Water Resources Assessment

Dominique Senn, seecon gmbh

Water Resources Assessment 1

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Water Resources Assessment

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Contents

1. Water Resources Assessment

2. Purpose of Water Resources Assessment
3. Components of Water Resources Assessment
4. Conducting a Water Resources Assessment
5. Content Example
6. Advantages and Disadvantages
7. References

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1. Water Resources Assessment

Introduction (1/2)

Water Resources Assessment (WRA) is a classic tool used in Integrated

Water Resources Management (IWRM).
Proposed definitions:
• WRA is the process of measuring, collecting and analysing relevant
parameters on the quantity and quality of water resources for the
purpose of a better development and management of water
resources.
• WRA is the “determination of sources, extent, dependability and
quality of water resources for their utilisation and control.”
(HUBERT n.y.)

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1. Water Resources Assessment

Introduction (2/2)

WRA is a tool to...

... Evaluate water resources in relation to a reference frame
... Evaluate the dynamics of the water resource in relation to human
impacts or demands.
Depending on the objective of the
assessment, WRA may look at a range of
physical, chemical and biological features
in assessing the dynamics of the resource.
By conducting a WRA, you are establishing a
common, agreed and trusted information
base that can be used by stakeholders as a
Source: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1214/
[Accessed: 06.01.2014]

basis for informed and effective decision

making.

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2. Purpose of Water Resources Assessment

WRA helps clarifying the following issues

• Current status of water resources at different scales, including

inter- and intra-annual variability
• Current water use (including variability), and the resulting societal
and environmental trade-offs
• Scale related externalities, especially when patterns of water use
are considered over a range of temporal and spatial scales
• Social and institutional factors affecting access to water and their
reliability
• Opportunities for saving or making water distribution and use more
productive, efficient and/or equitable
• Efficacy and transparency of existing water-related policies and
decision making processes
• Conflicts between existing information sets, and the overall
accuracy of government (and other) statistics

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2. Purpose of Water Resources Assessment

When to conduct a WRA

• When you want to improve your sanitation and water system to

make it more sustainable.
• When a comprehensive and large-scale change in the water and
sanitation system is envisaged.

Example:

Aim of the Conduct WRA Take an informed

intervention with the aim of decision about

• To save water • Identifying • Where water

• To make water water can be saved or
use more consumers water use made
efficient • Understanding more efficient
water • How water can
consumption be saved or
water use made
more efficient

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3. Components of Water Resources Assessment

Illustration of main components

Education
Collection of hydrological and training
data
(e.g. in data banks)
(water cycle components,
including quantity and
Techniques of
quality of surface and
areal Water
groundwater, station Users
assessment of resources
information) (planning for
water information
water resources
resources (publications,
Collection of facilities)
(regionalisation maps, etc.)
physiographic data techniques)
(e.g. in a GIS)
(topographic, soils,
geology, political borders,
catchment borders, land
Basic and
use, river network)
applied
research
Components of a water resources
assessment (WRA) program.
Source: UNESCO and WMO (1997)

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3. Components of Water Resources Assessment

Explanation of main components (1/3)

• Collection of hydrological data: historical data on water cycle

components at a number of points distributed over the assessment
area such as quantity and quality of surface and groundwater.

Discharge history of the Nile and

lake levels at Qarun Lake.
Source:
http://www.paleoresearch.com/UW_Files/archaeo_model
s-nile.html [Accessed: 03.02.2014]

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3. Components of Water Resources Assessment

Explanation of main components (2/3)

• Collection of physiographic data: obtaining data on the natural

characteristics of the terrain that determine the areal and time
variations of the water cycle components, such as topography,
soils, surface and bed rock geology, land-use and land-cover.

Subsurface
characterisation of water
bodies.
Source:
http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/karst/kigconferen
ce/jlk_subsurface.htm [Accessed: 03.02.2014]

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3. Components of Water Resources Assessment

Explanation of main components (3/3)

• Collection of data from basic and applied research: especially

when some data is missing or the available date is out of date or in
order to develop the required technology used for the water
resources assessment.
• Education and training: all the basic water resources assessment
activities require skilled manpower and this in turn require training
and education of the manpower need.
• Techniques of areal assessment of water resources: techniques of
transforming data into information and of relating the hydrological
data to the physiographic data for the purpose of obtaining
information on the water-resource characteristics at any point of
the assessment area.

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4. Conducting a Water Resources Assessment

Things to consider

• Include various experts from different backgrounds

• Identify the most important issues and priority areas in a rapid
water resources assessment
• Include the examination of changes in land use, possible soil
degradation and climate variability and change for large and long-
term projects
• If possible, link the WRA to an environmental impact assessment
• To analyse the change capacity of a river basin and to protect its
water quality and quantity, include a strategic impact assessment.

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4. Conducting a Water Resources Assessment

Assessments in an IWRM perspective additionally include

• Demand assessment: examines the competing uses of water with

the physical resource base and assesses demand for water (at a
given price), thus helping to determine the financial resources
available for water resource management.
• Environmental impact assessment and strategic impact
assessment: collect data on the social and environmental
implications of development programmes and projects.
• Social impact assessment: examines how social and institutional
structures affect water use and management, or how a specific
project might affect social structures.
• Risk or vulnerability assessment: looks at the likelihood of
extreme events, such as flood and droughts, and the vulnerability
of society to them.

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5. Content Example
A WRA could include the following points (1/3):

1. Introduction
2. Country Profile
• Geography
• Population and social impacts
• Economy
• Flood control
• Legislative framework

Example of a Country Water Resource

Profile for Mozambique.
Source: http://nepadwatercoe.org/nepad-water-coes-country-
water-resource-profiles-wwweek/ [Accessed: 21.01.2014]

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5. Content Example
A WRA could include the following points (2/3):

3. Current Uses of Water Resources

• Water supply
• Domestic uses and needs
• Industrial/commercial uses and needs
• Agricultural uses and needs
• Hydropower
• Stream gauge network
• Waterway transportation
4. Surface Water Resources
• Precipitation and climate
• Rivers and basins
• Lakes and swamps
Water uses in Bangladesh, UK and USA.
• Deforestation effects Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/water_rivers/water_usage_rev1.shtml
[Accessed: 21.01.2014]
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5. Content Example
A WRA could include the following points (3/3):

5. Ground Water Resources

• Aquifer definition and characteristics
• Hydrogeology

6. Water Quality
• Surface water
• Ground water
• Domestic waste disposal

Water Quality Mapping.

Source: http://www.epa.state.il.us/water/water-
quality/report-1996/ [Accessed: 21.01.2014]

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6. Advantages and Disadvantages
+ Conducting a water resources
assessment provides you with
a comprehensive
understanding of the quality
and quantity of water
resources in your area.
+ Only by having a detailed
understanding of the water
resources in your area, allows
large-scale change in your
water system.
Water Resources Assessment
- “Classic” WRA focuses
predominantly on water and
does usually not consider the
nutrient cycle and sanitation.
- Conducting a WRA requires
considerable time and
resources.
- Requires training and
education in order to conduct
a comprehensive analysis.
- Requires a network of experts
who are able to conduct,
analyse and share the data.
17
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7. References
HUBERT, P. (n.y.): International Glossary of Hydrology. Fontainebleau: Hubert Pierre. URL:
http://hydrologie.org/glu/HINDEN.HTM [Accessed: 06.01.2014].

UNESCO (Editor); WMO (Editor) (1997): Water Resources Assessment. Handbook for Review of National Capabilities.
Geneva and Paris: World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO). URL: http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/hwrp/wrahand.php [Accessed: 06.01.2014]

Water Resources Assessment 18

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