WaterWired

My Ten Cents: 'GERD - Putting Ethiopia on the Dam Map'

The latest issue of AWRA's excellent (Note: I am Editor-in-Chief) bimonthly magazine Water Resources IMPACT just hit the streets. Its theme: 'Dams: Past, Present and Future'. Guest Editor Lisa Beutler and I had fun with titling the issue ('Damnation', 'Give a Dam', etc.) but Managing Editor Heidi Fritschel wisely curbed my puerile instincts.

That's Hoover Dam on the cover with what's left of Lake Mead behind it...

I contributed a brief article on Ethiopia's massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the changes it's effecting in the Nile Basin. I spent 5 months on sabbatical with the Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, although my office was out on the Delta on Rosetta Branch of the Nile River.  

I am not an expert on Nile Basin issues; just fascinated by this huge river and the effects of GERD on hydropolitics.  

Here is the intro to the article:

MY FASCINATION WITH THE NILE RIVER AND ASSORTED
 basinwide, transnational water issues was forged almost 30 years ago. In 1995 I was at the University of New Mexico taking my first sabbatical in Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, based in Cairo. The ministry managed all the water in the country—consisting mainly of the Nile River an all irrigation projects. I was assigned to the ministry’s Research Institute for Groundwater (RIG), based in the Nile Delta. My sabbatical had been suggested and arranged by my former doctoral student, Isam Amin, a Sudanese national who had good relationships with the RIG folks. He and I felt that this would be an excellent way to whet my nascent appetite for big-picture water resources management. Was he ever right!

Although RIG dealt with groundwater, I got a strong sense of the importance of the Nile River to Egypt. The institute occupied a building on the Rosetta Branch, one  of the two major branches (distributaries) of the Nile River. The Damietta Branch, to the east, was the other distributary. We were adjacent to a large barrage on the Rosetta Branch. A barrage dam is usually a low structure with many gates that can be raised and lowered to adjust the river's stage so that water can be diverted to canals for irrigation and other purposes.

“No Nile, no Egypt” was a favorite quip of one of my colleagues. He was the one most concerned with other countries’ use of Nile water. He was also glad that the Aswan High Dam, the creator of Lake Nasser, was protected by anti-aircraft batteries. Since Egypt and Israel had signed a peace treaty about 15 years earlier, I could not imagine why such weapons were needed. Who would take Egypt's water? Now, nearly 30 years later, the water of the Nile are the subject of intense controversy, thanks to Ethiopia’s construction of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam—GERD for short.

GERD is a milestone in Ethiopia's development. Constructed on the Blue Nile River, GERD will provide about as much hydroelectric power as the Grand Coulee Dam and store more water than Lake Mead plus Lake Powell at full pool. It will bring Ethiopia a host of other so that water can be diverted to canals for irrigation and other purposes.

Read on: Download Ethiopia_Dam_Map_WRI_May_June2022

Enjoy!

"No Nile, no Egypt." - former Egyptian colleague of mine

My IWRA Conference Presentation: 'Enhancing Groundwater Resilience by Harvesting Glacial Meltwater with Managed Aquifer Recharge'

On 30 October I gave a short presentation on Enhancing Groundwater Resilience by Harvesting Glacial Meltwater with Managed Aquifer Recharge. Dr. Maria T. Gibson was the co-author and did most of the work.

This talk was virtually identical to one I gave in China in  September 2019.

Word: Download IWRA_Abstract_Campana

PDF: Download IWRA_Abstract_Campana

Here are the presentations - one short (given at the conference) and one long:

PPT (long): Download Campana_IWRA_Long

PDF (long): Download Campana_IWRA_Long

PPT (short): Download Campana_IWRA_Short

PDF (short): Download Campana_IWRA_Short

Abstract

In response to global warming, some mountain glaciers are melting at accelerated rates. This is not unique to exotic locales such as the Andes and Himalayas; some permanent glaciers in North America are shrinking and are en route to extinction. In the USA the best example of this phenomenon is Glacier National Park in Montana, which could be glacier-free by the middle of this century. In western Oregon and Washington some of the highest elevations in the Cascade Range are losing permanent glaciers. In addition, early snowmelt in the Cascades and elsewhere has the potential for harvesting.

