Farhad Misaghi; Amir Hossein Amani; Ali Reza Seddigh
Abstract
Introduction: Water scarcity is one of the most important issues in the 21st century that human societies encounter. Population growth, industrial and agricultural production, rapid urbanization, and severe climate change have had a major impact on limited water resources and the environment in river ...
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Introduction: Water scarcity is one of the most important issues in the 21st century that human societies encounter. Population growth, industrial and agricultural production, rapid urbanization, and severe climate change have had a major impact on limited water resources and the environment in river basins. The optimal allocation of water resources among consumers requires effective measurements of water resources and its integrated management for human and environmental justice. Optimization of water resource allocation is a very complex decision to make in several levels, stages, subjects, objectives, and non-linear communications. With the complexity of water allocation issues, its algorithms have been gradually improved, and the use of intelligent meta-analysis algorithms in optimizing the allocation of water resources from traditional math planning has surpassed. However, the effectiveness of conventional optimization algorithms is not ideal from a variety of perspectives, and issues such as convergence, computational speed, initial sensitivity, etc., due to the complexity and multi-purpose of optimizing water allocation, require further studies to improve the efficiency of the algorithm and obtaining a desirable overall solution. Material and methods: The gray wolf algorithm mimics the hierarchy of leadership and the mechanism of hunting gray wolves in nature. In this algorithm, four types of gray wolves, including alpha, beta, delta, and omega have been used to simulate a hierarchy of leadership. Also, the colonial competition algorithm begins with some primary random populations, each of which is called a "country". Some of the best population elements (equivalent to the elites in the genetic algorithm) are chosen as imperialists. The remaining population is considered as a colony. Colonialists, depending on their power, are pulling these colonies into a particular process. In this research, the gray wolf and colonial competition algorithms were used to optimize water resources values during 2000-2012 regarding the Sofi-Chay irrigation and drainage network and Alavian dam to achieve the optimal policy. The Alavian dam in the province of East Azerbaijan, 3km north of Maragheh city, near the village of Alavian, has been constructed on the Sofi-Chai River, and supplies drinking water to the Maragheh, Miandoab, Bonab, Ajbashir, and Malekan counties. Results and discussion: The results of the implementation of the gray wolf algorithm, compared to the colonial competition algorithm, were very close to the measured value of the amount of allocated water and this suggests the coherence and efficiency of the gray wolf algorithm in water resources system. According to the RMSE values in all four areas, the gray wolf algorithm was 44% less than the colonial competition algorithm and 64% higher in the Nash-Sutcliff coefficient. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the gray wolf algorithm has a suitable speed for finding the optimal response. In other words, it has a high convergence rate and can find an optimal global optimization problem. The results showed that the gray wolf algorithm yielded better and more acceptable results in water utilization in combination with utilizing surface water and underground water resources.
Rogahyeh Shokri Biarargh; Marjan Nematimehr
Abstract
Introduction: So far, the use of water sensitive urban design (WSUD) has not been investigated in cities of Iran. This issue, for the first time introduced in Australia in 1994, has been implemented in several countries, such as America, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia. The main objective of ...
