ABSTRACT: Infiltration is the process by which water enters the earth's surface. Although contribution of soil water to total water present on earth surface is negligible, but it is of prime importance for plant life. Very recently, dimensionless form of Kostiakov equation was proposed for precise estimation of Kostiakov model parameters. The present paper is an assessment of accuracy of proposed dimensionless form of Kostiakov model. However, it has been found that the cumulative infiltration estimated by nonlinear optimization technique are more accurate than those estimated by dimensionless form of Kostiakov equation and the graphical method. Therefore, the present paper proposes application of Generalized Reduced Gradient (GRG), a nonlinear optimization technique to estimate Kostiakov model parameters precisely rather than using dimensionless form of Kostiakov equation. Infiltration data of various types of soil have been considered in the present study for the generalization of the results.

ABSTRACT: Establishing a reliable rating curve is an integral part of water resource engineering. The present paper is a review of data driven techniques used for modelling the stage discharge relationship over the last two decades. Over the year's several data driven techniques such as ANN, SVM, MT, fuzzy logic and GA have been applied by researchers in quest of arriving at a reliable technique to model the stage discharge relationship. Although, during this period several techniques have been used to establish the stage discharge relationship but the application of modern optimization tools such as ACO, PSO or PS has remained limited in this field. Therefore, application of modern optimization techniques and their comparison with existing literature would be appreciated in near future.

ABSTRACT: China is a country with severe water problems. In recent years, urban flooding has become even more frequent, pervasive and severe, threatening China's development. To tackle the issue, China launched a national initiative termed sponge cities with enormous investment commitment. Marking a fundamental shift in water management, this initiative can be an effective approach if China commits to appropriate technical, governance and financial measures to overcome implementation challenges.