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Cities in South America face many of the urban water supply challenges experienced globally including increasingly extreme future hydroclimatic conditions and rapid population growth. These challenges are further exacerbated by historical socioeconomic inequity, informal land occupation, and poor water services management. In recent years, decision support tools that aid in structuring water supply management and infrastructure pathway policies that remain robust under deeply uncertain future scenarios have been developed. However, within the context of developing countries, failing to acknowledge the complex social and institutional dynamics and stark differences in residents' experiences of climate extremes may lead to uneven adaptation capacities across socioeconomic strata. Toward this end, our study extends the deeply uncertain pathways framework by applying multiobjective optimization, disaggregated service area-level assessments of performance and vulnerability across time, and exploratory visual analytics in the Federal District of Brazil (FDB). We highlight the performance and robustness disparities between two water supply service areas in the FDB that differ in socioeconomic standing to reveal the impacts of deeply uncertain future hydroclimatic and socioeconomic scenarios on vulnerable populations. We further show that historical inequity renders poorer residents significantly more vulnerable to deeply uncertain future conditions without urgent and significant infrastructure investments. Overall, the outcomes of our study are largely applicable to urban water utilities in regions with high levels of historical regional inequity seeking to develop water management and infrastructure planning policies that are robust, adaptive, and equitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how participatory science helps address water supply challenges in developing countries suffering from water shortages. In the absence of technical capacity to monitor the water supply system, this participation constitutes an excellent alternative to involve citizens in data collection and evaluation of the quality of the water service. The paper presents the design and implementation of a participatory science platform that enables data about the quality of the water supply in the city of Kharas in Palestine to be collected. Thanks to significant citizen participation, the study demonstrates that participatory science enhances the management of the water supply system and public awareness and engagement. Temporal and spatial analysis of collected data helped us to better understand the water supply system and identify the causes of the water service degradation. The study shows that the success of citizen participation requires cooperation between the water staff and citizens, including continuous dialogue and training and the construction of a friendly citizen participation platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water, energy, and food insecurity are significant challenges that affect both economies and households, particularly in developing countries. These resources have an effect on households wellbeing, businesses, and all sectors of the economy, making them critical to ensuring household well-being, which is frequently measured by quintile welfare. As a result, there has been a significant increase in interest in securitizing these resources in order to mitigate their negative effects on household's wellbeing This study provides an empirical investigation of the determinants of water, energy, and food (WEF) security and the effect of water, energy, and food security on household well-being in Ghana. This study provides an empirical investigation of the determinants of water, energy, and food (WEF) security and the effect of water, energy, and food security on household well-being in Ghana. The study used a sample of 2,735 households from the Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS) Wave 7. We applied an instrumental variable probit, complementary log-log and ordered Probit estimation techniques for analysis. Empirical analysis reveals several important findings. Firstly, factors such as age, credit access, household location, employment status, and livestock ownership positively contribute to household water security, while remittances, water supply management, water bills, and water quantity have negative impacts. Secondly, age, marital status, household size, remittances, and livestock ownership significantly influence household energy security. Thirdly, marital status, household income, credit access, and household size are crucial determinants of household food security, with residence and region of household location exerting negative effects. Additionally, while water and energy security have a relatively lower impact on household well-being, food security emerges as a key driver in promoting household wellbeing. The study recommends that policymakers and stakeholders design and implement robust programs and interventions to sustain households' water, energy, and food supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piped drinking water supplies are exposed to a range of threats. Changing hazard situations arise from climate change, digitisation, and changing conditions in the power supply, among other things. Risk and crisis management adapted to the hazard situation can increase the resilience of the piped drinking water supply. Analogous to the risk management system, this article describes a methodology that ranges from hazard analysis with the prioritisation of 57 individual hazards to vulnerability assessment with the help of balance sheet structure models (BSM) and the planning and implementation of measures to increase the resilience of the piped drinking water supply in a targeted manner. The work steps mentioned build on each other and were tested using the case study of a water supply company in Saxony (Germany). As a result, priority hazards are identified, the remaining supply periods and replacement and emergency water requirements are determined as part of the vulnerability assessment, and finally, planning principles for increasing resilience are documented. The methodology focuses primarily on practicable application by water supply companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water quality in rivers is affected as it passes through urban areas; this situation can be improved with good management of water resources. High Andean rivers require further studies to indicate their quality status. In addition, it is important to estimate the health risks associated with exposure to contaminants in the river water. Therefore, it is proposed to assess the water quality index (WQI) using the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) model and the health risks in the urban section of the Ichu River in Peru. Six monitoring points were selected in the section of the Ichu River that includes the urbanized part of the city of Huancavelica. The sample was taken during the months of February to April 2021. Critical parameters were analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis as principal components and cluster test. In addition, Pearson's correlation test was performed, and the water quality status was evaluated using the WQI-NSF model. The Ichu River was of "bad" quality, unfit for human consumption, and confirming the impact of the population on water quality. The WQI-NSF model could be useful for high Andean watercourses suffering from anthropogenic deterioration of quality, with illegal effluent discharges and poor sanitation. There is a high health risk due to fecal coliform contamination from sewage discharges into the river. In addition, the total hazard index indicated that contaminants are causing negative health effects in adult males at a low risk level (risk 2), adult females at a moderate risk level (risk 3), and children at a negligible risk level (risk 1). With the help of this study, an appropriate management plan can be put in place to restore the ecological integrity of the Ichu River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a case study of continuous hydrologic modeling in the Brahmani River basin in India using the Hydrologic Engineering Center—Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC–HMS). The soil moisture algorithm (SMA) was employed as loss method for continuous simulations in the thirteen sub-basins. The sensitivity analysis showed that soil storage, tension storage and soil percolation are most sensitive parameters. The model performance was assessed for calibration period of 15 years (1990–2004) and validation period of 12 years (2005–2016), using statistical and visual evaluation techniques. During the calibration period, the observed and simulated values showed a good fit, with R2 ranging from 0.67 to 0.74, NSE from 0.66 to 0.72, and PBIAS from −8.5 to −9.5%. Similar performances are obtained during the validation period, with R2 ranging from 0.62 to 0.70, NSE from 0.60 to 0.68, and PBIAS from −2.5 to 21.4%. The results of the SMA procedure employed in the HEC-HMS model give valuable information for flood control and water supply management in the Brahmani Basin and similar other regions in Eastern India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide countries are engaged in technological improvements, changes in legislation, economic incentives, strengthened administrative structures, and political strategies to allocate and distribute water among different sections of the population. These macro measures treat water as an object of social, cultural, and environmental production unit for distribution and allocation, distancing it from the micro behavioral practices of drinking water. The poverty of sustainability stems from the gap between macro instrumental measures and the inner human dimensions that determine the micro practices. This paper explores the disconnect between macro sustainability measures