International Journal of Irrigation and Water Management

International Journal of Irrigation and Water Management ISSN 2756-3804 Vol. 12 (5), pp. 001-008, May, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Enhancing Hydropower Plant Performance: A Modeling Approach to Reservoir Operation

T. G. Bosona* and G. Gebresenbet

Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7032, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.

Accepted 3 February, 2025

One way of improving water management is increasing the efficiency of utilization of dam reservoirs. Even small improvement in reservoir operation can lead to large benefits. But there is no universal solution for reservoir operation problems. Hence, it is necessary to study the system and determine optimal reservoir operation guides for each scheme. In the present study, Melka Wakana Hydropower Plant in Ethiopia has been modeled and studied. The tool used was Powersim Simulation software. Mean monthly data of reservoir inflow, evaporation rate, recorded energy production; recorded discharge (turbine flow) and recorded reservoir elevation were used as time series input data. Different variables and relationships between variables were defined along with the constraints. After developing and calibrating the model successfully, detailed simulation analysis has been carried out by controlling reservoir releases for energy production, taking into consideration; increasing yearly energy production and improving the uniformity of monthly energy production. The results of the simulation analyses indicated that the yearly energy production was increased by 5.67% while evaporation loss was reduced by 38.33%. But this power plant still produces below its design capacity by 12.21%.The uniformity of monthly energy production from this plant was also improved. The new reservoir operation guide curve has been developed for the optimum energy production from this plant.

Key words: Guide curve, simulation model, reservoir operation, hydropower, energy production, water resources management.
 

International Journal of Irrigation and Water Management ISSN 2756-3804 Vol. 12 (5), pp. 001-008, May, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Application of Artificial Neural Networks for Predicting Groundwater Levels in Hard Rock Basins

Ranu Rani Sethi1*, A. Kumar1, S. P. Sharma2 and H. C. Verma3

1Directorate of Water Management (ICAR), Bhubaneswar-751023, Orissa, India.
2Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow-226021, Uttar Pradesh, India.

3Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (ICAR), Lucknow-227107, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Accepted 28 March, 2025

The objectives of this study were to determine the factors that influence and control the water table fluctuation in a specific geomorphologic situation, to develop a forecasting model and examine its potential in predicting water table depth using limited data. Prediction of region specific water table fluctuation would certainly guide the way towards conceiving, designing and taking scientific measures to ensure sustainable groundwater management. Analysis of change in groundwater table depth, groundwater flow directions within the watershed showed that the influencing factors of rainfall, groundwater draft from near by structures and the resulting fluctuation in groundwater table depth were well correlated in a specific geological situation. Models for prediction of water table depth were developed based on artificial neural networks (ANNs). The study employed multilayer feed forward neural network with backpropagation learning method to develop the model. The neural networks with different numbers of hidden layer neurons were developed using 4 years (2005 - 2008) monthly rainfall, potential evapotranspiration (PET), and water table depth from nearby, influencing wells data as input and one month ahead water table depth as output. The best model was selected based on the root mean square error (RMSE) of prediction using independent test data set. The results of the study clearly showed that ANN can be used to predict water table depth in a hard rock aquifer with reasonably good accuracy even in case of limited data situation.

Key words: Water table fluctuation, rainfall, groundwater draft, ANN.
 

African Journal of Wood Science and Forestry ISSN 2375-0979 Vol. 13 (5), pp. 001-006, May, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Impacts of Agricultural Practices on Seyfe Wetland Ecosystem

Emine Olhan*, Sema Gün, Yener Ataseven and Hasan Arisoy

Nkara University, Agricultural Faculty, Department of Agricultural Economics 06110 Diskapi, Ankara, Turkey.

Accepted 25 November, 2024

Seyfe Lake is one of the most important wetlands of Turkey and it is classified among “first-class wetland areas” according to international criteria. The protection of the lake is assured at an international level after its inclusion in the Ramsar Agreement in 1994. Because of wrong water management practices and drought, Seyfe Lake has shrunk since 2004 in terms of both the area and the length of duration as wetland. In 2006, the government started to grant agricultural subsidies for decreasing water usage in agricultural activities around the lake. Fifty-four agricultural enterprises in Seyfe, Gumuskumbet, Yazikinik and Eski Doganli villages, which are located around the Lake, were taken under the scope of the research. The data derived from the surveys conducted in these enterprises were assessed so that the impact of the agricultural activity in the region on the wetland is revealed. Irrigated farming activities in the region declined because of subsidies granted after 2006 and the wetland perception of producers in the region started to change towards a protective approach. Ninety-two point six percent of the producers leave space between parcels for sustaining natural life and 28.3% of the producers sow more seeds considering the birds living in the region. However, as these producers are not adequately informed about the use of fertilizers and pesticides, they adjust the amount they use according to the money available.

Key words: Agriculture, wetlands, pollution, environmental effects.
 

