User Forum - Water

Daan van Os
Advisor Network
Development Brabant Water
The Netherlands



ABSTRACT
Adding Social Value and Return on Investment
Brabant Water is the second largest drinking water company in the Netherlands with a annual turnover of €220 million. Its distribution area covers the province of Noord Brabant. Drinking water is delivered to 2.4 million people through the 84,500 kilometres of mains. GIS is used by the distribution department to assist in the maintenance of the water network. This maintenance can be either corrective or preventive. Annually  €1.5 million is spent on maintenance. Preventing interruptions by just-in-time maintenance may save money. On the other hand too much maintenance will increase costs. GIS is used to assist asset management to make the right decisions between just-in-time maintenance or replacement of mains. Investing in just-in-time maintenance on the right assets will reduce operating costs. Using GIS to register mains, house connections and other features of the network helps to avoid excavation damage. This results in a high service level but also reduces costs. Individuals in the Netherlands cannot choose their drinking water provider. This gives the water companies a steady revenue, which makes it possible to invest in less favourable economic times. GIS is used to assist in selecting the investment projects to keep the network in optimal condition.

Finn Asmussen
Manager, Technology Development
Greater Copenhagen Utility
Denmark



BIO
Finn Asmussen has been working for Greater Copenhagen Utility since 2006, where he is Manager of Technology development within the Water and Wastewater department. Prior, he held several engineering management positions with Danfoss in their offices in London (Manager, SCADA Supermarket Supervision), Graasten, (Frequency Converter Test Department Manager) Copenhagen (Marketing Engineer SCADA Systems), Germany (Marketing Engineer HVAC), and Nordborg (Development Engineer, monitoring systems HVAC). Finn Asmussen holds a BSC in Engineering  and a EBA (Engineering Business Administrator) from the Technical University in Sonderborg.

ABSTRACT
The Digital Water and Wastewater Company
The Goverment in Denmark has together with the local authorities launched a strategy for digitization 2011-2015. The aim of the strategy is to create a more efficient public service, where citizens communicate with the local authorities through digital channels. Water and Wastewater Companies are exchanging a lot of data with local authorities, so in order to become more efficient, digitization and standardization of data in Water and Wastewater Companies become more and more important.  The Danish Water and Wastewater Companies have always had a unique ability to cooperate within the sector and with its external partners. 90% of Danish Wastewater Companies work with the same ‘DANVA data model’ (DANDAS) comprising all wastewater pipes and lots of components. A parallel to this work is the data model made by and for the Water Companies (DANVAND) which in these years is seeing an increase in use. The use of common data models has shown not to have a sufficient level of standardization to meet the efficiency requirements derived from the Danish Water Sector Reform Act, although it is an excellent foundation to work from, because many data in the sector are structured and understood the same way. DDV, “The Digital Water and Wastewater Company”, was established by DANVA, the Danish Water and Wastewater Association, in 2011 in order to lift the digitization and standardization work within Water and Wastewater Companies in Denmark to the next level, making sure that every move (it-strategies, system integrations, data exchanges, workflows etc.) is in harmony with the common business processes in the Water and Wastewater Companies. The “Digital Water and Wastewater Company” is a cooperation between Water and Wastewater Companies in the Danish Water and Wastewater Association. The work and priorities of this cooperation is based on a common vision, saying: ”In 2015 standardization and digitization have increased focus on customer and efficiency in the water segment through better service in all internal work- and business processes and in co-ordination with the surroundings”.  The “Digital Water and Wastewater Company” shall work out guidelines and best practices for increased alignment  between business processes and data, where the increased amount of data from GIS systems plays a significant role.
HOFOR, Greater Copenhagen Utility, supports this effort and this presentation will include:
-              Short presentation of DANVA and HOFOR
-              The Danish data models for comprising Water and Wastewater pipes
-              From data models to DDV, “The Digital Water and Wastewater Company”
-              DDV guidelines for IT-architecture within Water and Wastewater Companies
-              DDV projects and activities
-              The DDV homepage

