Water Resources Engineering I

1. CVS 445: Water Resources Engineering I
Department of Civil & Structural Engineering
Moi University
Lawrence Omai
E-mail: lawrenceomai@gmail.com

2. Course Outline
1. Introduction to WRE
2. Integrated Water Resources Management and development
(IWRM/D)
Definition
Importance
Process of implementation
Water management (Dublin) principles
Water users
Implication of change
3. Water interaction and balance
4. Catchments based planning /management
5. Legal & institutional framework and international obligation for
IWRM
Kenya in focus, Water ACT 2002

3. INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MAGEMENT
General
Water Resources

5. Global Water Resources
.

6. Water Use
• What does water use mean?
• Any activity that has an impact on water resources for
instance:
a) The AMOUNT of water in the resource
b) The QUALITY of water in the resource
c) The ENVIRONMENT surrounding the resource
• Implies any of the following:
– Taking water from a water resource (abstraction)
– Storing water
– Activities that reduce stream flow
– Discharging waste or water containing waste into a water resource
– Controlled activities that impact detrimentally on a water resource
e.g. irrigating land with water containing waste, power generation
activities that alter the flow of a water resource
– Changing the physical structure of rivers & streams (altering a
watercourse, obstructing/diverting the flow of water in a watercourse)
– Abstracting GW
– Using water for recreational purposes

7. Priorities for water use
• The first priority
– Providing water resources of sufficient quantity and quality to
meet the requirements of the Reserve (basic human needs
& ecological reserves)
• Other priorities:
– Water to meet international rights and obligations (mgt of
shared waters)
– Water use of strategic importance (e.g. generation of
electricity)
– Inter-catchment water transfers between surplus and deficit
catchments
– Contingency to meet projected future water needs
• The National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS) must
provide for all these priorities

8. • Country dependent wrt available natural resources
and the resulting socio-economic activities
• The world common water users may be divided into
three major categories
– Domestic (~ 8 % of water withdrawn for human use)
• Cooking, fire protection, drinking water, sanitation, lawn
watering etc
– Agricultural (~ 6 9 % of water withdrawn for human use)
• Mainly irrigation.
– Industrial (~23% of water withdrawn for human use)
• Manufacturing, energy production, mining etc
• The %ages provided are global averages
• The global averages vary greatly with regions. For instance, in
Africa Agriculture consumes 88 %, Domestic 7% & Industry 5%
of all water withdrawn for human use. In Europe, Agriculture
and Domestic use take 33% and 13% respectively while
Water Users

9. • Fish and wildlife (Environmental water
use)
– The way water is handled affects the fish in the water
and the wildlife around the water
– Different species require different types of water
• Recreational water use
– Boating, water skiing, fishing, sailing and swimming
• Swimming pools - require a lot of water to keep them in
compliance with health regulations
– Frozen water activities
• Ice skating, hockey, snowboarding and skiing
Water Users…(Others)

10. What Makes Water so Special to Manage
All life and all sectors of the economy depend on water. We all live in - and with - the
hydrological cycle: Water is constantly being recharged, used, returned and reused. So
we all depend on each other.
We all live downstream! We are all interdependent ...

11. Why is Water Resources Mgt Critical?
Water resources management is prevention and resolution of conflicts

12. What are the Main Challenges ahead?
Water and sanitation
for PEOPLE
Rainfall and
irrigation water for
FOOD
Water for the
economic functions
of ECOSYSTEMS
...while...
Maintaining the
RESOURCE BASE,
both surface and
ground water, and
biodiversity
A blue revolution is needed to ensure more jobs and more crops per drop

13. Water Resources Management
• Enshrined in the constitution through the National Water
Act
• Purpose of the Water Act is to ensure that the nation’s
water resources are:

14. What is IWRM?
• IWRM is a process which promotes the coordinated
development and management of water, land and
related resources in order to Maximize the resultant
economic and social welfare in an equitable manner
without compromising the sustainability of vital
ecosystems.
IWRM helps to:
1. Protect the world’s environment
2. Foster economic growth and sustainable agricultural
development.
3. Promote democratic participation in governance and
4. Improve human health

15. Keys Points in respect to IWRM
1. The basis of Integrated Water resources Management (IWRM) is that
different uses of water are interdependent.
High irrigation demands and polluted drainage flows from
agriculture mean less freshwater for drinking or industrial use.
2. Integrated management means that all the different uses of water
resources are considered together
3. Integrated management means that all the different uses of water
resources are considered together.
4. Deliberate management of resources is needed to ensure long-term
sustainable use...
5. IWRM is a systematic process: Not sectoral approach.
Recognises the individual components as well as the linkages between
them

16. Why IRM?
1. Of the Global water sources, 9 7 % seawater, and 3 % is freshwater. of
the freshwater 8 7 % not accessible, meaning only 13 % of
freshwater is accessible, a mere 0.4 % of the total!
2. Today more than 2 billion people are affected by water shortages in over
4 0 countries.
3. 263 river basins are shared by two or more nations;
4. 2 million tonnes per day of human waste are deposited in water courses.
5. Half the population of the developing world are exposed to polluted
sources of water that increase disease incidence.
6. 9 0 % of natural disasters in the previous decade were water related.
• Population Pressure (6 b to 9 b)
• IWRM is driven by the recognition of water as vital for human
survival, health and dignity and a fundamental resource for
human development.

