Extensive use of the Amudarya river waters for irrigation has severely impacted semi-natural ecosystems along its course and in its delta region. Currently, new strategies are searched for multi-user and multi-objective water management to mitigate ecological and socio-economic deterioration. The GIS-based modeling framework, TUGAI, has been developed to support exploration of alternative water management strategies for the Amudarya river delta and to analyze their ecological implications. Available information of heterogeneous type and quality on resource availability and habitat demands of deltaic ecosystems has been integrated into a comprehensive tool by a hybrid approach. A multi-objective water allocation model, AmuEPIC, has been combined with simple, spatially-explicit statistical and rule-based models of landscape dynamics, AmuGIS, and an ecological assessment procedure based on a fuzzy habitat suitability index model for riverine Tugai forests, TugaiHSI. Users can develop scenarios of alternative water management strategies for a time period of up to 30 years and compare their ecological effects. The tool facilitates a first quick assessment of the response of the delta environment to water management measures in a problem-oriented way. It assists in structuring the problem of water allocation to the environment, facilitates analysis of tradeoffs and uncertainties, fosters discussion between stakeholders and supports a goal finding process. Results of scenario analysis demonstrate solutions to given management tasks, which can serve as goals for implementation of measures in reality. First testing results indicate that there is a potential for increase of water discharge for environmental needs, while, at the same time, providing irrigation and other water users with sufficient water.

This thesis analyses the framing and exploitation of the ‘water security’ crisis triggered in Egypt by the construction the Gran Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) during the period of its construction (2011-2021). Through the analysis of members of the executive statements, policy documents, and actions on the ground, this study contributes to crisis exploitation theory by pointing at other categories that had allowed for policy change, such as funding and the influence of international organizations. This study shows that policy change allowed President al-Sisi to appear as the protector of the Nile, while Egypt came to position itself as an African leader in water management and environmental governance.

The impact of climate changes on various sectors of human activity and preparation of mitigation and adaptation measures are becoming an important subject of global policy, thus also the policy of the Czech Republic. According to the research results, the impact of climate changes on minimum discharges is very significant and indicates a threat to storage function of water sources, without adequate accumulation for period of drought. One of the ways of preventing or completely avoiding the appearance of these problems is the construction of new reservoirs or the re-evaluation of the size of the storage and protective capacity of existing reservoirs. In relation to climate changes and their impact on the water yield there is a growing need for the participation of operative control progressive methods of reservoir storage function today. The dissertation thesis is aimed at storage function of water management system. Aim of the dissertation work is to create program with graphical user interface, which allows solving the storage function of water management system. Program allows automatically set up optimization and simulation model of any water supply system and solve of optimal control and optimal development of the water supply system. The program was verified on the selected water supply subsystem.

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I Halmstad kommun har kunskapsnivån kring virtuellt vatten hos privatpersoner och/eller yrkesverksamma undersökts. En enkätundersökning har genomförts där 85 stycken respondenter har medverkat. Respondenterna har fått ange kön, ålder och utbildningsnivå för att kunna identifiera möjliga skillnader i förmågan att skatta virtuellt vatten. Enkäten innehöll även frågor om kommunikation som var ämnade att fastställa hur respondenterna föredrog att få ämnet virtuellt vatten kommunicerat till sig. Studien har visat att i Halmstad kommun finns där en tendens att underskatta mängden virtuellt vatten i produkter. Även den dagliga vattenförbrukningen nationellt och internationellt underskattas. Genom de utförda Chi2-testerna i kategorierna kön, ålder och utbildningsnivå har det visats att en fråga hade korrelation mellan kön och skattningsförmåga, medan resterande frågor inte visade på något samband. Det här skiljer sig gentemot tidigare forskning som gjorts kring privatpersoners förmåga att skatta sin vattenanvändning, där kategorierna högre ålder, att vara man och högre utbildning tydligt har varit korrelerat till en bättre skattningsförmåga. Vidare har produktmärkning, TV och sociala medier varit de föredragna kommunikationsmedierna i den här undersökningen, sett till respondenternas svar. För att öka kännedomen om virtuellt vatten har även förslag på en kommunikationsinsats kring virtuellt vatten utformats där sex kommunikationsmål och två slutmål har tagits fram för kommunikation om ämnet. Den här studien ger också en inblick i varför virtuellt vatten är en viktig aspekt för att uppnå Agenda 2030 samt hur en kommunikationsinsats kring virtuellt vatten kan vara en del av att uppnå en mer hållbar vattenhantering. / The knowledge about virtual water among private individuals and/or professionals have been researched in Halmstad municipality. A questionnaire survey has been conducted where 85 respondents participated. The respondents were asked to state their gender, age, and educational level so that differences concerning the perception of virtual water could be identified. The questionnaire also contained questions regarding how the respondent’s wanted information about their water usage communicated. This survey concluded that there is a tendency to underestimate the volume of virtual water in products in Halmstad municipality, as well as the daily virtual water usage both on a national and international scale. Through the performed Chi2-tests it has been shown that one question had a correlation between gender and the perception of virtual water, whilst the remaining questions related to their respective categories, gender, age, and education level, did not. This contrasts with previously conducted research about perception of water usage, where the categories higher age, being a male and higher educational level were related to a more correct water perception. Preferred ways to receive information about water usage have been shown to be through product labeling, TV, and social media. Efforts to communicate virtual water have been designed in this study in the form of six communication goals and two end goals to increase knowledge regarding the topic. It has been identified that virtual water is an important aspect to achieve Agenda 2030 as well as how communicational efforts regarding virtual water can be a part of achieving a more sustainable water management.

