The implications of climate change on residential water use: a micro-scale analysis of Portland (OR), USA

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivek Shandas ◽  
Meenakshi Rao ◽  
Moriah McSharry McGrath
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Residential Water Use ◽  
Residential Water

Social and behavioral research is crucial for securing environmental sustainability and improving human living environments. Although the majority of people now live in urban areas, we have limited empirical evidence of the anticipated behavioral response to climate change. Using empirical data on daily household residential water use and temperature, our research examines the implications of future climate conditions on water conservation behavior in 501 households within the Portland (OR) metropolitan region. We ask whether and how much change in ambient temperatures impact residential household water use, while controlling for taxlot characteristics. Based on our results, we develop a spatially explicit description about the changes in future water use for the study region using a downscaled future climate scenario. The results suggest that behavioral responses are mediated by an interaction of household structural attributes, and magnitude and temporal variability of weather parameters. These findings have implications for the way natural resource managers and planning bureaus prepare for and adapt to future consequences of climate change.

scholarly journals Estimating the impact of climate change on residential water use using panel data analysis: a case study of Lilongwe, Malawi

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chikondi Makwiza ◽  
Musandji Fuamba ◽  
Fadoua Houssa ◽  
Heinz Erasmus Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Panel Data Analysis ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Residential Water Use ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Residential Water ◽  
Emissions Scenario

Abstract In this study, panel linear models were used to develop an empirical relationship between metered household water use and the independent variables plot size and theoretical irrigation requirement. The estimated statistical model provides a means of estimating the climate-sensitive component of residential water use. Ensemble averages of temperature and rainfall projections were used to quantify potential changes in water use due to climate change by 2050. Annual water use per household was estimated to increase by approximately 1.5% under the low emissions scenario or 2.3% under the high emissions scenario. The model results provide information that can enhance water conservation initiatives relating particularly to outdoor water use. The model approach presented utilizes data that are readily available to water supply utilities and can therefore be easily replicated elsewhere.

scholarly journals Advances in the Economic Analysis of Residential Water Use: An Introduction

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaud Reynaud ◽  
Giulia Romano
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Water Price ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Residential Water Demand ◽  
Residential Water Use ◽  
Household Water ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Residential Water

The aim of this Special Issue is to gather evidence on the impact of price policies (PP) and non-price policies (NPP) in shaping residential water use in a context of increased water scarcity. Indeed, a large body of the empirical economic literature on residential water demand has been devoted to measuring the impact of PP (water price increases, use of block rate pricing or peak pricing, etc.). The consensus is that the residential water demand is inelastic with respect to water price, but not perfectly. Given the low water price elasticity, pricing schemes may not always be effective tools for modifying household water behaviors. This is puzzling since increasing the water price is still viewed by public authorities as the most direct economic tool for inducing water conservation behaviors. Additional evidence regarding the use of PP in shaping residential water use is then required. More recently, it has been argued that residential consumers may react to NPP, such as water conservation programs, education campaigns, or smart metering. NPP are based on the idea that residential water users can implement strategies that will result in water savings via changing their individual behaviors. Feedback information based on smart water metering is an example of approach used by some water utilities. There are still large gaps in the knowledge on the residential water demand, and in particular on the impact of PP and NPP on residential water use, household water affordability and water service performance. These topics are addressed in this Special Issue “Advances in the Economic Analysis of Residential Water Use”.

Advancing open source cyberinfrastructure for collecting, processing, storing and accessing high temporal resolution residential water use data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilo J. Bastidas Pacheco ◽  
Jeffery S. Horsburgh ◽  
Joseph C. Brewer ◽  
Robb J. Tracy ◽  
Juan Caraballo
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Temporal Resolution ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Base System ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Residential Water Use ◽  
Residential Water

<p>Collecting and managing high temporal resolution (< 1 minute) residential water use data is challenging due to cost and technical requirements associated with the volume and velocity of data collected. It is well known that this type of data has potential to expand our knowledge of residential water use, inform future water use predictions, and improve water conservation strategies. However, most studies collecting this type of data have been focused on the practical application of the data (e.g., developing and applying end use disaggregation algorithms) with much less focus on how the data were collected, retrieved, quality controlled, and managed to enable data visualization and analysis. We developed an open-source, modular, generalized cyberinfrastructure system to automate the process from data collection to analysis. The system has three main architectural components: first, the sensors and dataloggers for water use monitoring; second, the data communication, parsing and archival tools; and third, the analyses, visualization and presentations of data produced for different audiences. For the first component, we present a low-cost datalogging device, designed for installation on top of existing, analog, magnetically driven, positive displacement, residential water meters that can collect data at a user configurable time resolution interval. The second component consists of a system developed using existing open-source software technologies that manages the data collected, including services and databasing. The final element includes software tools for retrieving the data that can be integrated with advanced data analytics tools. The system was used in a single family residential water use data collection case study to test the scalability and performance of its functionalities within our design constraints. Testing with a base system configuration, our results show that the system requires approximately six minutes to process a single day of data collected at a four second temporal resolution for 500 properties. Thus, the system proved to be effective beyond the typical number of participants observed in similar studies of residential water use and would scale well beyond this even with the modest system resources we used for testing. All elements of the cyberinfrastructure developed are freely available in open source repositories for re-use.</p>

scholarly journals Do Conservation Policies Work? Evidence from Residential Water Use

