scholarly journals Infrastructure for water security: coping with risks in rural Kenya

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-489
Author(s):  
Leigh C. Hamlet ◽  
Mark Mwiti Kamui ◽  
Jessica Kaminsky
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Rural Kenya

Abstract Achieving universal access to sufficient water is becoming more challenging as climate change exacerbates water insecurity. Previous studies of water insecurity and climate-related hazards recommend understanding how people perceive and manage water-related risks. By uniquely combining protection motivation theory and photovoice, we explore water infrastructure's function in rural Kenyan households’ perception and mitigation of water-related risk. We find that infrastructure construction provides a sense of security, regardless of long-term management plans. During the dry season, built infrastructure's viability to mitigate risk is strained due to natural infrastructure's unreliability. In the context of limited built infrastructure, natural infrastructure, though unimproved, is necessary for water security. In the expected absence of large-scale infrastructure projects, for water authorities in rural Kenya, we recommend the construction of small-scale infrastructure to increase reliance upon rainwater harvesting and lessen the strain on other built infrastructure during the dry season. Coupling our method with an itemized scale can help explain discrepancies between actual insecurity and individuals’ responses to help water authorities predict interventions’ effectiveness and inform the division of responsibilities in policies intended to promote sustainable infrastructure management. We also recommend our method for assessing water infrastructure's role among households managing multiple climate-related risks to expand the resilience of the infrastructure.

scholarly journals A Review of Roof and Pond Rainwater Harvesting Systems for Water Security: The Design, Performance and Way Forward

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3163
Author(s):  
Husnna Aishah Zabidi ◽  
Hui Weng Goh ◽  
Chun Kiat Chang ◽  
Ngai Weng Chan ◽  
Nor Azazi Zakaria
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Harvesting Systems ◽  
Alternative Water ◽  
The Many ◽  
Equatorial Climate

Rapid urbanization, population explosion and climate change have threatened water security globally, regionally and locally. While there are many ways of addressing these problems, one of the innovative techniques is the recent employment of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) which include rainwater harvesting systems (RWHS). Therefore, this paper reviews the design and component of two types of RWHS, the namely roof harvesting system (RHS) and the pond harvesting system (PHS). The performance in terms of quantity and quality of collected rainwater and energy consumption for RWHS with different capacities were evaluated, as well as the benefits and challenges particularly in environmental, economic and social aspects. Presently, the RHS is more commonly applied but its effectiveness is limited by its small scale. The PHS is of larger scale and has greater potentials and effectiveness as an alternative water supply system. Results also indicate the many advantages of the PHS especially in terms of economics, environmental aspects and volume of water harvested. While the RHS may be suited to individual or existing buildings, the PHS has greater potentials and should be applied in newly developed urban areas with wet equatorial climate.

scholarly journals Water Security and Local People Sensitivity to Climate Variability and Change Among Coastal Communities in Zanzibar

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makame Omar Makame ◽  
Richard Y.M. Kangalawe
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Hard Water ◽  
Coastal Communities ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Local Climate

This paper presents one part of a larger, multidimensional study on the vulnerability of Zanzibar coastal communities to climate change and other stressors, focusing on water insecurity in two sites on the Zanzibar coast. Water security is composed of three components, namely water availability, water accessibility and the quality of available water. Findings from the study showed that water from wells is the major source of household water since tap water supply is often erratic. Farming systems are completely rain-fed, while some livestock owners use coral caves as the main source of water for their animals. Water quality is a major challenge along the coast as the majority of wells and coral caves in the study sites contain hard water with varying levels of salinity. A diversity of physical and social factors such as variability in water supply infrastructure, settlement structure, poverty, geology and geohydrology, variability in supply and poor water resource management adversely interact with local climate phenomena such as sea level rise, salt water incursion and drought to intensify water insecurity along the Zanzibar coast. Among the policy options to address these challenges would be to promote rainwater harvesting and increased utilisation of underground water for irrigation in the dry areas in order to increase agricultural production and reduce poverty.

scholarly journals Modelling Small-scale Storage Interventions in Semi-Arid India at the Basin Scale

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Horan ◽  
Pawan Wable ◽  
Veena Srinivasan ◽  
Helen Baron ◽  
Virginie D. J. Keller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Step Change ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Hydrological Models ◽  
Check Dams ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Scale Modelling ◽  
Local Water ◽  
The Impact

