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This paper develops a discharge allocation model for public water supply for a set of communities, considering available and planned reservoirs and interbasin transfer projects. Reservoir operation rules were defined for maximum water withdrawals in function of the storage volume over a period of 45 years, and then the discharges to be transported from the different sources to 18 locations were defined, minimizing the costs. Generalized Reduced Gradient and Particle Swarm Optimization algorithms were used in the optimization processes. The model was applied in the Agreste region of the state of Pernambuco, Brazilian semiarid. This region has the worst water balance in the entire country and three interbasin water transfer systems are under construction. Due to the interconnection among the systems, it will be possible to supply the communities from one or another source. The results showed that the optimized operation of the reservoirs can minimize water transfer and costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large volumes of water evaporate from reservoirs in arid and semi-arid regions. Such water losses are substantial in the regional water balance, and must be considered in the management of water resources. This paper evaluates 12 reservoir evaporation methods that are applied to calculate daily evaporation from Karkheh reservoir (Iran) created by the world's sixth largest dam. The Bowen ratio energy budget (BREB) formula is chosen as the reference method for the purpose of evaluating 12 alternative evaporation methods. The evaporation methods are ranked based on their accuracy, sensitivity to input variables, and simplicity of application by means of the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) multi-criteria decision analysis method. Our results from a multi-year data set for Karkheh reservoir indicate that the best-ranked methods by TOPSIS considering the performance indices are the solar radiation-temperature based methods and the Blaney and Criddle method that is based on temperature and daylight duration variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various ancient Iranian technologies for water harvesting and use remain relevant today for coexisting with the desert, while guaranteeing sustainable long-term development. This paper discusses innovations by traditional communities in ancient Siraf for efficient management and use of its limited water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent efforts have been concentrated in the development of models to understand and predict the impact of environmental changes on hydrological cycle and water resources in arid and semi-arid regions. In this context, remote sensing data have been widely used to initialize, to force, or to control the simulations of these models. However, for several reasons, including the difficulty in establishing relationships between observational and model variables, the potential offered by satellite data has not been fully used. As a matter of fact, a few hydrological studies that use remote sensing data emanating from different sources (sensors, platforms) have been performed. In this context, the SUDMED programme has been designed in 2002 to address the issue of improving our understanding about the hydrological functioning of the Tensift basin, which is a semi-arid basin situated in central Morocco. The first goal is model development and/or refinement, for investigating the hydrological responses to future scenario about climate change and human pressure. The second aim is the effective use of remote sensing observations in conjunction with process models, to provide operational prognostics for improving water-resource management. The objective of this paper is to present the SUDMED programme, its objectives, and its thrust areas, and to provide an overview of the results obtained in the first phase of the programme (2002-2006). Finally, the lessons learned, future objectives, and unsolved issues are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]