FOCUSED AND DIFFUSE PATTERNS OF AQUATIC RECREATION BEHAVIOR1

ABSTRACT: Recreation behavior can be examined by identifying characteristics of participants, activities, and places. Two distinct houschold types (social groups) were examined relative to their participation in water based recreation: households whose participation occurs exclusively in water based recreation, and those reporting participation in both water and nonwater activities. These households were compared in terms of preference for and specialization in water recreation, the relationship of water activity selected and resource (place) preference and intensity of participation in water activities. Attention by managers, planners, and social scientists to the interplay of participant group, activity, and place upon behavioral outcomes is important to the future development of recreation opportunities. It is one thing to design a facility for water based recreation; it is another to design a facility knowing the behavioral outcomes occurring and how they will be affected. Similarly, to implement a management strategy without knowing how behavior of participants will be modified as a result of the strategy can lead to failure of the management objective.     

PERSISTENT CONFLICTS OVER TIMBER PRODUCTION AND WATERSHED MANAGEMENP: A PROBLEM ANALYSIS1

ABSTRACT: Most forest lands are managed for multiple purposes, among them timber production and water supply. Conflicts often arise in such cases because logging is perceived as a threat to water quality. These conflicts can result from uncertain factual information, from differences in underlying social values, or from imbalances in the incidence of costs and benefits. Resulting conificts may go unresolved because existing institutional structures fail to address the real roots of the dispute. When such conificts go unresolved, benefits are often lost, and social, political, and managerial costs are high. This study found that the roots of conifict may lie in value differences or in interest impacts, but attention may be focused inappropriately and unproductively on factual issues. It suggests that at least some long-standing disputes in the management of forested watersheds may be resolved by identifying the root causes of these disputes and choosing those actions, whether they be changes in management guidelines or altered institutional structures, which are appropriate to those causes.     

WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND THE CHOICE OF TECHNOLOGY

Asserting that the major problem in water resources management stems not so much from a lack of alternative technologies as from a failure to make a choice which is appropriate to the several factors involved, the author addresses himself to these factors and to the criteria which should be applied in the decision-making process. Particular attention is devoted to a consideration of the incentives, and of the institutional, infra-structural, analytical and policy measures required to facilitate the adoption of 'socially optimal' technology, including the relationship of these measures to the promotion of effective water resources management technology within the broader economic, social and cultural situations specific to each country.     

Data Management Dimensions of Social Water Science: The iUTAH Experience

Integrating social and hydrologic sciences for understanding water systems is challenged by data management complexities. Contemporary mandates for open science and data sharing necessitate better understanding of the implications of social science data types. In the context of an interdisciplinary water research program that endeavors to integrate and share social science and biophysical data, we highlight the array of data types and issues associated with social water science. We present a multi‐dimensional classification of social water science data that provides insight into data management considerations for each data type. Recommendations for cyberinfrastructure, planning, and policy are offered.     

WATER AND THE ENERGY CRISIS1

ABSTRACT: Water and energy are inextricably bound. Energy is consumed and sometimes produced by every form of water resources system. Opportunities for future development and production of energy resources abound as well as those for significant reductions in energy consumption through wise water development and management. Technological, political, social, economic and environmental factors interrelate in the energy-water mix. The role of the water resources planner will have to be expanded to include assessment of water-energy impacts in addition to traditional planning considerations. An energy conservation account may well have to be added to the dimensions of national economic development and environmental quality in water resources planning. Ways must be found to reduce amounts and rates of water used and energy consumed through new manufacturing processes, improved irrigation practices, better management, new or altered social-political-economic arrangements and other procedures. To do this will require setting priorities and making difficult management decisions. The water fraternity can play a major role in alleviating the energy crisis we now face.     

Approaches to integrated water resource development and management

In southern Africa institutional capacity in the water sector is severely limited by diminishing regular budget and external assistance allocations. The result has been an overall decline in operational water resource management. This is ironic given the international community's current concern with 'integrated' or 'comprehensive' water resources management. Often, so-called integrated attempts at river basin planning and development have been conceived within the framework of a river basin authority or regional master plans. Such large-scale attempts have not necessarily been compatible either with the national capacity in water resources management or the existing institutional and legislative frameworks. In many cases the actual integration of a basin's physical resources and social, economic and environmental demands is poorly executed. To examine a way forward in resolving what is clearly an unsustainable state of affairs, a diagnostic study of the Kafue Basin, Zambia, was carried out in order to identify a set of water resource management options for a basin currently under stress. A physical framework for the Kafue Basin was established and principal subcatchments and hydro-geological subsystems identified. Current water resource issues in the basin are discussed and a multiobjective approach is proposed to allow intersectoral competition for the basin's limited water resources to be reconciled.     