Recently, there has been renewed interest in the performance, functionality, and sustainability of traditional small-scale storage interventions (check dams, farm bunds and tanks) used across India for the improvement of local water security. The Central Groundwater Board of India is en-couraging the construction of such interventions for the alleviation of water scarcity. It is of critical importance to understand the hydrological effect of these interventions at basin scales to maximise their effectiveness. The quantification of small-scale interventions in hydrological modelling is often neglected, especially in large-scale modelling exercises. A bespoke version of the GWAVA model was developed to assess the impact of interventions on the water balance of the Cauvery Basin and two smaller sub-catchments. Model results demonstrate that farm bunds appear to have a negligible effect on the estimated average annual simulated streamflow at the outlets of the two sub-catchments and the basin whereas tanks and check dams have a more significant effect. In-terventions generally were found to increase evaporation losses across the catchment. The model adaption used in this study provides a step-change in the conceptualisation and quantification of the consequences of small-scale storage interventions in large- or basin-scale hydrological models.

scholarly journals The application of science to the management of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): integration across scales

1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (S1) ◽  
pp. 303-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D Armstrong ◽  
James WA Grant ◽  
Harvey L Forsgren ◽  
Kurt D Fausch ◽  
Richard M DeGraaf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Salmon ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Scale Effects ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Broad Scale ◽  
The Way

The need for integration across spatial and temporal scales in applying science to the management of Atlantic salmon is considered. The factors that are currently believed to affect the production of anadromous adult Atlantic salmon (synthesized from recent reviews) are arranged in a hierarchy in which any given process overrides those processes at lower levels. There is not a good correlation between levels in the process hierarchy and levels in hierarchies of scale. This demonstrates the importance of integrating across scales in identifying the optimum foci for targeting management action. It is not possible to generalize on the need for integration across scales within management plans. This is because of the complex ecology of salmon, the broad range of characteristics of the systems of which they are a part, and the fact that both local scale and broad scale management can have broad scale effects. Many uncertainties remain regarding the large-scale components of the ecology of salmon, the way that small-scale mechanisms interact with life histories, and the way that different factors interact to limit production of fish. When more is understood of these processes, it is likely that generalized rules might be developed to predict the management requirements for stream systems. In the meantime, it is essential that there is good integration among managers working at different scales and it is important that management systems operating at all spatial scales include high-calibre expertise to compensate for the present paucity of general rules.

Installation of blue-green solutions at large scale to mitigate pluvial floods

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Cristiano ◽  
Stefano Farris ◽  
Roberto Deidda ◽  
Francesco Viola
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Scale Effects ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Green Roofs ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Harvesting Systems

<p><strong> </strong>The growth of urbanization and the intensification of extreme rainfall events, that has characterized the last century, are leading to an increase of pluvial floods, which are becoming a significant problem in many cities. Among the different solutions proposed and developed to mitigate flood risk in urban areas, green roofs and rainwater harvesting systems have been deeply investigated to reduce the runoff contribution generated from rooftops. These tools have been largely studied at small scale, analysing the flood reduction that can be achieved from one single building or in a small neighbourhood, without considering the large-scale effects. In this work, the potential impact of the installation of green-blue solutions on all the rooftops of a city is evaluated, assuming to place green roofs on flat roofs and rainwater harvesting systems on sloped ones. We investigated nine cities from 5 different countries (Canada, Haiti, United Kingdom, Italy and New Zealand), representing different climatological and geomorphological characteristics. The behaviour of the blue-green solution was estimated with the help of a conceptual lumped ecohydrological model and the mass conservation, using rainfall and temperature time series as climatological input to derive the discharge reduction for different scenarios. Due to the high percentage of sloped roofs in most of the investigated locations, the cost-efficiency analysis highlights that the large-scale installation of rainwater harvesting tanks enables to achieve higher mitigation capacity than green roofs at lower cost. Green roofs, however, present many additional benefits (such as biodiversity contribution, thermal insulation for buildings, pollution reduction and increase of aesthetic added value) that need to be evaluated by urban planners and policy makers. The best achievable performance is given by the coupled system of rainwater harvesting tanks and intensive green roofs: for extreme rainfall events this solution guarantees a discharge reduction up to 20% in most of the cities.</p>

Representing Small- Scale Storage Interventions Across the Cauvery Catchment Using a Macro- Scale Gridded Water Resource Model and Quantifying Their Effect on Catchment Hydrology.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Horan ◽  
Pawan Wable ◽  
Veena Srinivasan ◽  
Helen Baron ◽  
Virginie Keller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Catchment Hydrology ◽  
Check Dams ◽  
Macro Scale ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Availability Assessment

