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Decision Support for Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) Project Planning to Mitigate Water Scarcity based on Non-conventional Water Resources
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Rahman, Mohammad Azizur |
| Copyright Year | 2011 |
| Abstract | The efficient integration into the water resources system and the implementation of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) facilities requires careful planning if the overall water resources management objectives are to be fulfilled. The conjunctive management of surface water, groundwater, and even waste water resources is the aim of any viable MAR system and this is achieved by controlled recharge of these various water resources and, if required, subsequent extraction. MAR is thus part of the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) concept yet until recently, the planning and management of MAR projects have lacked proper decision support and guidelines.For comprehensive support in MAR project planning under water scarce conditions, an innovative geospatial decision support system (G-DSS) has been developed within the scope of the European Research Project GABARDINE. The G-DSS contains the following system modules: (a) GIS-based DATA management module, (b) DPSIR module, (c) MAR PLANNING module, (d) Spatial Multi-Criteria-Analysis (MCA) module for MAR site selection, and (e) MCA module for comparison and ranking of MAR planning options.The objective of this dissertation is to present the development of a comprehensive decision framework for the planning of MAR projects under water scarce conditions, within the overall framework of the Gabardine project. A structured and standard planning framework was formulated, which served as a basis for the development of the G-DSS (mentioned above). The modules c, d, and e from the above paragraph were developed and introduced into the G-DSS. Once again, these modules are: (c) MAR PLANNING module, (d) Spatial MCA module for MAR site selection, and (e) MCA module for MAR option comparison and ranking. A further significant contribution was made concerning the development of the DPSIR module (b) of the G-DSS.The following are descriptions of the G-DSS modules developed under this dissertation: · The DPSIR (Driver, Pressure, State, Impact and Response) module facilitates the structuring of water resources problems by causal chain analysis and helps to determine potential response(s) and to spatially display the components of the problem. · The MAR planning module offers the explicit decision steps that are required to plan a project. The planning steps consist of checking the available water quantity and the required water quality. The selection of suitable locations together with relevant MAR technologies and planning options for construction and for project ranking are included. · An innovative Spatial Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (SMCDA) tool was developed to support MAR site selection, which is considered as a component of the planning tree for the system. The SMCDA tool is non-site specific, adaptive, and comprehensive, and may be applied to any type of site-selection problem. · The MCA module is able to consider a wide range of criteria and analysis techniques, namely the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) to perform the evaluation, comparison, and ranking of MAR planning optionsThe G-DSS considers important information on the water resources system, such as the water budget as well as the present and future water demand of the area. Integrated into ArcGIS, the G-DSS benefits from GIS procedures for spatial analysis, and the data herein may be processed and displayed. In order to use the modules and related components of the G-DSS, an interactive user-friendly interface was designed in the present work.In order to validate the newly developed MAR planning framework of the G-DSS and modules, which was created for this dissertation, the following four MAR planning tasks were focused on: (1) MAR pre-feasibility analysis, (2) Site selection and ranking, (3) Analysis, comparison, and ranking of MAR planning and management options, and (4) Soil-Aquifer-Treatment (SAT) system operation and impact assessment. In total five case studies, one in Bangladesh and three of the GABARDINE project were selected to evaluate the MAR planning tasks (1) to (4): (1) A MAR pre-feasibility analysis (MAR PLANNING module (c) and MAR planning task 1) in Dhaka, Bangladesh indicates the necessity of an extensive hydrological pre-study and a study of each component of the water resources system. This is important for the development of a tangible planning strategy at the very early stage of MAR project implementation. Dhaka, Bangladesh faces severe water supply problems related to groundwater over-exploitation. (2A) A practical application of the SMCDA tool (Site selection module (d) and MAR planning task 2) at Querenca Silves Aquifer in the Algarve Region indicates the efficiency of spatial MCA as a decision support (DS) tool towards the ranking and final selection of suitable MAR locations. (2B) A second application of the SMCDA tool at the northern Gaza Coastal Aquifer shows the flexibility of the developed tool. The MAR site and technology selection case study at the Gaza Strip shows that SMCDA analysis substantially benefits from the hydrogeological impact assessment that was supported by mathematical modeling techniques. (3) MAR management strategies for the northern Gaza strip were compared and ranked based on MCA analysis (MCA module (e) and MAR Planning Task 3). The most relevant decision criteria were selected and quantified in close cooperation with local stakeholders and decision makers. The most promising MAR planning and management strategies were identified. (4) In Southern Europe, an investigation was undertaken to demonstrate an integrated approach based on field investigations, laboratory and field experiments, and mathematical modeling to understand the impact of aquifer properties on the transport processes of emerging pollutants under soil aquifer treatment (MAR planning task 4). Based on the integrated approach, the study recommends further groundwater monitoring and optimized pond operation.The present work clearly suggests that the implementation of MAR is not only a local or site specific task, restricted to aquifer storage and water quality attenuation via recharge, but rather is part of a regional IWRM approach on basin scale. The MAR planning framework developed in this study and the conclusions drawn from the case studies facilitate decision makers in dealing with the non-straight forward decision-making process of MAR planning. The MAR planning workflow, an accompanying guideline and the G-DSS with its modules and functionalities, are generally conceptualized and, therefore, are applicable to any water scarcity affected region that is considering MAR implementation. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://ediss.uni-goettingen.de/bitstream/handle/11858/00-1735-0000-0006-B300-0/rahman.pdf?sequence=1 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
