water resources engineering
Best Practices for Sustainable Development of Micro Hydro Power in Developing Countries.pdf
Taken from Introduction: Micro hydro, defined as a plant between 10 kW and 200 kW, is perhaps the most mature of the modern small-scale decentralised energy supply technologies used in developing countries. There are thought to be tens of thousands of plants in the ‘micro’ range operating successfully in China 2, and significant numbers are operated in wide ranging countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Vietnam and Peru. This experience shows that in certain circumstances micro hydro can be profitable in financial terms, while at others, unprofitable plants can exhibit such strong positive impacts on the lives of poor people and the environment that they may well justify subsidies.
The evidence from this extensive experience shows such wide variation in terms of cost, profitability and impact, that it has often been difficult for investors and rural people to determine whether, and under what circumstances, this technology is viable and best meets their needs.
Whilst supplying improved energy services to people for the first time is difficult, supplying such services profitably to very poor people who live far away from roads and the electricity grid poses a particularly difficult challenge. This report shows that micro hydro compares well with other energy supply technologies in these difficult markets. Despite this micro hydro appears to have been relatively neglected by donors, the private sector and governments in the allocation of resources and attention. In the past, rural electrification by means of grid extension was the option favoured by donors. More recently the fashion has switched towards photovoltaics, probably because of its higher foreign content, and the higher added value returned to the metropolitan countries.
The relative neglect of micro hydro has also been in part due to the fact that the circumstances under which it is financially profitable have not been systematically established, at least not in ways that investors find credible. In addition, while it is known that the growth and sustainability of the micro hydro sub-sector depends on certain types of infrastructure and institutional investments, it was often not clear which elements ofthis ‘enabling environment’ were essential, nor how they were best financed.
LAYMAN’s Guidebook on how Develop a Small Hydro Site.pdf
Taken from Definition of small hydropower: There is no consensus in EU member states on the definition of small hydropower: Some countries like Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and now, Greece and Belgium, accept 10 MW as the upper limit for installed capacity. In Italy the limit is fixed at 3 MW (plants with larger installed power should sell their electricity at lower prices); in France the limit was established at 8 MW and UK favour 5 MW. Hereunder will be considered as small any scheme with an installed capacity of 10 MW or less. This figure is adopted by five member states, ESHA, the European Commission and UNIPEDE (International Union of Producers and Distributors of Electricity).
Engineering and Design Reservoir Water Quality Analysis.pdf
This manual provides guidance for the assessment of reservoir water quality conditions, including reservoir releases and tailgaters. Procedures are generally presented without theoretical discussion, since these details can be found in referenced sources.
Water Resources Engineering.pdf
This course material is addressed to a civil engineering student I suppose, but also so much applies to other disciplines, such as mechanical engineering and geological engineering.