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 190-225
Author(s):  
Oliver R. Browne ◽  
Ludovica Gazze ◽  
Michael Greenstone
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Residential Water Use ◽  
Residential Water

Outdoor Residential Water Use Restrictions during Recent Drought Suppressed Disease Vector Abundance in Southern California

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 478-487
Author(s):  
Abinash Bhattachan ◽  
Nicholas K. Skaff ◽  
Amanda M. Irish ◽  
Solomon Vimal ◽  
Justin V. Remais ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Southern California ◽  
Disease Vector ◽  
Vector Abundance ◽  
Residential Water Use ◽  
Residential Water

Impact assessment of climate change and human activities on GHG emissions and agricultural water use

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shikun Sun ◽  
Yihe Tang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Production Factor ◽  
Agricultural Water ◽  
Dndc Model ◽  
Agricultural Water Use ◽  
Means Of Production

<p>The agriculture sector is one of the largest users of water and a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The development of low-GHG-emission and water-conserving agriculture will inevitably be the trend in the future. Because of the physiological differences among crops and their response efficiency to external changes, changes in planting structure, climate and input of production factors will have an impact on regional agricultural water use and GHG emissions. This paper systematically analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of crop planting structure, climate, and production factor inputs in Heilongjiang Province, the main grain-producing region of China, from 2000 to 2015, and quantified the regional agricultural water use and GHG emissions characteristics under different scenarios by using the Penman-Monteith formula and the Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC) model. The results showed that the global warming potential (GWP) increased by 15% due to the change in planting structure. A large increase in the proportion of rice and corn sown was the main reason. During the study period, regional climate change had a positive impact on the water- saving and emission reduction of the agricultural industry. The annual water demand per unit area decreased by 19%, and the GWP decreased by 12% compared with that in 2000. The input of fertilizer and other means of production will have a significant impact on GHG emissions from farmlands. The increase in N fertilizer input significantly increased N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, with a 5% increase in GWP. Agricultural water consumption and carbon emissions are affected by changes in climate, input of means of production, and planting structure. Therefore, multiple regulatory measures should be taken in combination with regional characteristics to realize a new layout of planting structure with low emissions, water conservation, and sustainability.</p>

Re-thinking “Smart City” – transferring urban climate research into city planning processes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Fallmann ◽  
Hans Schipper ◽  
Stefan Emeis ◽  
Marc Barra ◽  
Holger Tost
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
City Planning ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Holistic Understanding

<p>With more and more people residing in cities globally, urban areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change. It is therefore important, that the principles of climate-resilient city planning are reflected in the planning phase already. A discussion of adaptation measures requires a holistic understanding of the complex urban environment, and necessarily has to involve cross-scale interactions, both spatially and temporally. This work examines the term “Smart City” with regard to its suitability for the definition of sustainable urban planning based on urban climate studies over the past decade and own modelling work. Existing literature is assessed from a meteorological perspective in order to answer the question how results from these studies can be linked to architectural design of future urban areas. It has been long understood that measures such as urban greening, or so-called "Nature Based Solutions", are able to dampen excess heat and help reducing energetic costs. As numerous studies show however, integrating vegetation in the urban landscape shares a double role in regional adaptation to climate change due to both cooling effect and air pollution control. Using the state-of-the-art chemical transport model MECO(n) coupled to the urban canopy parametrisation TERRA_URB, we simulated a case study for the Rhine-Main metropolitan region in Germany, highlighting mutual unwanted relationships in modern city planning. Hence, we oppose the so-called compact city approach to an urban greening scenario with regard to the potential for both heat island mitigation and air quality.</p>

scholarly journals A simulation study on the effect of climate change on crop water use and chill unit accumulation

2017 ◽  
Vol 113 (7/8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abiodun A. Ogundeji ◽  
Henry Jordaan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Crop Water Use ◽  
Chill Unit ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

Climate change and its impact on already scarce water resources are of global importance, but even more so for water scarce countries. Apart from the effect of climate change on water supply, the chill unit requirement of deciduous fruit crops is also expected to be affected. Although research on crop water use has been undertaken, researchers have not taken the future climate into consideration. They also have focused on increasing temperatures but failed to relate temperature to chill unit accumulation, especially in South Africa. With a view of helping farmers to adapt to climate change, in this study we provide information that will assist farmers in their decision-making process for adaptation and in the selection of appropriate cultivars of deciduous fruits. Crop water use and chill unit requirements are modelled for the present and future climate. Results show that, irrespective of the irrigation system employed, climate change has led to increases in crop water use. Water use with the drip irrigation system was lower than with sprinkler irrigation as a result of efficiency differences in the irrigation technologies. It was also confirmed that the accumulated chill units will decrease in the future as a consequence of climate change. In order to remain in production, farmers need to adapt to climate change stress by putting in place water resources and crop management plans. Thus, producers must be furnished with a variety of adaptation or management strategies to overcome the impact of climate change.

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