A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Engineering in Water Engineering and Management

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2007

Water allocation has become a severe problem for many parts of the world as the demand of water has increased due to population and economic growth, rapid urbanization, improved standard of living and industrialization and this scarcity may be exacerbated by climate change. The potential conflicts between irrigation, urban water supply, hydropower development, navigation, and environmental uses are clear. Therefore, studying water demand and water allocation system that considers both socio-economic and technical aspect or how to allocate water equitably to different users, has been the focus of this study. The study is intended to apply a model for water allocation in Ma River basin for economic efficiency operation criterion requiring the reallocation of river flows until the net marginal return in irrigation, domestic and industrial water uses are met. In Cua Dat reservoir of Ma River basin, water is used for hydroelectric power generation and water supply for the Thanh Hoa city that have over 300,000 people and some new industrial zone. In addition, water supply for irrigation sectors has to be satisfied. The water allocation for different sectors has been done using Aquarius with three different scenarios: 1) when normal flow and water supply for irrigation use increased. 2) when normal flow and water supply for domestic and industrial zone increased. 3) when normal flow and Cua Dat reservoir keep water in order to supply water for hydropower plant. From this water allocation study among different sectors using Aquarius, it was found that the net economic return was higher in scenario 3, where water supply is used for electric power generation. However further study is required to consider all other water uses that need better allocation systems to address issues of economic efficiency and equity