirswater allocationwater scarcityalert volumegovernance |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
José Carlos de Araújo George Leite Mamede Berthyer Peixoto de Lima |
spellingShingle |
José Carlos de Araújo George Leite Mamede Berthyer Peixoto de Lima Hydrological Guidelines for Reservoir Operation to Enhance Water Governance: Application to the Brazilian Semiarid Region Water reservoirs water allocation water scarcity alert volume governance |
author_facet |
José Carlos de Araújo George Leite Mamede Berthyer Peixoto de Lima |
author_sort |
José Carlos de Araújo |
title |
Hydrological Guidelines for Reservoir Operation to Enhance Water Governance: Application to the Brazilian Semiarid Region |
title_short |
Hydrological Guidelines for Reservoir Operation to Enhance Water Governance: Application to the Brazilian Semiarid Region |
title_full |
Hydrological Guidelines for Reservoir Operation to Enhance Water Governance: Application to the Brazilian Semiarid Region |
title_fullStr |
Hydrological Guidelines for Reservoir Operation to Enhance Water Governance: Application to the Brazilian Semiarid Region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hydrological Guidelines for Reservoir Operation to Enhance Water Governance: Application to the Brazilian Semiarid Region |
title_sort |
hydrological guidelines for reservoir operation to enhance water governance: application to the brazilian semiarid region |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Water |
issn |
2073-4441 |
publishDate |
2018-11-01 |
description |
The Brazilian water legislation advocates that some uses have priority over others, but this aspect has never been clearly addressed, generating conflicts. Water authorities usually refer to hydrological models to justify their decisions on water allocation. However, a significant group of stakeholders does not feel qualified to discuss these models and is excluded from the decision process. We hereby propose a hydrologically robust method to correlate water uses with their respective reservoir alert volumes, which should empower the less formally educated stakeholders. The method consists of: (i) generating the water yield versus reliability curve, using a stochastic approach; (ii) generating the yield versus alert volume family of curves, using a water-balance approach; (iii) calibrating the key parameter T (depletion duration) using field data; and (iv) associating each water use with its alert volume. We have applied the method to four of the largest reservoirs (2 × 10<sup>3</sup>⁻2 × 10<sup>2</sup> hm<sup>3</sup>) in the semi-arid Ceará State. The results indicate that low-priority water uses should be rationalized when the reservoir volume is below 20%, whereas uses with very high priority should start rationalization when it is below 11%. These hydrological guidelines should help enhance water governance among non-specialist stakeholders in water-scarce and reservoir-dependent regions. |
topic |
reservoirs water allocation water scarcity alert volume governance |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/11/1628 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT josecarlosdearaujo hydrologicalguidelinesforreservoiroperationtoenhancewatergovernanceapplicationtothebraziliansemiaridregion AT georgeleitemamede hydrologicalguidelinesforreservoiroperationtoenhancewatergovernanceapplicationtothebraziliansemiaridregion AT berthyerpeixotodelima hydrologicalguidelinesforreservoiroperationtoenhancewatergovernanceapplicationtothebraziliansemiaridregion |
_version_ |
1716789120487915520 |