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Water Energy Use of Rivers in the Historical Context and Water Return to the (Urban/Agricultural) Landscape

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water-Energy Nexus".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 June 2022) | Viewed by 12674

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. František Petrovič

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University, 949 01 Nitra, Slovakia
Interests: land use changes; landscape planning; mapping; natural resource management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water was one of the first types of energy that humanity encountered and that man began to produce in real life. Water at that time seemed inexhaustible, and industry and transport had a significant impact on the use of water resources. Gradually, there were modifications of watercourses, construction of canals, as well as construction of various types of water areas. Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) in the wider environment are linked to these processes, which can lead directly or secondarily to water impacts. The effects of climate change and LULC on hydrological processes and water resources are likely to continue to increase, especially in arid and semi-arid areas characterized as vulnerable. The current trend is to capture as much water in the landscape as possible for as long as possible. The global trend is the return of water elements to the urban environment. This is one of the reasons we have been analyzing historical data recently and trying to identify an area where there has been water in the past and where it could return.

At the same time, this also confirms the ecological importance of wetlands, which have practically disappeared in the agricultural landscape due to the intensification of agriculture. We find that areas affected in the past by, for example, the extraction of raw materials are now changing into the most ecologically valuable places. It is necessary to identify, analyze and subsequently protect these areas.

In particular, the Special Issue will focus on:

Fundamental changes in the transformation of the water networks in accordance with the use of hydropower (construction and demise of millraces, regulated streams, etc.);
The potential of building new reservoirs and their impact on the use of the landscape in their surroundings based on historical experience
Extinction and regulation of watercourses, millraces and their possibility of renewal in urban agglomerations;
Potential for the use of renewable energy sources in the use of hydropower (large hydropower plants, small hydropower plants);
Historical development of the use of hydropower in various types of water management facilities (water mills, sawmills, hammer mills, paper mills, powder mills, stone crushing mills, fulling mills, etc.);
Small hydropower plants and their origin in the historical context (from the original old water mills to sawmills, mills, newly established ones, etc.);
The beginnings of the industry in connection with the use of water propulsion (water wheel, turbine);
Water-based inland transportation systems and their historical context (boat trips, ferries, specific use for the transport of materials and goods);
Creation of new wetlands in mining areas and their use;
The impact of government policy on the emergence of new bodies of water;
Conservation and protection of wetlands in agricultural land.

Prof. Dr. František Petrovič
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

water networks and their history
impact of the water reservoirs on the use of the landscape
hydrologic planning and modeling
new wetlands in mining areas
protection of wetlands in agricultural land

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 2242 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Water Reservoirs as a Driver of Anthropogenic Changes in Landscape and Transport Networks: The Czech Republic Experience

by Marek Havlíček, Ivo Dostál and Renata Pavelková

Water 2022, 14(12), 1870; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14121870 - 10 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1937

Abstract

The construction of reservoirs has a major impact on the floodplain landscape, and their existence also affects land use in the hinterland. The aim of this article is to evaluate the influence of artificial lakes on changes in landscape use and transport networks; in this context, an assessment is provided of the significance of this anthropogenic activity as one of the drivers of landscape change. Old topographic maps and archival aerial photographs are used to analyze changes in the use of landscape and road networks, and these materials are complemented with the latest geographic data in digital form. Utilizing geographic information systems, we assessed the landscape changes and processes in the hinterland of those Czech Republic reservoirs that have an area of 100 ha or more. The results of the research show that landscape change processes are more intensive in the hinterland of the lakes than in the surrounding landscape. The predominant utility function of a reservoir emerged as a key factor in landscape use changes and ongoing processes. A different landscape use scenario can be observed in drinking water reservoirs, especially regarding the leisure and irrigation functions that dominate elsewhere. After the completion of reservoirs, the road and railway networks had an impact on, above all, the connection of the nearest villages in the hinterland of the lakes. The information that we found can be employed in projecting future changes in land use and road networks at newly planned dams. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Energy Use of Rivers in the Historical Context and Water Return to the (Urban/Agricultural) Landscape)

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22 pages, 3396 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Evaluation of Land-Use Changes as a Result of Underground Coal Mining—A Case Study on the Upper Nitra Basin, West Slovakia

by Matej Mojses, František Petrovič and Gabriel Bugár

Water 2022, 14(6), 989; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14060989 - 21 Mar 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2377

