Complementary Use of the WEAP Model to Underpin the Development of SEEAW Physical Water Use and Supply Tables

Two modern tools, the System of Economic and Environmental Accounts for Water (SEEAW) and the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP), have been applied in combination to assess in a holistic way the available water resources and the socio-economic water needs within a selected river catchment. The approach is based on integration of hydrological information and economic data for water use in a coherent manner. The use of the WEAP model underpins the development of asset water accounts within the SEEAW platform, thus mitigating some difficulties in evaluating parameters that cannot be directly monitored. The studied catchment is the Vit River in Bulgaria, which is a tributary of the Danube River. An average year in terms of water resources availability was used for the case study. In addition to the demonstration of the applicability and the benefits of the suggested approach, important site specific outcomes were achieved, mainly getting a complete overview on the complex water resource and water use relations, as well as outlining measures for efficient water resource utilization at a river basin scale.