Course manual 2019/2020

Course content

Freshwater is one of the most important resources for mankind. However the amount of fresh water on Earth is limited. Furthermore the amount of available water is not equally distributed both in time and space. Consequently at some place too much water is present whereas in other regions too little water is available. This course will focus on aspects of water management in both humid and dryland regions, hence in areas with excess water as well as in areas with water shortages. You will work on examples involving practical cases directly related to water management issues from the Netherlands, Western Europe and Southern Spain.

The course will contribute to your understanding on the hydrosphere as an important part of ‘System Earth‘ and how global change affects water availability, and how models can be applied to help improving our understanding and might be used to anticipate on changing water budgets under global change.

The course is structured around three themes. The principles of hydrology, water resources and the hydrological cycle will be applied in three selected environments and illustrated with case studies:

Part 1. (Eco)hydrology of dry and humid ecosystems under global change. Desertification is advancing in Spain. Rainfall and evaporation dynamics are used to evaluate the water balance for various land use strategies and compared to humid ecosystems.

Part 2. Global change and catchment hydrology. A catchment model of the Rhine basin is used to discuss the potential risks of floods associated with climate change. Students use this model to evaluate their own management solution.

Part 3. The design of water systems in polders. Polders in the World need a typical design for water level management, for which the Dutch have become famous in the World. Knowledge of saturated and unsaturated water flow is discussed on the basis of the design of a polder.

Study materials

Practical training material

  • will be provided during the course

Software

  • Matlab

    Aquacrop

Objectives

  • Has obtained knowledge of hydrology, water resources and the hydrological cycle and components, including the behaviour of water in the soil.
  • Understands the physical principles behind hydrological processes and the function of these processes in landscapes.
  • Understands how these processes can be applied in water management applications in a societal context.
  • Is able to apply conceptual and computer models to  study examples in water management and hydrological response at various environmental conditions and scales (soil, landscape and large catchment). 
  • Is able to apply the principles of water resources in selected case studies.

Teaching methods

  • Computer lab session/practical training
  • Presentation/symposium
  • Lecture

10 lectures of 2 hours
12 (computer)practicals of 2-6 hours
Participation in practicals is mandatory.
Independent preparation of assignments

Learning activities

The course is divided into three separate modules:

1) (Eco)hydrology of dry and humid  ecosysems under global change (L.H. Cammeraat) (assignment: report)

2) Global change and catchment hydrology (L.H. Cammeraat and W. Bouten ) (group assignment). In each group should be 3-4 students of which at least two did the Matlab BSc course). Before the actual simulation of the catchment model will be carried out, ALL students in each group are supposed to have done the HBV model tutorial so everyone understands how the model works, also those with limited knowledge of Matlab. (assignment: report and presentation)

3) The design of water management systems in polders (W. Bouten)  (individual assignments and test)

Course Schedule: Please check locations and time in www.datanose.nl

The blocks of 4 or 6 hours of lectures and practicals contain both instruction and practical work and are mandatory. Computer practicals are also mandatory

 

Amount

Duration

Total

Presence  lectures, practicals Part 1

8

2 hrs

16

Self-study, preparation of lectures and report Part 1

 

37 hrs

37

Lectures and practicals Part 2

12

2 hrs

24

Presentations

1

4 hrs

4

Self-study  and writing report Part 2

 

 

27

Preparation of presentation

 

7 hrs

7

Presence  lectures, practicals Part 3

8

2 hrs

16

Self-study, Preparation of lectures, assignment

 

34 hrs

34

Written test Part 3

 

3 hrs

3

Total

 

 

168

Attendance

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):

  • In case of practical sessions, the student is obliged to attend at least of 90% of the sessions and to prepare himself adequately, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. In case the student attends less than 90%, the practical sessions should be redone entirely.
  • In case of tutorials/seminars with assignments, the student is obliged to attend at least 90% of the tutorials/seminars and to prepare himself adequately, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. In case the student attends less than 90%, the course cannot be finished

Additional requirements for this course:

Presence at lectures is strongly recommended, whereas the practical classes are mandatory.  