Tim Gahagan
GIS Technician II
SONOMA County Water
USA



ABSTRACT
Using GIS to Locate and Analyze Sanitation Line/Steam Crossings
In the summer of 2010 in one of the Water Agency’s sanitation districts, a sanitation line crossing a large stream started to leak material into the water way. Emergency action was taken to repair the leak. The Agency is now dealing with the penalties associated with this occurrence. As a result of this spill, a team of Agency engineers and environmentalists were assembled to devise a plan of action that would systematically find and inspect all instances of sanitation pipelines crossing all water sources. GIS was used to identify all crossings as well as harvest all data pertaining to the pipes - including cleaning records, as-built drawings and inspection video. Mobile GIS was used in the field to locate, update and prioritize crossing data. An AGS web application was the data distribution model providing all disciplines immediate access to the inspection reports that included engineer notes, environmental notes, and photos. BIO Tim graduated with a Masters from the University of Toledo. He has 15 years of professional GIS experience in real estate, transportation and wastewater. < /td>
Natalie Fisher
GIS Manager
EPCOR Water Services Inc.
Canada




BIO
Natalie Fisher has worked in the GIS Industry since 2001. In her career she has held various positions including Sr. GIS Analyst, GIS Applications Specialist, GIS Consultant and GIS Instructor. Since 2010, Natalie has held the position of GIS Manager with EPCOR Water Services Inc in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As the GIS Manager, Natalie is responsible for managing the maintenance of the GIS Database and all systems that are enabled from or integrated with it. As the advocate for GIS across Water Services, Natalie is engaged in managing the structure and resources that support GIS. This includes tools that maintain, visualize and analyze Geospatial Data that are then used for the operation, maintenance, renewal and expansion of the Distribution and Transmission System. 

ABSTRACT
EPCOR Water Distribution and Transmission - Redefining Enterprise-wide GIS
Water utilities struggle with integrating mapping systems into every facet of their business. Using its Oracle database platform, EPCOR has integrated and deployed various end-user applications, desktop processing environments and interfaces that are used by more than 250 persons daily.
EPCOR is completing its fourth major installation since adopting GIS as a business enabling technology in 1977. This recent migration benefited from the acceptance of a GIS Strategy, which outlined three guiding principles:
•             GIS will improve user efficiency and/or effectiveness
•             Accurate information should be available to users when they need it, where they need it, and in a format that meets their needs
•             The database will remain the core of the system and multiple applications will be enabled to meet the specific business user needs
This talk will illustrate how well defined database architecture boosts implementation of solutions in the desktop and field environment. EWSI has cultivated a culture where we automate where possible and configure tools before we customize. For successful implementations we have focused on developing solutions from the end user’s perspective, implementing projects in manageable phases ensuring successful user uptake, guarantees funding for training and documentation while meeting the scope of work for GIS.

Constant Chuma
Lecturer, Department of Applied Physics, National
University of Science and Technology
Zimbabwe



BIO
Constant Chuma, holds a MSc in Geophysics, BSc. Appli ed Physics, PDG in Higher Education all from NUST, Zimbabwe and PDG in Remote Sensing and GIS from ARCSSTEE, Nigeria. He worked for 5 years in Higher education as assistant lecturer and then lecturer. He has few publications and more under review. Attend and presented in more than three conference across Africa. He has special interest in groundwater, environment geophysics in sustainable development.

ABSTRACT
Application of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems in Determining the Groundwater Potential in the Crystalline Basement of Bulawayo Metropolitan, Zimbabwe
This study is concerned with the production of a regional structural lineament map of Bulawayo Metropolitan from remotely sensed data and geological inference with a view to identify and delineate groundwater potential zones for development in the area. Attempts have been made to review literatures on groundwater exploitation in the study area and the constraints to effective and sustainable management of underground water in the study area. Remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is useful in recognition and delineation of aquiferous zones for potential groundwater in crystalline basement aquifers. Landsat image, SRTM data, aeromagnetic data and other ancillary data sets have been utilized to extract information on the groundwater storing controlling features of this study area. GIS modelling technique of index overlay method was used to produce groundwater potential map. The result further shows that the lineaments in the study area - correlate with faults, fracture zones, and lithological contrasts along fold belts and in crystalline basement rocks, while the main direction of faulting and jointing is north-north-west to north with several faults oriented, to the north-north-east, parallel - Great Dyke. The results have shown massive spatial variability of ground water potential. The variability closely followed variations in the structures, geology, topography/slope, drainage density and land use/cover in the project area. Consequently, about five groundwater potential zones were demarcated in the study area ranging from very good to poor.

