INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT: CONTENDING WITH GARBAGE CAN DECISIONMAIUNG IN ORGANIZED ANARCHIES1

ABSTRACT: Water management in the United States has historically been characterized by a decisionmaking system that is fragmented along three dimensions: (1) physical, (2) institutional, and (3) political-technical. The result is often ‘garbage can’ decision-making in open decisionmaking structures with the attributes of an ‘organized anarchy’ rather than the rational, comprehensive decisionmaking prescribed for water management. A case study of water quality management decisionmaking in the New York Finger Lakes is used to illustrate how the garbage can model can illuminate the forces that operate in fragmented water management. Interorganizational decisionmaking theory and experience from water management integration initiatives are then applied to assess what strategies may be effective in reducing the organizational anarchy that results from fragmented water management institutions.     

MULTIPLE CRITERIA ANALYSIS FOR WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE NITRA BASIN1

ABSTRACT: This paper presents the implementation of one element of a decision support system (DSS) for regional water quality management, applied to the Nitra River Basin in Slovakia. A model-based, aspiration-led methodology for multicriteria decision support has been used for the study. Several reusable, modular software tools have been developed and implemented: a problem-specific generator to produce the core part of the mathematical programming model, tools for the generation and interactive modification of multicriteria problems, and a solver for the resulting mixed-integer optimization problem. Provided in the paper are the following: a complete formulation of the mathematical model (including the imbedded water quality model), a summary of the aspiration-reservation-led multiple criteria optimization approach applied to decision support, and an overview of results that illustrate the applied approach and provide some interesting insights to the case study.     

WATER USE DATA – WHO NEEDS IT?1

ABSTRACT: This paper addresses problems in the design of a water use data base and valuation of water use data. An examination of the economic efficiency and distributional aspects of selected water management problems indicates that there are benefits to be obtained from water use information and, thus, there is a potential value to water use data. Water use information is viewed as being produced by combining water use data with other data in a modeling context suggested by theory relevant to the problem at hand, and a well designed water use data base will facilitate this synthesis. Data “needs” in the production of water use information via economic modeling are described to illustrate the relationship between theory and data. Some of the desirable characteristics of a water use data base and inadequacies of the existing water use data “base” are described. The fugitive nature of the water use data resource and a lack of understanding of both the information “production function” and the role of water use information in decisionmaking complicates the water use data valuation problem.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMBINED WATER QUALITY INDEX1

ABSTRACT: Use-oriented benefits and treatment costs analysis has been incorporated into a water quality index to show an economically optimized concentration for the treatment of the pollutants and the resulting water quality. This combined water quality index can be used in decisionmaking at the federal and local government levels. Five major pollutants, i.e., coliforms, nitrogen, phosphorus, suspended solids, and detergent, have been considered for the municipal waste water. With each higher level of improvement the treatment costs increase accordingly and the benefits associated with the reuse of this treated waste water will increase too but not for the nutrient removal in agricultural use. The optimal concentration is determined when the marginal costs equal the marginal benefits. The combined water quality index is the combination of the maximum net benefits and the water quality index of the optimized residual concentrations. This water quality index is zero dollars for the Tucson region in this study. The possible reclaimed use of municipal waste water is for agricultural irrigation and recreational lakes for the Tucson region.     

Establishing politically feasible water markets: a multi-criteria approach

A multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) model to simulate the establishment of water markets is developed. The environment is an irrigated area governed by a non-profit agency, which is responsible for water production, allocation, and pricing. There is a traditional situation of historical rights, average-cost pricing for water allocation, large quantities of water used, and inefficiency. A market-oriented policy could be implemented by accounting for ecological and political objectives such as saving groundwater and safeguarding historical rights while promoting economic efficiency. In this paper, a problem is solved by compromise programming, a multi-criteria technique based on the principles of Simonian logic. The model is theoretically developed and applied to the Lorca region in Spain near the Mediterranean Sea.     

A MULTIOBJECTIVE MODEL FOR REGIONAL WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT: Linear programming is the simplest of all the optimization techniques used in regional water quality management studies; but the technique can optimize only one goal. When there are multiple goals with the same or different priorities, goal programming is a useful decisionmaking tool. This paper illustrates the application of goal programming to a regional water quality management problem where the following two goals are considered: (1) minimize the total cost of waste treatment, and (2) maintain the water quality goals (dissolved oxygen) close to the minimum level stated in the stream standards.     