WATER YIELD IMPROVEMENT BY VEGETATION MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT: Vegetation management aimed at increasing the amount of usable water yield from precipitation falling on upstream watersheds may be one alternative for supplementing water supplies. Indications are that water yields can be increased within a multiple-use framework, which can benefit or at least be compatible with other natural resource objectives. Through changes in vegetation on a watershed, it is possible to reduce evaporation losses only slightly but significantly increase streamflow runoff. In an assessment of potentials for water yield improvement in Arizona, experimental studies on various vegetation zones are reviewed. Because of either limited acreage or limited rainfall, the alpine, grassland, aspen, and desert shrub vegetation zones are not realistic management areas for Arizona. Furthermore, manipulation of pinyon-juniper woodlands does not appear promising at this time. Conversion of chaparral to grasses and forbs does appear to be a possible treatment for water yield improvement, as well as various silvicultural treatments of mixed conifer and ponderosa pine forests. Streamflow increases are given for experiments in chaparral, mixed conifer, and ponderosa pine vegetation zones. However, complete information on possible constraints for these zones is not currently available. Specific assessment of water yield management options for riparian vegetation is difficult to make, due to incomplete knowledge of water yield changes and other constraints for this vegetation zone. Prior to the final adoption of management practices, results of experimental work must be coupled with economic and social considerations.     

Drought,water access,and urban agriculture: a case study from Silicon Valley

In California, the growing popularity of urban agriculture (UA) has unfolded against a backdrop of historic drought. While UA is often celebrated as an urban sustainability strategy, it must be able to persist during drought if it is to perform these functions. Using Santa Clara County – the geographic core of Silicon Valley – as a case study, we use interviews and surveys to explore the implications of drought for UA. We show how developing an understanding of water access for UA during a drought requires examining the social and institutional context of water management and use. In metropolitan California, the highly decentralised water supply system combined with the diverse institutional arrangements that support UA create an uneven landscape of water access. Consequently, the pressure to change water-consuming practices – that is, the stress that institutional drought responses place on different water users – is geographically and socially differentiated. Among UA water users, responses to drought have also varied, in part because the possibilities for change are constrained by the sociotechnical arrangements of UA sites and the different purposes of UA.     

Developing river and lake basins for sustained economic growth and social progress

It is evident that river basin development in Africa can do much to provide environmental stability to wildly erratic hydrologic and climatic cycles, to produce more food and to contribute to economic growth. The experience to date of river basin development in Africa has not proven as positive as in many developing countries. There are too many examples of ill-conceived and ill-suited schemes that contribute to further environmental degradation, social dislocation and hardship, and weaken already stressed national economies. The experience in Africa suggests that the real challenge for Africans to achieve environmentally self-sustaining water resources development lies in establishing the appropriate social and environmental context for physical development to take place. Attention needs to focus on regional development, multi-objective planning, community participation, environmental resiliency, the institutional arrangements for regional development, and the political and economic conditions within the basin states.     

Water and sustainable development

In this paper, it is proposed that water resources should be managed as an integral part of a nation's social and economic development. Water resources managers should broaden their scope of work to include an integrated management approach. Instead of the traditional 'supply oriented approach' in which they act in response to ever-increasing demands for water from different sectors of the economy, water resources management agencies should play a more active role in guiding and stimulating socioeconomic development through more efficient water use. Demand management should be an important tool which should go beyond the improvement of technical efficiencies. Most important is to develop economic and institutional approaches that accept charging for the full costs of the utilization and management of water resources. Implementation of such an approach will require more sectoral integration than is currently the case and will have considerable implications for organizations, staffing, institutional arrangements and corresponding capacity building.     