Abstract

Mining activity has one of the most fundamental influences on the landscape (in terms of both aesthetics and use). Its activity and manifestations, even when mining takes place underground, have visual manifestations on the surface. The impact of subsurface mining has a synergistic effect on the elements of the landscape structure. This manifestation is continuous in the context of mining intensity. Using the Earth remote sensing method, we identified several fundamental changes. The most significant of these was the creation of wetlands and the modification of watercourse lines. In the area in which there was no permanent water sources, several water areas with a total area of more than 30 ha were created. We also found that the length of watercourses has halved, the area of grassland has doubled, and urban area has decreased. It was the creation of water areas that supported not only better ecological stability of the landscape, but also the growth of biodiversity. Wetlands can be a dynamic element of future development. Understanding the development of land-cover changes is necessary for the purpose of planning nature and landscape conservation, as well as to identify areas of conflict with economic use. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Energy Use of Rivers in the Historical Context and Water Return to the (Urban/Agricultural) Landscape)

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24 pages, 11830 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

History of Using Hydropower in the Moravice River Basin, Czechia

by Marek Havlíček, Aleš Vyskočil, Martin Caletka, Zbyněk Sviták, Miriam Dzuráková, Hana Skokanová and Marta Šopáková

Water 2022, 14(6), 916; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14060916 - 15 Mar 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2089

Abstract

Water-powered facilities (WPFs) have traditionally been a pillar of the economy and social development. Therefore, the state took an interest in having these objects recorded and mapped in relevant maps and registers. This article focuses on identifying and localizing WPFs in the Moravice River basin in the so-called Sudetenland, Czechia, between the years 1763 and 2021. Specifically, the evolution and (dis)continuity of the WPFs are assessed through an analysis of cartographic and archival sources, reflecting the wider socioeconomic and demographic context as explanatory variables. The cartographic sources included old military topographic maps of Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia from four periods (the mid-18th century, mid-19th century, end of the 19th century, and mid-20th century) on the one hand and two state water-powered facility registers from 1930 and 1953 on the other. The archival sources included funds from regional and state archives. The results show that the count of WPFs peaked during the 19th century, after which there occurred a steep decline caused by societal and economic changes, namely, the expulsion of the local German population, nationalization in the postwar period, and economic and organizational transformations in the socialist era. Special attention is paid to hydropower plants, whose evolution reflects the outlined economic processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Energy Use of Rivers in the Historical Context and Water Return to the (Urban/Agricultural) Landscape)

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18 pages, 11894 KiB

Open AccessArticle

There Used to Be a River Ferry: Identifying and Analyzing Localities by Means of Old Topographic Maps

by Ivo Dostál, Marek Havlíček and Josef Svoboda

Water 2021, 13(19), 2689; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13192689 - 28 Sep 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2477

Abstract

River ferries were historically important in crossing medium- and large-sized watercourses, with rivers often a barrier to trade routes and journeys. Using old medium-scale Austrian military topographic maps from 1763–1768, 1836–1852, and 1876–1880, Prussian maps from 1825 and 1877, and Czechoslovakian maps from 1953–1955, we systematically localized the ferries within what is now the Czech Republic over a monitoring period between the mid-18th century and the present. We also analyzed the map keys of relevant surveys to examine ways of depicting the ferries in the maps. In this context, a database of river ferries in the Czech Republic was prepared in GIS, containing all localities where river crossing ferries were shown on the topographic maps. A total of 514 historical ferry sites were identified on the military mapping survey maps, with an additional 28 recognized from auxiliary sources that did not appear in the military topographic maps. The sample information obtained from the maps was also verified by using independent sources. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Energy Use of Rivers in the Historical Context and Water Return to the (Urban/Agricultural) Landscape)

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Other

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22 pages, 7295 KiB

Open AccessCase Report

Historical Water Supply System of the City of Brno—Social-Environmental Consequences

by David Honek, Milena Forejtníková, Miloš Rozkošný and Aleš Vyskočil

Water 2021, 13(24), 3550; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13243550 - 11 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3063

Abstract

This paper provides a detailed look into the historical development of the water supply system of a big industrial city and its impact on the river environment and needs of the wastewater treatment system. The city of Brno, Czech Republic, was chosen for this study because it has a long history in the field of water supply, and the city has changed rapidly over the last 200 years. The city’s development necessitated an adaptation of drinking water sources, most significantly the use of the Březová nad Svitavou facility, which resulted in a change of condition of the Svitava River. The notable decrease in river flow, aided by industrial development of settlements within the Svitava River catchment between 1850 and 1950, strongly contributed to the spread of river pollution. However, the construction of wastewater treatment plants during recent decades led to a restoration of river quality and, consequently, of the entire environment of the Svitava River catchment. This paper also presents a view on activities connected with the long term surface water quality monitoring and improvement with regard to water quality conditions in spring areas and the river network influenced by the water supply system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Energy Use of Rivers in the Historical Context and Water Return to the (Urban/Agricultural) Landscape)

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