Collaborative Modeling to Evaluate Water Management Scenarios in the Rio Grande Basin

This article describes the collaborative modeling process and the resulting water resources planning model developed to evaluate water management scenarios in the transboundary Rio Grande basin. The Rio Grande is a severely water stressed basin that faces numerous management challenges as it crosses numerous jurisdictional boundaries. A collaborative process was undertaken to identify and model water management scenarios to improve water supply for stakeholders, the environment, and international obligations of water delivery from Mexico to the United States. A transparent and open process of data collection, model building, and scenario development was completed by a project steering committee composed of university, nongovernmental, and governmental experts from both countries. The outcome of the process was a planning model described in this article, with data and operations that were agreed on by water planning officials in each country. Water management scenarios were created from stakeholder input and were modeled and evaluated for effectiveness with the planning model.     

Transition Pathways to Sustainable Agricultural Water Management: A Review of Integrated Modeling Approaches

Agricultural water management (AWM) is an interdisciplinary concern, cutting across traditional domains such as agronomy, climatology, geology, economics, and sociology. Each of these disciplines has developed numerous process‐based and empirical models for AWM. However, models that simulate all major hydrologic, water quality, and crop growth processes in agricultural systems are still lacking. As computers become more powerful, more researchers are choosing to integrate existing models to account for these major processes rather than building new cross‐disciplinary models. Model integration carries the hope that, as in a real system, the sum of the model will be greater than the parts. However, models based upon simplified and unrealistic assumptions of physical or empirical processes can generate misleading results which are not useful for informing policy. In this article, we use literature and case studies from the High Plains Aquifer and Southeastern United States regions to elucidate the challenges and opportunities associated with integrated modeling for AWM and recommend conditions in which to use integrated models. Additionally, we examine the potential contributions of integrated modeling to AWM — the actual practice of conserving water while maximizing productivity. Editor's note : This paper is part of the featured series on Optimizing Ogallala Aquifer Water Use to Sustain Food Systems. See the February 2019 issue for the introduction and background to the series.     

A SYSTEMS RESOURCES APPROACH TO CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: THE CASE OF THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS1

ABSTRACT: The thesis of this paper is that the citizen participation process provides necessary, but not sufficient conditions to affect substantive change in federal water resource management agencies' planning and decisionmaking. That is, in its present form, the citizen participation process has been observed to occur outside of the normal decision arenas of federal resource management agencies. The paper reviews concepts of citizen participation and defines some theoretical problems inherent with them. Then, a strategy for the structuring of a citizen participation process is proposed. This strategy is based upon the notion that citizen support for federally sponsored programs are essential if such projects are to be implemented. Therefore, an approach which integrates citizen valves with those held by other institutions and the agency is suggested. In conclusion, the relevancy of actively developing and including citizen input to the water resource planning process is illustrated by a discussion of three cases of the Corps of Engineers and Urban Studies planning process, in different metropolitan regions.     

MUNICIPAL WATER USE AND WATER RATES DRIVEN BY SEVERE DROUGHT: A CASE STUDY1

ABSTRACT: This paper synthesizes and interprets data pertaining to the evolution of average water revenue, water use, and the average cost of water supply in the City of Santa Barbara, California, from 1986 to 1996, a period which included one of the most devastating droughts in California this century. The 1987–1992 drought hit the study area particularly hard. The City of Santa Barbara was dependent exclusively on local sources for its water supply. That made it vulnerable as the regional climate is prone to extreme variability and recurrent droughts. The 1986–1992 drought provided a rare opportunity to assess the sensitivity of municipal water use to pricing, conservation, and other water management measures under extreme drought conditions. Our analysis indicates that the average cost of water rose more than three-fold in real terms from 1986 to 1996, while the gap between the average cost of supply and the average revenue per unit of water (= 100 cubic feet) rose in real terms from $0.14 in 1986 to $ 0.75 in 1996. The rise of $3.08 in the average cost of supplying one unit of water between 1986 and 1996 measures the cost of hedging drought risk in the study area. Water use dropped 46 percent at the height of the drought relative to pro-drought water use, and remains at 61 percent of the pre-drought level. The data derived from the 1987–1992 California drought are unique and valuable insofar as shedding light on drought/water demand adaptive interactions. The experience garnered on drought management during that unique period points to the possibilities available for future water management in the Arid West where dwindling water supplies and burgeoning populations are facts that we must deal with.     

SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF AGRICULTURAL WATER REQUIREMENTS IN THE GULF COAST OF THE UNITED STATES1

ABSTRACT: Competition for water resources is becoming an increasingly important issue in the southeastern U.S. The potential impacts of future precipitation and runoff estimated by a transient global climate model (HADCM2) on competing water resources in the Southeast has been conducted. Issues of agricultural management, irrigation water withdrawals, and water quality were studied over three time periods: 1974–1993, 2020–2039, and 2080–2099 in five water basins identified previously as exhibiting water-related problems. These basins, which encompass the boundary between Alabama and Mississippi, cover four important agricultural counties in Mississippi. Irrigation water requirements generated by crop growth models for corn, soybeans, and winter wheat were coupled with monthly runoff for the impacted basins estimated by the SWAT water balance model. The results of the study reveal that in the next 20–40 years water availability in the southern portions of the study area will decline as much as 10 percent during times when water requirements for agricultural production are crucial. Maintaining or expanding existing crop yields under future climate regimes may require additional irrigation water and increase competition among other uses such as domestic, industrial, recreational, and ecosystem quality.     

ESTIMATING THE BENEFITS OF PHOSPHORUS POLLUTION REDUCTIONS: AN APPLICATION IN THE MINNESOTA RIVER1

ABSTRACT: In order to make economically efficient decisions about water quality improvements, data on both the costs and benefits of these improvements is needed. However, there has been little research on the benefits of reducing phosphorus pollution which implies that policy decisions are not able to make the comparison of costs and benefits that is essential for economic efficiency. This research attempts to ameliorate this situation by providing an estimate of the benefits of a 40 percent reduction in phosphorus pollution in the Minnesota River. A 1997 mail survey gathered information on Minnesota residents'use of a recreational site on the Minnesota River, the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, and their willingness to pay for phosphorus reductions in the Minnesota River. The random effects probit model used in this research to investigate household willingness to pay for phosphorus pollution reductions in the Minnesota River incorporates recent innovations in nonmarket valuation methodology by using both revealed and stated preference data. This model estimated annual household willingness to pay for phosphorus reductions in the Minnesota River at $140. These results may be used in combination with cost estimates to determine the economic efficiency of phosphorus clean up.     

A Water Allocation Decision‐Support Model and Tool for Predictions in Ungauged Basins in Northeast British Columbia,Canada

Pressures on water resources due to changing climate, increasing demands, and enhanced recognition of environmental flow needs result in the need for hydrology information to support informed water allocation decisions. However, the absence of hydrometric measurements and limited access to hydrology information in many areas impairs water allocation decision‐making. This paper describes a water balance‐based modeling approach and an innovative web‐based decision‐support hydrology tool developed to address this need. Using high‐resolution climate, vegetation, and watershed data, a simple gridded water balance model, adjusted to account for locational variability, was developed and calibrated against gauged watersheds, to model mean annual runoff. Mean monthly runoff was modeled empirically, using multivariate regression. The modeled annual runoff results are within 20% of the observed mean annual discharge for 78% of the calibration watersheds, with a mean absolute error of 16%. Modeled monthly runoff corresponds well to observed monthly runoff, with a median Nash–Sutcliffe statistic of 0.92 and a median Spearman rank correlation statistic of 0.98. Monthly and annual flow estimates produced from the model are incorporated into a map‐ and watershed‐based decision‐support system referred to as the Northeast Water Tool, to provide critical information to decision makers and others on natural water supply, existing allocations, and the needs of the environment.     

Sustainable Water Resources Management in a Conflict Resolution Framework1

Abstract: A decision support system for sustainable water resources management in a water conflict resolution framework is developed to identify and evaluate a range of acceptable alternatives for the Geum River Basin in Korea and to facilitate strategies that will result in sustainable water resource management. Working with stakeholders in a “shared vision modeling” framework, sustainable management strategies are created to illustrate system tradeoffs as well as long‐term system planning. A multi‐criterion decision‐making (MCDM) approach using subjective scales is utilized to evaluate the complex water resource allocation and management tradeoffs between stakeholders and system objectives. The procedures used in this study include the development of a “shared vision model,” a simulated decision‐making support system (as a tool for sustainable water management strategies associated with water conflicts, management options, and planning criteria), and the application of MCDM techniques for evaluating alternatives provided by the model. The research results demonstrate the utility of the sustainable water resource management model in aid of MCDM techniques in facilitating flexibility during initial stages of alternative identification and evaluation in a basin suffering from severe water conflicts.     

