Keywords

jaguaribe, water management, iras-2010, inter-basin transfer

Start Date

1-7-2012 12:00 AM

Abstract

The north east of Brazil is the driest region of Brazil; rainfall is seasonal andreservoirs and transfer systems are used such as in the Jaguaribe basin studied here.Reservoir releases from the Jaguaribe’s three major reservoirs are decided through bi-annualnegotiations involving the local water management authority and water users. This paperinvestigates impacts of different management options in the Jaguaribe basin using severaldifferent system performance measures. We use an 89 year historical hydrological record toinvestigate the inter-basin transfer options and to investigate changing the current policyrequiring at least 30 months of municipal demand to be stored at all times. We apply multiobjectivesearch to the reservoir release rules for one of the drier decades of the time-seriesto investigate the trade-offs between different storage policies. Analysis of the inter-basintransfer options show benefits could be gained by implementing the São Francisco transfer.We find limited impact of changing the protected municipal demand duration although thismay be a result of the limited input flow series and current model limitations. The optimisationanalysis shows potential for helping the negotiated release process.

COinS
 
Jul 1st, 12:00 AM

Impacts of management options on water deficits, losses and livelihoods in the Jaguaribe Basin of North East Brazil

The north east of Brazil is the driest region of Brazil; rainfall is seasonal andreservoirs and transfer systems are used such as in the Jaguaribe basin studied here.Reservoir releases from the Jaguaribe’s three major reservoirs are decided through bi-annualnegotiations involving the local water management authority and water users. This paperinvestigates impacts of different management options in the Jaguaribe basin using severaldifferent system performance measures. We use an 89 year historical hydrological record toinvestigate the inter-basin transfer options and to investigate changing the current policyrequiring at least 30 months of municipal demand to be stored at all times. We apply multiobjectivesearch to the reservoir release rules for one of the drier decades of the time-seriesto investigate the trade-offs between different storage policies. Analysis of the inter-basintransfer options show benefits could be gained by implementing the São Francisco transfer.We find limited impact of changing the protected municipal demand duration although thismay be a result of the limited input flow series and current model limitations. The optimisationanalysis shows potential for helping the negotiated release process.