Real-time integrated water availability – Salt intrusion modelling and management during droughts

• New framework for integrated surface water quantity-quality modelling and forecasts. • Real time monitoring and short term forecasting of surface water availability. • Computationally efficient water quality classification using data-driven techniques. • Application for complex surface water system with various conflicting water users. Climate change and population increase are major challenges when guaranteeing a sustainable water supply in densely populated river basins worldwide, where different water users such as industry, drinking water production and agriculture typically come into conflict. During dry periods, real time monitoring and short term forecasting of the water availability are crucial to prepare and take appropriate action. Integrated water quantity and water quality models of complex surface water systems are indispensable to achieve this. However, existing model techniques often focus on a single aspect of the water system, are computationally too demanding and are hard to integrate with other sub models. This paper proposes a framework for developing efficient, integrated water quantity/quality models in support of real-time management and forecasting of complex surface water systems. Its three main components are: a low-flow prediction for the supplying river(s) during dry periods, a conceptual water quantity-quality model with semi-automated retrieval of necessary boundary conditions and input data, and classification models to predict the water quality state of the considered system during forecasts or scenario analyses. The novelty of the methodology lies in the use of parsimonious, computationally efficient sub-models that still allow to consider numerous operational rules, competing water users and water supply and quality constraints. The framework was tested in the context of water availability and salt intrusion management during droughts in the Campine Canals in the Scheldt-Meuse-Rhine delta, considering boundary conditions of shipping traffic, pumping at locks, hydropower stations, level regulation, and water abstractions for drinking water supply, industry, agriculture and nature reserves. Despite the complexity of the considered system, the model is able to describe the state of the water system in terms of water levels, discharges and salt intrusion impacts on water production with an acceptable accuracy. The research shows that the Campine Canal network is susceptible to water scarcity due to the increased risk of low flows in summer as a consequence of climate change. Local decision makers should adopt both effective adaptation strategies as well as real-time forecasts in acute drought situations to increase the region’s defence and resiliency against water shortages.