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Introduction: So far, the use of water sensitive urban design (WSUD) has not been investigated in cities of Iran. This issue, for the first time introduced in Australia in 1994, has been implemented in several countries, such as America, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia. The main objective of WSUD is to establish a link between urban planning and design, and landscape design with sustainable management of water flows in a city. In other words, this approach tries to revitalize the natural water cycle in the city by presenting urban design-oriented solutions that may have less environmental damages. Material and methods: In this descriptive-qualitative research, the WSUD approach has been firstly addressed; then, its indicators, as integrated water management factors, have been extracted, evaluated, and analyzed in the rainy city of Rasht. In addition, based on findings of the study, some strategies for improving the water management in the city of Rasht have been proposed. Since the extraction of its dimensions and indicators depends on an accurate and exact investigation of the resources and documents, data collection was done by a documentary study. In order to infer the repeatability and validity of the extracted data from the documentary texts, the content analysis was used. The extent of the significance of indicators is not the same. Therefore, after extracting dimensions, components and repeated indicators of integrated water management, the coefficients of the significance of each level at a higher level, based on obtained data from content analysis, have been calculated by data from the experts’ questionnaire (Delphi) which is 5-point Likert scale method. At last, the significance of each indicator was determined. Results and discussion: Based on the findings obtained from experts’ questionnaire, the environmental indicator was the most significant factor in sustainable urban water management, as well as urban river health and rate of rainwater storage with weights of 0.0469 and 0.0463, respectively. To analyze the present situation in Rasht city, observation, questionnaire, and statistical databases in the form of Swat Table were utilized as the instrumentation. By weighting the internal and external factors, based on the GOSP matrix, appropriate strategies were introduced in the group of adaptive strategies. In addition, prioritization was done by QSPM matrix strategies on different levels. Ultimately, appropriate policies for applying the water-sensitive urban design approach were made in Rasht city. The outcomes of these strategies can be as follows: transformation of the gray infrastructure network of the city of Rasht into the green-blue infrastructure network, eco-revelatory of green infrastructures instead of underground pipelines, changing attitudes towards the links of water, nature and buildings, and increasing citizens’ awareness of the natural water cycle, preventing urban flooding in passages during rainfall, cleaning up the rivers of Zarjoob and Goharrood as well as wetlands of Rasht and making them the green corridors and major leisure spots, increasing green roofs, green walls and green terraces that have positive effects on the city’s temperature, air quality, wildlife, and mental health, and reducing drinking water consumption for non-drinking consumptions up to 50 percent (i.e., reduction of five million liters of drinking water only by collecting and handling gray water or rainwater and utilizing it as for rainwater flush tanks of buildings), etc. Conclusion: The WSUD approach, as the latest urban design approach for sustainable urban water management, has been developed for the management of surface runoff quality to a wider framework, i.e., for integrating urban water management in combination with urban design. It is noteworthy that it testifies that there is a possibility of managing surface waters in the city, in such a way that, in spite of existing more than 2000 mm rainfall per year, and even the flow of 200 mm on height over the passageways, the use of urban spaces is not disturbed.
Samira Afshari; Heydar Gholizadeh; Rohollah Rezaei; Hossein Shabanali Fami
Volume 14, Issue 3 , October 2016, , Pages 73-88
Abstract
Introduction: Given the increasing crisis of water resource constraints, the proper management of water resources is indispensable for increasing water use efficiency, especially in the agricultural sector which has the highest water consumption (Perez-Blanco and Gomez, 2014). In fact, water resource ...
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Introduction: Given the increasing crisis of water resource constraints, the proper management of water resources is indispensable for increasing water use efficiency, especially in the agricultural sector which has the highest water consumption (Perez-Blanco and Gomez, 2014). In fact, water resource management considers the main core of strategies to conserve water resources (Hu et al., 2014). Due to the importance of this issue, various studies have been undertaken in this respect such as those by Shahsavari (2014), Nori et al. (2014), Amirkhani et al. (2011), Mohammadi et al. (2009), Rezadoost and Allahyari (2014), Kulmatov (2014), Khalili (2012) and Panahi and Malekmohammadi (2010). Accordingly, the purpose of this research was to study the factors affecting the implementation of actions related to sustainable management of water resources among farmers in Komijan County, Markazi Province. Materials and methods: The statistical population for the research consisted of all agricultural households in the rural areas of Komijan County, of which a sample size of 300 was selected using a multiple stage sampling technique. Data was collected using a research-made questionnaire. