Development of a study area. Case study: Day River Basin

This thesis is about the development of a study area for the Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment (HUNRE). This university has chosen the Day river basin (next to Hanoi) to use as a study area for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) education. This thesis will focus on two courses of the bachelor program of HUNRE: Water Resources Monitoring (WRM and Water Resources Systems Modelling (WRSM). The first objective of this thesis is to explore the study area. The data and information which will be collected during fieldwork, a literature study and analysing the available data will be collected in a database. This data will be the input data for the models of the course WRSM. The second objective is to develop a practical site for the course WRM. At this practical site students will measure the cross section (water depths) and flow velocity. With the flow measurements the students can calculate the discharge. With the information/data from the first objective it will be possible to select a measurement location, measurement methods and equipment. After some trial measurements a guideline will be written, so the students can follow this guideline during the practical. The study area exists of two tributaries of the Red River; the Tich River and the Day river. The characteristics of these rivers are different. The Tich River is a natural river, with its origin in the Ba Vi mountain range. The Day river is now a ‘’dead’’ river. This is caused by the two control structures (Day dam and the Van Coc sluice) upstream. This results in a flow velocity of nearly zero. This is also the reason why the Day river is much more polluted than the Tich River. At the moment the government is constructing a new channel from Cam Dinh to the Day River which will supply fresh water to the Day River. After some fieldtrips a measurement location at the Tich River is chosen which met all requirements to function as practical site for students. At this location an irrigation company has built a stair from the dike until the water surface. With this stair the river is easily accessible and this stair can be used as a reference for reading the water level. The next step was to select measuring methods for this location and select equipment to for these methods. A staff gauge is chosen to measure the water depth. The velocity area method is chosen to measure the discharge at the measurement location. The flow velocity which is needed for this method is measured by a propeller current meter. The last phase of the fieldwork existed of trial measurements at the measurement location. At the moment of the trial measurements it was dry season, this means a low water depth and a low discharge. After the trial measurement a guideline for the course Water Resources Monitoring is written. This guideline contains background information about the study area, explanation why this location is chose to measure, an description of the methods and equipment, a step for step guideline to measure the water depth and flow velocity and some questions about the practical and theory behind the measurements. The final recommendations for the total study area are: \u95 Monitor the influence of the new Cam Dinh channel. This channel can alter the characteristics of the study area drastically. \u95 Keep the database up to date The final recommendations for the measurement location are: \u95 Collect more information about the measurement location from the Day irrigation company, they have precise information about the location of the reference level \u95 In the future it is useful to develop a second measurement location. \u95 The practical site can be used for more measurements of other courses, for example water quality measurements or meteorological measurements. \u95 Monitor the water level with a continuous water level recording device like a diver The final recommendation for the course WRM and WRSM are: \u95 Collect missing input data for the models of WRSM \u95 Improve the guideline after the first students are finished with the practicalWater Recources ManagementWater ManagementCivil Engineering and Geoscience