The development and application of water management sustainability indicators in Brazil and Scotland

This paper reports the formulation and application of a framework of catchment-level water resource management indicators designed to integrate environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainability. The framework of nine indicators was applied to the River Dee and River Sinos catchments in Scotland and Brazil, respectively, following an indicator selection process that involved inputs from water management professionals in both countries, and a pilot exercise in Scotland. The framework was found to capture a number of key sustainability concerns, and was broadly welcomed by water resource managers and experts as a means of better understanding sustainable water resource management. Issues relating to poor water quality and public water supply were particularly prominent in the findings for the Sinos, while findings for the Dee suggested that more attention might be focused on building institutional capacity and public participation in catchment management. The use of some proxy indicators was required in both catchments due to poor data availability, and this problem may hinder the further development of indicator frameworks that attempt to better integrate environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability.     

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS IN COMMUNITY DECISION-MAKING: A CASE EXAMPLE FROM SOUTHERN ARIZONA1

ABSTRACT: While there is increasing recognition of the need to consider institutional factors in water resources decision-making, there are few specific methods available to use in actually conducting an institutional analysis. The lack of such methods has spurred interest in going beyond begging water resource agencies to conduct institutional analyses to developing more refined tools to use in the analysis process. However, as more complex systems of analysis are developed, it is important not to lose sight of the value that less objective and participatory approaches to institutional analysis may have in solving institutional problems. Improving the techniques and tools of institutional analysis should not mean developing complex methods or models that can only be manipulated and understood by the trained analyst. The advantages and disadvantages of full participation by stakeholders in the institutional analysis process are discussed by describing the efforts of a local community organization in Tucson, Arizona, to study the need for a basinwide management entity.     

Evolving Water Management Institutions in the Red River Basin

Institutions are the rules and norms that guide societal behavior. As societies evolve—with more diverse economies, increased populations and incomes, and more water scarcity—new and more complex water management institutions need to be developed. This evolution of water management institutions may also be observed across different constituencies, with different societal needs, in the same time period. The Red River of the North basin is particularly well suited for research on water management issues. A key feature of water management in the Red River Basin is the presence of three completely different sets of water law. Minnesota’s water law is based upon riparian rights. North Dakota’s water law is based upon prior appropriation. Manitoba has a system of water allocation that features provincial control. Because the basin is fairly homogeneous in terms of land use and geographic features, its institutional diversity makes this an excellent case study for the analysis of local water institutions. This article reviews the local water management institutions in the Red River Basin and assesses the ongoing institutional evolution of local water management.     

CONJUNCTIVE MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES IN THE CONTEXT OF TEXAS WATER LAW1

ABSTRACT: This paper examines the critical interaction between existing Texas water law and the state's water resources. Conjunctive use and management of interrelated water resources, though seldom practiced, is generally considered desirable. However, a significant barrier to the coordinated, efficient use and management of water resources is the legal division of water in the various phases of the hydrologic cycle into different classes and recognition of well-defined water rights in the separate phases. Several examples of the problems which relate to, or result from, present Texas water law and which prevent correlated water resource management are discussed. Any substantive revision of Texas law, particularly ground water law, will apparently be difficult to achieve in the immediate future, primarily because of the large number of recognized private water rights and the political power inherent in them. Data necessary for operation of conjunctive management systems are gradually being acquired, and perhaps someday other hydrologic phases can be integrated with surface and ground water. Nevertheless, Texas courts and the legislature have sufficient information on the interrelated hydrologic cycle so that prospective water conflicts should be anticipated and avoided. Great care must be exercised in the recognition of new types of private water rights or extension of existing rights, because this institutional structure, once established, presents a formidable obstacle to desirable revisions of the law.     

VALIDATION OF POLITICAL SIMULATION MODELS -WATER RESOURCE PROJECTS1

ABSTRACT. The critical role of political processes in water resource projects has recently been placed in a new perspective [Hall, 1970]. The “political hassle” period of institutional interaction which serves to resolve political conflicts over such aspects as organizational growth and survival, responsibility for economic liabilities, and responsibility for economic benefits, requires systematic analysis in order to improve our capability to implement water projects. Failure to properly assess the political aspects of a proposed water project may result in extensive delays with significant economic losses. The complexities associated with water use and re-use have created the need for new institutional arrangements which can more effectively function to implement policies and programs. One tool which has recently become available for the research investigator concerned with institutional interactions and political processes associated with water resource projects is the technique of computer simulation of such institutional interaction. In theory, this new approach will enable the investigator to assess the political feasibility or political acceptability of a proposed water project given existing institutional structures. Furthermore, the investigator has the opportunity to experiment with new and innovative institutional arrangements which may in turn enhance the political acceptability of a proposed project. The specific material presented within this paper reports upon the validation of an existing computer simulation model designed to replicate political interactions in resource allocation problems-including water resource problems. This validation effort is done by taking an actual water problem and comparing what the political simulation models predicts in terms of political outcomes with what actually takes place. The case study in question is the formulation and legislative development of the Michigan Bond Issue for Water Pollution Control.     