This research deals with setting up a GIS and hydrological modeling based approach for sustainable water resources management in the West Bank of Palestine. This water sustainability approach took into consideration the water balance, the social, the economic, the demographic, the environmental, and the institutional components in order to enhance and promote the sustainable development in Palestine, both on the short and long runs. To evaluate the water balance component, a methodology was introduced to create the Water Sustainability Map (WSM). Since the groundwater is currently the only accessible water source by the Palestinians, the WSM is represented by the Aquifer Sustainable Yield (ASY) which is equivalent to the annual renewable recharge of the various aquifer formations in the West Bank. The ASY was determined by integrating the watershed boundaries derived from the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with the available hydrological and meteorological data by using GIS. This GIS based approach was used to create the rainfall, evapo-transpiration, and runoff coverages by interpolating their values from the measured parameters. The total estimated ASY using this GIS approach was 679.7 MCM/Yr. which constituted the upper limit for the overall water use in all assumed future water demand scenarios. This approach fulfilled the demographic, social, and economic water sustainability components by proposing water demand scenarios for the period from 2005 to 2025 based on the gradual increase of population and their per capita water use, the available water infrastructure, and based on the value of water where priority was given to the household water use. This approach fulfilled the environmental dimension of water sustainability by studying the water quality and identifying the locations with high pollution indicators for various water use purposes and recommending ways to prevent the environmental degradation and groundwater pollution. This approach fulfilled the institutional dimension of water sustainability by reviewing the current institutions dealing with water management and distribution, recommending options to enhance their efficiency, and finally by proposing some options to save additional water in the West Bank.

This thesis develops a new abstraction for solving problems in decision automation. Decision automation is the process of creating algorithms which use data to make decisions without the need for human intervention. In this abstraction, four key ideas/problems are highlighted which must be considered when solving any decision problem. These four problems are the decision problem, the learning problem, the model reduction problem, and the verification problem. One of the benefits of this abstraction is that a wide range of decision problems from many different areas can be broken down into these four “key” sub-problems. By focusing on these key sub-problems and the interactions between them, one can systematically arrive at a solution to the original problem. Three new learning platforms have been developed in the areas of portfolio optimization, business intelligence, and automated water management in order to demonstrate how this abstraction can be applied to three different types of problems. For the automated water management platform a full solution to the problem is developed using this abstraction. This yields an automated decision process which decides how much water to release from the Piute Reservoir into the Sevier River during an irrigation season. Another motivation for developing these learning platforms is that they can be used to introduce students of all disciplines to automated decision making.