If you miss more than 2 practical classes (for each of part 1-3) you will fail for that part.

The tests and presentation are also mandatory. If you miss these then you will fail for that part.

For the second part the assignment is done in small groups of 3-4 persons. Each group should contain (at least) two students who did the BSc course Programming in Matlab.

Assessment

Item and weight Details

Final grade

0%

Assignments

0.3 (30%)

Report Part 1

Mandatory

0.3 (30%)

Report Part 2 : Rhine Catchment

Mandatory

0.1 (10%)

Presentation Part 2 : Rhine Catchment

Mandatory

0.3 (30%)

Test part 3

Mandatory

Assessment of Part 1 and Part 3 will also include practical assignments given during the practicals.

Assessment Part 1: A written report on materials and practicals of Part 1, to be connected to report of Part 2

Assessment Part 2: Report and Presentation on part 2: A written report and presentation on your project in Part 2

Assessment Part 3: A written exam based on the lectures and material of the practicals of Part 3

There are no re-takes for the separate assignments and tests.  If one does not pass (the final mark is smaller than 5.5), then there is only one re-take where ALL material together will be tested again. If deadlines for assignments are not met then the mark will be 1.0 for that assessment.

However,  if Part 2 (Report and Presentation) has been completed with a mark >= 5.0, this this mark can used in the grading of the retake and only part 1 and 3 will be assessed again in the re-take.

Students that were enrolled in the course in previous years

If your mark for Part 3 from the course before 2019-2020 (Report and Presentation, equalling Part 2  in 2019-2020) was equal or higher than 5.0 in the previous year, this mark can be used for the final grading. Part 1 and 3 have to be followed again, and completed in such a way that the final mark based on the new partial marks of Part 1 and 3 and the old mark of the Rhine model part (equalling current part 2) add up to at least a 5.5.

Assignments

The assignment of part 1 and 2 will be described in a separate documents, published on Canvas

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Weeknummer Onderwerpen Studiestof
1 (Eco)hydrology of dry and humid  ecosysems under global change Lectures and practical material, material provided by lecturer
2 (Eco)hydrology of dry and humid  ecosysems under global change Lectures and practical material, material provided by lecturer
3 Global Change and Catchment Hydrology Lectures and practical material, material provided by lecturer, project related literature
4 No lectures Water Management  
5 No lectures Water Management  
6 Global Change and Catchment Hydrology Project related literature
7 Global Change and Catchment Hydrology Project related literature
8 Design of a polder Lectures and practical material, material provided by lecturer
9 Design of a polder Lectures and practical material, material provided by lecturer

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Additional information

Knowledge of Matlab is strongly recommended, e.g. obtained from the course Programming in Matlab.

If you don't have knowledge of Matlab, completion of the Matlab primer, available on Canvas, should be completed

Matlab should be installed and running on your computer prior to the start of the course

  • Downloading Software: you can download software from datanose.nl/byod.
  • Support for software installation and other Bring Your Own Device questions
    • Contact: laptops-fnwi@uva.nl
    • Software support: Tuesday and Thursday from 12.00 – 13.00 hrs at B1.16 (right from the library desk)
    • Borrow a laptop: FNWI students can rent a laptop at the library desk for €5,- per day. The laptops include MS Office and Adobe Acrobat and can be rented between 9.00 and 20.00 hrs. You are allowed to install your own software on the device. The laptop comes with a laptop bag, charger, mouse, lock and HMDI-cable. Documents and software are deleted after return.

Last year's course evaluation

In order to provide students some insight how we use the feedback of student evaluations to enhance the quality of education, we decided to include the table below in all course guides.

Water Management (6EC) N=71 Av mark = 5.8
Strengths
  • level and contents
Notes for improvement
  • course design
  • partial exam questions
Response lecturer:
  •  changes applied to the course have been applied with regard to the set-up: Former Part 1 is now given as the last module in the course . The first module is now assessed with a written report which covers former Part 2.

Contact information

Coordinator

  • dr. L.H. Cammeraat

Staff

  • prof. dr. ir. W. Bouten