Dr. Mohmmed Muslim Sheikh
Associate Professor
Department of Geography
Government Lohia College
India


ABSTRACT
Geographical Analysis of Rainwater Harvesting in Western Rajasthan, India

Rajasthan is located in the northwestern part of India. It is divided into different climatic and geographic regions by the Aravalli mountain range. The Thar desert is a large, arid region in the north western part of the Indian subcontinent also known as the Great Indian Desert. On average winter temperatures range from 1° to 30° C and summer temperatures range from 25° to 49° C. Average rainfall also varies; the western deserts accumulate about 100 mm annually. Water is a natural resource, fundamental to life, livelihood, food security and sustainable development. It is also a scarce resource. India has more than 17 percent of the world's population, but has only 4 percent of world's renewable water resources with 2.6 percent of world's land area. Water is a prime natural resource, a basic human need and a precious national asset. Planning, development and management of water resources need to be governed by national perspectives. The present paper deals the various traditional methods of collecting and storing of rainwater. The large number of reservoirs and tanks built in different times by the government, village communities and individuals were mainly for irrigation, this also provided water for the cattle and domestic use either directly or indirectly through charging of wells. In fact, wells were invariably built close to the tanks, lakes, canals etc. In the arid and semi-arid areas of north west India, rain water was collected in underground storage tanks called. The state government has made rainwater harvesting mandatory for all public and establishments and all properties in plots covering more than 500 sq. meter in urban areas.
Vipin Vyas
Senior Lecturer
Department of Environmental Science and Limnology
India



BIO
Limnologist by training Dr. Vyas has conducted various research projects on water quality and aquatic biodiversity. Livelihood related to water and use of modern tools for water management are also subjects of his interets

ABSTRACT
Geographic Information System (GIS) Analysis of an Aquatic Ecosystem: Limnological Parameters in Shahpura lake, Bhopal, India
Shahpura Lake, is situated in one of the posh localities of Bhopal, the capital city of state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It receives domestic raw sewage from surrounding habitation; so also the activities like cattle washing, cloth washing, bathing, religious activities like idol immersion etc paves the way for high concentration of hazardous chemicals in the lake waters. The untreated wastewater contains effluent rich in phosphate, caustic soda and detergent, etc. Organic enrichment of the lake through floral offerings, idol immersion and decomposition of aquatic weeds deteriorate the quality of the lake water. With the objective to study the status of the lake a study was conducted from Nov., 2011 to Oct., 2012. The paper presents a study on the Limnological analysis carried out at Shahpura lake Bhopal, India. Twelve sampling sites were selected for data collection. 20 physico-chemical parameters, 14 sediment parameters, diversity and abundance of phytoplankton, zooplankton & benthos and chlorophyll-a were taken for study. Geographic information system (GIS) is used to represent the spatial distribution of the parameters, catchment area treatment, drainage density, land use classification and raster maps were created. The Carlson trophic state index, Nygaard`s algal index and diversity indices like Shannon index, Simpson's index and Margalef index indicated that most of the sampling locations come under eutrophic category indicating that this water is not suitable for human use. Some sites indicated this lake is highly eutrophic.

 

Astrid Vokso
GIS Cordinator
Geoinformatics Centre Norwegian Water
Resources and Energy
Department
Norway

ABSTRACT
Low Flow Index Map for Norway – Interaction using GIS-Software and Analysis
The aim of the project is to calculate input parameters to regressions models to estimate low flow indexes for any ungauged catchment in Norway. First part of the study focused on finding regression equations for homogenous regions in Norway. The regression models require a set of catchment characteristics as input parameters. GIS analyses are defined for all the parameters using national datasets prepared or developed at NVE. The user interacts through a web-application towards a GIS server.  This automatically defines the catchment from a point, set by the user in the river network, giving the result from the regression models and the catchment characteristics back to the user.  

David Critchley
Chief Executive Officer
Proteus FZC
UAE



BIO
David is the owner and CEO of Proteus FZC, a company that was started in 2011 in response to develop and execute satellite-derived bathymetry products with DigitalGlobe.  Previous experiences include CEO of Blom UK and Vision ME companies specializing in aerial surveying and mapping products & services. Project experience includes the introduction of Pictometry oblique airborne imagery to Europe where over 1,000 cities were captured with all the data being used by Mircosoft in Bing Maps. David also, developed a bathymetric LiDAR business unit within Blom where projects were carried out globally. Proteus produces satellite derived water mapping products including bathymetry, seabed classification and water quality monitoring.