and the micro practice of drinking water choice among individuals and their motives in the city of Nakuru in Kenya and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. Both Kenya and Germany have developed top-down policies with a fix-it mindset. Kenya aims to provide drinking water to its population through piped network technology despite being a water-scarce region with inadequate housing and governance. In contrast, Germany, which is rich in water resources with highly regulated governance arrangements, spends billions treating water to attain drinking water quality only for most citizens to buy bottled water to drink. Despite water resources being finite, both of these nations source additional water through instrumental approaches to satisfy the demands of the materialistic world. In this context, the challenge of overcoming the poverty of sustainability remains a topic of debate that can be ameliorated by complementing scientific approaches with nonscientific knowledge and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity presents significant challenges to sustainable development, particularly in arid regions like Fayoum City, Egypt, which faces particular water challenges due to its unique topography. This study explores the pivotal role of pump stations and wastewater reuse in mitigating water scarcity and promoting sustainable water management practices. Utilizing a comprehensive mixed-method approach, including desk research, field surveys, stakeholder interviews, and integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) into a decisionmaking framework. The study categorizes pump stations into priority ranking groups based on the evaluation of the following criteria: efficiency, operating hours, working unit ratio, and discharge capacity. The investigation reveals that the 72 pump stations in Fayoum City play a vital role in regulating water levels, optimizing distribution, and facilitating the reuse of irrigation wastewater. Despite operational challenges, such as manpower shortages and maintenance issues, these stations are crucial for sustaining agricultural productivity and addressing water scarcity concerns, including the prevention of recurring inundation events like the one in 2012. Moreover, the study underscores the potential of wastewater reuse as a sustainable solution to water scarcity, particularly in meeting agricultural water demands and mitigating water balance issues, such as inundation. Based on the findings, the study proposes actionable recommendations, including upgrading high-priority pump stations, evaluating lower-priority ones, enhancing canal infrastructure, and promoting waterefficient irrigation methods. In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the pivotal role of pump stations and wastewater reuse in addressing water scarcity challenges in arid regions. By implementing the proposed recommendations, Fayoum City can optimize its water management practices, ensure water security, and support the long-term development of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The first dengue outbreak in Sao Tome and Principe was reported in 2022. Entomological investigations were undertaken to establish the typology of Aedes larval habitats, the distribution of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus, the related entomological risk and the susceptibility profile of Ae. aegypti to insecticides, to provide evidence to inform the outbreak response. Methodology/Principal findings: Entomological surveys were performed in all seven health districts of Sao Tome and Principe during the dry and rainy seasons in 2022. WHO tube and synergist assays using piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and diethyl maleate (DEM) were carried out, together with genotyping of F1534C/V1016I/V410L mutations in Ae. aegypti. Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus were found in all seven health districts of the country with high abundance of Ae. aegypti in the most urbanised district, Agua Grande. Both Aedes species bred mainly in used tyres, discarded tanks and water storage containers. In both survey periods, the Breteau (BI > 50), house (HI > 35%) and container (CI > 20%) indices were higher than the thresholds established by WHO to indicate high potential risk of dengue transmission. The Ae. aegypti sampled were susceptible to all insecticides tested except dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) (9.2% mortality, resistant), bendiocarb (61.4% mortality, resistant) and alpha-cypermethrin (97% mortality, probable resistant). A full recovery was observed in Ae. aegypti resistant to bendiocarb after pre-exposure to synergist PBO. Only one Ae. aegypti specimen was found carrying F1534C mutation. Conclusions/Significance: These findings revealed a high potential risk for dengue transmission throughout the year, with the bulk of larval breeding occurring in used tyres, water storage and discarded containers. Most of the insecticides tested remain effective to control Aedes vectors in Sao Tome, except DDT and bendiocarb. These data underline the importance of raising community awareness and implementing routine dengue vector control strategies to prevent further outbreaks in Sao Tome and Principe, and elsewhere in the subregion. Author summary: During the first dengue outbreak in Sao Tome and Principe reported in 2022, entomological investigations were undertaken to establish the typology of Aedes larval habitats, the distribution of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus, the related entomological risk and the susceptibility profile of Ae. aegypti to insecticides to inform the outbreak response. Surveys revealed the presence of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus in all seven health districts of the country with high abundance of Ae. aegypti in the most urbanised district, Agua Grande. Both Aedes species bred mainly in used tyres, discarded tanks and water storage containers suggesting good waste management and improved water supply system could help to reduce Aedes densities and the risk of dengue transmission. Analyses also revealed that most of the insecticides tested remain effective to control Aedes vectors in Sao Tome, except dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and bendiocarb. These findings revealed a high potential risk for dengue transmission throughout the year and underline the importance of raising community awareness and implementing routine dengue vector control strategies to prevent further outbreaks in Sao Tome and Principe, and elsewhere in the subregion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many states in the Eastern U.S. have limited water withdrawal regulations, posing significant risks to water supply management during periods of low flows. While these states require water withdrawal permits, exemptions for grandfathered withdrawals that allow unregulated access to surface water are common. Such permit exemptions present a challenge to water supply management, as full utilization of allowable withdrawals by permit‐exempt users could pose risks to maintaining adequate water supplies for current and projected demand. This study used reported permit exemption data in Virginia to understand the extent, volume, and potential impact of permit‐exempt withdrawals on 30‐ and 90‐day low flows. The permit‐exempt withdrawal values used in this study were obtained from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Maximum permit‐exempt withdrawal volumes were significantly higher than projected future demands in permitted users. The impacts of these withdrawals on drought flows were compared with the impacts presented by climate change and demand growth. Widespread reduction in flows was observed with the "dry" future climate change scenario, while impacts were more localized in the exempt users and the demand growth scenarios. The impacts of exempt users exceeded the impact of climate change and demand growth scenarios in many regions during low‐flow periods. Therefore, more comprehensive water planning, policy and research is needed to address the impact of permit exemptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modelling the hydrological balance in semi-arid zones is essential for effective water resource management, encompassing both surface water and groundwater. This study aims to model the monthly hydrological water cycle in the Wadi Mina upstream watershed (northwest Algeria) by applying the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model. SWAT modelling integrates spatial data such as the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), land use, soil types and various meteorological parameters including precipitation, maximum and minimum temperatures, relative humidity, solar radiation and wind speed. The SWAT model was calibrated and validated using data from January 2012 to December 2014, with a calibration period from January 2012 to August 2013 and a validation period from September 2013 to December 2014. Sensitivity and parameter calibration were conducted using the SWAT-SA program, and model performance evaluation relied on comparing the observed discharge at the outlet of the basin with modelsimulated discharge, assessed through statistical coefficients including Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), coefficient of determination (R²) and Percent Bias (PBAIS). Calibration results indicated favourable objective function values (NSE=0.79, R²=0.93, PBAIS= -8.53%), although a slight decrease was observed during validation (NSE=0.69, R²=0.86, and PBAIS= -11.41%). The application of the SWAT model to the Wadi Mina upstream watershed highlighted its utility in simulating the spatial distribution of different components of the hydrological balance in this basin. The SWAT model revealed that approximately 71% of the precipitation in the basin evaporates, while only 29% contributes to surface runoff or infiltration into the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the development of a comprehensive three-dimensional groundwater flow model for the Erbil Basin utilizing the Groundwater Modeling System (GMS). The Erbil Basin, situated in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, is a vital water resource area facing increasing water demands and environmental challenges. The three-dimensional nature of the groundwater flow system is crucial for accurately understanding and managing water resources in the basin. The modeling process involved data collection, geological and hydrogeological characterization, conceptual model development, and numerical simulation using GMS software MODFLOW 2000 package. Various parameters such as hydraulic conductivity, recharge rates, and boundary conditions were integrated into the model to represent the complex hydrogeological conditions of the basin. Model calibration was performed by comparing simulated groundwater levels with observed data from monitoring wells across the basin, using the automatic calibration method of automated Parameter Estimation (PEST). Pilot points were applied to adjust the hydraulic conductivity in the model area spatially. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the influence of key parameters on model predictions and to identify areas of uncertainty. The developed three-dimensional groundwater flow model provides valuable insights into the dynamics of groundwater flow, recharge-discharge mechanisms, and potential impacts of future scenarios such as climate change and water resource management strategies. It serves as a useful tool for decision-makers, water resource managers, and researchers to evaluate different management scenarios and formulate sustainable groundwater management policies for the Erbil Basin. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of using GMS for developing three-dimensional groundwater flow models in complex hydrogeological settings like the Erbil Basin, contributing to improved understanding and management of groundwater resources in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study is to determine the sources of drinking water and identify ailments among the respondents that are related to water consumption. The study was undertaken to ascertain the sources of drinking water used and its impact on health on Capual Island. The research will also determine whether the respondents' water-related illnesses are significantly impacted by their sources of drinking water. Residents of Capual Island will gain knowledge about local sources of drinking water and illnesses associated with water from the study. Male and female respondents from 287 households were polled. Regarding the data analysis and interpretation, a statistician was consulted. Frequency tables were used to present the data. For the study, the researchers utilized a descriptive-predictive research methodology. The entire population of Barangay Capual had been used by the researchers. The Rural Health Unit-Omar can help communities improve their drinking water by educating them on proper cleaning of their sources of drinking water, installing covers on their deep wells, making sure there are no animals in their water sources, and sanitizing their drinking water. Typhoid fever and diarrhea were the most common waterrelated diseases among respondents, topping the survey with 84.7% and 85.0%, respectively. Students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree should provide lectures on waterborne illnesses and inform residents of additional methods for sanitizing their drinking water. It is important to inform the people of Barangay Capual that their homes should have backup water sources. Additionally, according to the experts, filtering and boiling the drinking water before use is important and will lower the risk of contracting waterborne illnesses and their fatal consequences. Future researchers may use it as a backbone for further study by taking on other variables that were not tested in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of safe and clean drinking water is one of the most basic human rights that is essential for the sustainability of life for public health. Without drinking water, life as we know it today would not be possible. The main objective of this research is to conduct a bibliometric analysis in order to better understand the current knowledge and direction of research in drinking water management. This research used bibliometric analysis with VOSviewer software to investigate drinking water management. The research centered on journals indexed in Semantic Scholar, using keywords such as drinking water management, water resources, and water quality, with a maximum of 1000 results from 2000 - 2023. In the network visualization analysis, “groundwater quality” had the highest total link strength of 141 and 107 occurrences, making it the densest color. In particular, the year 2018 had the highest number of publications, with a total of 72 publications. Regarding citations, the peak occurred in 2019, with a significant number of 3930. India emerged as the country with the highest volume of research on drinking water, contributing 66 publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of performance indicator systems is essential to evaluate the performance of water supply systems. They allow the quantification of the goals and objectives for service provision and are presented as the best alternative for monitoring the efficiency of these systems, with direct applications for managers, regulatory agencies, investors, users, society, and the providers themselves. Nevertheless, technicians and managers still have difficulty in interpreting the global performance of the systems because indicators present different characteristics and evaluations. The main limitation for global assessment is the lack of a broader view in the simultaneous analysis of a set of indicators. To overcome this challenge, aggregating individual indicators by a multicriteria analysis for decision support can be a solution for building synthetic global indices. The literature contains few works that focused on the performance of a global indicator that provides a holistic perspective. Thus, the aim of this study is to develop a multicriteria methodology based on the Grey Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (Grey-TOPSIS) method to evaluate the quality of operation of the services of water supply systems. TOPSIS was chosen to assist in solving decision-making problems and the grey technique was chosen to assist in imprecise data and make the model more concise and real. The proposal was applied to Brazilian companies, and the results were obtained by a performance ranking. The study also allowed a robustness analysis for two different stages, one analysis for changes in weight and the other for the exclusion of criteria, and thus the validation of the application was highlighted. Therefore, by the results and their validation, it was possible to identify the positive contribution this methodology can add to the operation and management of water supply systems worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water pipe failures result in real water losses in the form of water outflowing into the porous medium, such as the surrounding soil. Such an outflow may result in the creation of suffosion holes. The appropriate management of the water supply network may contribute to reducing the number of failures, but due to their random nature, it is not possible to completely eliminate them. Therefore, alternative solutions are being sought to reduce the effects of the failures. This article presents a fragment of the results from a broader scope of the research, which attempted to determine the outflow zone in relation to the fractal characteristics of water outflows. The research included the analysis of the actual geometric structures created by the water outflows, which were simplified into linear structures using isometric transformations. The structures were analyzed in terms of the parameters characterizing them, including their fractal dimensions. As a result, it was found that there was no relationship between the analyzed fractal parameters and the leakage area or hydraulic pressure in the water pipe. However, the influence of the number of points forming each linear structure on the analyzed parameters was shown. This allowed for the determination of further research aimed at estimating the size of the water outflow zone after the unsealing of an underground water supply pipe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining Exploration, excavation, and construction are considered as mining activities which are recently growing dramatically. Therefore, utilizing the mining wastes with the least environmental damage is a significant concern. Tailings dams are one of the conventional solutions that store the extracted hazardous substances safely for water resources management and environmental protection. This reseach deals with the effects of monotonic and seismic loadings on silt-sized copper wastes existed in a tailings dam at Northwest Iran as a case study. Various values of initial static shear stress are performed using an automated cyclic triaxial system. Monotonic undrained compressive tests were performed with a relatively constant density and considering three values of 50, 100, and 150 kPa for mean effective stress. Depending on the first density of samples, applying a mean effective confining pressure of 100 kPa, increased the initial densities by 25 to 30% as compared to the initial condition. Moreover, the effect of initial shear stress ratio with three values of 0, 0.2, and 0.4 was evaluated. No peak point was observed for samples under a = 0, whereas, samples with α = 0.4 encountered a peak point before reaching to the phase transformation point. The results of cyclic experiments were used to evaluate capacity energy and residual pore pressure based on the strain energy approach. Cyclic tests on the samples were performed considering