Water Resources Engineering and Management

This module focuses on water systems’ infrastructures of different types. Regional, rivers and subsurface water systems are included. The module combines analysing water systems with finding options for their (re)design and operation.

Project: Water systems

Link to the learning objectives of the module:

B4: LO1, LO2 and LO7.

Students learn how to connect the individual behaviour(s) of infrastructural elements in a water system, how to model water systems, using available software, and how to define goals of selected (types of) systems in terms of desired water flows (like drainage-irrigation, flood-drought, urban-rural) by focusing on the following topics:

• Existing water systems are analysed, using several sessions specifying quantification of behaviour - allowing linking to the other sub themes.

• Exchanges between teams (peer review) and students working on different modelling approaches allow students to develop insight into model use and system behaviour.

• Specific problems in selected water systems are addressed, and students propose measures – relating explicitly to the other sub themes.

Integrated Assessment of Water Systems

Link to the learning objectives of the module:

B4: LO3, LO4 and LO7.

The changing climate and socioeconomic conditions will likely challenge the functioning of current water systems. Assessing such uncertainties requires understanding how the functioning of systems is valued in the short and long run. Such understanding allows assessing diverse water engineering options that are available at present. Based on the observation and predictions of effects of engineering solutions, this subtheme develops creative interventions for sustainable water futures (e.g., in context of SDGs) through an interdisciplinary approach for designing and implementing such solutions by addressing the following topics:

• Design and simulation of relevant climate and socioeconomic scenarios

• Economic and non-market valuation of system functioning in the short and long run based on the scenarios.

• Analysis and proposal of engineering solutions with functionalities in water systems that are climate resilient and economically viable.

Control of Water Systems

Link to the learning objectives of the module:

B4: LO5, LO6 and LO7.

In a rapidly changing world, where the demands of society approach or exceed the limits imposed by natural resources, engineering solutions need to make efficient use of resources and quickly adapt to change. This sub theme teaches how to derive indicators and design a control algorithm for a water system by focussing on the following topics:

• Rapid adaptation requiring indicators of the desired functioning of the system that can be calculated frequently and automatically.

• Semi-automated set of rules (algorithms) to steer indicators to their predefined reference values.

All the B-modules in the Water Resources Engineering track will have a workshop on ethical responsibility of engineers.