ABSTRACT
Water mapping products derived from WorldView2 satellite imagery

Around the world, there is a huge need to map shallow waters for navigational, environmental and resource management. Many shallow water areas have either been previously mapped over 100 years ago or not even mapped at all. Many countries desperately need their shallow waters mapped but do not have the necessary funds to carry out these surveys. Satellite derived water mapping techniques dramatically reduce the costs & risks of surveying coastal waters providing nations and organizations an affordable solution to map and understand this increasingly important zone. Satellite Derived Bathymetry (SDB) and water quality monitoring is not a new concept. Since the first remote sensing satellites have been orbiting the earth various techniques have been applied to try and accurately map sea and lakebeds with little success.  In the past few years the consortium of Proteus, EOMAP and DigitalGlobe has worked closely together to create satellite derived water-mapping products that are affordable, fast and accurate. The benefits of remotely sensed seabed maps over traditional methods of LiDAR and MBES are numerous as very large areas of seabed can be surveyed remotely at a fraction of the cost & time without the need of permits or mobilizations for aircraft & boats. Satellite derived mapping products for shallow waters is a carbon neutral process and also reduces the risks associated with survey practices such as personnel health & safety and potential damage to the ecosystem. The presentation will discuss the importance of mapping shallow waters and prove that satellite derived water mapping techniques are viable solutions.

Mark Kroon
Earth Observation Consultant
NEO
The Netherlands




BIO
Mark Kroon has a PhD in Physics, worked with Philips Physics laboratories and KNMI. He is 43 years of age and now since 2 years with NEO. Mark is with NEO responsible for 3D-innovations and developments as well as the surface monitoring products by satellite. The innovation for this presentation focuses on the development of new object appporaches to hydrosurfaces and modelling.

ABSTRACT
Flood Water Management and City Surface Modelling
Floods caused by excessive rainfall have disastrous effects on many cities around the world. Flooding-induced disasters are becoming increasingly frequent and range from local, water-related inconvenience to flood-induced disruption of society and devastation. Under the HydroCity name knowledge institutes and Dutch private and public organizations in the water and earth-observation sectors joined forces to help cities improve their flood resilience. The HydroCity approach has the objectiive to enable communication between the stake holders on a water problem, with its visualisations, analysis and interactiveness in solution design. The technical approach in HydroCity to monitor a drop of rain (or the flood water), from the surface it first touches into the downstream surface water and further if relevant. So e.g. a drop of rain hits a roof, runs off onto the pavement, on the road and into the sewer. In order to monitor the water, the characteristics of all surfaces in a city have to be described and their hydrological properties assesses. In HydroCity the approach we have developed to identify the surfaces developed is (CityGML-IMGEO-)object based. The HydroCity approach implies that a city has a hydrosurface, that covers 100% of the area. This surface consists of objects such as buildings, roads, other paved areas, urban green, water courses, etc. Information on these objects can be obtained from different sources, such as:- city maps and other topographic information;- urban management information systems for urban green, roads, etc. - satellite imagery, air photos, radar and lidar data, etc. From these data the IMGEO-objects are synthesized. These objects are 3D-objects (CityGML Level of Detail 1 or 2). Hydro-environmental characteristics are derived as 3D-shape, surface roughness and infiltration rate. The products are than used to visualize the effect of rainfall and floods on the surfaces using hydrological modeling tools. Given the object approach a very interactive design and management phase with all stakeholders can be performed efficiently and openly.

Samir Ganili
Head of IT Department
Azersu OJSC
Azerbaizan




BIO
He was born in 22 of April 1980 in Baku, Azerbaijan. After graduation from Electronics department of the Technical High School in Baku he has completed my high education at Middle East Technical University (Turkey). He also gained bachelors and masters degree at Sumgayit State University (Azerbaijan). Now He is working on my doctor thesis at Information Technologies Institute of Azerbaijan. He has work experience as the managers in IT based companies. In 2008 he was the Sales and Marketing director at CASPEL LLC (local IT integrator company). At 2010 he was appointed as the General Manager at ALLO LLC (state IP - international calls telephoning company of Azerbaijan). Since the year of 2011, he has been taking the position of Head of IT Department of Azersu OSJC. The department consist of 3 division like the division of Software, Hardware and Telecommunication, GIS and SCADA.

