Guidelines for the assessment of water resource projects

This attempt stands as a primary approach of a subject that has not been encountered from a holistic point-of-view in Greece and, more specifically, an impulse for further insight. The target is to establish guidelines for assessing the performance of existing large-scale water resource projects, within an integrated and adaptive water management. This effort is limited on certain categories of projects that are assumed more important in relation with the targets of the research project, which are: (a) surface water storage projects (i.e., dams), (b) groundwater abstraction projects (i.e., borehole systems), and (c) water distribution projects (i.e., irrigation and water supply networks). The report has the following structure: First, the general methodological framework is posed, including the essential definitions that provide better understanding of the various subjects. The reasons for the assessment are described, the selection of the project categories to analyse is explained, and the need for incorporating a single project to the extended hydrosystem is justified. But primarily, the methodological steps for the assessment procedure are described, and the main parameters of each step are articulated or further analysed, in some cases with specific weight. Next, the methodology is specialised for the selected project categories that are already referred, and particular targets are imposed, to which the guidelines are focused. These include the integration of the single projects to the scale of the corresponding hydrosystem; in this point, the report is related to the scope of the research project and, more precisely, to the models under development, for which the assessment procedure stands as one of the application fields. Finally, four characteristic examples are presented, which are taken from the Greek and international experience, thus facilitating the comprehension of the entire proposed procedure.