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and the construct validity and reliability of the research instrument were confirmed through examining model fit at the three levels of the measurement model, structural model and overall model. The Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) multivariate technique (Partial Least Squares) was used to analyze data and for this purpose, and SPSS and Smart PLS software were applied.Results and discussion: In this study, after confirming the fit of the measurement model, the structural model for research was fitted based on two indices, R2 (representing the effect of exogenous latent variables on endogenous) and Q2 (indicating the predictive power of the model). The results indicated that the values of the two indices R2 and Q2 were at appropriate levels for the second order endogenous latent variable (namely, implementation of actions related to sustainable water resource management) as well as five first order endogenous latent variables (that is, technical actions, farming actions, technological actions, control actions and reconstruction actions); this showed that the structural model had a suitable fit. Accordingly, the research hypotheses were tested based on that model. The results of the descriptive statistics showed that the mean age and farming experience of the farmers surveyed were at high levels (54.21 and 28.9 years, respectively) and, in contrast, their educational level was low (81.7 percent less than diploma). The main water resources of the farmers were semi-deep wells, aqueducts and deep wells with a frequency of 43, 28.3 and 21 percent, respectively; 7.6 percent of them used a combination of an aqueduct with at least one other source. The majority of farmers (89.3 percent) used the flood irrigation system and a small number of farmers used new irrigation methods. The results showed that the majority of farmers (90.4 percent) implemented actions related to the sustainable management of water resources at medium and low levels. The results also revealed that the variables for extension related factors (p-value=0.01, β=0.203), educational factors (p-value=0.01, β=0.229), participatory factors (p-value=0.01, β=0.223) and supportive factors (p-value=0.01, β=0.220) all had a positive and significant effect on the dependent variable. In general, these four variables explained about 41.1 percent of variances in implementation of actions related to sustainable management of water resources among farmers. Conclusion: According to the results, we could note that the sustainable management of agricultural water resources requires a multifaceted approach and it consists of a series of technical actions, farming actions, technological actions, control actions and reconstruction actions. Taking a one-dimensional look at the question and the lack of systematic approach can significantly lead to a reduction in the effectiveness of agricultural water resource management programmes.
Morteza Tahamipour; Abas Salah; Abbas Arabmazar
Volume 13, Issue 3 , October 2015, , Pages 35-50
Abstract
One of the new approaches in the management of water resources is according to the principle of comparative advantage and trade in virtual water. This is based on the view that it can be considered a specialty area in which the water products and the products produced in wet areas, or imported from other ...
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One of the new approaches in the management of water resources is according to the principle of comparative advantage and trade in virtual water. This is based on the view that it can be considered a specialty area in which the water products and the products produced in wet areas, or imported from other countries, enter areas that are less water. In this study, the approach in Gilan Province has been studied. On this basis, the central question of this study would be what form the trade model of virtual water in this province takes and, in order to answer this question, an extended input-output table was used. Accordingly, the direct and total water consumption for 40 activities at the provincial level has been considered. The results showed that Guilan Province, with net exports of 636 and 811 million cubic meters of water at the level of economic activity and agriculture, respectively, has been a net exporter of virtual water, while the province's industries and mines have been net importers of virtual water. Based on the information obtained in this study, it is possible through a change in the composition of economic activity (to increase the proportion of activities with high added value and reduce the share of activities with the highest intensity of water use) to hold the added value of Guilan Province and establish an improved trade balance for water.
Nasrin Otadi; Amir Hesam Hassani
Volume 10, Issue 1 , October 2012
Abstract
Pars Oil Refinery, situated 22 km away from metropolitan Tehran, is one of the most important motor oil refineries in the country. Currently, the refinery is composed of various sections including the Furfural, Separation, Storage, Blending, Can-making, Barrel-making and Dyeing, Loading and Unloading, ...
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Pars Oil Refinery, situated 22 km away from metropolitan Tehran, is one of the most important motor oil refineries in the country. Currently, the refinery is composed of various sections including the Furfural, Separation, Storage, Blending, Can-making, Barrel-making and Dyeing, Loading and Unloading, Antifreeze, Grease-making, Boiler, Repair, and Laboratory Units. In the study area, because of such reasons as the high groundwater table the company has failed to launch the biological section of its wastewater treatment plant. In addition, with the possibility of effluents from residents’ sanitary wastewater as well as those from agriculture lands penetrating the soil and ending up in the underground water of the studied area, the present research was conducted on such an environmental dilemma. In order to investigate the hypothesis of effluent penetration into underground water, four stations were selected from among water wells existing throughout the area, and then the parameters of pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), nitrate, colour, nitrite, electrical conductivity (EC), sulfate, dissolved solids, ammonia, furfural, heavy metals, and total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) were analyzed. It is noteworthy that the analyses were conducted on water samples seasonally from December 2006 to May 2009. Afterwards, through comparison of the results obtained from the forenamed tests and using standard values, the research hypothesis was confirmed. In other words, effluents do penetrate the wells and pollute the underground water.