the shear amplitude of 0.75% and frequency of 0.3 Hz. It is shown that the most energy dissipation occurs at the first cycle possessing the highest stiffness. For α = 0, energy density increased from 474 J/m³ to 1147.4 J/m³; however, a more intense increase was measured from 682 J/m³ to 5839 J/m3 when α = 0.4. It is also found that applying initial shear stress has a pretty considerable influence on monotonic strength and the liquefaction resistance of silts. The increase of α from 0 to 0.4 yielded a linear increase in the shear strength of samples in the range of 20 kPa to 70 kPa. The results of this paper were then validated accurately through some previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central Valley of California is one of the most prolific agricultural regions in the world. Agriculture is reliant on the conjunctive use of surface-water and groundwater. The lack of available surface-water and land-use changes have led to pumping-induced groundwater-level and storage declines, land subsidence, changes to streamflow and the environment, and the degradation of water quality. As a result, in part, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was developed. An examination of the components of SGMA and contextualizing regional model applications within the SGMA framework was undertaken to better understand and quantify many of the components of SGMA. Specifically, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) updated the Central Valley Hydrologic Model (CVHM) to assess hydrologic system responses to climatic variation, surface-water availability, land-use changes, and groundwater pumping. MODFLOW-OWHM has been enhanced to simulate the timing of land subsidence and attribute its inelastic and elastic portions. In addition to extending CVHM through 2019, the new version, CVHM2, includes several enhancements as follows: managed aquifer recharge (MAR), pumping with multi-aquifer wells, inflows from ungauged watersheds, and more detailed water-balance subregions, streamflow network, diversions, tile drains, land use, aquifer properties, and groundwater level and land subsidence observations. Combined with historical approximations, CVHM2 estimates approximately 158 km3 of storage loss in the Central Valley from pre-development to 2019. About 15% of the total storage loss is permanent loss of storage from subsidence that has caused damage to infrastructure. Climate extremes will likely complicate the efforts of water managers to store more water in the ground. CVHM2 can provide data in the form of aggregated input datasets, simulate climatic variations and changes, land-use changes or water management scenarios, and resulting changes in groundwater levels, storage, and land subsidence to assist decision-makers in the conjunctive management of water supplies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For humankind to survive, access to sufficient and safe drinking water is fundamental. This study explores the connection between rising domestic water consumption and planetary phenomena, such as rapid population growth, climate change, and pandemics. To achieve the study's objectives, it provides a thorough forecast of water use, considering probable global scenarios for the years 2030 and 2050. The modeling approach is adapted from a consistent case study taken from the body of scientific literature on water supply hydraulics. The study's results highlight the necessity for proactive and flexible management strategies for water resources. Notably, it observes significant alterations in water supply management to adjust water allocation due to the unanticipated and ongoing increase in consumer demand. The forecasted scenarios indicate potential difficulties that may arise in meeting rising domestic water demand amid planetary phenomena. The presented results offer valuable insights to policymakers and water supply authorities, enabling them to effectively address the rising domestic water demand while considering potential adverse conditions, ensuring a sustainable water supply for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of climate change on rainfall patterns and intensity necessitates an accurate estimation of runoff from rainfall to effectively manage water resources. This study utilized the MIKE HYDRO River software to evaluate rainfall-runoff in the upper Vaigai sub-basin. Input parameters, including rainfall, evaporation, and stream discharge data, were collected over a period of 16 years from 2000 to 2015. The auto-calibration capabilities of the software were employed to calibrate the model from 2000 to 2010, which was validated using data sets collected from 2011 to 2015. The optimal model and operating parameters were determined, and hydrographs were compared for simulated and observed runoff. The reliability and accuracy of the MIKE HYDRO River model were assessed using various goodness-of-fit indicators, including the coefficient of determination (R2), root-mean-square error (RMSE), and index of agreement. The R2 values demonstrated a strong correlation of 0.79 and 0.87 with the observed and simulated runoff for the calibration and validation period, respectively. The attainment of an RMSE of 4.05 m3/s and 2.20 m3/s and an index of agreement of 0.93 and 0.96 during the calibration and validation period, respectively, confirmed the model's excellent performance. The results of the rainfall-runoff simulation indicate that the MIKE HYDRO River tool is suitable for rainfall-runoff studies and integrated water supply management in the upper Vaigai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly accepted that water insecurity, accelerated by climate change, is experienced by women in gender specific ways. Using a rapid review methodology this paper evaluates existing literature (2014–2021) on climate change adaptation in relation to water (SDG6) and gender (SDG5) in urban and peri-urban contexts. By analyzing water, gender, and adaptation literature a thematic mapping of SDG5 was done on the resulting 34 documents. Despite methodological limitations – time constraints, exclusion of gender-sustainable development literature, and narrow inclusion criteria – this paper finds a paucity of research in this space during the time period under study. Most literature focuses on low- and middle-income countries, primarily Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, to the exclusion of South America. Notably, evidence demonstrating interlinkages between SDG5 and climate change adaptations in the WaSH sector and gender sensitive dissemination of disaster warnings is lacking. Adaptation strategies resulting in negative impacts on women undermine SDG5 and maladaptive behaviours related to management of domestic water supply and disaster-risks are particularly concerning in this context. Subsequently, this paper establishes the need for practical research assessing the gendered dimensions of all adaptations, including research demonstrating interlinkages between adaptations, women-specific benefits, and strengthened legislation to promote gender equality and empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pacific Island Countries (PICs) collectively have the lowest rates of access to safely managed or basic drinking water and sanitation globally. They are also the least urbanised, have dynamic socioeconomic and increasing climate-linked challenges. Community-based water managers need to respond to variability in water availability and quality caused by a range of hazards. Water Safety Planning (WSP), a widely adopted approach to assessing water supply, offers a risk-based approach to mitigating both existing and future hazards. WSP is adaptable, and making modifications to prescribed WSP to adapt it to the local context is common practice. Within the Pacific Community Water Management Plus research project, we used formative research and co-development processes to understand existing local modifications, whether further modifications are required, and, to develop additional modifications to WSP in Fiji, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. The types of additional local modifications we recommend reflect the unique context of PICs, including adjusting for community management of water supplies and required collective action, community governance systems, levels of social cohesion in communities, and preferred adult-learning pedagogies. Incorporating modifications that address these factors into future WSP will improve the likelihood of sustained and safe community water services in Pacific and similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart water cities (SWCs) use advanced technologies for efficient management and preservation of the urban water cycle, strengthening sustainability and improving the quality of life of the residents. This research aims to develop measurement and evaluation tools for SWC key performance indicators (KPIs), focusing on innovative water technologies in establishing unified global standards and certification schemes. The KPIs are categorized based on the stage at which water is being measured, namely the urban water cycle, water disaster management and water supply and treatment. The objective is to assess cities' use of technologies in providing sufficient water supply, monitoring water quality, strengthening disaster resilience and maintaining and preserving the urban water ecosystem. The assessment is composed of a variety of procedures performed in a quantitative and qualitative manner, the details of which are presented in this study. The developed SWC KPI measurements are used to evaluate the urban water management practices for Busan Eco Delta City, located in Busan, South Korea. Evaluation processes were presented and established, serving as the guideline basis for certification in analyzing future cities, providing integrated and comprehensive information on the status of their urban water system, gathering new techniques, and proposing solutions for smarter measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morocco is currently facing significant challenges due to the ever-changing climate, with its critical water sources crucial for agriculture, economy, and daily life being greatly affected. In order to thoroughly understand the impact of climate change on the Ghis-Nekor watershed, an in-depth study spanning 38 years (1978-2016) was conducted. This involved examining the meteorological data from three stations and utilizing advanced indices, such as SPI, RDI, and DI. The findings of this study revealed prominent shifts in precipitation patterns, indicating a vulnerability in the region. While there was a general increase in annual rainfall during the specified time period, a sharp decline was observed post-2008. Further analysis of drought confirmed the presence of persistent dry spells and recurring episodes, highlighting the urgent need for effective water management strategies. These crucial findings must be considered by decision-makers for successful climate adaptation, emphasizing the key role played by this study in mitigating the effects of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid increase in the global population is contributing to the urgent challenges we face in ensuring the sustainability of our planet. This demographic shift, which gained momentum in the 1990s, is closely linked to a surge in natural disasters, both in terms of their frequency and severity. The quest for resources and improved quality of life, including the need for housing and essential services, has compounded these challenges. With the world's population projected to double by 2050, and approximately two-thirds of this population expected to reside in urban areas, we are facing a complex web of interconnected issues that will significantly magnify the impacts of climate change-induced disasters. It is imperative that we build resilient cities capable of withstanding and adapting to these changes. However, the growing complexity of urban services and the necessity for integrated management raise questions about the preparedness of these resilient cities to comprehend and address the multifaceted challenges posed by climate change. In response to these critical concerns, this study endeavors to address the intersection of resilience and climate change. We propose the development of a Smart Resilient City Assessment Framework, comprising two core components: resilience re-evaluation and smartness evaluation. Each component consists of eight essential steps. The culmination of these steps results in a semi-quantitative index that accurately reflects the city's position regarding resilience and smartness in the face of climate change-related disasters. To demonstrate the framework's practicality and suitability, we present results from a hypothetical scenario focusing on water supply management, a critical aspect of climate change adaptation. The framework equips city managers with the necessary tools to re-evaluate their cities' resilience, evaluate their capacity to address climate change-induced challenges, and make informed decisions on integrating resilience and smart solutions to pave the way for a more sustainable and climate-resilient future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predictive models of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) formation in treated drinking water have been widely used to guide operational decisions. However, very few studies have addressed the issue of managing DBPs through watershed protection programs and proactive management of water supply systems through predictive modeling of DBP formation potential in source waters. Here, we propose a two‐component, simple statistical approach to predict the formation potentials of the sum of five haloacetic acids (HAA5fp) and total trihalomethanes (TTHMfp) in source water streams using environmental variables and ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm wavelength (UV254) as a surrogate for DBP precursors. In the first component of the model, using three feature selection regression models and cross‐validation of subsets of the selected predictors, we identified three commonly monitored variables—streamflow, soil temperature, and total phosphorus for predicting UV254. In the second component, HAA5fp and TTHMfp are predicted from UV254. The approach is successfully demonstrated for two source water streams of the New York City water supply system (R2 was 0.8, and 0.7–0.8 for the two model components). Long‐term predictions of HAA5fp and TTHMfp showed distinct seasonal patterns that are linked to differences in land uses of the two watersheds. Moreover, sensitivity analysis showed that transport processes were important in one watershed whereas production processes were more important in the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers in the Langhorne Creek–Angas Bremer basin irrigation district of South Australia have faced a series of hydrosocial crises relating to drought and groundwater depletion and degradation. The crises have been negotiated through concerted community engagement and cooperation. Adaptation responses have included a combination of infrastructural development and changes to the licensing, regulation, and oversight of irrigation governance, easing extraction pressures on the local groundwater catchment. However, new risks have emerged in the wake of, and as a result of, these solutions. One aspect of the solution has been to connect the Angas Bremer basin district more intimately to the much larger continental riverine system, the Murray-Darling basin, which stretches across multiple regional and state jurisdictions. The very success of that scalar response to hydrological risk generates broader systemic risks: to water supply and quality from climate change and upstream extraction; to basin governance; and to community cohesion, engagement, flexibility, and resilience. In a post-crisis period, there is a need to understand the emergent risks from transformational adaptation and guard against complacency to ensure that the hydrosocial qualities of flexibility and resilience that enabled positive responses to the initial crises endure to respond to future crises in water supply and its management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provision of public services, mostly by local governments, has been widely analyzed in the scientific literature. The relevance of these services has generated an incipient demand for information on the part of citizens, which makes it necessary for the bodies responsible for their provision to present adequate levels of transparency. In this context, digitalization is a crucial tool for providing information to citizens and, therefore, contributing to improving the levels of transparency of those organizations that provide public services. Among these, the drinking water supply service stands out, which is crucial for well-being and sustainable progress, and whose analysis is of vital importance, especially in countries such as Spain affected by factors such as climate change and urbanization. In this way, the aim of this paper is to analyze the degree of transparency of the companies providing water supply services in Spain, as well as their degree of digitalization. To this end, a relationship will be established between the Transparency Index of Public Enterprises (INDEP) and the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE), which measure the degree of transparency and digitalization, respectively. This relationship will be established for a sample of 59 companies responsible for water supply. The main results derived from this study show a wide margin for improvement on the part of the companies analyzed, both in terms of transparency and digitalization, as the vast majority of these companies show a medium–low degree of compliance in both aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural reservoirs are major suppliers of water for farming, meeting approximately 61.3% of the agricultural water demand in South Korea. However, several challenges jeopardize the efficient supply of water demand and management of reservoirs. To address them, this study proposes a novel deep learning-based model for water level estimation in agricultural reservoirs using closed-circuit television (CCTV) image data. The model comprises three key components, namely (1) dataset construction, (2) image segmentation using U-Net, and (3) CCTV-based water level recognition employing deep learning architectures, and its performance is assessed on G-reservoir and M-reservoir datasets, which revealed excellent image segmentation results. However, the effectiveness of the water level recognition model depends on classification criteria (i.e., the number of classification classes) and complexity. The performance of the model can be improved once more data are collected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Livestock water requirements are expected to triple. Simultaneously, freshwater availability declines while the risk of waterborne diseases rises with increasing temperatures. These challenges demand water management strategies on farms. Analyzing specific drinking behavior indicators can provide the basis for an improved water supply for dairy cows. This study aims to analyze drinking water quality and dairy cow drinking behavior in different climatic conditions, considering trough type and water cleanliness, and thereby optimizing water supply management for dairy cows. Dairy cows' water supply is influenced by trough types, cleaning interval and cold and warm ambient temperatures, as shown by established drinking behavior indicators, particularly water intake and drinking breaks in number and duration, number of sips, as well as agonistic behavior. Considering this, animal welfare, especially freedom of thirst, can be improved. Increasing ambient temperatures lead to higher water intake and higher risks of microbial growth in cattle troughs. This study aims to analyze drinking water