<p>Recently, there has been renewed interest in the utilisation of traditional small-scale storage interventions (check dams, field bunds and tanks) across India for the improvement of local water security. The Central Groundwater Board of India is encouraging the construction of interventions, such as check dams, field bunds and tanks, as the primary policy for the alleviation of water scarcity. It is of critical importance to understand the hydrological effect of these interventions at the small- and large-scale to maximise their impact and effectiveness. The quantification of small- scale interventions in hydrological modelling is often neglected, especially in large- scale modelling exercises. Although individually small, cumulatively these interventions may have a large effect on basin hydrology.  A bespoke version of the Global Water AVailability Assessment (GWAVA) model was developed to incorporate the impact of interventions on the hydrology. Interventions were conceptualised within the model structure using local knowledge, observed data and adaptations of existing reservoir representations. The effect of interventions on the water balance of the Cauvery Basin (81 000 km<sup>2</sup>), Peninsula India, and various small sub-catchments (each approximately 3500 km<sup>2</sup>) was studied. To quantify the impact of small interventions, two model runs were generated. An initial simulation was performed including a representation of the check dams, field bunds and tanks thought to be within the catchments, and compared with a “reference” simulation where no interventions were included but instead were replaced by grassland. The percentage difference for each component of the water balance was determined as an indicator of the impact of the interventions. The inclusion of interventions increases the total annual evaporation across the basin and reduces the annual streamflow. Although the interventions are constructed to provide increased surface and groundwater storage within the agricultural and urban areas, the implementation resulted in a significant decrease in total annual water storage within the sub- catchments. The aquifer levels rise minimally in the eastern sub-catchments and exhibit no change in the western sub- catchments. The aquifer levels in the mid- basin remained unchanged with the implantation of interventions.  Although the implementation of interventions are thought to increase the availability of groundwater at a local scale by upwards of two meters, the investigation using GWAVA suggest that aquifer levels are minimally affected. Based on the current understanding of interventions and the catchment hydrology, the wider effects of interventions on the water balance could be more detrimental to surface water security than anticipated and, thus, may not alleviate water poverty. The uncertainty related to the input data on interventions in the Cauvery may have affected the findings and thus further studies in regions with sufficient data availability and varying climate conditions may provide additional insight into the small- and large-scale effects of interventions.</p>

scholarly journals How is water security conceptualized and practiced for rural livelihoods in the global South? A systematic scoping review

Water Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameer H. Shah
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Global South ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Solution Strategies ◽  
Related Risk

Abstract In the global South, rural and resource-based livelihoods increasingly face water-related risks. The conceptualization and application of the water security concept in relation to rural livelihoods has not been reviewed in this context. To fill this gap, a systematic scoping review of refereed journal articles (2000–2019) was conducted to examine how water security is defined, driven, and addressed for rural livelihoods in the global South. Publications (n = 99) featured diverse methodologies and geographical contexts, and recognized simultaneous drivers of water insecurity and solution strategies for water security. Several shortcomings were evident. First, only 30.3% of publications defined the concept, mostly using frames of ‘adequate’, ‘sufficient’, and ‘acceptable’ water-related risks. Few definitions recognized the role of water security interventions in increasing capabilities and prosperity. Second, technical and managerial responses to proximate drivers of water-related risk – namely climate-related dynamics, water re-allocation, extraction, and mismanagement – outnumbered efforts to identify and transform the underlying social, economic, and political inequities that create and sustain water insecurity. Last, studies focused heavily on agriculture, while labour, transhumance pastoralism, and aquaculture were underrepresented. A research agenda that increases the synergies between the wider water security and rural livelihoods scholarship is advanced to address these shortcomings.

Discovering News Frames

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loretta H. Cheeks ◽  
Tracy L. Stepien ◽  
Dara M. Wald ◽  
Ashraf Gaffar
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Data Mining ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Online News ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Supervised Machine Learning ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
News Content ◽  
Mathematical Techniques

The Internet is a major source of online news content. Current efforts to evaluate online news content including text, storyline, and sources is limited by the use of small-scale manual techniques that are time consuming and dependent on human judgments. This article explores the use of machine learning algorithms and mathematical techniques for Internet-scale data mining and semantic discovery of news content that will enable researchers to mine, analyze, and visualize large-scale datasets. This research has the potential to inform the integration and application of data mining to address real-world socio-environmental issues, including water insecurity in the Southwestern United States. This paper establishes a formal definition of framing and proposes an approach for the discovery of distinct patterns that characterize prominent frames. The authors' experimental evaluation shows the proposed process is an effective approach for advancing semi-supervised machine learning and may assist in advancing tools for making sense of unstructured text.

scholarly journals Sand Dams as a Potential Solution to Rural Water Security in Drylands: Existing Research and Future Opportunities

