Search Results (3)

The potential impacts resulting from climate change will cause significant global problems, particularly in underdeveloped nations where the effects are felt the most. Techniques for harvesting water such as small dams provide an alternative supply of water and are adaptive solutions to deal with water scarcity in the context of future climate change. However, it is difficult to determine how rainwater harvesting (dams) may be impacted by climate change since general circulation models (GCMs), widely utilized for predicting potential future climate change scenarios, work on an extremely large scale. The primary aim of this research was to quantify the effect of climate change on water availability at the catchment scale by statistically downscaling temperature and rainfall from the GCMs. Then, using a water harvesting model, the performance of the Abila Dam in Iraq’s western desert was evaluated in both the current climate (1990–2020) and various future climate change scenarios (2020–2100). Precipitation generally decreases as the annual temperature increases. To simulate future water availability, these changes in meteorological factors were incorporated into the water harvesting model. In total, 15% or less of net storage might fulfil the whole storage capacity during the baseline period, whereas it is 10% in RCP 2.6 in 2011–2040 for future scenarios. In contrast, RCP 8.5 will be able to meet water needs at a pace of 6% in 2011–2040. The findings of this study proved that the Al Abila dam will be unable to supply the necessary water for the area surrounding the Al Abila dam in the future scenarios. Full article

Rainwater Catchment System Reliability (RCSR) is the chance that a system will deliver the required water for an interval of time. Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) is gaining popularity as a potential alternative water source for household or agricultural use. The reliability of the Al Abila dam in the western desert of Iraq was analyzed using a water budget simulation model and two explanations of reliability, time-based reliability, and volumetric reliability. To evaluate rainwater harvesting system performance, comprehensive software utilizing a method for everyday water balance using data from 20 years of daily rainfall. According to the findings, volumetric reliability, and for the three climate scenarios (wet, average, and dry year), increased as the storage volume increased until a threshold accrued on the storage capacity of 11.7 × 10⁵ m³. While time-based reliability shows an increase up to a storage volume of 10.2 × 10⁵ m³. Volumetric reliability of roughly 34–75% may be achieved, while only 14–28% time-based reliability may be achieved. Water saving efficiency decreases with increasing demand fraction, while the runoff coefficient has no significant influence on water effectiveness. While growing storage fraction value increases the effectiveness of water conservation and the value of the runoff coefficient influences the water saving efficiency. For both cases, water saving efficiency for the dam does not reach 50%. Using daily rainfall data, the technique given in this paper might be applied to predict water savings and the RWH systems’ reliability in different arid and semi-arid areas. Full article

Water scarcity is a major problem in the arid climate of Iraq’s Western Desert and people struggle to manage the precarious water supply. Harvesting rainwater is one sustainable method that can be used to increase the supply of water. Rainwater harvesting systems (RWH) are considered to be sustainable “if they can continue collecting, utilising, and consuming natural water resources for maximum livelihood development”. This study assessed the sustainably of the Al- Abila dam in Iraq’s Western Desert by determining its level of functionality in harvesting water and using it effectively. The reliability of the water supply and its potential productivity and water use efficiency were investigated as well. The balancing storage at the end of each runoff shows that dam storage of this magnitude is insufficient to fulfil the water demand. This research highlighted constraints that have affected system functioning or sustainability and provided suggestions and recommendations for risk-managed rainwater harvesting system installation methods and designs. The water conveyance factor and adequacy of the system were low, with 60% conveyance losses. This research helps policymakers to conduct large-scale, high-level assessments and answer basic problems about small earth dam development and management in Anbar’s Western Desert. Full article