quality and dairy cows' drinking behavior (n = 8081 drinking episodes) on a commercial farm with 135 and 144 lactating cows in two climatic conditions, considering trough type and cleanliness, respectively. Daily video recording was conducted at two trough types (two open troughs, 70 L; two-valve troughs, variable volume of 5–15 L) in the first two hours after feeding (n = 60 days in total) under cold (December 2019–February 2020) and warm ambient temperatures (September 2021). The trough cleaning scheme allowed cows to access either cleaned or uncleaned troughs in each system. Water quality was tested daily and analyzed at the beginning and end of the trials. In warmer ambient temperatures, fewer and—at uncleaned troughs and open troughs—shorter drinking episodes were recorded, with longer but fewer water intake periods, longer drinking breaks, and fewer sips (p < 0.0001). Considering the drinking episodes, respectively, water intake and drinking breaks in number and duration, the number of sips and the number of agonistic behaviors might optimize dairy cow water supply and hygiene management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban user water demand prediction (WDP) is of significant importance for smart water supply system, which can provide a strong decision-making basis for the dispatching and management of smart water supply system. However, owing to the fluctuation, intermittence and nonstationarity of the user's water consumption in urban buildings, it is extremely difficult to predict accurately. Therefore, a novel short-term WDP model (Singular Spectrum Analysis Convolutional Neural Network Bidirectional Gate Recurrent Unit, SSA-CNN-BiGRU) is proposed to promote the stability and accuracy of WDP, which successfully introduces organic combinations including deep learning, decomposition technique, and data partitioning policies into the domain of WDP. First, raw data are decomposed into components that carry distinct frequency signals for weakening its nonstationarity and complexity. Then, all the components are automatically divided into several groups using clustering algorithm based on their entropy, after which deep learning method is adopted to predict by groups. Finally, the predicted result of each group is summed up to be fused as the final value. To validate the predictive performance of SSA-CNN-BiGRU, real data have been selected for this study. In experiments, SSA-CNN-BiGRU achieved a fitting of 94.73%. Comparison by relevant evaluation metrics demonstrates that the proposed model exhibits superior performance, thus providing a more accurate basis for WDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal streamflow forecasts provide key information for decision-making in sectors such as water supply management, hydropower generation, and irrigation scheduling. The predictability of streamflow on seasonal timescales relies heavily on initial hydrological conditions, such as the presence of snow and the availability of soil moisture. In high-latitude and high-altitude headwater basins in North America, snowmelt serves as the primary source of runoff generation. This study presents and evaluates a data-driven workflow for probabilistic seasonal streamflow forecasting in snow-fed river basins across North America (Canada and the USA). The workflow employs snow water equivalent (SWE) measurements as predictors and streamflow observations as predictands. Gap filling of SWE datasets is accomplished using quantile mapping from neighboring SWE and precipitation stations, and Principal Component Analysis is used to identify independent predictor components. These components are then utilized in a regression model to generate ensemble hindcasts of streamflow volumes for 75 nival basins with limited regulation from 1979 to 2021, encompassing diverse geographies and climates. Using a hindcast evaluation approach that is user-oriented provides key insights for snow monitoring experts, forecasters, decision-makers, and workflow developers. The analysis presented here unveils a wide spectrum of predictability and offers a glimpse into potential future changes in predictability. Late-season snowpack emerges as a key factor for predicting spring/summer volumes, while high precipitation during the target period presents challenges to forecast skill and streamflow predictability. Notably, we can predict lower and higher than normal streamflows during the spring to early summer with up to five months lead time in some basins. Our workflow is available on GitHub as a collection of Jupyter Notebooks, facilitating broader applications in cold regions and contributing to the ongoing advancement of methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional warming and associated changes in hydrologic systems pose challenges to water supply management in river basins of the western United States and call for improved understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of runoff. We apply a network of total width, subannual width, and delta blue intensity tree-ring chronologies in combination with a monthly water balance model to identify droughts and their associated precipitation P and temperature T footprints in the Truckee–Carson River basin (TCRB). Stepwise regression gave reasonably accurate reconstructions, from 1688 to 1999, of seasonal P and T (e.g., R2 = 0.50 for May–September T). These were disaggregated to monthly values, which were then routed through a water balance model to generate "indirectly" reconstructed runoff. Reconstructed and observed annual runoff correlate highly (r = 0.80) from 1906 to 1999. The extended runoff record shows that twentieth-century droughts are unmatched in severity in a 300-yr context. Our water balance modeling reconstruction advances the conventional regression-based dendrochronological methods as it allows for multiple hydrologic components (evapotranspiration, snowmelt, etc.) to be evaluated. We found that imposed warming (3° and 6°C) generally exacerbated the runoff deficits in past droughts but that impact could be lessened and sometimes even reversed in some years by compensating factors, including changes in snow regime. Our results underscore the value of combining multiproxy tree-ring data with water balance modeling to place past hydrologic droughts in the context of climate change. Significance Statement: We show how water balance modeling in combination with tree-ring data helps place modern droughts in the context of the past few centuries and a warming climate. Seasonal precipitation and temperature were reconstructed from multiproxy tree-ring data for a mountainous location near Lake Tahoe, and these reconstructions were routed through a water balance model to get a record of monthly runoff, snowmelt, and other water balance variables from 1688 to 1999. The resulting extended annual runoff record highlights the unmatched severity of twentieth-century droughts. A warming of 3°C imposed on reconstructed temperature generally exacerbates the runoff anomalies in past droughts, but this effect is sometimes offset by warming-related changes in the snow regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the government's efforts to improve rural water supply management through a community participation approach (CBWSO system), the implementation of the strategy in the Katavi region is still doubtful. CBWSOs in Katavi have been struggling to collect water charges with Political leaders in the front row to oppose water tariffs. This study aimed to assess the factors affecting the performance of CBWSOs in managing water supply schemes for the sustainability of water services in Katavi rural areas. An inductive approach and exploratory design were employed in this study. The study population comprised 48 respondents and supervisory board members of selected CBWSOs. Data was collected through one-on-one In-depth interviews, field observation and literature reviews. The findings revealed firstly, financial management was identified as a critical aspect, emphasizing the importance of community participation in the collection of funds. Secondly, regular infrastructure maintenance is essential for the reliability of the water supply. Thirdly Positive political influence involves securing funding and resources, creating a supportive regulatory environment, promoting community engagement, and advocating for the interests of CBWSOs. In contrast, negative political influence hinders decision-making processes and neglects the responsibilities of supporting and overseeing CBWSOs. Lastly, community awareness was identified as a significant factor. Community participation in the collection of funds fosters financial sustainability, a sense of ownership, responsible resource utilisation, and transparency. Recommendations include supporting financial sustainability, establishing a regulatory framework for infrastructure maintenance, minimising negative political interference, promoting community awareness and participation, providing capacity building, and implementing a monitoring and evaluation framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcium carbonate deposits from ancient water systems such as aqueducts are a hidden archive for archaeology and environmental sciences. These deposits formed wherever carbonate‐rich water was in contact with a water‐containing structure and recorded water composition, temperature, biological content, the operation or nonoperation of a water system segment, flow discharge and velocity, the shape of disappeared segments of water structures, the number of years a water supply system was active, disruptions of the water supply and water management such as repairs, adaptations and cleaning. Indirectly, urban development, resilience, population‐ and socioeconomic dynamics can be studied through the stratigraphy of carbonate in water systems. Carbonate archives can also give insight into long‐term changes in paleoclimate and on environmental pollution, deforestation, extreme