Water cycle The water cycle (or hydrologic cycle or hydrological cycle) is a biogeochemical cycle that involves the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth across different reservoirs. The mass of water on Earth remains fai ...

management is a multidisciplinary approach relating to all planning, developmental, operational and tactical decisions to influence the

water cycle The water cycle (or hydrologic cycle or hydrological cycle) is a biogeochemical cycle that involves the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth across different reservoirs. The mass of water on Earth remains fai ...

. Most importantly water cycle management is used to ensure availability of clean water for designated use, and to ensure safe release of treated water back to nature. In undisturbed environment water is in a natural cycle and it is generally usable for most of nature as it is in each stage of the cycle. After human interaction the natural cycle is disturbed. Runoff on urban agricultural areas collect some objects, particles and substances that may not be purified from water through natural purifying methods. Additionally, “ used water” from households and industry can be extremely harmful for nature, if not treated properly. Water cycle management is used in different branches of environmental sciences and

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

to satisfy human and environmental objectives. Generally, water cycle management can be divided into six subsets that approach the issue from varying perspectives:

Meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

Hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

Water resource management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either Fresh water, freshwater from natural sources, or water produ ...

, Water Engineering,

Water conservation Water conservation aims to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, protect the hydrosphere, and meet current and future human demand. Water conservation makes it possible to avoid water scarcity. It covers all the policies, strateg ...

and

Environmental monitoring Environmental monitoring is the processes and activities that are done to characterize and describe the state of the environment. It is used in the preparation of environmental impact assessments, and in many circumstances in which human activit ...

. Recently, politics and socio-economic aspects are also considered in water cycle management due to inequal distribution of quantity and quality of freshwater worldwide.

Meteorology and Hydrology

The study of meteorology focuses on the forecasting of the

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

, while the study of hydrology focuses on the movement, distribution and management of water. The study of hydrology and meteorology come together in a branch called

hydrometeorology Hydrometeorology is a branch of meteorology and hydrology that studies the transfer of water and energy between the land surface and the lower atmosphere for academic research, commercial gain or operational forecasting purposes. Whilst tradition ...

. The core focus of hydrometeorology is on the transfer of water and energy between the land surface and the lower atmosphere. By using a

mathematical model A mathematical model is an abstract and concrete, abstract description of a concrete system using mathematics, mathematical concepts and language of mathematics, language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed ''mathematical m ...

, a rain forecast by a meteorologist can be used by a hydrologist to calculate the specific impact that rain could have on a certain area. The outputs of these models can be used to deal with and mitigate the effects of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

events on the water cycle management.

Water resource management

is a subset of water cycle management that focuses on utilization of fresh water resources. Fresh water is a limited resource and it is unevenly distributed globally and even locally, and it is consumed by people,

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and nature alike. Successful management of fresh water resources require extensive knowledge on demand, resources and capacity, available technology, hydrometeorology and political factors. Recently, an Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) was used to integrate all these fields into one body since these issues could no longer be solved solely by water professionals or water ministries. Furthermore, some major challenges are caused by

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

. It causes increasing uncertainties to distribution, quality and quantity of fresh water which then may cause further socio-economic issues. To overcome this, in future, water resource management should transition from the current “prediction and control” methods to a “learning approach”.

Water engineering

Water engineering is an important discipline that aims to provide clean water and water safety, and it can be applied to every stage of the water cycle. Water engineering can be divided into further sub-sets: structural water engineering,

water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, ...

and

sewage treatment Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...

. Structural water engineering involves building, repairing and maintaining structures that control water resources. In terms of water cycle management most important ones are

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff ( stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and scr ...

and

pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses, are public utility buildings containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are critical in a variety of infrastructure systems, such as water supply, Land reclamation, ...

s. All these are important aspects of natural occurrence of water. In terms of water cycle management re-use treatments are more important than static structures like dams. Water treatment is any process that is used to remove contaminants from water and to improve the quality of water. Treated water can be allocated as drinking water for households, supply for industrial or agricultural use and the treatment method depends on the purpose of the end-use. Also, water treatment is used to safely return water to the environment. Sewage treatment is conceptually rather similar to water management, but it handles wastewater that is affected by human use: sewage from households and industrial wastewaters. The goal of sewage treatment is to clean

wastewater Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...

of contaminants and make the water available for re-use in the water cycle. Sewage is treated with several methods including chemical treatment, use of

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

, biological processes and UV disinfection methods. Still, after extensive treatment methods significant amounts of harmful substances, such as pharmaceuticals, are observed to return environment and water cycle.

Water conservation

The increasing population demands a sustainably managed

hydrosphere The hydrosphere () is the combined mass of water found on, under, and above the Planetary surface, surface of a planet, minor planet, or natural satellite. Although Earth's hydrosphere has been around for about 4 billion years, it continues to ch ...

. There is a demand for freshwater which needs to be satisfied, in the present and in the future. A big factor in this increasing demand is the

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. By utilizing water conservation management policies, countries can ensure the availability of water for future generations, cut down on energy use, conserve freshwater habitat for local wildlife and migrating birds and ensure water quality for its inhabitants. The key activities around water conservation are; the reduction of water loss, use and

waste Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor Value (economics), economic value. A wast ...

of water resources, avoiding the decline of water quality and improving management practices that reduce the use of water.

Environmental monitoring

To ensure the water cycle management disciplines are satisfactory and improve the water cycle,

environmental monitoring Environmental monitoring is the processes and activities that are done to characterize and describe the state of the environment. It is used in the preparation of environmental impact assessments, and in many circumstances in which human activit ...

should be used to provide information and trends on the impact of the policies which are adopted in the water cycle management on

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s and sensitive biota; for example, monitoring the effects of reduced water flows on salmon spawning and recruitment.

References

{{reflist Water management Water resources management