CIVIL 731 : Water Resources Modelling
Engineering
2025 Semester One (1253) (15 POINTS)
Course Prescription
Course Overview
This course is aimed at providing the student with a fundamental understanding of the techniques used for designing, planning and managing integrated water resources systems. The lectures are supported by tutorials, case studies and practical computational labs.
The course covers the following topics:
- Management of water resources systems (urban water systems, groundwater, water demand, drought, flood reservoir systems)
- Evaluation of alternatives in water resources (decision making, multi-criteria optimization, conflict resolution)
- Economics of water resources systems (benefit cost analysis, time values of money, discounting, net present values, efficiency, equity)
- Risk and uncertainty in water resources systems (identification, quantification and communication)
- River basin modelling (watersheds, socio-economics, lakes and reservoirs, wetlands, water quality)
Capabilities Developed in this Course
| Capability 3: | Knowledge and Practice |
| Capability 4: | Critical Thinking |
| Capability 5: | Solution Seeking |
Learning Outcomes
- Identify, describe and analyse Issues associated with planning, design and management of integrated management of water resources systems (Capability 3.1 and 4.1)
- Understand and analyse alternatives in water resource (Capability 3.1 and 4.1)
- Analyse economics of water resources systems (Capability 3.1 and 4.1)
- Perform risk and uncertainty analysis of water resources systems (Capability 3.1 and 4.1)
- Perform river basin modelling (Capability 3.1, 4.1 and 5.1)
Assessments
| Assessment Type | Percentage | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| Assignments | 30% | Individual Coursework |
| Test | 20% | Individual Test |
| Final Exam | 50% | Individual Examination |
| 3 types | 100% |
| Assessment Type | Learning Outcome Addressed | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
| Assignments | ||||||||||
| Test | ||||||||||
| Final Exam | ||||||||||
- Students must sit the exam to pass the course. Otherwise, a DNS (did not sit) result will be returned.
- A passing mark is 50% or higher, according to university policy.
- Late submissions will not be accepted/allowed for the exam, tests, and online quizzes. It is possible to submit late for the assignments and projects, and the late submission penalty schedule will be included in the assignment and project handouts.
Workload Expectations
This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.
For this course, you can expect 24 hours of lectures, 10 hours of tutorials, 55 hours of reading and thinking about the content, and 61 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.
Delivery Mode
Campus Experience
Lectures will be available as recordings.
The course will include live online events including group discussions and tutorials.
Attendance on campus is required for the test.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.
Learning Resources
Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).
Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.
- “Water resources systems analysis” by Mohammad Karamouz, Ferenc Szidarovszky, and Banafsheh Zahraie, Boca Raton, CRC press, (2003).
- “River and Reservoir Yield” by T.A. McMahon and R.G. Mein, Water Resources Publication, (1986).
- “Water Resource Systems Planning and Management” by Daniel P. Loucks & Eelco van Beek, UNESCO (2006).
Health & Safety
Students are expected to adhere to the guidelines outlined in the Health and Safety section of the Engineering Undergraduate Handbook.
Student Feedback
At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.
Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.
Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.
Academic Integrity
The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.
Class Representatives
Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.
Inclusive Learning
All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.
Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz
Special Circumstances
If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.
If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.
This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.
Learning Continuity
In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.
Student Charter and Responsibilities
The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.
Disclaimer
Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.
In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.