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Purpose Gaya, the holy city of Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, is facing an acute shortage of potable water. Although the city is blessed with some static and dynamic water bodies all around the region, they do not fulfill the requirement of millions of public either inhabitants of the area or tourists or pilgrims flocking every day. Countless crowds, congested roads, swarming pedestrians, innumerable vehicles moving throughout the day and night have made the city into a non-livable one. The present status of surface water is a mere nightmare to the requirements of the people. Due to which, massive ground water pumping mostly illegally has added a grid in addition to the other socio-economic issues. Design/methodology/approach To focus on such problem, the ground water of the region was studied thoroughly by calculating the depth of water level, discharge, pre-and post-monsoon water table and specifically the storativity in ten different locations. Some data were acquired, others were assessed, and few are calculated to provide an overall view of the ground water scenario. Findings After a long and tedious field study, it was finally established from that static water level ranges from 2.45 to 26.59 m, below ground level (bgl), discharge varies from 3.21 m3/day to 109.32 m3/day. Post pumping drawdown falls between 0.93 m and 16.59 m, whereas the specific capacity lies in between 0.96 and 7.78 m3/hr/m. Transmissivity, which is a key objective to assess ground water potential ranges from 109.8 to 168.86 m2/day. Originality/value This research work is original.

Hydropower can be harnessed by installing in-pipe turbines with the reduced cost compared with hydropower dam construction. Legedadi Water Supply Scheme is found in Addis Ababa and is fed by gravity. This research assesses the hydropower potential of the existing large water transmission pipelines in line with their financial viability. The research required the collection of data from pipe flow (for 29 years from the system record) and pipe layout drawings believed to be useful for estimating the power. The available pipe layout drawing was processed to prepare a profile view with the help of AutoCAD CIVIL 3D. From the profile view, the gross heads and length of the pipelines were obtained. The exploitable power and financial viability of the projects were estimated by RET Screen software. The raw water main (DN1200) was discovered to have a head of 12.46 m and to convey up to 1.47 m3/s at 90% exceedance over a length of 550 m. The two treated water mains have a head of 19.15 m with a flow of 1.14 m3/s at 90 % exceedance via DN1200 and 0.29 m3/s at 90% exceedance via DN900 over a length of 18.4 km. The most suitable sites for the installation of turbines were at the inlet of the treatment plant and the Kotebe Terminal Reservoir. The Toshiba Hydro-eKIDS turbine was selected since it might work efficiently with large flow variation.The annual energy output from the raw water main to be obtained was 1,208 Mwh,with an estimated cost of $461,000 and an annual savings or revenue of $75,946. For the treated water mains, 1,193 Mwh (DN1200) and 344 Mwh (DN900) could be extracted with an estimated cost of 414,500$ (DN1200) and 135,900$ (DN900). The annual revenue for treated water mains is 75,068$ (DN1200) and that for DN900 is 18,842$.

Purpose To assess the impacts of climate change on stream flow and evaluation of reservoir performances, reliability, resilience and vulnerability (RRV) indices are contemplated. Precipitation, temperature (Tmax, Tmin), relative humidity and solar radiation are the hydrological and meteorological data which have been used extensively. Climate data like RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 were evaluated for the base period 1976–2005 and future climate scenario for 2021–2050 and 2051–2080 as per the convenience. Design/methodology/approach The hydrologic engineering center hydrologic modeling system (HEC-HMS) model was used to simulate the current and future inflow volume into the reservoir. The model performance resulted as 0.76 Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), 0.78 R2 and −3.17 D and during calibration the results obtained were 0.8 NSE, 0.82 R2 and 2.1 D. The projected climate scenario illustrates an increasing trend for both maximum and minimum temperature though a decreasing trend was documented for precipitation. The average time base reliability of the reservoirs was less than 50% without reservoir condition and greater than 50% for other conditions but volumetric reliability and resilience varies between 50% and 100% for all conditions. The vulnerability result of reservoirs may face shortage of flow ranging from 5.7% to 33.8%. Findings Evaluating reservoir simulation and hydropower generation for different climate scenarios by HEC-ResSim model, the energy generated for upper dam ranges from 349.4 MWhr to 331.2 MWhr and 4045.82 MWhr and 3946.74 MWhr for short and long-term future scenario, respectively. RCP for Tmax and Tmin goes on increasing whereas precipitation and inflow to reservoir decreases owing to increase in evapotranspiration. Under diverse climatic conditions power production goes on varying simultaneously. Originality/value This paper is original and all the references are properly cited.

Engineering studies of water resources development and management heavily depends on hydro-meteorological data. Some of the errors, manual or machine, might exist in the stream flow observation that we collect from different organizations. The main objective of this study was to identify the implications of hydro-meteorological data quality on water resources planning in Weito Watershed. Hydrological and meteorological data of 1985-2011 were collected from MoWIE and NMA. Grubbs T-test was used for identifying outliers in the observed data. In addition, F and t-test for stability of variance and mean were carried out, respectively. Estimation of D-days average minimum flow was also done. Based on 1985-2011 hydro-meteorological data, Grubbs T-value, F-test, and t-test yielded value of 2.86, 0.897 and -0.05, respectively. This indicates, stability of the historical data against mean and variance with no or insignificant outlying values. During the identified dry periods, average minimum flow during 7, 15, and 30 days showed water availability above 5m3/s in the river. The statistical data analysis test and D-days average minimum flow indicated no inflated historical data problem in Weito gauged near bridge. However, the local community did not agree with the results obtained. Therefore, we strictly recommend stake holders, research institutions, and organizations to further verify the quality of these data.