floods, droughts, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Archaeological and environmental investigations of carbonate deposits can provide data with up to daily resolution over decades to centuries. Although absolute dating of carbonate from water systems is still problematic, each study on the aqueduct of an ancient city, together with its carbonate deposits, provides its own microstory in Roman life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, episodes of reduced water availability have occurred in the supplying basins of the city of Santa Marta, leading to a scarcity of water resources. This study delves into understanding the sensitivity of water supply to the macro-climatic phenomena of ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) and QBO (Quasi-Biennial Oscillation). To assess their influence, teleconnections were established through correlational analysis between hydro climatological series and macroclimatic indices, with statistical significance evaluated using the Student's t-test. The obtained results indicate that the ENSO phenomenon has a statistically significant impact on the hydro-meteorological regime of the area. During the warm phase of the event, there is an increase in average temperatures and a decrease in water availability in the Manzanares and Piedras river basins. Conversely, the Gaira River basin experiences increased water availability due to the melting of the glaciers in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta caused by rising temperatures, resulting in an increase in runoff. Given the proximity of the study area to the Pacific Ocean, where the ENSO phenomenon originates, the macro-climatic signal manifests on the hydroclimatic regime during the same month. On the other hand, the analysis of teleconnections between hydro-meteorological variables and the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation event revealed that there is no statistically significant relationship between these variables. This indicates that the water regime is not dependent on this macro-climatic phenomenon. In conclusion, the water regime in the supplying basins of the city of Santa Marta is influenced by ENSO to a degree of 17 to 33%, and the lack of hydrological monitoring in one of the basins makes the city's water supply system vulnerable. Therefore, it is proposed to conduct a study for instrumenting the basins to establish an efficient monitoring system for proper water resource management and city water supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water security is crucial to mitigate human-induced and climate change-related impacts on water resources. Previous studies on Sana'a's domestic water supply have raised safety, administration, and scarcity issues. However, a comprehensive water security assessment has not yet been conducted. This study uses the proposed Integrated Urban Water Security Index (IUWSI) framework to assess Sana'a's urban water security using human and environmental factors Five distinct parameters have been used to calculate (IUWSI) as a decision-making tool to prioritize and distinguish indicators affecting the five dimensions of urban water security: water supply, sanitation and hygiene, water economy, ecosystems, and governance and society. The proposed framework for measuring (IUWSI) in Sana'a city has revealed a low level of water security, with an overall index value of 1.43. This disappointing result indicates water security issues like limited access to safe drinking water, poor sanitation, and high-water pollution. The IUWSI framework helps water-insecure cities improve water supply management through logical and evidence-based decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity and water systems in the Western US (WUS) are closely connected, with hydropower comprising 20% of total annual WUS generation, and electricity related to water comprising about 7% of total WUS electricity use. Because of these interdependencies, the threat of climate change to WUS resources will likely have compounding electricity impacts on the Western Interconnect grid. This study describes a WUS‐wide water system model with a particular emphasis on estimating climate impacts on hydropower generation and water‐related electricity use, which can be linked with a grid expansion model to support climate‐resilient electricity planning. The water system model combines climatically‐driven physical hydrology and management of both water supply and demand allocation, and is applied to an ensemble of 15 climate scenarios out to 2050. Model results show decreasing streamflow in key basins of the WUS under most scenarios. Annual water‐related electricity use increases up to 4%, and by up to 6% during the summer months, driven by growing agricultural demands met increasingly through a shift toward energy‐intensive groundwater to replace declining surface water. Total annual hydropower generation changes by +5% to −20% by mid‐century but declines in most scenarios, with decreases in summer generation by up to nearly −30%. Water‐related electricity use increases tend to coincide with hydropower generation declines, annually and seasonally, demonstrating the importance of concurrently evaluating the climate signal on both water‐for‐energy and energy‐for‐water to inform planning for grid reliability and decarbonization goals. Plain Language Summary: Electricity and water systems in the Western United States (WUS) have a strong dependency. Water fuels hydropower generation and electricity is used to pump, transport, treat, heat, and dispose of water. Climate change poses a serious threat to water availability in the WUS and is likely to also affect hydropower generation and electricity use related to water. This study develops a WUS water system model to evaluate the impact of a set of climate change scenarios on the dynamic interplay between water availability and demand and hydropower generation and electricity use by the water sector by 2050. We find that in many key basins, streamflow decreases under the climate scenarios. At the same time, reliance on groundwater increases to meet growing agricultural water demand. Hydropower generation shows decreases in most cases while energy use related to water increases. Because these hydropower generation declines tend to occur during periods when electricity demand for water grows, electricity grid planners in the Western Interconnect will benefit from this type of study by informing future grid buildouts that maintain reliability and decarbonization goals. Key Points: Interactions among hydro‐climate, hydropower, and water's energy use are critical for evaluating Western US (WUS) water‐energy climate risksUnder climate change, our WUS water model finds declining streamflows, growing agricultural demands, and increased groundwater useWith warming and drying, water‐related energy use grows while hydropower generation decreases under most climate scenarios by mid‐century [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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According to Directive 2020/2184, each water supplier is required to develop a water supply risk management system, such as the World Health Organization's recommended Water Safety Plan, implement it and apply it to daily water supply practices. An important element of risk management in water supply systems (WSS) is to ensure the supply of water that is healthy and clean, that is, free of all microorganisms and parasites and any substances in quantities or concentrations that pose a potential danger to human health. Ensuring the microbiological safety of water, while minimizing the risks associated with disinfection by-products, is particularly important in extensive WSS, where water can take days to transport, and where hydraulic parameters and sediments deposited in water supply networks favor the growth of microorganisms. This paper proposes an analytical method to support the determination of areas sensitive to the loss of microbiological safety of water, while using the model to optimize the dose of disinfectant at water treatment plants and water chlorination points in the distribution subsystem. The developed methodology is part of a review of operating procedures, especially with regard to minimizing the risk of secondary microbiological contamination of water. The research model took into account the chemical as well as microbiological variability of water quality, its age, and the operational data of the WSS operation collected by the Geographic Information System (location of water quality monitoring points, spatial location of water supply infrastructure facilities), as well as the size of the population potentially exposed to water of uncertain microbiological quality. The result of the analyses is a spatial interpretation of the loss of microbiological safety of water presented in the form of risk maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the onset of the summer season has inevitably been associated with external threats, such as hydrological drought. Prolonged dry weather conditions result in natural drought symptoms, including a decrease in both surface and groundwater levels, increased water evaporation, and the degradation of essential environmental, economic, and social functions. A negative water balance presents a challenge that, due to water scarcity, is likely to pose a threat not only to the continuity of safe drinking water supply but also to the health and lives of people. In these circumstances, the new directive on the quality of water intended for human consumption imposes on EU Member States the obligation to implement a risk management system throughout the entire water supply chain, from the water abstraction area to the consumer's tap. The paper presents tools and mechanisms employed in risk management for water supply systems and discusses their applicability within the framework of multi-protective barriers. Additionally, it delves into the construction of water supply infrastructure in the city