          Glaciers and snowpack provide humanity and natural ecosystems with 'free storage' of freshwater and parcel out water to maintain and replenish freshwater supplies. During the warm season, glacial meltwater nourishes lower elevation ecosystems and human settlements and recharges aquifers. Replenishment of the glacier normally occurs during the cooler seasons; the cycle then repeats itself. Ideally, one would like a balance: the glacial ice melting in the summer would be replaced by cold weather precipitation. When the melting exceeds the replenishment, the equilibrium is destroyed. The volume of the glacier shrinks, and if the disequilibrium continues, the glacier will disappear entirely.

         Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) could capture 'excess' meltwater – the amount coming out of storage that is available – before the glacier disappears altogether. Early snowmelt could also be captured. Such groundwater storage would not be a permanent, sustainable solution to freshwater shortages, but might provide time to permit the development of alternatives to ensure survival of ecosystems and humans.

         The presentation will: 1) explore some of the advantages and disadvantages of subsurface storage to salvage glacial meltwater and early snowmelt; 2) speculate where such schemes might work and would be needed; and 3) discuss a recent MAR project in the Yakima River basin in Washington State, USA.

Your comments are welcomed!

Enjoy!

"The science of hydrology would be relatively simple if water were unable to penetrate below the earth's surface" - Harold E. Thomas

My Action Proposal for the 9th World Water Forum: 'IWRM and Groundwater'

For the upcoming (21 - 27 March 2021, Dakar, Senegal) 9th World Water Forum I have submitted an 'action proposal' through Action Group 3A (to which I belong): Implement IWRM at all levels (SDG 6.5). 

Download Action_3A_ AWRA_Campana

Here are the salient points of the proposal:

One-sentence description

Assessment of the compatibility between IWRM and groundwater, especially nonrenewable and transdboundary groundwater

Summary (300 words maximum)
AWRA, an organization long involved in the World Water Fora (3 through 8) and IWRM, proposes a session to assemble groundwater and IWRM experts to assess the state-of-the-art, future and compatibility of IWRM and groundwater, and chart a path forward.

The MDGs are now history, supplanted by the SDGs. Although water now has its own goal - #6 Clean Water and Sanitation - it is a crosscutting issue affecting all goals, especially 2 (Zero Hunger); 5 (Gender Equality); 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy); 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities); 13 (Climate Action); 14 (Life Below Water); 15 (Life on Land); and 17 (Partnerships).

Groundwater is by far the largest liquid freshwater reservoir. Its importance has been magnified by the desiccation of surface freshwater resources via global warming and its accelerated global depletion. Groundwater quality must also be addressed; considering only groundwater quantity is to deal incompletely with the resource.

IWRM is now about 25 years old. Despite global acceptance and implementation it does not often adequately deal with groundwater, especially nonrenewable ('fossil') and transboundary groundwater. IWRM's focus is on river basins, which may be underlain by multiple aquifers or be connected by a single large aquifer underlying several river basins. The river basin approach often does not adequately consider groundwater's properties and dynamic response, which are quite different from those of surface water.

This session will address the following questions:

1) Is IWRM inherently anathema to groundwater?

2) Is the use of nonrenewable/fossil groundwater subsumed by IWRM?

3) Should, and how can, IWRM be modified to accommodate 
groundwater development and depletion?

4) Can transboundary aquifers be fully integrated into the IWRM concept? If not, what must change?

5) How can we educate the water community on the above?

6) Are there good examples of all of the above?

Outcomes (with dates to be achieved)

1) Real-world global examples of IWRM-groundwater compatibility/incompatibility - 9/2021

2) Causes for (1) and pursuit of remedies - 9/2021 & ongoing

3) Formation of a working group to address/develop
       aforementioned remedies - 5/2021

4) Secure funding for operations/activities of (3) - 4/2022

5) Specification of a path forward to reconcile differences between IWRM approach and nonrenewable/transboundary groundwater governance/management - 9/2021 & ongoing

This proposal is quite different from the one I submitted for the 8th WWF; that one was a broadside not submitted through official channels and did not fly.

