Interbasin transfer
Interbasin transfer or transbasin diversion are (often hyphenated) terms used to describe man-made conveyance schemes which move water from one
Since conveyance of water between natural basins are described as both a subtraction at the source and as an addition at the destination, such projects may be controversial in some places and over time; they may also be seen as controversial due to their scale, costs and
In Texas, for example, a 2007 Texas Water Development Board report analyzed the costs and benefits of IBTs in Texas, concluding that while some are essential, barriers to IBT development include cost, resistance to new reservoir construction and environmental impacts.[1] Despite the costs and other concerns involved, IBTs play an essential role in the state's 50-year water planning horizon. Of 44 recommended ground and surface water conveyance and transfer projects included in the 2012 Texas State Water Plan, 15 would rely on IBTs.[1]
While
Existing transfers
There are dozens of large inter-basin transfers around the world, most of them concentrated in Australia, Canada, China, India and the United States. The oldest interbasin transfers date back to the late 19th century, with an exceptionally old example being the Roman gold mine at Las Médulas in Spain. Their primary purpose usually is either to alleviate water scarcity or to generate hydropower.
Primarily for the alleviation of water scarcity
Africa
- From the Oum Er-Rbia River to supply Casablanca in Morocco with drinking water
- From the Ichkeul Lake in Tunisia to supply Tuniswith drinking water
- From Lake Nasser on the Nile to the New Valley Project in the Western Desert of Egypt
- The Lesotho Highlands Water Project to supply water to Gauteng in South Africa
Americas
- The Los Angeles Aqueduct completed in 1913 transferring water from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles
- The Colorado River Aqueduct built in 1933–1941 to supply Southern California with water
- The All-American Canal built in the 1930s to bring water from the Colorado River to the Imperial Irrigation District in Southern California
- The California State Water Project built in stages in the 1960s and 1970s to transfer water from Northern to Southern California. It includes the California Aqueduct and the Edmonston Pumping Plant, which lifts water nearly 2,000 feet (610 meters) up and over the Tehachapi Mountains through 10 miles of tunnels for municipal water supply in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area.
- The Cutzamala System built in stages from the late 1970s to the late 1990s to transfer water from the Cutzamala River to Mexico City for use as drinking water, lifting it over more than 1000 meters. It utilizes 7 reservoirs, a 127 km long aqueduct with 21 km of tunnels, 7.5 km open canal, and a water treatment plant. Its cost was US$1.3 billion.[2] See also Water resources management in Mexico
- The Central Utah Project to supply the Wasatch Front with urban water and for irrigation
- The San Juan–Chama Project to bring water from the Colorado River basin into the Rio Grande basin for urban and agricultural purposes in northern New Mexico and municipal water supply for Santa Fe and Albuquerque
- The New Croton Aqueduct, completed in 1890, brings water from the New Croton Reservoir in Westchester and Putnam counties.
- The Catskill Aqueduct, completed in 1916, is significantly larger than New Croton and brings water from two reservoirs in the eastern Catskill Mountains.
- The Delaware Aqueduct, completed in 1945, taps tributaries of the Delaware River in the western Catskill Mountains and provides approximately half of New York City's water supply.[3]
- The Colorado–Big Thompson Project, built between 1938 and 1957, diverts water from the upper Colorado River basin east underneath the Continental Divide to the South Platte basin.[4]
- Among other transfers, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority moves water from the Quabbin Reservoir (completed 1939) and Ware River in the Connecticut River basin and the Wachusett Reservoir (completed 1908) in the Merrimack River basin, to provide drinking water to more densely populated areas in Eastern Massachusetts. Some of the flow is also used for hydropower.
The Central Arizona Project (CAP) in the USA is not an interbasin transfer per se, although it shares many characteristics with interbasin transfers as it transports large amounts of water over a long distance and difference in altitude. The CAP transfers water from the Colorado River to Central Arizona for both agriculture and municipal water supply to substitute for depleted groundwater. However, the water remains within the watershed of the Colorado River, though transferred into the Gila sub-basin.
