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Hydrology of the Jordan River Basin: A GIS-Based System to Better Guide Water Resources Management and Decision Making

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Abstract

A new method of participatory decision support that can be used in transboundary basins is presented. The framework of this method relies first on the creation of a transboundary geographic information system database to store hydrologic data and allow easy access to data from stakeholders. A participatory hydro-political framework is developed to help set up hydrologic models and evaluate joint water management scenarios. Results show that the countries of the Jordan River could benefit from the framework and in the case of southern Lebanon, six climate stations should be replaced or reactivated. Finally, the mechanism of a Lebanese Hydrologic Information System is presented and shows that an observation data model will facilitate science and policy integration.

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Acknowledgments

This research project was partially funded by the Global Water Partnership Mediterranean and the University of Texas at Austin. The writers would like to express appreciation to Lebanese engineers of the Ministry of Energy and Water for their insightful comments and suggestions. ESRI is acknowledged for making available necessary GIS software for this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Research in Water Resources, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Georges F. Comair, Daene C. McKinney, David R. Maidment, Gonzalo Espinoza, Harish Sangiredy & Fernando R. Salas

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, American University of Beirut, P.O. Box 11-0236, Riad El-Solh, Beirut, 11072020, Lebanon

    Abbas Fayad

Authors
  1. Georges F. Comair
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  2. Daene C. McKinney
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  3. David R. Maidment
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  4. Gonzalo Espinoza
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  5. Harish Sangiredy
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  6. Abbas Fayad
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  7. Fernando R. Salas
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Correspondence to Georges F. Comair.

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Comair, G.F., McKinney, D.C., Maidment, D.R. et al. Hydrology of the Jordan River Basin: A GIS-Based System to Better Guide Water Resources Management and Decision Making. Water Resour Manage 28, 933–946 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0525-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0525-2

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