Water Resources Planning Branch, WRA, MOEAWater Resources Planning Branch, WRA, MOEA

Taiwan's hydrological and geopolitical conditions are severe, and the impact of climate change has made it more stressful about water resources management. The traditional water resources development projects in Taiwan become hardly to carry out at all. The water resource management strategy must appropriately meet the water demand of each target to stabilize the basic needs of life and support the sustainable development of the economy. Therefore, under the limited conditions of surface water resources, how to regulate and supply water through the regulation and effectively management water resources is more important than ever.

1. The Background and Goal of Smart Water

   1. Background: Smart Water Management is based on Forward-Looking Infrastructure Project, including Industry Innovation Flagship Project, Water Environment Construction Project and Digital Construction Project. It uses new technologies, such as sensing technology to build a smart control system, developing water resources Internet of Things to improve water usage efficiency and manage water resources.
   2. Goal: The goal of project is to strengthen the efficiency of the water management by coordinating the progress of smart flood prevention, smart security, smart irrigation, smart water network, smart regulation, and smart disclosure from the perspective of the overall water management (see Figure 1). In order to meet the three goals “stable water supply”, “safe and livable” and “industry innovation”, we promote the smart water management projects.
   

   Figure.1 Layout of Smart Water Management

2. The Differences between Traditional and Smart Water Management

   1. Smart Flood Prevention

      The comparison between current management condition and future smart management situation for smart flood prevention is as follows:

      1. Current Condition and Problems

         1. Inaccuracy of the simulation during typhoon period.
         2. Information depending on human notification.
         3. Insufficient objective information in decision making.

      2. Future Management and Situation

         1. Real time predicts disasters through the rainfall forecasting and calculation system.
         2. Sensors are deployed in all regions to quickly obtain current situation and prevent disaster.

   2. Smart Security

      The comparison between current management condition and future smart management situation for smart security is as follows:

      1. Current Condition and Problems

         1. The inspection data of hydraulic structures cannot be obtained and processed in time.
         2. The illegal activities in the river and reservoir areas are difficult to investigate and seize.

      2. Future Management and Situation

         1. Use remote sensing to quickly find the differences for decision and execution.
         2. The functions of full-time supervision system includes monitoring hydraulic structures, active analysis, response and warnings.

   3. Smart Irrigation

      The comparison between current management condition and future smart management situation for smart irrigation is as follows:

      1. Current Condition and Problems

         1. Water demand and water gate opening control cannot be accurately operated according to actual needs.
         2. Most of the operations are relied on manpower, highlighting the ageing problem of the farming population.

      2. Future Management and Situation

         1. According to records of environmental conditions and production in field, dosage of fertilizer, pesticide, and timing of irrigation be calculated accurately.
         2. The update of irrigation system to monitor the water quality and quantity of the irrigation channel.

   4. Water Network

      The comparison between current management condition and future smart management situation for water network is as follows:

      1. Current Condition and Problems

         1. Water consumption data recording and reading need too much manpower.

      2. Future Management and Situation

         1. Cloud collects and analyzes pipe network information.

   5. Smart Regulation

      The comparison between current management condition and future smart management situation for smart regulation is as follows:

      1. Current Condition and Problems

         1. The supply of reservoir is clear but the demand for water is not clear.
         2. The flood control operation or water restriction strategy during the typhoon and flood period still relies on human experience to make decisions.

      2. Future Management and Situation

         1. System analysis estimates the available water by considering turbidity, risk and costs to provide the best supply.
         2. To consider the future and downstream conditions for determine the amount of flood discharge to achieve the systematic flood control.

   6. Smart Disclosure

      The comparison between current management condition and future smart management situation for smart disclosure is as follows:

      1. Current Condition and Problems

         1. Water data records do not have the same formats and hard to obtain.
         2. It is impossible to directly use the record results and the mode improvement must be repeated.

      2. Future Management and Situation

         1. One single platform integration provides the same format for application.
         2. Provide industrial technology data exchange and sharing through the smart water management system platform.

3. The Project Promoted by Our Institute

   It will take 5 years to execute the processing water resources internet of things project and is as follows:

   1. Overall Construction Plan for Smart Water Management in 2017.
   2. Multiple Inventory for Water Resources Related Data in 2017.
   3. Technology Research and Development for IoT and Sensing in 2018.
   4. Model construct for Big Data Analysis and Dynamic Deployment Mode in 2018.
   5. Application Promotion for Innovative Service and Application in 2019.
   6. Integration of the Related Smart Water Management Project in 2019.