Asia
- The Narmada Canal Project offtaking from Sardar Sarovar in western India transfers water from the Narmada Basin to areas coming under other river basins in Gujarat (Mahi, Sabarmati and other small river basins in North Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch) and Rajasthan (Luni and other basins of Jalore and Barmer districts) for irrigation, drinking water, industrial use, etc.[5] The canal is designed to transfer 9.5 million acre-feet (11.7 km3) water annually from the Narmada Basin to areas under other basins in Gujarat and Rajasthan. (9 MAF for Gujarat and 0.5 MAF for Rajasthan).[6]
- The Periyar Project in Southern India from the Vaigai basin in Tamil Nadu. It consists of a dam and a tunnel with a discharging capacity of 40.75 cubic meters per second. The project was commissioned in 1895 and provides irrigation to 81,000 hectares, in addition to providing power through a plant with a capacity of 140 MW.[7]
- The
- The Pennar basin. It includes a 304 km long canal with a capacity of 84.9 cubic meters per second for irrigation.[7]
- The Telugu Ganga project in Southern India. This project primarily meets the water supply needs of Chennai metropolitan area, but is also used for irrigation. It brings Krishna River water through 406 km of canals. The project, which was approved in 1977 and completed in 2004, involved the cooperation of four Indian States: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.[7]
- The Sutlej River through a system of dams, hydropower plants, tunnels, canals and irrigation systems in Northern India built in the 1960s to irrigate the Thar Desert.[7]
- The National Water Carrier in Israel, transferring water from the Sea of Galilee (Jordan RiverBasin) to the Mediterranean coast lifting water over 372 meters. Its water is used both in agriculture and for municipal water supply.
- The Mahaweli GangaProject in Sri Lanka includes several inter basin transfers.
- The Irtysh–Karaganda Canal in central Kazakhstan is about 450 km long with a maximum capacity of 75 cubic meters per second. It was built between 1962 and 1974 and involves a lift of 14 to 22 m.[7]
- The South–North Water Transfer Project in China, as well as other smaller-scale projects, such as the Irtysh–Karamay–Ürümqi Canal.
- Part of the water flowing northwards down Tung Chung River in northern Lantau is diverted across the mountain ridge to Shek Pik Reservoir in southern Lantau.
- The IRTS (Inter-Reservoirs Transfer Scheme) which transfers water from the Kowloon Byewash Reservoir to the Lower Shing Mun Reservoir, 2.8 kilometres (1.7 miles) in length and 3 metres (9.8 ft) in diameter.
- Lingqu in Kwangsi Province
- Hong Kong West Drainage Tunnel]
Australia
- The 530 km-long Goldfields Water Supply Scheme of Western Australia built from 1896 to 1903
Europe
- Various transfers from the Ebro River in Spain, which flows to the Mediterranean, to basins draining to the Atlantic, such as Ebro-Besaya transfer of 1982 to supply the industrial area of Torrelavega, the Cerneja-Ordunte transfer to the Bilbao Metropolitan area of 1961, as well as the Zadorra-Arratia transfer that also supplies Bilbao through the Barazar waterfall (Source:Spanish Wikipedia article on the Ebro River. See Water supply and sanitation in Spain).
- The Crimean Peninsula.