of Głubczyce, located in the southwestern part of Poland. This discussion encompasses research results on the possibilities for diversifying and ensuring the safety of water supplies, with a particular emphasis on the operational reliability of critical infrastructure. The analysis is based on the Shannon-Weaver index and the Pielou dispersion index. The results of this analysis assess the potential for crisis situations in risk management. Taking into account the protection of critical infrastructure to ensure continuous water supplies under appropriate pressure for residents, the need to provide alternative water sources, such as tanks or packaged water, is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from a resilience assessment of Harare's water supply, the system interactions of the city's water management arrangements are explored through a series of causal loop diagrams. These are based on economic, physical, commercial, environmental, and social subsystems and the reinforcing and balancing loops that influence key variables of interest in each are identified. The analysis identifies a series of shortcomings including a weak provider-customer relationship, limited governance capacity, inadequate coordination and integration between key players, shortfalls in physical supply and critical infrastructure, environmental degradation, and a lack of disaster response and recovery measures. A series of strategies are proposed as intervention actions that target the areas of potential leverage identified in the causal loop analysis, including improving customer-provider relationships; increasing coordination, collaboration, and integration; developing physical and informational infrastructure and enhancing environmental protection and rehabilitation. The impacts of these strategies are highlighted as strengthening key elements of the causal loop diagrams and addressing the resilience gaps identified. The systems mapping approach reveals that key issues are large-scale, cross-sectoral, and compounding. Remediation strategies must therefore also be multi-faceted and holistic in scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forecasting drought plays a vital role in strategic planning and the management of underground water supply. In this study, we utilized autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and Seasonal ARIMA (SARIMA) models to predict drought events in Afghanistan, based on the standardized precipitation index (SPI). We used monthly average precipitation data from 1991 to 2015 for model training, while data from 2016 to 2020 were employed for model validation. The results of the statistical analysis, which encompassed evaluating Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), indicated that among the SPI 3, SPI 6, SPI 9, SPI 12, and SPI 24, the SARIMA models applied to the SPI 24 demonstrated the most accurate forecasting performance with RMSE (0.1492), MAE (0.1039), and MAPE (22.3732%) compared to SPI 3, SPI 6, SPI 9, and SPI 12. Subsequently, the ARIMA/SARIMA models were employed to forecast drought events for the upcoming year. It's noteworthy that this constitutes the first-ever statistical analysis of the drought index in Afghanistan. Therefore, the outcomes of this study can be applied across diverse sectors, including water resource management and environmental precautions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leakage in the water distribution system (WDS) and its control has been challenging for water resources fraternity for management of precious water demand. This study examines an inverse engineering technique to find the leaks in water supply pipelines. The main objective of the study has been to identify the patterns of deviations in the pressure/flow in the network, due to a single leak in the network, by solving classification and regression problems using artificial neural networks (ANNs) and support vector machines (SVMs). The leak detections were solved using two scenarios, wherein, (a) only pressure measurements and (b) only flow measurements, are undertaken in the system. The multi-layered perceptron (MLP) model and multi-label multi-class SVM classification and regression models were developed and trained using the pressure and flow signals, separately. It was found that the ANN model performed better than the SVM model in pressure- and flow-based leak detection in both classification and regression problems. The model performance could also be improved by optimizing the number of inputs to the model during the training phase. The present study would be useful for water supply management while applying the techniques for minimizing the losses in the water supply network due to leakages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In arid regions like the deserts of Iran, where water scarcity and high evaporation rates pose significant challenges to vegetation establishment and irrigation, adopting innovative and environmentally friendly approaches is imperative for sustainable development. This study focuses on the application of deep subsurface irrigation using PVC pipes as a potential solution to mitigate these challenges. The experimental setup involved excavating a pit with a depth and diameter of 50 cm, where two PVC pipes were strategically placed on either side of the pit with a 20 cm spacing. The pipes were then filled with soil, and the study examined the wetting patterns in eight distinct treatments. Parameters such as the location of water exit holes, pipe diameter, the number of holes in the upper and lower sections, and hole diameter were systematically varied. The findings revealed that PVC pipes with a diameter of 12.5 cm and a height of 55 cm, featuring five double rows of 6 mm holes in the upper half spaced 3 cm apart, along with two holes in the lower half spaced 10 cm apart, yielded the most effective wetting pattern. This outcome holds crucial implications for water use efficiency, emphasizing the importance of achieving optimal wetting depths around plant roots. The depth of the wetting pattern is a key determinant for water resource management and encourages deep root development in plants. As a practical recommendation for irrigating seedlings in dry and desert areas, employing the specified treatment methodology is highly advisable, promising enhanced water utilization efficiency and sustainable plant growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection and management of water resources continues to be challenged by multiple and ongoing factors such as shifts in demographic, social, economic, and public health requirements. Physical limitations placed on access to potable supplies include natural and human‐caused factors such as aquifer depletion, aging infrastructure, saltwater intrusion, floods, and drought. These factors, although varying in magnitude, spatial extent, and timing, can exacerbate the potential for contaminants of concern (CECs) to be present in sources of drinking water, infrastructure, premise plumbing and associated tap water. This monograph examines how current and emerging scientific efforts and technologies increase our understanding of the range of CECs and drinking water issues facing current and future populations. It is not intended to be read in one sitting, but is instead a starting point for scientists wanting to learn more about the issues surrounding CECs. This text discusses the topical evolution CECs over time (Section 1), improvements in measuring chemical and microbial CECs, through both analysis of concentration and toxicity (Section 2) and modeling CEC exposure and fate (Section 3), forms of treatment effective at removing chemical and microbial CECs (Section 4), and potential for human health impacts from exposure to CECs (Section 5). The paper concludes with how changes to water quantity, both scarcity and surpluses, could affect water quality (Section 6). Taken together, these sections document the past 25 years of CEC research and the regulatory response to these contaminants, the current work to identify and monitor CECs and mitigate exposure, and the challenges facing the future. Plain Language Summary: Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are included in an ever‐evolving list of chemicals and microorganisms that are not currently regulated in drinking, recreational, or environmental waters but may be detrimental to human or ecological health. Advances in analytical technology have allowed the detection of these contaminants at ever decreasing concentrations. Additional techniques, such as nontargeted analyses and bioanalytical tools, have expanded our understanding on the occurrence of CECs both individually and in mixtures. Even with new analytical tools, little is known about the potentially tens of thousands of CECs that may be present in water. Models could be used to predict the fate and occurrence of these contaminants. Information on the toxicity to human and aquatic life, both for individual contaminants and mixtures, can follow environmental detection. Advancements in wastewater and drinking water treatment have increased the capacity for the reduction of contaminants in water. More research would be useful to determine human exposures that are occurring through all exposure routes to determine if, and where, additional treatment would be beneficial. If water resources become more limited due to population increases, climatic change, poor treatment performance, or other factors, CECs may become a larger concern for human and ecological health. Key Points: Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are an ever‐evolving list of chemicals and microorganisms that are not currently regulated in waterAdvances in analytical technology have allowed the detection of individual and mixtures of CECs at ever decreasing concentrationsTransdisciplinary research can be used to address science gaps in water monitoring, treatment optimization, and source water protection [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]