In this study, Revised Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was used to quantify the potential soil erosion in Weito Watershed. Rainfall data, soil data, DEM data and landuse-land cover data were used as input data sets to generate RUSLE factor values. RUSLE factors such as R_ the erosivity factor, K_the soil erodibility factor, LS_ thetopographic factor, C_ the crop management factor, and P_ the conservation support practice was analyzed and superimposed using raster calculator in ArcGIS10.1 to estimate and map the annual soil loss. The results showed annual soil loss ranging from 0 to 210 tons/ha and mean annual soil loss rate of 110ton/ha/yr. The annual soil loss rate in the western and south western part of the watershed was mainly identified as high and severe and hence, requires special attention with an immediate soil conservation practice.

Gondwana study terrain of Orissa, India has diverse geological, geophysical, hydrological, hydrogeological and meteorological information which have been integrated for extensive study. The study aims at acknowledging the geology and hydrogeology of the region backing up with the type and existence of aquifers around the region. To get the detailed features 225 observation wells, 40 National Hydrograph Network Stations (NHNS), 40 groundwater monitoring (GWM) stations and 83 exploratory wells were collected from different sources to analyse the groundwater occurrence in the study area. The data obtained were integrated and initiated for lithological distribution, groundwater flow directions, depth to water levels in pre- and post-monsoon. Limited aquifer thickness of unconfined aquifer and poor yield from deeper aquifers has been studied intricately. Groundwater occurrence has provided a paradigm to in-depth study in association with detailed lateral and vertical demarcation and behaviour of aquifers. Taking into consideration about lithology, the area can be hydrogeologically divided into consolidated, semiconsolidated and unconsolidated zones. The semi and unconsolidated zones are the groundwater potential zones where the aquifer remains under saturated condition. Though semiconsolidated zones bear abundant volume of water but hydrological parameters illustrate that they do have the potentiality for shallow water wells whereas the fissured and fractured zones in consolidated formations yield perennial source of groundwater illustrating deep borings.

Borehole samples drilled up to a depth of 10 m provide a clear understanding whether a foundation is safe for any structure. The main objective of the present study reconnoitered the soil bearing capacity and foundation settlement characteristics using the standard penetration test (SPT) data obtained from 3 boreholes at 1 m, 2 m, and 3 m depths to correlate soil properties and deterrents, if any, created by groundwater. The methodology of the research is to collect soil samples, and ensuing subsoil analysis was performed in order to obtain concrete information to optimize the foundation system within the safe bearing capacity of soil and its allowable settlement. The scope of the work encompasses conducting detailed soil investigation from drilling logs, laboratory testing, and conducting and estimating safe bearing capacity. The result of the research aims at providing safety to the foundation from the investigations of conclusive recommendation to be adopted which would be economically feasible and structurally secured.

Burning paddy remains after harvesting by the farmers not only degrades the soil quality but also affects the physical and engineering properties of soil. The aim of this study is to quantify the phenomenal alterations in quality of soil attributable to stubble burnings by farmers in the district of Amritsar in Punjab state, India. A set of samples were collected from three locations randomly chosen within the study area and appropriate laboratory tests were carried out on eight soil property indicators. To quantify changes in the engineering properties of the soil, standard proctor test, direct shear test and unconfined compression tests were performed on the soil samples. In this study, some substantial changes were observed in liquid limit, plastic limit, optimum moisture content and specific gravity in the post stubble burning. Liquid limit, plastic limit and optimum moisture content of soil reduced in all the areas whereas, specific gravity decreased in some areas and remained virtually unchanged in one. The results also illustrate decline of direct shear test where cohesion of soil decreased by 5.68KN/m2 and angle of internal friction increased by 0.80° whereas, dry density was changed by + 0.95KN/m3. In unconfined compression test, compressive strength of soil was changed by + 2.5KN/m2 after stubble burning. From the observations it can be concluded that stubble burning not only puts adverse effect on the index properties of soil but also the engineering properties change considerably. We recommend geoscientists to think of the radical change in the index and engineering properties of soil related to the reduction of soil fertility.

Land use/land cover (LULC) change is one of the important factors which have direct impacts on watershed hydrology. The impact of LULC change on streamflow of Upper Awash watershed was carried out using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The LULC change analysis was performed by using unsupervised classification method using Earth Resources Data Analysis System (ERDAS) imagine 8.5 software. The study results showed that the watershed experienced significant LULC change during 1986 to 2009. SWAT model was calibrated for periods 1986 to 1999 and validated for the periods 2000 to 2009. SWAT model was calibrated and validated for the sensitivity of streamflow parameters. Consequently, ten parameters were identified to be sensitive. Further, this model was utilized to assess the impact of LULC change on streamflow for period 1986 to 2009. The result showed that there was a reasonable agreement between observed and simulated streamflow with coefficient of determination (R2) and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency values 0.86 and 0.77 for calibration, and 0.84 and 0.76 for validation, respectively. The evaluation of SWAT hydrologic response unit (HRU) due to LULC change showed that monthly streamflow was increased by 16.13 % in wet months and decreased by 20.8 % in dry months between the years 1986 and 2000. While between the year 2000 and 2009, it was increased by 0.92 % and 5.82 % for wet and dry months, respectively. Similarly, surface runoff was found increased and groundwater decreased during the study period. Further, the calibrated model can be utilized to understand risk and reliability of different structures and analysis of climate change, water quality, and sediment yield. Hence, this type of study can be useful for sustainable development in the Upper Awash basin as well as in other regions of Ethiopia.