17. Why IRM? Cont’d….
• Growth in population, increased economic activity and
improved standards of living lead to increased competition for
and conflicts over the limited freshwater resource.
• A combination of social inequity and economic marginalisation
forces pple living in extreme poverty lead to overexploitation of
soil and forestry resources, with damaging impacts on water
resources.

18. Reasons for an Impending water crisis
1. Water resources are increasingly under pressure from
population growth, economic activity and intensifying
competition for the water among users;
2. Water withdrawals have increased more than twice as fast as
population growth
3. Pollution is further enhancing water scarcity by reducing water
usability downstream;
4. ….
5. ……
6. ….

19. Principal Components of IWRM
1. Managing water resources at the basin or watershed scale.
2. Optimising supply: Assessments of surface and GW supplies,
analysing water balances, adopting ww reuse, water use
options.
3. Managing demand.
4. Providing equitable access to water resources.
5. Establishing improved and integrated policy, regulatory, and
institutional frameworks.
6. Utilizing an inter-sectoral approach to decision-making,

20. Process of Implementing IWRM-Process of Change
• The overall objective of IWRM’ is to lay the foundation for
rational and efficient framework for meeting the water needs for
development, social and environmental uses.
• The strategy encompasses institutional reforms that separate
the functions of;
• Water service delivery,
• Management and administration
• Policy and regulation.
• It confronts entrenched sectoral interests and requires that the
water resource be managed holistically for the benefits of all.
• This implies change, which brings threats as well as
opportunities.
• IWRM involves integration of various mgt aspects

21. Integration of Water Resources Mgt Involves:
• Integration of Land and water management
• Integration of quality and quantity in water resources
management
• Integration of surface and groundwater management
• Integration of cross-sectoral and upstream – downstream
dialogue
• Integration of Freshwater and coastal zone management
• Integrating water and wastewater management

22. IWRM & Its Relations to Sub-Sectors
• Towards a new paradigm: From Sub-Sectoral to Cross-Sectoral
Relations
• Overriding Criteria: Economic Efficiency in Water Use;
Equity; Environmental and Ecological Sustainability
• Important Elements: Enabling Environment; The
Institutional Roles; and The Management Instruments

23. What Constitutes the 'Enabling Environment'
for Water Resources Management?
 First of all, the right attitude: Government as an
enabler, rather than a top-down manager.
Governments:
 Formulate national water policies
 Enact water resources legislation
 Ensure separation of regulating and service
provision functions
 Encourage and regulate the private sector
 Encourage dialogue with neighbouring countries
(50% of all land lies in shared river basins)

24. What Are The Appropriate Institutional
Roles?
 First of all, organizations and agencies at all
levels and across sectors are participating
and talking to each other.
How?
 By anchoring the coordination at the highest
apex level,
 By creating coordination bodies at the river
basin level, and
 By devolving responsibility to the lowest
appropriate level
... and by developing human and institutional capacity

25. What Are The Practical 'Management Instruments'?
Water managers need practical 'tool boxes' in order to work!
Water Resources Assessment
 Data collection networks and assessment techniques
 Environmental impact assessment (EIA) techniques
 Risk management tools, for instance for floods and
droughts
Communication and Information:
 Raise awareness - a 'water movement'
 Informed stakeholder participation!
Allocation and Conflict Resolution:
 Allocation through market instruments
 Allocation based on the valuation of costs and benefits
 Tools for conflict resolution: upstream versus
downstream, sector versus sector, human versus
nature

26. What Are The Practical 'Management Instruments’? (2)
Regulatory Instruments
3 Basic Principles
 User-pays principle
 Polluter-pays principle
 Subsidise the good, tax the bad
 Direct controls - regulations, rights, standards, land use
plans, utility regulation etc.
 Economic instruments, prices, tariffs, subsidies,
incentives, fees, charges, markets, taxes etc.
 Encouraged self-regulation - transparent
benchmarking, product labelling etc.
Technology
 Research and development
 Technology assessment guidelines
 Technology choices

27. Barriers for implementation of IWRM
1. Lack of awareness
2. Lack of political will
3. Lack of human and financial resources
Assignment #
Considering Water sector, citing relevant examples in Kenya
briefly discuss the barriers inherent in the implementation of
IWRM.

28. Water Management ( Dublin Principles)
1. The International Conference on Water and Environment, Dublin
Ireland, January 1 9 9 2.
2. Gave rise to four principles that have been the basis for much o
the subsequent water sector reform.
a) Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to
sustain life, development and the environment
b) Water development and management should be based on a
participatory approach, involving users, planners and
policymakers at all levels.
c) Women play a central part in the provision, management and
safeguarding of water and,
d) Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and
should be recognised as an economic good

29. Assignment #
1. Identify and briefly discuss the needed transitions in
water management
2. Briefly discuss the implications of IWRM on the
following sectors
– Water Supply and Sanitation
– Irrigation and Drainage
– Energy
– Environment