Integrated Water Management

The lectures introduce a number of topics that are important for IWRM and the modeling exercise. The lectures introduce water management issues in the Netherlands, Rhine Basin, and Volta Basin. The role-play is meant to experience some of the social processes that, together with technical knowledge, determine water management.

For the modeling exercise, the class will be divided in several groups of 5 to 6 persons. Each group will model a set of integrated water resources management issues and simulate possible development scenario’s. Two of the problem sets are:
1. Heating up of the Rhine due to climate change;
2. The effects of small reservoirs for irrigation in the Volta basin.
In addition, there is room for different cases, to be discussed during the first lecture.
The simulation exercise and the reporting should incorporate the concerns of the groups that are mostly affected by the issue and the groups that can contribute most to its resolution. The report on the modeling exercise should contain concrete recommendations.

The main modeling software to be used is WEAP, which has been developed by SEI-Boston. Students of CT4450 can use this software for the duration of one year.
Study Goals Definitions of Water Resources Management (WRM) tend to be rather broad and vague. This is how it should be, but in practice, the context and the problems at hand constrain
the engineer to such an extent that any particular case quickly becomes clear. WRM is always context dependent and should always be problem-driven. This explains why, just
as in Business Management, case studies play such an important role in teaching. The general framework or theory of WRM will receive less attention in this introductory
course.
Skills that a WRM engineer should have:
1. Good basic skills in hydraulics, hydrology, and numerical modeling. One should be able to work from “first” principles;
2. The ability to listen to other disciplines and to come to grasp quickly with the core problems and constraints put forward by other professionals. In practice, one may have to interact with economists, lawyers, anthropologists, ecologists, medical scientists, etc. It would not make too much sense to teach the basics of all these disciplines to WRM engineers. Rather, WRM engineers should develop general skills and confidence to interact;
3. Similarly, the WRM engineer should be able to present the possibilties and constraints of hydraulic and hydrological management to non-engineers;
4. WRM normally involves working in (small) interdisciplinary teams. Small team work is, therefore, part of the course;
5. Because experiments are (almost) not possible in WRM, simulation models are the main analytical instrument available. Simulation models serve to predict the impact of
potential management interventions. At the same time, developing simulation models helps/forces one to understand the system at hand. Using and developing models is, therefore, the key activity in the course;
6. Finally, it is important that the WRM engineer treats models, both existing and newly developed, critically. Different types of software and models will be used to create a certain facility in dealing with these tools in general. Through comparisons and the development of own models, a critical attitude will be fostered.