Characteristics of major existing interbasin transfers and other large-scale water transfers to alleviate water scarcity
Year of construction | Length | Capacity (Million cubic meters/year) | Costs (US$ bn) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
California State Water Project (USA) | Early 1960s-1990s | 715 km | 25 (10,300 cubic feet/sec) | 5.2 |
Colorado River Aqueduct (USA) | 1933–1941 | 392 km | 1603.5 (1.3m acre-feet/year) | ? |
Central Arizona Project (USA) | 1973–1993 | 541 km | 1850.2 (1.5m acre-feet/year) | 3.6 |
National Water Carrier (Israel)
|
1953–1964 | 130 km | 1.7 | ? |
Cutzamala System (Mexico) | Late 1970s-late 1990s | 154 km | 2.1 (24 m3/s) | 1.3 |
All-American Canal (USA) | 1930s | 132 km | 64 (740 m3/s) | ? |
Narmada Canal (India) | Commissioned in 2008 | 532 km | 11,718 (9.5m acre-feet/year) [6] | ? |
Periyar Project (India) | Commissioned in 1895 | ? | 3.5 (41 m3/s) | ? |
Indira Gandhi Canal (India) | Since 1958 | 650 km | ? | ? |
Telugu Ganga project (India) | 1977–2004 | 406 km | 10.1 (3.7 bn m3/year) | ? |
Irtysh–Karaganda scheme (Kazakhstan) | 1962–1974 | 450 km | 6.5 (75 m3/s) | ? |
For the generation of hydropower
Africa
- The Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme from the Tugela River that flows into the Indian Ocean into the Vaal River in South Africa, which ultimately drains into the Orange River and the Atlantic Ocean. Its purpose is hydropower generation [8]
Australia
- The Snowy Mountains Scheme in Australia, built between 1949 and 1974 at the cost (at that time) of A$800 million; a dollar value equivalent in 1999 and 2004 to A$6 billion (US$4.5 billion).
- The Barnard River Scheme, also in Australia, constructed between 1983 and 1985.
Canada
In Canada, sixteen interbasin transfers have been implemented for hydropower development. The most important is the James Bay Project from the Caniapiscau River and the Eastmain River into the La Grande River, built in the 1970s. The water flow was reduced by 90% at the mouth of the Eastmain River, by 45% where the Caniapiscau River flows into the Koksoak River, and by 35% at the mouth of the Koksoak River. The water flow of the La Grande River, on the other hand, was doubled, increasing from 1,700 m³/s to 3,400 m³/s (and from 500 m³/s to 5,000 m³/s in winter) at the mouth of the La Grande River. Other interbasin transfers include:
- British Columbia
- Campbell–Heber Diversion
- Coquitlam–Buntzen Diversion
- Kemano hydroelectric power station diverting water from the Nechako River in British Columbia to the sea.
- Vernon Irrigation District Diversion
- Manitoba
- Churchill Diversion–Southern Indian Lake
- New Brunswick
- Saint John water supply
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Bay d'Espoir Diversions
- Churchill Falls hydroelectric power station built between 1967 and 1971
- Deer LakeDiversion
- Smallwood Reservoir–Julian Diversion
- Smallwood Reservoir–Kanairiktok Diversion
- Smallwood Reservoir–Naskaupi Diversion
- Northwest Territories
- Wellington Lake Hydro Project Diversion (with Saskatchewan)
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
- Long Lake Diversion
- Ogoki Diversion
- Opasatika Diversion
- Root River Diversion
- Quebec
- Barrière Diversion
- Boyd–Sakami Diversion
- Lac de la Frégate Diversion
- Laforge Diversion
- ManouaneDiversion
- Mégiscane Diversion
- Rupert Diversion
- Sault aux Cochons Diversion
- Saskatchewan
- Cypress Lake Diversion (with Alberta)
- Pasquia Land Resettlement Diversion (with Manitoba)
- Qu'Appelle River Diversion at Lake Diefenbaker
- Swift Current Diversion
Asia
- The Nam Theun IIProject in Laos from the Nam Theun River to the Xe Bang Fai River, both tributaries of the Mekong River, completed in 2008.
For other purposes
The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in the US, which serves to divert polluted water from Lake Michigan.
Transfers under construction
The Eastern and Central Routes of the
Proposed transfers
Nearly all proposed interbasin transfers are in developing countries. The objective of most transfers is the alleviation of water scarcity in the receiving basin(s). Unlike in the case of existing transfers, there are very few proposed transfers whose objective is the generation of hydropower.
Africa
From the Ubangi River in Congo to the Chari River which empties into Lake Chad. The plan was first proposed in the 1960s and again in the 1980s and 1990s by Nigerian engineer J. Umolu (ZCN Scheme) and Italian firm Bonifica (Transaqua Scheme).[9][10][11][12][13] In 1994, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) proposed a similar project and at a March, 2008 Summit, the Heads of State of the LCBC member countries committed to the diversion project.[14] In April, 2008, the LCBC advertised a request for proposals for a World Bank-funded feasibility study.