ESTIMATION OF OPTIMAL YIELD IN YUN-LIN AREA OF TAIWAN USING DECISION ANALYSIS1

ABSTRACT: Ground water is a vital resource in the Yun-Lin area of Taiwan. A substantial amount is continuously extracted, creating adverse effects such as land subsidence and seawater intrusion. Minimizing these negative impacts depends on regulating the rate of groundwater withdrawal. An optimal yield must be determined to establish a sound water management policy. A wide range of safe yields for Yun-Lin have already been proposed based on constant hydrological and hydrogeological parameters. By extending the results of those investigations, this study presents a decision analysis model. The optimal yield concept is introduced as well. The proposed model incorporates a probability density function for rainfall recharge and a loss function, derived from fluctuations in the ground water table. Through decision analysis, the optimum yield is obtained by minimizing the expected value of the loss function. The optimal yield varies monthly because the probability density function is time dependent. Analysis results suggest that the cumulative optimum yield of ground water in the area is 1.26 × 10⁸ m³/year. If the probability distribution function for rainfall recharge is modified as new precipitation data become available, the above suggested yield may require revision in the future.     

WHO GETS CLEAN WATER? AID ALLOCATION TO SMALL WATER SYSTEMS IN PENNSYLVANIA1

ABSTRACT: Research on the condition of drinking water provision in the United States documents the inequitable financial impact of environmental regulations on small water systems (those serving 3,300 or fewer people). While a variety of federal and state financial assistance programs are available for water systems, few quantitative analyses have evaluated the success of these programs in alleviating the problems of small systems. A case study of the largest aid initiative for water supply infrastructure in Pennsylvania provides the empirical framework through which to analyze government funding opportunities for water systems. This study examines the allocation practices of the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) to water systems of varying sizes. Utilizing data from PENNVEST applications and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the distribution of PENNVEST award recipients and denied applicants by size characteristics are compared. The study indicates that very small water systems (those serving 500 or fewer) do not apply for or receive funds with the same frequency as their larger counterparts. Understanding the allocation of awards from PENNVEST offers insight into the ability of small communities to access capital for water supply infrastructure.     

MAXIMIZING THE VALUE OF INFORMATION FOR GROUND WATER PROTECTION: THREE TEST CASES1

ABSTRACT: Public awareness of the importance of protecting the nation's water supplies is growing. Recent studies have shown a substantial increase in the perceived value of protecting water supplies for future use. In the Northeast, much of the water supply comes from ground water. This paper examines three test cases, each with different approaches for using geographic information systems (GIS) for ground water protection planning. In Wellfleet, Massachusetts, build-out scenarios were used to support regulatory and land acquisition decisions for siting a public water supply well. In Hadley, Massachusetts, the focus was on a decision support model for septic suitability assessment in support of regulatory efforts and infrastructure expansion. For Cortland County, New York, an interactive graphic user interface was created to facilitate the manipulation and recombination of a large volume of data by county officials to target ground water pollution prevention efforts. As personal computers become more powerful and inexpensive, and GIS data become more readily available, community and county governments are turning to GIS as a tool for developing comprehensive resource protection plans. Once appropriate data are input, a GIS can effectively and efficiently be used to derive outcomes of various land use plans and regulations.     

RATES,RIGHTS, AND REGIONAL PLANNING IN THE METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA1

ABSTRACT: The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has for more than 70 years shaped the development of an immense urban region. The district's current strategic planning process therefore could have substantial effects on regional water planning and management. The rate restructuring phase of the planning process has produced a multiple component, cost of service based framework. This paper describes that framework as well as some criticisms that have been directed toward it. The rate restructuring was shaped, and for a while stalled, by old disputes among member agencies over rights to water supplied by Metropolitan. That controversy has diverted attention from the resource management implications of the rate structure. This paper presents an alternative future focused approach to regional integrated water resource planning for Southern California based on projections of current trends and anticipation of future events. This discussion raises the question of how regional integrated water resources planning of this sort may proceed, and what role Metropolitan will play in that process.