African Journal of Wood Science and Forestry ISSN 2375-0979 Vol. 13 (5), pp. 001-012, May, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Assessing Water Availability for Sustainable Agriculture in Burkina Faso Using Evapotranspiration and Rainfall Data

Y. M. Wang1*, S. Traore2 and T. Kerh1

1Department of Civil Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan, R.O.C.
2Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation National Pingtung University of Science and

Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Accepted 19 November, 2024

Agriculture in Burkina Faso is largely dominated by 75% of rainfed crop production, which is characterized by short and unevenly distribution of annual rainfall. The shortage of water for crop production is not only a consequence of water scarcity, but also the mismatch between water supply and demand. The cropping calendar approach has been widely suggested as a strategy management to mitigate the water shortage to crop. This study introduces a new agriculture water management plan in two important areas; Banfora and Ouagadougou based on evapotranspiration reference model and rainfall contribution index. The results showed that Banfora has a higher agricultural potential than Ouagadougou, and also proposed a suitable cropping calendar under rainfed condition for the study areas. Furthermore, from the index estimated for Banfora, it is found that, after the first crop, the rainwater can possibly contribute 39.1 and 42.4% to the water requirements of maize and bean respectively while the plating date is September 1st. The new water management plan recommended for Burkina Faso in this study may increase agricultural production for solving part of the local food shortage problem.

Key words: Evapotranspiration, water scarcity, rainfed, cropping calendar, irrigation efficiency, food production.
 

International Journal of Irrigation and Water Management ISSN 2756-3804 Vol. 12 (3), pp. 001-009, March, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Hydrogeological Evaluation of Groundwater Resources in the Ejisu-Juaben District, Ghana

G. K. Anornu1*, B. K. Kortatsi2 and Zango Musah Saeed3

1Civil Engineering Department, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana.
2CSIR-Water Research Institute, P. O. Box M32, Accra, Ghana.
3Earth and Environmental Science Department, University of Development Studies, Navorongo campus Tamale, Ghana.

Accepted 7 September, 2024

The increasing stress on freshwater resources due to ever-rising demands and profligate uses as well as growing population of Ejisu-Juaben District is an issue of great concern. The purpose of this study is to make a quantitative estimate of the available groundwater resources in the Ejisu-Juaben district for efficient utilization and management of groundwater resources. The methodology involved the collection and analysis of existing well data and chloride mass balance. The results indicate that the aquifers are composite and composed of weathered regolith of low permeability and high storage and overlying fissured bedrock of high permeability and low storage. Semi unconfined aquifers prevail in major portions, which constitute the principal source of groundwater. The depths of boreholes in the District range from 17 - 75 m with an average of 51 m. Generally Ejisu-Juaben district has low groundwater potential with mean yield, transmissivity and specific yield values of 2.8 m3/h, 12.5 m2/d and 0.95 m3/h/m respectively. Recharge in the district is estimated as 7 - 9% of the average annual rainfall of 1874 mm. The permanent water reserve of 326,064,375 m3 and recoverable water reserve of 130,425,750 m3 for the aquifer of the basement complex aquifer were estimated from the records of 97 boreholes.

Key words: Groundwater assessment, water quality, recharge, water management, water resources.
 

International Journal of Irrigation and Water Management ISSN 2756-3804 Vol. 12 (3), pp. 001-009, March, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Temperature-Driven Models for Estimating Reference Evapotranspiration in Semi-Arid Malawi

Yu-Min Wang1*, Willy Namaona2, Seydou Traore2 and Zhao-Cheng Zhang1

1Department of Civil Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu Hsiang, Pingtung
91201, Taiwan.
2Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation, National Pingtung University of Science and

Technology, Neipu Hsiang, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan.

Accepted 27 January, 2025

The importance of evapotranspiration in agricultural water management has been widely reported without doubt. The FAO Penman Monteith (FPM) equation is the sole recommended estimation method of reference evapotranspiration (ETo), but its application is limited due to large number of meteorological data required. In such circumstance, Hargreaves (HGR) and Blaney-Criddle (BCR) temperature-based empirical models are still used in Malawi, regardless of their accuracy in some semiarid areas. This study explored the potential of using HGR and BCR temperature-based models, in Ngabu and Chileka, located in Southern Malawi, where decade climatic data required for FPM equation was collected from 1985 to 2004. The data sets were divided into dry and rainy season to take into account the tendency of over and under estimation of ETo by the models. It was found from this study, that splitting the data into dry and rainy season improves the accuracy of the temperature-based models. From the statistical comparison with FPM, in both sites, HGR performed better than BCR during dry season while BCR showed superior performance over HGR during rainy season. Therefore, seasonal consideration is strongly recommended when temperature-based models are applied under semiarid climatic condition like Malawi where radiation (r = 0.87) and wind speed (r = 0.89) affects ETo. Finally, seasonal temperature- based models are determined and recommended in this study to be used as alternatives of FPM for ETo estimation in Ngabu and Chileka of Malawi.

Key words: Irrigation, agricultural water management, crop water requirement, wind effect, modeling.