Water management techniques in the Southern Maya Lowlands are both regionally diverse and site specific. This thesis examines the water management strategies of the Classic Period Maya at the site of Caracol, Belize. While it is likely that elites at Caracol controlled the redistribution of resources, i.e. craft and agricultural products, it is probable that the production of agricultural resources and the maintenance of water resource acquisition took place on a more local level. In order to test this hypothesis, a sample of five reservoirs were examined through original research -- and situated in conjunction with past settlement studies -- to determine the water storage capacity and likely function of different water management features throughout the built environment of Caracol. As a result, this thesis argues that the placement and construction of water management features -- i.e., reservoirs -- at the site of Caracol, Belize are indicative of specific landscape patterns which are expressed by a distinct vernacular construction style and are also a reflection of the socio-political organization present within the site during the Late Classic Period.

Access to high quality, reliable freshwater resources has been recognized as a global issue for decades and as the demand for water continues to grow, water management and sustainability issues have been pushed into the limelight. Despite this mounting pressure, variation in water use practices continues to persist, which contributes to both local and global water security challenges. Drawing on the environmental management literature, I noticed that the majority of the existing research focuses on the role of managerial demographics rather than on the process of how managers think, interpret, and act in strategic situations. Thus, in an effort to address this gap I adopted a qualitative research approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with managers at craft breweries in Alberta and California. My findings indicate that managerial sensemaking acts as a mediating process in a manager’s choice of water management strategy, ultimately influencing their brewery’s water use performance. And, that these relationships are affected by managerial characteristics as well as contextual factors. As the world’s demand for fresh water, and the number of people living in water stressed conditions continues to rise, these findings have important implications. By both extending and contributing to existing sensemaking and cognitive frame theory, my findings shed light on alternative cognitive determinants driving water use variation and thus support the development of more sustainable water management practices.

Many areas of the world are experiencing the effects of the water crisis. The water crisis is a widespread phenomenon whereby many regions are experiencing a shortage of water, lacking access to clean potable water. This study uses existing literature to examine the ways in which the ecological knowledge of ancient civilizations can be applied to modern water management in attempt to address the current water crisis. The literature reviewed for this study, stemming from notable books and peer reviewed journals, were published between 1882 and the present year. As part of a purposive sample, the following civilizations were chosen: Tenochtitlan (presently Mexico City), Angkor, and Petra. Past and present water management in the three locations are examined, as well as their impact on industry and social systems. Findings within the literature indicate that ancient methods of water management are able to provide water for populations of equal or greater size than their modern counterparts. Similarly, some studies have determined that modern water systems are problematic in their production of waste by-products, and inefficiency in water collection and distribution. The implications determined from the results of this study are discussed, as well as the limitations that arose throughout the review. The study seeks to fill the gap in literature connecting ancient water management techniques to modern practices, helping establish suggestions for reforms to address the current water crisis in the process.

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Due to inadequate long-term and large-scale observation approach for observation of soil moisture across the globe, this study intends to unveil the importance of using simulated soil moisture fields from land surface models, forced with observed precipitation and near-surface meteorology in monitoring drought and formulating effective water management practices for continued production irrigation applications. This study shows that socio-economic and ecosystem effects can be determined by evaluating spatial-temporal changes in irrigation applications. Thus, it facilitates understanding of the importance of water management and how water, energy, and carbon flows protect our climate and environment. By using Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) in monitoring soil moisture, the information obtained is critical in providing early drought warnings, particularly in those parts of the United States that experience flash agricultural droughts. Further, this study highlights that frequent and reliable soil moisture measurements from SMAP helped improve the predictive capability of weather and climate models.

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Thesis advisor: Noah Snyder / Rivers impounded by dams experience morphological changes that provide an opportunity to calculate reservoir sedimentation rates and relate them to watershed land-use history. In April 2023, 10 sediment cores were collected from 5 locations in Lake Seminole, Georgia. Analysis of loss on ignition (LOI), bulk density, elemental concentrations, and short-lived radionuclide geochronology aided in completing the following research objectives: correlating short and long sediment cores, determining whether the pre-dam sediment surface was reached at each location, measuring the sedimentation rates in the Chattahoochee and Flint arms of the reservoir, and evaluating the characteristics of each core in the context of its location and the history of Lake Seminole. This research explores how differences in river management, land use, and upstream geology in the watersheds have contributed to sedimentation differences in the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Morrissey School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors.

This thesis focuses on evaluation of joint occurrence of extreme precipitation and streamflow events at several hydrologic structures in South Florida. An analysis of twelve years storm events and their corresponding peak streamflow events during wet and dry season including annual peaks considering two seasons was performed first. Dependence analysis using time series data of precipitation and streamflow was carried out next. The analysis included use of storm events with different temporal lags from the time of occurrence of peak streamflow events. Bi-variate joint probability was found to be appropriate to analyze the joint occurrence of events. Evaluation of joint exceedence probabilities under two phases of Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) influencing south Florida was also evaluated. All methodologies are evaluated for application using observations at several structures in the case study region to provide advances and valuable insights on joint extremes of precipitation and streamflows. / by Chia-hung Lin. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Thesis (M. Tech. - (Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology))--Vaal University of Technology, 2010. / During the last few years, concern has been growing among many stakeholders all over the world about declining levels of surface water bodies accompanied by reduced water availability predominantly due to ever increasing demand and misuse. Furthermore, overexploitation of environmental resources and haphazard dumping of waste has made the little water remaining to be so contaminated that a dedicated rehabilitation/remediation of the environment is the only proactive way forward. River Rwizi Catchment is an environment in the focus of this statement. The overall objective of this research was to plan, restore and rationally allocate the water resources in any river basin with similar attributes to the study area. In this research, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) methodology was applied through Watershed/Basin Simulation Models for general river basins. The model chosen and used after subjection to several criteria was DHI Model, MIKE BASIN 2009 Version. It was then appropriately developed through calibration on data from the study catchment, input data formatting and its adaptation to the catchment characteristics. The methodology involved using spatio-temporal demographic and hydrometeorological data. It was established that the model can be used to predict the impact of projects on the already existing enviro-hydrological system while assigning priority to water users and usage as would be deemed necessary, which is a significant procedure in IWRM-based environmental rehabilitation/remediation. The setback was that the available records from the various offices visited had a lot of data gaps that would affect the degree of accuracy of the output. These gaps were appropriately infilled and gave an overall output that was adequate for inferences made therefrom. Several scenarios tested included; use and abstraction for the present river situation, the effect of wet/dry seasons on the resultant water available for use, and proposed projects being constructed on and along the river. Results indicated that the river had insufficient flow to sustain both the current and proposed water users. It was concluded that irrespective of over exploitation, lack of adequate rainfall was not a reason for the low discharge but rather the loss of rainwater as evaporation, storage in swamps/wetlands, and a considerable amount of water recharging groundwater aquifers. Thus, the proposed remedy is to increase the exploitation of the groundwater resource in the area and reduce the number of direct river water users, improve farming methods and conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water - the latter as a dam on River Rwizi. The advantage of the dam is that the water usage can be controlled as necessary in contrast to unregulated direct abstraction, thus reducing the risk of subsequent over-exploitation. / Vaal University of Technology