{"id":21173,"date":"2023-02-16T15:30:20","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T14:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/2023\/02\/potencial-chranenych-uzemi-pro-akumulaci-povrchovych-vod-pro-zmirneni-dopadu-klimaticke-zmeny-na-zasobovani-pitnou-vodou-2\/"},"modified":"2024-08-19T17:04:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T16:04:02","slug":"potential-of-areas-protected-for-surface-water-storage-to-mitigate-the-impacts-of-climate-change-on-drinking-water-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/2023\/02\/potential-of-areas-protected-for-surface-water-storage-to-mitigate-the-impacts-of-climate-change-on-drinking-water-supply\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential of areas protected for surface water storage to mitigate the impacts of climate change on drinking water supply"},"content":{"rendered":"

ABSTRACT<\/h2>\n

In the Czech Republic, areas morphologically, geologically and hydrologically suitable for surface water storage to mitigate the adverse effects of floods and droughts are defined through the General Plan for Surface Water Accu-mulation Areas. In the context of climate change, these locations create potential for possible adaptation measures. This article describes the assessment of the potential of selected sites for water supply under climate change condi-tions by means of hydrological and water balance modelling.<\/p>\n

INTRODUCTION<\/h2>\n

The Czech Republic has a tradition in water resource planning. The State Plan of the Czechoslovak Republic (1954) was the first comprehensive list of possibilities for water management use of water resources in CR. It also became the basis for spatial planning. In 1975, the Indicative Water Management Plan (Sm\u011brn\u00fd vodohospod\u00e1\u0159sk\u00fd pl\u00e1n, SVP) was published, where increased attention was paid to the analysis, documentation of the condition, and the possibility of using water resources. It includes the claimed water needs and their outlook for the next 30 years. A total of 581 potential dam profiles suitable for the construction of water reservoirs were selected as part of the SVP, of which 286 sites suitable for this construction were documented in more detail. In 1988, the SVP Publication followed, which updated the data on sites. Due to the limitation of claims for the occupation of agricultural land, protection was cancelled for 253 sites, and 97 sites were completely eliminated. In 1995, another SVP was written, in which it was necessary to take into account the new socio-political situation and the introduction of environmental approaches in water management. The number of protected sites has narrowed to just 35. In 2007, the Plan of the Main River Basins of the Czech Republic was created, which served as a long-term concept in the field of water resource planning. One of its goals was the updating of the existing range of prospective reservoir sites and their territorial protection. The updated list included 186 sites, however, due to public opposition and the interests of nature and landscape conservation, the plan could not be approved. Therefore, in 2011, the document General Plan for Surface Water Accumulation Areas (hereinafter SWAA General Plan) was prepared. The SWAA General Plan was developed following the territorially protected sites in the SVP 1988. Property law, socio-economic and environmental aspects were assessed for individual sites, and the SWAA General Plan in its final form contains 65 protected sites. In 2020, the next and so far last update of the SWAA General Plan took place. The need to update the SWAA General Plan is included in the \u201cConcept of protection against the consequences of drought for the Czech Republic\u201d, which was approved by the government in 2017 and also resulted from the meeting of the National Coalition Against Drought in May 2019. Both the concept and the National Coalition were created as a response to the long-term drought in\u00a02014\u20132019. As\u00a0part of\u00a0the\u00a0update, the\u00a0SWAA General Plan is\u00a0being expanded by another 21 sites. The\u00a0SWAA General Plan 2020 [1] thus registers a\u00a0total of\u00a086 sites. of\u00a0these, 31 are included in\u00a0category A, i.e. among sites potentially intended for water supply reservoirs.<\/p>\n

In the Czech Republic and in the world, considerable attention is paid to proposals for adaptation measures that should mitigate the effects of climate change. One such measure is the long-term sustainable management of water resources. It should be mentioned that adaptation measures should be comprehensive and complement each other. However, it follows from previous studies [2\u20135] that in the case of ensuring reliable water supplies for industry and the population, one of the appropriate measures is the use of water reservoirs. However, potential reservoirs need to be examined in the context of climate change. In particular, increasing air temperature affects evaporation from the water surface and overall evapotranspiration in the landscape, and as it was shown, for example, in [5], reservoirs in vulnerable sites may have a problem in the future to fulfil supplies with the required reliability. SWAA General Plan 2020 contains only basic data on the possible (potential) volume of reservoirs. In view of the ongoing climate change, it is necessary to check the basic water management function of potential reservoirs on SWAA (Sites for storage of surface water), namely whether these potential reservoirs would be able to compensate for negative changes in the respective catchments. A similar issue was already dealt with [6, 7], however, the results do not include the significant drought period 2014\u20132019. Therefore, as\u00a0part of\u00a0the\u00a0project \u201cWater management and water supply systems and preventive measures to\u00a0reduce risks in\u00a0the\u00a0supply of\u00a0drinking water\u201d, 17\u00a0potential water reservoirs from SWAA category a\u00a0were selected and their assessment was carried out using new data until 2020 and new climate change scenarios. Implementation follows on\u00a0from the\u00a0partial outputs of\u00a0the\u00a0mentioned project, mainly the\u00a0evaluation of\u00a0the\u00a0security of\u00a0water abstractions from existing water reservoirs [5] and the\u00a0balance of\u00a0resources and needs of\u00a0groundwater for drinking purposes [8].<\/p>\n

METHODOLOGY AND MATERIAL<\/h2>\n

The assessment of the possible impact of climate change on the provision of water supply by water reservoirs is based on methodology [9]. The procedures from the methodology for processing the hydrological and water management balance are applied, including simulation modelling of the storage function of water management systems. The assessment was prepared for the prospective period of\u00a02050, the\u00a0hydrological balance modelling was also carried out for time horizons with centered year 2035 and 2085.<\/p>\n

With regard to\u00a0the\u00a0solution to\u00a0the\u00a0problem of\u00a0drinking water supply, the\u00a0selection of\u00a0evaluated sites was limited to\u00a0SWAA category A. Out of\u00a0a total of\u00a031 SWAA recorded in\u00a0this category, 17 sites were selected. The\u00a0selection was based on\u00a0the\u00a0location of\u00a0these sites near potentially problematic areas. Fig.\u00a01\u20133 show the\u00a0selection. The\u00a0selected and evaluated sites are highlighted in\u00a0purple. Fig.\u00a01 shows the\u00a0location of\u00a0SWAA category A, in\u00a0which municipalities affected by the\u00a0drought in\u00a02015 in\u00a0terms of\u00a0drinking water supply were identified as\u00a0part of\u00a0the\u00a0Plans for development of\u00a0water supply and sewerage for the\u00a0Czech Republic [10] (the\u00a0vast majority are problems with groundwater supply). Fig.\u00a02 shows the\u00a0location of\u00a0SWAA in\u00a0relation to\u00a0ensuring the\u00a0current requirements for water supply by water reservoirs in\u00a0conditions of\u00a0climate change [5]. For easier orientation, abstractions are divided into four groups according to\u00a0the\u00a0security achieved by duration and marked using a\u00a0colour scale, as\u00a0follows:<\/p>\n