Toward Integrated Environmental Management for Challenges in Water Environmental Protection of Lake Taihu Basin in China

Lake Taihu is the third largest freshwater lake in China. It serves many social, economic, and ecological purposes in the drainage basin. Unfortunately, the water has been heavily polluted due to rapid industrialization and urbanization during the last two decades. Notwithstanding great efforts made so far to improve the water quality, the environmental situation is still far from being optimistic. The basin and the lake are facing a range of severe environmental challenges: rapid socio-economic development continues to place great pressures on the environment, current pollution control projects have many problems from the viewpoint of effectiveness and efficiency of their implementations, and the non-point sources of pollution such as agricultural fields, for which control is more difficult than for industrial point sources, have become the main contributors to serious eutrophication of the lake. Considering the characteristics of the environmental challenges and problems confronting the basin and the lake, we focus on integrated environmental management (IEM) as a promising and effective approach to overcome these predicaments. Current practices and problems of environmental management in the basin are examined, and potential future developments are discussed. Three aspects of the IEM are emphasized: institutional cooperation, public participation, and internalization of environmental externalities. We think these are the most critical for not only the basin but also for the whole of China to achieve a sustainable society.     

EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT POLICIES FOR URBAN WATER SUPPLY1

ABSTRACT .This paper attempts to spell out the difficult conditions faced by urban water supply managers in achieving overall efficiency. Based upon these conditions, and changes that are likely in the next decade, it then tries to suggest strategies that would lead to even higher levels of efficiency in the future. A blending of political and economic concepts is used to make what is hoped to be a realistic analysis. What do we mean by “efficient”? The usual welfare economics definition is attainable only under a very special and highly unrealistic set of institutional arrangements. As soon as we delegate responsibility to a specialized agency we provide the opportunity, indeed we make it imperative that, in a social sense, a sub-optimization will take place. From the specifics of the indictment of this sub-optimization we can learn something about the opportunities for more efficient management in the future. In general there is an under-exploitation of multiple-function, multiple-objective opportunities. The pressures for sub-optimization hinge very directly on the sources of support and opposition to the water supply agency. A change requires the creation of a broader political base. The search for regional solutions is largely a political problem, and probably the development of flexible, responsive regional agency, so long sought, is still the answer.     

Sustainable Water Quality Management Framework and a Strategy Planning System for a River Basin

In Taiwan, the authorities have spent years working on remedying polluted rivers. Generally, the remediation planning works are divided into two phases. During the first phase, the allowed pollution discharge quantity and abatement quantity of each drainage zone, including the assimilative capacity, are generated based on the total river basin. In the second phase, the abatement action plans for each pollution source in each drainage zone are respectively devised by the related organizations based on the strategies generated during the first phase. However, the effectiveness of linking the two phases is usually poor. Highly integrated performances are not always achieved because the separate two-phase method does not take system and management thinking into consideration in the planning stage. This study pioneers the use of the Managing for Results (MFR) method in planning strategies and action plans for river water quality management. A sustainable management framework is proposed based on the concept and method of MFR, Management Thinking, and System Analysis. The framework, consisting of planning, implementation, and controlling stages, systematically considers the relationships and interactions among four factors: environment, society, economy, and institution, based on the principles of sustainable development. Based on the framework, the Modified Bounded Implicit Enumeration algorithm, which is used as a solving method, is combined with Visual Basic software and MS Excel to develop a computer system for strategy planning. The Shetzu River, located in northern Taiwan, is applied as a case study. According to the theoretical, practical, and regulatory considerations, the result-oriented objectives are defined to first improve the pollution length of the Shetzu River in specific remediation periods to finally meet regulated water quality standards. The objectives are then addressed as some of the constraints for the strategy planning model. The model objective is to pursue the maximum assimilative capacity (environmental phase) subjected to the constraints of water quality standards (institutional phase), social equity (social phase), and proper available technology (economic phase). The pollution quantity abatement and allocation, which are named the top strategies, of each drainage zone for different scenarios can be obtained based on each water quality standard. The middle as well as lower strategies and action plans, which consist of pollution quantity abatement and allocation of each class (domestic, industrial, livestock, and non-point pollution sources) and their individual pollution sources in each drainage zone, are then generated based on the top strategies. The performance indicators and measure plans are proposed based on the action plans to promote the comprehensive effectiveness of river water quality management. The authorities have begun to develop a budget based on the strategies and action plans developed in this study. The analytical results indicate that the objectives, strategies, and action plans developed based on the sustainable management framework and strategy planning system can effectively help the related authorities to fulfill the tasks of water quality management for a river basin.     

