Water Resources System Modeling and Analysis Using the Value-based Water Resources System (VWRS) Model.

申请者的研究计划的目标是为草原省份开发一个基于价值的水资源系统(VWRS)模型。拟议的VWRS模型将把萨斯喀彻温河流域作为主要研究区域的水资源的水文和社会方面结合在一个综合建模工具中。该模型将允许在变化和非固定条件下评估相互竞争的用户的水资源可获得性和分配方案。变化的条件可能是自然的(例如，气候变化)，也可能是由于社会对水的价值的认识可能发生变化而造成的人为干预。这一新的建模工具和概念促进并允许从研究传统水收支向量化虚拟和基于价值的水收支的范式转变；即水和依赖水的商品和服务的全面平衡。南萨斯喀彻温河流域是跨省跨境流域，是反映水资源系统复杂性的理想案例。多个部门和水的使用；例如农业、市政、工业、采矿、水电和环境流量要求分布在艾伯塔省和萨斯喀彻温省的流域。发展水平、未来规划和对水的需求的显著空间差异使整个流域的水具有不同的价值。艾伯塔省环境和萨斯喀彻温省分水岭管理局使用水资源管理模型(WRMM)来模拟艾伯塔省和萨斯喀彻温省水资源系统的行为，并做出量化的分配决策。除了明确考虑绿水(农业使用的土壤水)，并跟踪系统中依赖水的产品和服务(能源、采矿、农作物和工业产品)外，拟议的VWRS模型将把水资源管理模型模拟为系统的蓝水部分(取自河流和水库的水)。这项工作预计将是一项及时的研究，可以帮助艾伯塔省和萨斯喀彻温省建立基于水价值的优先分配制度。

The goal of the applicant's research program is to develop a Value-based Water Resource System (VWRS) model for the Prairie Provinces. The proposed VWRS model will couple the hydrological and the societal aspects of water resources in the Saskatchewan River Basin, as the main study area, in one integrated modeling tool. The model will allow for the assessment of the availability, as well as the allocation scenarios, of water resources for competing users under varying and non-stationary conditions. The varying conditions could be natural (e.g., climate change) or due to human intervention as a result of possible change of the societal perception of the value of water. This novel modeling tool and concept promotes and allows for a paradigm shift from studying traditional water budget to quantifying virtual and value-based water budget; i.e., the all-inclusive balance of water and water-dependent commodities and services. The South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB) is a trans-boundary interprovincial river basin, and it is an ideal case to represent the complexity of water resources systems. Multiple sectors and water uses; such as agricultural, municipal, industrial, mining, hydropower, and environmental flow requirements spread across the basin in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The significant spatial variability in the level of development, the future plans, and the need of water places different values on water across the basin. Alberta Environment and Saskatchewan Watershed Authority use the Water Resources Management Model (WRMM) to simulate the behaviour of the water resources system in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and to make quantitative allocation decisions. The proposed VWRS model will emulate the WRMM as the blue water component of the system (water taken from the rivers and reservoirs), in addition to explicitly considering the green water (soil water used by agriculture), and track water-dependent products and services (energy, mining, crops, and industrial products) in the system. This work is expected to be a timely research that can help both provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan develop a water value-based priority system for allocation.