ABSTRACT
About Azerbaijan, Azersu OJSC and AzersuCIS(GIS) Project
Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The GDP growth rates observed in Azerbaijan during last years made the country one of the fastest growing economies in the world. “Azersu” OJSC is an organization in charge of state policy and strategy in the field of water supply, drinking water supply and sanitation services to consumers in a centralized manner. The Company makes necessary arrangements for extraction of water from sources followed by treatment, transportation and sales. It also takes necessary actions for wastewater treatment. The Company engages in design, construction, operation and maintenance of intake structures, reservoirs, pumping stations, water pipelines and sewer collectors. “Azersu” OJSC supplies drinking water to 1,061 million subscribers across the country. Since 2011 important stage of restructuring of infrastructure system started to be carried out. Taking into consideration entry of big oil revenues in the country, as the Azersu was ready to an effective transfer of their financial resources to the strategic goals, infrastructure development strategy was made for 2011–2015. Far-reaching works of the infrastructure sector are conducted in the country. The main challenges were absence of enough experienced engineering stuff/firms in design, operation and construction; associated with the broadening geographic distribution of projects and employees, increasing numbers of non-Azersu entities -contractors, partners, suppliers and customers- participating on integrated project teams; and growing concerns about security, confidentiality and data integrity. Before water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure renovation and reconstruction works, large projects such as the Master Plan, SCADA and GIS development projects were launched. At present, projects are being implemented for reconstruction of water supply and sewerage systems in urban and rural areas of the Republic of Azerbaijan. After completion of the projects, Azersu needed to gather and store infrastructure data in a GIS system for better operation and maintenance of the system. For this purpose, the AzersuCIS project was launched. The GIS project was also planned as a main collaboration platform for the Master Plan, SCADA and the other IT systems. Azersu analyzed sensitively the drag points in the “city, infrastructure and environment information system” and according to its “create once - use many” approach, aimed to prevent the loss of time/ source and production repetitions at information used in urban infrastructure management. In the light of this approach the AzersuCIS project was launched. This project focused on an integrated management model including its experience trialed in whole Azerbaijan cities, infrastructure and environmental management fields. As a result of the R&D studies, integrated geographical information system named “Urban, Infrastructure and Environment - Integrated Management Model” was accomplished for city, infrastructure and environmental management. This model is an open structured location based “Relational Spatial Database Model” which has user friendly data update interfaces and data production properties. It also has powerful decision support system which can made advanced geographical analysis and evaluations in a fast and visual way. The main strategy of the AzersuCIS project was to supply all users with related engineering data sets for their planning and operational works. All Azersu staff is able to get online access to infrastructure information, maps (vector/raster) and related engineering documents without any sort of correspondence, archive scanning or any other ways of conventional means. Instead, GeoSP@TIAList provides direct access to all information for the existing and planned infrastructure and other related engineering data sets. In addition to this, may be the most advantageous side of the AzersuCIS, authorized users can edit and update all infrastructure data online without any correspondences among the departments. After any operational works on site, system updated instantly by users from different branches of Azersu. This update can be seen online by other users and web clients. Moreover, when you made data input once into AzersuCIS, you can use this data either in modeling or analyzing, reporting, data warehouse projects, web publishing etc. without data conversion. This means the system gives you better decision support and it causes customer satisfaction eventually.
Representative from Azersu OJSC
Azerbaijan





