Environmental effects of irrigation

The environmental effects of irrigation relate to the changes in quantity and quality of soil and water as a result of irrigation and the subsequent effects on natural and social conditions in river basins and downstream of an irrigation scheme. The effects stem from the altered hydrological conditions caused by the installation and operation of the irrigation scheme. Amongst some of these problems is depletion of underground aquifers through overdrafting. Soil can be over-irrigated due to poor distribution uniformity or management wastes water, chemicals, and may lead to water pollution. Over-irrigation can cause deep drainage from rising water tables that can lead to problems of irrigation salinity requiring watertable control by some form of subsurface land drainage. However, if the soil is under irrigated, it gives poor soil salinity control which leads to increased soil salinity with the consequent buildup of toxic salts on the soil surface in areas with high evaporation. Th

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Diverting the Arve floods into Lake Geneva: A feasible solution?

Sameh Ahmad Kantoush, Hanane Moukhliss, Anton Schleiss

The Arve River is the most important tributary of the Rhone River The Arve has a very high sediment transport capacity due to its steep slope in the Alpine Valley. These solid materials deposit in the Rhone River. Because of the high sedimentation rate in the Verbois reservoir, the operator SIG (Services Industriels de Geneve) flushes the reservoir with complete drawdown every three years with major negative ecological impacts downstream. The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of a bypass of the floods in the Arve River directly into Lake Geneva and therefore to reduce the sedimentation of the Verbois reservoir.

2006

Energy transition challenges in under-occupied homes: Assessment of two peri-urban neighbourhoods of single-family houses

Judith Elisa Drouilles

Current planning policies aim at putting a stop to urban sprawl by favouring densification processes. In this context, future developments are more likely to happen in strategic urban areas than in existing peri-urban neighbourhoods of single-family houses. There, a possible path of development is the inertia and the submission to demographic evolutions of population ageing and reduction of household sizes. Under those unfavourable conditions, the evolution of two case-studieslocated in the Swiss contextis measured by 2050. The paper investigates the energy transition potential of two off-centred residential areas by assessing the environmental impacts owing to construction/retrofit and operation of dwellings, and to the induced daily mobility of the inhabitants. The innovative methodology implemented for this research project supports a spatiotemporal data management that allows establishing an annual assessment throughout the 35-year period of study (2015-2050). The results highlight the submission of the transition potential to the alternation of household’s life-cycles. This study underlines the importance of considering over-time assessments for a more reliable prospective evaluation, and it questions the transition slowness of owner-occupied dwellings.

2020

Green Hydropower: The contribution of aquatic science research to the promotion of sustainable electricity

Bernhard Wehrli, Alfred Johny Wüest

Hydropower use is responsible for a wide range of environmental disturbances to river systems. Over the past decades, aquatic science research has been successful in identifying a considerable number of relationships that exist between plant operation and ecosystem quality. This increase in scientific knowledge was, however, not matched by a corresponding reduction in environmental impacts stemming from hydropower. In the present paper, we show how aquatic science projects may be defined and implemented to better link scientific knowledge with the resolution of environmental problems. We base our analysis on a major aquatic science research project in which an eco-label for "sustainable hydropower" (Green Hydropower) was developed for Switzerland. We first assess the state of aquatic science research on alpine river systems. The Swiss history of hydropower shows that the limited adoption of this knowledge was due to a severe coordination and action problem. The Green Hydropower project aimed at establishing an environmental product label for hydropower plant operation, which should help overcome these problems. It had to deal with two major challenges: the integration of widely differing knowledge stocks and the management of a network of diverse stakeholders operating in a conflict-laden political environment. By carefully dealing with these two problem areas, the project was finally able to define a scientifically-based and broadly-accepted standard for Green Hydropower operation. We conclude by discussing lessons for the improvement of problem-oriented aquatic science research, in general.

Springer Basel Ag2003

CIVIL-404: Underground construction technology

Pour acquérir une connaissance approfondie de l'espace et des travaux souterrains, y compris la planification, la gestion, les techniques de construction, l'évaluation de risques, et les considérations environnementales.

ENV-424: Water resources engineering

Water resources engineering designs systems to control the quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of water to support human demands and the needs of the environment.

ENV-220: Fundamentals in ecology

The students will learn the fundamentals in ecology with the goal to perceive the environment beyond its physical and chemical characteristics. Starting from basic concepts, they will acquire mechanistic understanding of biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and global change.

Alkali soil

Alkali, or Alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH (greater than 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth.

Drip irrigation

Drip irrigation or trickle irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation system that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above

Soil erosion

Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water,