En stor del av jorden består av vatten och hela 7% av biodiversiteten på jorden är stödd av färskvattensystem. Detta gör dessa system till mycket värdefulla och det är viktigt att en hållbar utveckling främjas för att inte äventyra dessa system. Vattenkraft och dammar utgör idag ett av de största hoten för den biologiska mångfalden i sjöar och vattendrag. Då effekterna på miljön av vattenkraftverk blivit alltmer uppmärksammade och nya krav ställs på att vattenkraftverk ska följa EU:s miljökrav kommer avveckling och utrivning av vattenkraftverk och dammar troligtvis att bli vanligare. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur allmänheten ser på att avveckla och riva ut vattenkraften och dammar i Nyköpingsån, detta kan bidra med en bild av huruvida befolkningen bemöter förändring i närområdet och en förbättrad kunskap kring hur olika faktorer påverkar riskuppfattning hos medborgare. Enkätstudie har genomförts, enkäten har varit tillgänglig via internet och totalt kom 51 svar in. Datat analyserades med hjälp av korstabeller och chi-två test. Resultatet visade att det geografiska avståndet inte hade någon signifikant påverkan. Utbildningsnivån hade inte heller någon signifikant påverkan även om en något lägre riskuppfattning hos individer med högre utbildningsnivå fanns. Nuvarande elavtal hade en signifikant påverkan på riskuppfattningen. Studien visade att individer uppfattar risk på olika sätt, för framtida studier skulle det vara önskvärt att fördjupa med kvalitativ studie. / A large part of the earth consists of water and 7% of all biodiversity on earth is supported by freshwater systems. This makes these systems very valuable, and it is important that sustainable development is promoted as not to jeopardize these systems. Hydropower and dams are among the biggest threats to biodiversity in lakes and rivers. As the effects on the environment from hydropower gained more attention and new requirement are set on hydropower to meet EU: s environmental requirements, removal of hydropower and dams will likely become more common. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the public perceives the removal of hydropower and dams, this could contribute to a picture of how the public meets change in the local area and improve knowledge of how different factors affect the risk perception among citizens. A survey was conducted, the survey was accessible through internet and a total of 51 was received. The data were analysed with the help of crosstabs and chi-square test. The results showed that the geographical distance did not have a significant effect on risk perception. The level of education did not have a significant effect though a slightly lower risk perception among individuals with higher education levels existed. Currants electricity contract did have a significant effect on the risk perception.

This research paper fulfills the requirements of Geography 4C6. / This paper is an introductory study on the ability of a detention pond to reduce pollutant loading to a receiving water body. Three forms of water pollution are analysed in this study, trace metal (V, Ti and Mn in the water and on suspended solids and bottom sediments), organic and bacterial (bacterial indicators of fecal coliform and fecal streptococci are utilized) pollutants. Each pollutant type requires a different form of analysis to obtain concentrations for targeted pollutants. V, Ti and Mn concentrations were obtained from Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA), organic concentrations were acquired by Electron Capture Gas Chromatography (ECGC) and bacterial concentrations were obtained from various laboratory techniques performed by technicians in the Microbiology Lab at McMaster University and in the Provincial Health Laboratories in Hamilton, Ontario. Suspended solid concentration are also analysed to determine the pond's effectiveness in reducing suspended solids load and thus the pollutants they carry. The Storm Water Management Model was used to estimate total pollutant loading into the pond via a combined sewer overflow (CSO). The pollutant concentrations obtained were analysed spatially through the sampling network and temporally between sampled dry and wet weather periods. The result of this study has led to the disturbing conclusion that the detention pond appears to have little or no effect on enhancing water quality. / Thesis / Bachelor of Science (BSc)

Cities worldwide are facing problems to mitigate the impact of urban stormwater runoff caused by the increasing occurrence of heavy rainfall events and urban re-densification. This study presents a new approach for estimating the potential of the Management of Urban STormwater at Block-level (MUST-B) by decentralized blue-green infrastructures here called low-impact developments (LIDs) for already existing urban environments. The MUST-B method was applied to a study area in the northern part of the City of Leipzig, Germany. The Study areas was divided into blocks smallest functional units and considering two different soil permeability and three different rainfall events, seven scenarios have been developed: current situation, surface infiltration, swale infiltration, trench infiltration, trough-trench infiltration, and three different combinations of extensive roof greening, trough-trench infiltration, and shaft infiltration. The LIDs have been simulated and their maximum retention/infiltration potential and the required area have been estimated together with a cost calculation. The results showed that even stormwater of a 100 year rainfall event can be fully retained and infiltrated within the blocks on a soil with low permeability (kf = 10−6 m/s). The cost and the required area for the LIDs differed depending on the scenario and responded to the soil permeability and rainfall events. It is shown that the MUST-B method allows a simple down- and up-scaling process for different urban settings and facilitates decision making for implementing decentralized blue-green-infrastructure that retain, store, and infiltrate stormwater at block level.