Americas
- The Supreme Court of Brazilin December 2007.
- On a much smaller scale, the transfer of up to 36 million gallons of water per day (130,000 cubic meter/day) to Concord and Kannapolis from the Catawba River and the Yadkin River in North Carolina, USA.[15]
- Shoal Creek Reservoir in north Georgia, from Dawson Forest (Etowah River) to the city of Atlanta (Chattahoochee River).[16]
Asia
- The so-called "Peninsular river component" of India's Kachchh and coastal Maharashtra and to augment the drinking water supplies to Mumbai; and (c) to interlink the southern tributaries of the Yamuna and provide irrigation facilities in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.[17][18]
- From the Bharathapuzha Riverin Kerala, India
- 14 transfers in Northern India. The so-called "
- The Ghaghara Riverin Nepal(Hydropower and irrigation)
- From Northern Russia and Siberia to Central Asia through the Irtysh River in the Ob basin to the desert plains of Kazakhastan and the Aral Sea basin. In 2006 Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev said he wanted to resuscitate the scheme that had been abandoned by the Soviet Union in 1986. The cost of that route alone is estimated at upwards from US$40 billion, well beyond the means of Kazakhstan.[20]
- The western route of the Salween downstream) into the headwater of Yellow River. If the Mekong and Salween rivers were included in the project this would affect the downstream riparian countries Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Australia
- The Bradfield Scheme in Queensland, serving primarily for irrigation
- The Kimberley Pipeline Scheme to supply Perth with water through, proposed because of radical rainfall changes in Western Australia since the late 1960s
Europe
From the
Ecological aspects
Since rivers are home to a complex web of species and their interactions, the transfer of water from one basin to another can have a serious impact on species living therein.[21]
See also
References
- ^ a b Texas Water Report: Going Deeper for the Solution Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
- ^ Cecilia Tortajada and Enrique Castelán:Water Management for a Megacity: Mexico City Metropolitan Area, Ambio, Volume 32, Issue 2 (March 2003)
- ^ "New York City's Water Supply System Map". New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
- ^ "Northern Water C-BT Project". www.northernwater.org. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- ^ "Salient Features of Sardar Sarovar Project: Narmada Main Canal System". Narmada Control Authority (NCA). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Salient Features of NWDT Award". Narmada Control Authority (NCA). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f National Water Development Agency of India:Existing Experience with Interbasin Transfers
- ^ Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme Archived 2008-10-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Journal of Environmental Hydrology, Vol. 7, 1999
- ^ New Scientist, March 23, 1991 Africa at a Watershed (Ubangi - Lake Chad Inter-basin transfer)
- ^ Umolu, J. C.; 1990, Macro Perspectives for Nigeria's Water Resources Planning, Proc. of the First Biennial National Hydrology Symposium, Maiduguri, Nigeria, pp. 218-262(discussion of Ubangi-Lake Chad diversion schemes)
- ^ The Changing Geography of Africa and the Middle East By Graham Chapman, Kathleen M. Baker, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, 1992 Routledge
- ^ Combating Climate Induced Water And Energy Deficiencies In West Central Africa (Ubangi - Lake Chad Inter-basin transfer) Archived 2011-05-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Voice of America News, March 28, 2008 African Leaders Team Up to Rescue Lake Chad
- ^ City of Hickory:Interbasin transfer information
- ^ http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/public-132757.html [bare URL]
- ^ National Water Development Agency of India:Proposed Interbasin Transfer Links - Peninsular Component
- ^ a b M.S. MENON: A case for inter-basin transfer of water[usurped], in:The Hindu, Nov. 19, 2002
- ^ National Water Development Agency of India:Proposed Interbasin Transfer Links - Himalayan Component
- ^ Siberian River Project Revived 08-Sep-06
- PMID 24454967.
Further reading
- Fereidoun Ghassemi and Ian White: Inter-Basin Water Transfer, Case Studies from Australia, United States, Canada, China and India, Cambridge University Press, International Hydrology Series, 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-86969-0