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Ritchie ◽  
Jessica A. Eisma ◽  
Alison Parker
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Harvesting Technique

Sand dams, a rainwater harvesting technique, are small dams constructed across ephemeral streams. During the rainy season, water is stored in the sand that accumulates behind the dam. Sand dams provide communities in drylands with water during the dry season via scoop holes, pools, and shallow wells. Whilst many studies portray sand dams as a positive solution to the growing threat of dryland water insecurity, others highlight their challenges, including poor water quality, evaporation and leakage from some dams, and the contested failure rate and ability of dams to provide water year-round. This article reviews the peer-reviewed and gray literature on sand dams discovered through Scopus and Google Scholar searches, reference lists, and personal contacts. Findings from the collected literature were reviewed and categorized into sand dam hydrology, health and well-being impacts, economic cost and benefits, and water quality topics. In most numerical simulations, sand dams supply water to the local community throughout much of the dry season and exhibit a long-term positive impact on groundwater. Accounts of water storage and loss based on field measurements, conversely, often show that most water is lost due to evapotranspiration and seepage from the sand reservoir rather than community use. Furthermore, the positive impact on local groundwater storage, while variable, is likely seasonal. Sand dams are relatively affordable to build; construction estimates range from 6,000 to 8,500 EUR. However, existing literature suggests that sand dams are likely not a cost-efficient means of supplying water. Nevertheless, successful sand dams can significantly increase water availability and use, whilst reducing traveling time for water collection, subsequently providing a host of secondary benefits from improved hygiene, economic opportunity, and education. Positive impacts, however, are not equally shared and depend on variables, such as abstraction method, catchment, and household location. Furthermore, their water quality is variable, with high microbiological levels detected especially in scoop holes. Whilst sand dams can increase water security and resilience, they may not be an inclusive solution for all. More research is needed to assess the long-term sustainability of sand dams while accounting for the uncertainty of a changing climate.

scholarly journals Analyzing Growth-Track and Uncertainties in Asia’s Irrigated Areas

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ajaz
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Dispersion Analysis ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
National Statistics ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Global Datasets

Asia holds 70% of global irrigated areas which accounts for 62% of world food demand. Reliable information regarding irrigated areas are of crucial importance for effective future planning. National datasets for irrigated areas, collected by different agencies, e.g. statistical agency, agriculture department, irrigation authorities often vary from each other, while global datasets such as FAO’s show a huge divergence with remote sensing estimates of irrigated areas. Confusions about the accuracy and reliability of data could jeopardize the effectiveness of future policies aiming at securing food production for rapidly growing population of Asia. Without having consistent and dependable data of such a basic input, food and water security of Asian nations would be at stake. In addition, global commitments such as SDGs, climate change, increasing domestic and industrial water demand and ecological concerns would also put more pressure on irrigated agriculture. In this study, a detailed analysis has been conducted for the growth track of irrigated areas in Asia, with the purpose to understand the development of different types of irrigation, investments, trends and resilience of irrigated agriculture against major climate events over the time. Secondly, comprehensive comparison has been made within national statistics, FAO’s data and high resolution irrigated area maps (up to 250m) from IWMI (International Water Management Institute) together with other available raster datasets. Variations in data have been estimated using different statistical tools while distribution and dispersion analysis has also been made to look into the extent of irrigated areas in different climatic regions and to find country wise clusters/patterns of large, medium and small scale irrigation schemes. Furthermore, country’s reporting methods have been investigated thoroughly for the limitations and strengths of existing data collection mechanisms to find the possible loop holes, which might induce uncertainty in data. Results of the study showed a 15% average decline per decade in irrigated areas growth in Asia for last 50 years, while focus on rehabilitation of old infrastructure and implementation of climate smart irrigation has been relatively increased. Uncertainty analysis indicated significant difference in irrigated areas information collected from different sources. Remote sensing estimates were found 96% higher than country estimates on an average, while dispersion analysis showed 300 M ha of non-reported irrigated areas in large scale irrigated schemes for Asia. Qualitative analysis of irrigated areas’ reporting mechanisms showed that mostly traditional statistical methods are used by data collection agencies, e.g. sample surveys based on farmer interviews and global datasets also receive their information from same agencies. Reliability of these methods have been scaled by developing a scoring mechanism by using a quantitative analysis approach. On the other hand, implications of uncertainty came up with some critical questions, i.e. what is the actual annual land productivity? what about per capita irrigated areas? What is the actually utilized irrigation potential? Consequently this study has been concluded by putting forward some genuine facts and recommendations to improve the existing reporting systems of irrigated areas information and to look for imminent role of remote sensing to compare the national statistics with ground facts.

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