Applicability and Prospects of WEAP Software as a Decision Support System Tool for Water Demand Analysis in Bangladesh: A Case Study of Lakkhya Basin-Demra Catchment

Abstract

Bangladesh is a riverine country which is dependent mainly on water for various major purposes such as agriculture, industrialization, urbanization etc. Water demand analysis is an important process to manage water efficiently in Bangladesh in context of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). Often conflicts arise among the upstream and downstream water user particularly for a water stressed catchment which can be resolved through IWRM. Decision Support Systems (DSS) can provide effective tools for water allocation, supply and demand analysis. This research used Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) as a DSS to evaluate the current water management scenario. WEAP provides a seamless integration of both the physical hydrology of the region and water management infrastructure that governs the allocation of available water resources to meet the different water needs. It is a priority driven software, employs priority based optimization algorithm as an alternative to hierarchal rule based logic that uses a concept of Equity Group to allocate water in time of inefficient supply. There is need for optimization of Lakkhya River basin-Demra catchment resources future need of its population. Shitalakkhya or Lakkhya is one of the major rivers in our country which has a big influence on Narayanganj area which is one of the industrial as well as agricultural centres of Dhaka city. The study is related to applicability and prospects of WEAP Software as Decision Support System (DSS) tool for water demand analysis in Bangladesh. The results confirmed that WEAP can be applied as a decision support system (DSS) tool for the water resource management in the Lakkhya River basin-Demra catchment Bank in terms for high population growth rate, extended dry climate sequence, which are possibly the major factors going to affect the future water demand and supply of Bangladesh.