Water has become a strategic resource due to its growing demand for consumption and its scarcity (2017 was the driest year since 1965). Water is also linked to the visible effects caused by climate change. Therefore, the management of this resource is a fundamental task for the correct and efficient control of its use and distribution.
Hydraulic infrastructure such as reservoirs, transfers and pipes allow the control of water bodies for proper management. In particular, Spain has more than 1,300 reservoirs, being one of the richest countries in the world in hydraulic infrastructure. In addition to these infrastructures, other elements are also required to assist in the exploitation and conservation of river ecosystems. This is the case of the Automatic Hydrological Information System (SAIH), a system which handles hydrological data in real time, as well as transmitting, processing and analyzing it in order to comprehend both the hydraulic regime along the river network and the state of the main hydraulic infrastructure including the control devices installed in them.
For these reasons, it is necessary to develop new technologies not only to provide more accurate information of the state of the basin, but also to allow simulations of different exploitation scenarios and predictions of extraordinary conditions, with the aim of optimizing the management of resources. This is the line of work proposed within the Water Framework Directive.
POTAMIDES was proposed in the Community of Murcia (Spain) and approved by the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, its consortium consists of MATINSA and CETEC, the civil engineering company specialized in hydraulics. The project has been co-financed by the CDTI and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with a budget of 343,822 euros and developed from 01/04/2018 to 30/09/2019. The overall objective of the project is to develop a technologically-advanced universal tool which supports decision-making in the integral management of the public waters at a basin level, in order to optimize the availability and quality of the resource ensuring the satisfaction of the demands. To do this, the new tool should be able to generate simulations of water use scenarios, as well as state predictions based on different weather phenomena, changes in hydromorphological conditions and variations in the physical-chemical and biological quality of the water.
Matinsa's main specific objectives in the project are:
- Develop an advanced instrumentation network for data collection, transmission and storage
- Develop a hydrological management model
- Develop a flow transmission process simulation throughout the river network
- Develop a hydrogeological management model
- Develop a hydromorphological management model
- Develop a water quality module that provides information on physical and biological status
Compared with the state of the art, POTAMIDES will have the fundamental advantage of allowing any simulation or prediction to quantify the value of the characterization parameters of the state of the basin from the modification of others, both in surface and underground water bodies, taking into account meteorological phenomena, loads derived from exploitation, or any other influential factor.