Download Groundwater at 8WWF_Final

The current one was officially submitted. Acceptance is not guaranteed; in fact I would be surprised if this one was accepted. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, or see today's quote.

Enjoy!

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky

M. Gibson and M. Campana AWRA MAR Presentations: 1) 'Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis and System Dynamics Model...Yakima Basin' 2) Harvesting Glacial Meltwater...with MAR'

1) M. Gibson and M. Campana. Abstract: page 11

Download 2019 AC Abstracts_FINAL

PDF (36 MB) of PPT: Download AWRA_SLC_GIBSON

2) M. Campana and M. Gibson  Abstract: page 14

Download 2019 AC Abstracts_FINAL

PDF of PPT: (14 MB) Download AWRA_SLC_CAMPANA

Download AWRA_SLC_CAMPANA

Enjoy! We did!

"The science of hydrology would be relatively simple if water were unable to penetrate below the earth's surface." - Harold E. Thomas (via groundwater geek)

My Presentation to the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources: 'Water Allocation, Management and Policy in the USA: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly'

My friend Qiuchi Shi, who directs a center in the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, invited me to come to her offices on 17 September 2019 to speak on Water Allocation, Management and Policy in the USA: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. 

I prepared two slide decks. But I showed very few because over a two-hour lecture we all would have fallen asleep. I displayed a graphic of the USA with state boundaries for about 90 minutes and talked about water allocation and management.

Thanks to Melissa McCracken for her California slides and former Nevada State Engineer Jason King for the 'spaghetti western' graphics. My comments are mine alone and do not reflect those of any of my affiliated organizations.

Part 1:

PPT: Download Campana_MWR_China_17Sept2019_1

PDF: Download Campana_MWR_China_17Sept2019_1

Part 2: 

PPT: Download Campana_MWR_China__17Sept2019_2

PDF: Download Campana_MWR_China__17Sept2019_2

3) Part 3 - Abstract: 

PDF: Download Campana_MofWR_China_Water_Allocation_USA

Word: Download Campana_MofWR_China_Water_Allocation_USA

Water Allocation, Management, and Policy in the USA:
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 
Michael E. Campana
Professor of Hydrogeology and Water Resources Management
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon USA

"If climate change is a shark, water is its teeth." - Gemma Poag 

Abstract

When it comes to freshwater issues, the USA seems to be comprised of 50 individual sovereign nations rather than 50 states. This perception is not unique to foreigners but to some USA citizens as well.  

      The differences are most striking when it comes to water allocation. The states have the authority to allocate the waters within and beneath their borders. Various mechanisms exist for accomplishing this but there are two major systems in place: the prior appropriation (PA) system, unique to most Western states, and the riparian system, common to the Eastern states.

      In the PA system, the mantra is simply "first in time, first in right" and "if you don't use it, you lose it". In its simplest form PA translates to a system where, in a basin, the earliest users have a more senior right as long as they put their water to beneficial use. In times of drought, senior users may get their full allocation while some junior users go dry. The riparian system is based upon English common law and holds that a property owner whose land borders a stream can withdraw water for her use, with some restrictions. Each system may differ slightly from state to state. Groundwater allocation can follow these two systems as well as other ones that apply, and is quite different from surface water allocation. In general, the law regarding groundwater allocation is not as well advanced as that for surface water.

      Water management can be accomplished by states, state-authorized agencies, municipalities, the private sector, etc. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), also known as One Water, One Water One Watershed (OWOW) and other catchy titles, is generally practiced.

      The USA has no formal water policy. Many states are resistant to such a national policy, as they fear they would lose autonomy.

    What about water quality and transboundary water? What happens when states have disputes? Who resolves these?

      The author will give a whirlwind tour of what he sees as the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of USA water allocation, management and policy. The ability of USA water institutions to adapt to climate change will also be addressed.

Enjoy!

"The problem is in the water; the solution is on the shore." - Chinese saying