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Validation and improving Smakhtin environmental flow requirement method

Zeefat, Paul (2010) Validation and improving Smakhtin environmental flow requirement method.

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Abstract:Rivers provide a range of valuable services to people. Besides people there is another water user, the river ecosystem itself. There are various economic and social methods to quantify the needs of people, while similar methods lack to describe the needs of ecosystems. Because the ecosystem is a so-called ‘silent user’, it is frequently left out of water allocation decision making and global water assessments. Smakhtin et al. (2004a) developed a method to estimate the ecological flow requirements (EFR) of a river system to keep it in a ‘fair’ condition and enable incorporation in global water assessments. In accordance with the general accepted theory that EFR should be in line with the natural variability of flow regime, the Smakhtin method assigns two flow components: one to cope with the needs of the aquatic species throughout the year (a low flow requirement, LFR), the other to account for ecological processes that rely on flooding and desired channel maintenance (high flow requirement, HFR). Determinations of flow requirements are related to flow variability, in the Smakhtin method the flow parameter ratio Q90/MAR is used to classify flow regimes, where low ratios indicate variable flow regimes and high ratios stable flow regimes, and is set as LFR. !e HFR water recommendation is based on a Q90/MAR ratio and it descends when the flows become more stable. When Q90 > 30% MAR no HFR is assigned. !is study aims to validate the Smakhtin EFR method by using EFR case studies that determined #ow requirements on local scale.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:ET: Engineering Technology
Subject:56 civil engineering
Programme:Civil Engineering and Management MSc (60026)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/59716
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