Application of the new SWAT+ water allocation module in the Tagus River basin

SWAT+ is a completely restructured version of the SWAT model. It includes new capabilities, and the possibility of modelling water resources management is particularly relevant. A new water allocation module allows to allocate water for different purposes inside and outside a basin. Reservoir management can be modelled using decision tables that define which actions occur under different scenarios. Despite the relevance of these novelties, there is a lack of studies demonstrating accurate simulations of reservoir outflows using decision tables in SWAT+, and there are to date no publications regarding the water allocation module.

The Tagus River basin (Spain) is the most populated (11 million inhabitants) basin on the Iberian Peninsula and its water resources management is highly controversial. This basin is a clear example of the importance of including anthropogenic water management in the modelling process, since it is intensively regulated by more than 50 reservoirs, several water transfers, and irrigation. Therefore, the water allocation module (for simulating water transfers and irrigation) and decision tables (for reservoir management and irrigation) were used in a detailed model of the Upper Tagus River Basin (UTRB), where most of the water demands of the basin are located.

Firstly, more than 30 reservoirs were introduced to the model and their management was analyzed using observed data. Different decision table structures were created considering the properties of the reservoirs (purpose, storage, etc.) and then adapted to each of the reservoirs. A satisfactory simulation of reservoir storage and outflow was achieved in most of the cases, demonstrating the reliability of the model and the adequacy of this approach.

There are numerous water transfers in the UTRB, of which the Tagus-Segura water transfer (TSWT) is the most relevant one. Some transfer water from one reservoir to another, while two of them divert water outside the modelled basin. In addition, water is transferred from reservoirs to water treatment plants and subsequently released to selected receiving channels. All these transfers were modelled using the SWAT+ water allocation module and for most of them the modelled volumes matched the observed ones well.

The agricultural water demand was estimated from the River Basin Management Plan. To simulate the irrigation, all demand objects within the UTRB (irrigated agricultural lands, 282 objects) and their respective sources (closest channel to those objects, 118 sources) were identified. An irrigation decision table was developed for the basin, allowing to simulate a demand close to the calculated and to supply enough water to meet more than 80% of this demand.

This works presents a novel approach to simulating water resources management in a highly regulated river basin using SWAT+. Results shows a satisfactory simulation of different management actions (reservoirs, irrigation, water transfers inside and outside the basin, wastewater discharges). Further work on the water allocation module will boost even more the application of SWAT+.