ABSTRACT
Management of Water&Wastewater Infrastructure of Azerbaijan by GeoSP@TIAList
“Azersu” OJSC is an organization in charge of state policy and strategy in the field of water supply, drinking water supply and sanitation services to consumers in a centralized manner. The Company engages in design, construction, operation and maintenance of intake structures, reservoirs, pumping stations, water pipelines and sewer collectors. “Azersu” OJSC supplies drinking water to 1,061 million subscribers across the country. Taking into consideration entry of big oil revenues in the country, as the Azersu was ready to an effective transfer of their financial resources to the strategic goals, infrastructure development strategy was made for 2011–2015. Far-reaching works of the infrastructure sector are conducted in the country. The main challenges were absence of enough experienced engineering stuff/firms in design, operation and construction; associated with the broadening geographic distribution of projects and employees, increasing numbers of non-Azersu entities -contractors, partners, suppliers and customers- participating on integrated project teams; and growing concerns about security, confidentiality and data integrity.Before water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure renovation and reconstruction works, large projects such as the Master Plan, SCADA and GIS development projects were launched. At present, projects are being implemented for reconstruction of water supply and sewerage systems in urban and rural areas of the Republic of Azerbaijan. After completion of the projects, Azersu needed to gather and store infrastructure data in a GIS system for better operation and maintanence of the system. For this purpose, the AzersuCIS project was launched.
Vikram Singh
Superintending Engineer
Delhi Jal Board
India



ABSTRACT
Improving Revenue Management for Urban Water Supply through Spatially Enabled Systems: Applied Experience in Delhi City Essentially, revenue management becomes the lifeblood of the organization giving it the requisite financial liquidity to operate, improve, and expand. The Delhi Jal Board has implemented a Revenue Management System (RMS) developed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). At the heart of the system is an oracle database that links to a GIS interface for monitoring and review of Revenue generation, Billing and Customer care services. All water customers have been mapped in GIS system and uniquely indentified in the database application which has been developed on Oracle Spatial with oracle Map viewer. Seen as a quantum leap over existing revenue collection systems, this GIS-based Revenue Management System will provide for a more efficient and cost-effective means for managing, maintaining, and monitoring revenue zones. Smart map-based interfaces will readily identify customers and sub-geographies where revenue collection is a problem allowing DJB to focus its efforts on identifying the obstacles to revenue collection and then effectively resolving them. The system will not only improve the revenue collection, through the geospatial analytical interface it will also increase speed of problem identification, conflict resolution, and customer satisfaction.
Dr Zaffar Sadiq Mohamed-Ghouse
Executive Consultant-Spatial Information & Practice Leader - Spatial Data Organisation & Management
Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM)
Australia




BIO
Dr Zaffar Sadiq Mohamed-Ghouse is an Executive Consultant and Practice Head-Spatial at Sinclair Knight Merz’s (SKM), Australia, global engineering and project delivery firm. He has 15 years of experience in consulting studies, design, development and management of spatial databases, review data framework policies, and technology including GIS applications development. Zaffar holds a pivotal role as an advisor to various National and International spatial organisations. Zaffar has published 35 research papers. He represents Australia on the ISO Technical Committee. He is a member of several boards and technical committees at National and International level. Zaffar is a recipient of the “Young Professional Award” by the Surveying Spatial Sciences Institute, Australia. He holds an Honorary Senior Fellow appointment at the Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia.

ABSTRACT
National Atlas of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems
Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs) have been mapped across Australia in a landmark project led by Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM). Funded by Australia’s National Water Commission (NWC) under the Water for the Future Plan, the GDE Atlas will assist the consideration of ecosystem groundwater requirements in natural resource management, water planning and environmental impact assessments. As the pressures on Australia’s groundwater resources increase, the GDE Atlas is a timely resource to aid in the understanding of which ecosystems are reliant on groundwater for their existence. One of the significant strengths of the GDE Atlas is that it incorporates previous studies which identified GDEs, from sources including published research and finer scale mapping. Use of this information increases the level of confidence in the GDE Atlas maps. This analysis was based on existing spatial data layers, and on remote sensing data developed specifically for the GDE Atlas. The online GDE Atlas has advanced search and identify functionality that allows users to search for GDEs via location or ecological, hydrogeological and landscape attributes. A key feature of the GDE Atlas is that it is designed to allow for future updates. As a result, the GDE Atlas will remain an up to date source of knowledge regarding the interaction between groundwater and ecosystems.
Marcel de Ruijter
Policy Advisor International Affairs
Unie van Waterschappen
The Netherlands