WASTE WATER REUSE IN PHOENIX-HOW VIABLE IS IT?1

ABSTRACT: The Phoenix metropolitan area has a unique combination of circumstances which makes it one of the prime areas in the Nation for waste water reuse. Overriding all of these conditions is the long-term inadequacy of the existing water supplies. The Salt River Valley has a ground water overdraft of about 700,000 acre feet per year. To help alleviate this situation, the Corps of Engineers in conjunction with the MAG 208 is looking at ways to reuse a projected 2020 waste water flow of 340,000 acre feet per year. Reuse options identified include ground water recharge, agricultural irrigation, turf irrigation, recreational lakes, fish and wildlife habitats, and industrial cooling. These look nice on paper but before they can be implemented, some hard questions have to be answered, such as: How acceptable are local treatment plants when 15 years ago there was a major push to eliminate local plants; is the Phoenix area ready for reuse in urban areas; what are people willing to pay for water; who benefits if a city goes to ground water recharge; how much agriculture will be left in the area by 2020? These and other questions must be resolved if reuse is to become a viable option in water resource planning in the Phoenix area. Summary. Large scale reuse of waste water conforms with the national goal of better resource management through recycling. The Phoenix metropolitan area has a unique combination of circumstances which makes it one of the prime areas in the nation for waste water reuse. Some of the most notable conditions are: the existence of a large and rapidly growing urban area which is in the process of planning for future waste water management systems; the existence of agricultural areas which are projected to be farmed well into the future, and the existence of constructed and planned major recreational systems such as Indian Bend Wash which can use recycled waste water; the existence of extensive depleted ground water aquifers; the need for a dependable source for the cooling of the Palo Verde Nuclear reactors; and finally, overriding all of this, the long-term inadequacy of the existing water supplies. Given this, one would expect to find total reuse within the Phoenix metropolitan area. Reuse is taking place with irrigation and nuclear power cooling to the west but there is no long term plan which looks at the Valley as a whole and considers waste water as part of the Valley's water resources. The Corps 208 plan is looking at waste water in this manner but initial analysis shows that although reuse is technically feasible there are many financial, social, institutional, and political questions still to be answered. These include: determining the value of existing diminishing water sources and what people are willing to pay for the next source of water; are people willing to identify priority uses of water for the area so that water of varying quality is put to its highest and best use; will the present institutional boundaries remain to create water-rich and water-poor areas; and will legislation be forthcoming to simplify the complex surface and ground water laws that presently exist? The Corps 208 study will not be able to answer these questions, but the goal at the moment is to identify feasible reuse systems along with decisions the public, owners, agencies, and politicians must make to select and implement them. If some sort of logical process is not developed and public awareness not increased, the chance for a long-term plan to utilize waste water as a major element in the Phoenix area water resource picture, may be missed.     

The application of charging schemes for the management of water pollution

This paper examines lessons from the experience in the use of charges for water resource management, considers how charges have been used in Europe, and how a new charging system could be developed. It focuses particularly on the case for pollution charges, or charges for using a river for the disposal of waste. The paper falls into four sections. The first reviews briefly the case for pollution charges, both theoretical and practical, and shows how they can complement regulatory systems. The experience of pollution charging schemes in the Netherlands, Germany and France, where charges have been used as a major mechanism for environmental and water resource management for upwards of 10 years are examined. The basis for charge schemes, their effectiveness as policy instruments and the institutional framework within which they operate are discussed. The paper addresses some questions which are central to the definition and development of charge schemes- the objectives, the problems and constraints. A case study is used to establish the feasibility of introducing emission charges for water resource management. How the charge could be designed and administered and how the charge level could be set is also described. Finally, some broad recommendations on the effectiveness and issues associated with charge schemes are presented.