Sustainable Water Management in Urban, Agricultural and Natural Systems

A special issue of Hydrology (ISSN 2306-5338). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Resources and Risk Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2021) | Viewed by 12621

Special Issue Editors

Bayer CropScience, 700 Chesterfield Parkway West, Chesterfield, MO 63017, USA
Interests: hydrological and water quality modeling; watershed hydrology; modeling of Vegetative Filter Strip (VFS) as a surface runoff pollution control practice; environmental modeling using GIS; statistical learning and quantitative analysis; agricultural water management

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Guest Editor
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200070, China
Interests: hydrologic and water quality modeling; watershed hydrology; machine learning model; environmental modeling with GIS; stormwater management; urban non-point source pollution control
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water is a fundamental resource for producing food, fiber and other human needs and only its sustainable management in urban, agricultural, and natural systems can safeguard society's future well-being. However, the science provides incontrovertible evidence that climate is changing, affecting hydrological water cycle and consequently the availability for human needs in cities, for irrigation in agriculture, and finally flow regime in the environment. The alteration of the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles will also pose risks in the sphere of ecosystem services and benefits experienced by human society (e.g. food provision, nutrition security, climate regulation, human health, supporting biodiversity).

The purpose of this special issue is to collect and synthesize research that is advancing new insights and multidisciplinary developments in sustainable water management. Possible cross-sectional topics include but are not limited to: water-food-energy nexus, global virtual water, global socio-economic perspective on water management, ecological status of the river basin, water management and ecosystem services perspective, remote sensing technologies and geospatial methods for water management. Submissions addressing climate change impacts in particular are encouraged.

Submissions of primary research, meta-analysis, review and synthesis papers are invited that address:

  • Urban water management and urban landscape irrigation
  • Water governance in cities
  • Socio-economic implications of water scarcity in cities and agriculture
  • Basin water allocation planning
  • Irrigation management
  • Water use efficiency, water allocation, water saving, water productivity
  • Irrigation requirements, evapotranspiration and yields
  • Precision irrigation
  • Novel irrigation advisory services, ICTs and decision support in agriculture
  • Wastewater reuse in agriculture
  • Water stress and salinity in dry regions
  • Impacts of land-use changes and management on the hydrological and erosion processes
  • Advances in water balance models
  • Modelling pollution fate and transport in rivers and urban water system
  • Hydrology in temporary and ephemeral river system
  • Urban stormwater hydrology

Dr. Giuseppe Pulighe
Dr. Flavio Lupia
Dr. Huajin Chen
Prof. Dr. Hailong Yin
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Hydrology is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • water management
  • water resources
  • sustainability
  • urban systems
  • agricultural systems
  • natural systems
  • environmental pollution
  • urban stormwater

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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14 pages, 2749 KiB  
Article
Modeling Climate Change Impacts on Water Balance of a Mediterranean Watershed Using SWAT+
by Giuseppe Pulighe, Flavio Lupia, Huajin Chen and Hailong Yin
Hydrology 2021, 8(4), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology8040157 - 15 Oct 2021
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 5195
Abstract
The consequences of climate change on food security in arid and semi-arid regions can be serious. Understanding climate change impacts on water balance is critical to assess future crop performance and develop sustainable adaptation strategies. This paper presents a climate change impact study [...] Read more.
The consequences of climate change on food security in arid and semi-arid regions can be serious. Understanding climate change impacts on water balance is critical to assess future crop performance and develop sustainable adaptation strategies. This paper presents a climate change impact study on the water balance components of an agricultural watershed in the Mediterranean region. The restructured version of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) model was used to simulate the hydrological components in the Sulcis watershed (Sardinia, Italy) for the baseline period and compared to future climate projections at the end of the 21st century. The model was forced using data from two Regional Climate Models under the representative concentration pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios developed at a high resolution over the European domain. River discharge data were used to calibrate and validate the SWAT+ model for the baseline period, while the future hydrological response was evaluated for the mid-century (2006–2050) and late-century (2051–2098). The model simulations indicated a future increase in temperature, decrease in precipitation, and consequently increase in potential evapotranspiration in both RCP scenarios. Results show that these changes will significantly decrease water yield, surface runoff, groundwater recharge, and baseflow. These results highlight how hydrological components alteration by climate change can benefit from modelling high-resolution future scenarios that are useful for planning mitigation measures in agricultural semi-arid Mediterranean regions. Full article
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17 pages, 1652 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Production of Reclaimed Water by Constructed Wetlands for Combined Irrigation and Microalgae Cultivation Applications
by Henrique J. O. Pinho and Dina M. R. Mateus
Hydrology 2021, 8(1), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology8010030 - 13 Feb 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3408
Abstract
Considering the increasing pressure on freshwater resources due to the constant increase in water consumption and insufficient wastewater control and treatment, recovering wastewater is a path to overcoming water scarcity. The present work describes the potential of reusing treated wastewater (reclaimed water) for [...] Read more.
Considering the increasing pressure on freshwater resources due to the constant increase in water consumption and insufficient wastewater control and treatment, recovering wastewater is a path to overcoming water scarcity. The present work describes the potential of reusing treated wastewater (reclaimed water) for irrigation and production of microalgae biomass in an integrated way, through experimental evaluation of plant and microalgae growth, and creation of an application model. First, two parallel experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of reclaimed water produced by a constructed wetland filled with a mix of solid waste: the irrigation of a set of small pots filled with soil and planted with Tagetes patula L., and the cultivation of microalgae Chlorella sp. and a mixed microalgae population with predominant species of the genus Scenedesmus sp. in shaken flasks and tubular bubble column photobioreactors. Results indicated no negative effects of using the reclaimed water on the irrigated plants and in the cultivated microalgae. The growth indicators of plants irrigated with reclaimed water were not significantly different from plants irrigated with fertilized water. The growth indicators of the microalgae cultivated with reclaimed water are within the range of published data. Second, to apply the results to a case study, the seasonal variability of irrigation needs in an academic campus was used to propose a conceptual model for wastewater recovery. The simulation results of the model point to a positive combination of using reclaimed water for the irrigation of green spaces and microalgae production, supported by a water storage strategy. Water abstraction for irrigation purposes can be reduced by 89%, and 2074 kg dry weight microalgae biomass can be produced annually. Besides the need for future work to optimize the model and to add economical evaluation criteria, the model shows the potential to be applied to non-academic communities in the perspective of smarter and greener cities. Full article
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13 pages, 1930 KiB  
Technical Note
Geographic Location System for Identifying Urban Road Sections Sensitive to Runoff Accumulation
by Daniel Jato-Espino and Shray Pathak
Hydrology 2021, 8(2), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology8020072 - 30 Apr 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2773
Abstract
This paper concerns the design of a geographic location system to identify urban road sections susceptible to runoff accumulation through the analysis of the efficiency of surface drainage networks. To this end, a combination of Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and stormwater models was [...] Read more.
This paper concerns the design of a geographic location system to identify urban road sections susceptible to runoff accumulation through the analysis of the efficiency of surface drainage networks. To this end, a combination of Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and stormwater models was proposed. First, GIS hydrology tools were employed to generate all the information required to characterise urban catchments geometrically. Then, a synthetic storm was created from precipitation data obtained through spatial interpolation for a given return period. Finally, the three main hydrological processes occurring in catchments (precipitation loss, transformation and routing) were simulated using the Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS). The system was tested through a case study of an urban catchment located in the city of Santander (Spain). The results demonstrate its usefulness in detecting critical points in terms of runoff accumulation, according to the efficiency of the existing surface drainage network. Full article
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