ABSTRACT
Growth through Focus
The presentation will give a brief introduction on the importance of water management in the Netherlands, and then be talking about the administrative aspects of regional water management as they are performed by the regional water authorities. Regional water authorities (Dutch: waterschappen) are active in an international context. This requires for international cooperation. Furthermore, due to the specific knowledge and skills of the Dutch regional water authorities, the appeal from abroad is increasing. The unique model of the Dutch regional water authorities, making the Netherlands the world’s safest delta, is much appreciated internationally. Dutch regional water authorities are often inquired for their specific knowledge and expertise in the field of water boards, (water) governance, water management (quantity and quality), sanitation, organization of a delta and of course their experience with multi-stakeholder approaches. In recent years, cooperation with parties abroad has grown; by working with other actors in the water sector a surplus value is created. The policy on international cooperation is characterized by focus. In short: growth through focus. Efforts focus on Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Mozambique, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Romania, Turkey and South Africa.
Veronica Botero
National University of Colombia
Colombia





ABSTRACT
National Flood Hazard Zoning: A Hydrological and Hydraulic Approach in Scarce Data Environments
Flooding is a major issue in in both developed and developing countries. In Colombia, specifically, we have experienced severe flooding in the past years due to extreme rainfall events that have left thousands of homeless people and have ruined their livelihoods. In developing countries it is very unlikely to find flood hazard maps for different return periods that can be used by the authorities to manage and plan their territory at different government levels. As a result of the latter, we have developed a methodology that uses both hydrological and hydraulic data to calculate water levels in any point of the river, and analyze which areas have lower heights and will therefore be flooded. The methodology is based on the Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) of each pixel on a DEM, on hydraulic geometry to reconstruct water levels using regionalized Accumulated area vs. discharge curves. Absolute water levels are calculated for specific return periods where georeferenced limnimetric data is collected, and is used to determine the energy line, therefore assigning water levels to each pixel in the rasterized drainage system. These levels are compared to the HAND of each pixel, and if the difference is zero or negative the pixel will be flooded, otherwise the pixel stays dry. Results, obtained for the rainy season of 2010 in Colombia in the lower Magdalena basin, have shown differences in flooded areas of around 3% in comparison to those defined using remote sensing information and techniques. These algorithms can be used in scarce data environments where time series are shorter than 50 years, and few limnimetric stations are georeferenced.
Haicheng Liu
OTB Research Institute for the Built,Environment, Delft University of Technology
The Netherlands




ABSTRACT
An artificial stream network and its application
Digital elevation model(DEM) is widely used in various distributed hydrologic models as the stream network can be extracted from it and thus assuring the calculation of runoff routing. With the advent of remote sensing and computing technology, computation based on DEM with high resolution becomes possible. However, there still exit regions with poor data as well as technical support, particular in developing countries. So, research towards the effect of resolution of DEM to hydrologic response is still valuable. Previous work only indicated the difference between results by implementing hydrologic model in specific basins in the real world and resolutions are only several specific values, such as 30m, 90m. So, the results derived are thus not in a general sense. In this paper, first we introduce how the artificial stream network of which the principle is originated from fractal theory is generated. Then by implementing calculation on such artificial networks in an iterative way, statistical information of several hydrologic parameters can thus be acquired. Moreover, through aggregating DEM and comparing the difference of hydrologic parameters derived in distinct resolutions, the initial influence of resolution of DEM to hydrologic response can be determined as a result. Finally, corresponding information extracted from field data is used to assess the applicability of such a procedure.
Dr Thomas Heege
Chief Executive Officer
EOMAP
Germany




ABSTRACT
Inland and coastal water quality monitoring: Harmonized transnational, long-term and near-real time space based solutions.
EOMAP’s processing technologies and services for water quality, bathymetry and seafloor monitoring are increasingly used by water agencies, hydrographical institutions and offshore companies around the globe. A wide range of applications and scales is served by integration of multiple satellite resources. For example multi-scale lake, river and coastal water quality monitoring services are used to evaluate the long-term impact of damns on the downstream water quality in river systems, the environmental impact of dredging and water way construction. Also the high resolution EOMAP Bathymetry surveys marketed within the consortium of EOMAP, Digitalglobe and Proteus are efficient supplemented with the large scale multi-resolution EOMAP bathymetry integrating various satellite resources. We will demonstrate the meaning and benefit of harmonized multi-sensor processing capabilities, e.g. for transnational water quality services and national water monitoring solutions offered by EOMAP Singapore with full exploitation of governmental satellite resources. The presentation will finally address the benefit of the continental near-real-time monitoring and of-the-shelf services, which are from summer 2013 available through the operational EOMAP processors installed at an increasing number of ground stations in Europe, Australia and Central America.