Counting Fish: Environmental Benefits Calculation for Avoided Costs Analysis in Urban Water Use Efficiency Planning

This report documents a project undertaken for the California Urban Water Conservation Council to create a method to calculate water utility avoided costs and assign economic value to the environmental benefits of raw water savings as a result of implementing urban water conservation programs. It is assumed that water savings associated with implementation of conservation programs can be quantified and represented as a reduction in the demand for water from a particular set of supply sources. This demand reduction may in turn result in a change to the availability of an environmental benefit provided by that source. Environmental valuation, as it is applied here, is relatively new and there are numerous complications, ambiguities, data gaps and differences of opinion in the application of the methodology. For that reason, this report should be considered a pioneering effort to put together all the required elements in a single coherent framework.

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Assessing Urban Water Use and the Role of Water Conservation Measures Under Climate Uncertainty

Climate Change and Water Resources Planning Criteria ◽

10.1007/978-94-017-1051-0_10 ◽

1997 ◽

pp. 157-176 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

John J. Boland

Keyword(s):

Water Use ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Urban Water ◽

Conservation Measures ◽

Urban Water Use ◽

Climate Uncertainty

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Blueprint for a greener city: growth need not costthe earth

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2005.0288 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 52 (9) ◽

pp. 61-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J.M. Anderson

Keyword(s):

Water Conservation ◽

Water Reuse ◽

Energy Use ◽

Rainwater Harvesting ◽

River System ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

System Capacity ◽

Urban Water ◽

Capital Costs ◽

Alternative Water

The current human use of global natural resources exceeds the long-term sustainable capacity of the planet. New and more sustainable ways of building cities and providing urban water services are needed. The Australian city of Sydney is expected to grow by more than 1 million people over the next 30 years. Water use from the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system already exceeds system capacity. Current proposals to allocate a greater proportion of low flows to meet environmental flow needs will limit urban water allocations and require the development of more efficient water and sewerage systems for new and existing urban development. This paper presents a hypothetical case study of how water supply and sewerage services might be provided for an additional 1 million people over a 25-year period. It compares traditional service provision with alternative scenarios incorporating water conservation measures, rainwater harvesting and water reuse. The paper presents both economic and environmental comparisons. The economic comparisons include valuations of environmental externalities in the form of environmental levies. It shows that the extra capital costs of water conservation, alternative water sources and water reuse scenarios are offset by operating savings and environmental benefits. Ecological footprints are reduced because of lower water diversions, discharges, energy use and CO2 emissions. The paper also discusses the implication of alternative infrastructure ownership and water pricing arrangements, and the opportunities to create incentives for additional investment in water conservation and reuse projects.

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Economic Efficiency of Residential Water Conservation Programs in a Pennsylvania Public Water Utility

The Professional Geographer ◽

10.1080/00330124.2012.658727 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 65 (1) ◽

pp. 116-129 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Christopher Woltemade ◽

Kurt Fuellhart

Keyword(s):

Economic Efficiency ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Conservation Programs ◽

Water Utility ◽

Residential Water

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Efficiency Analysis of Water Conservation Measures in Sanitary Infrastructure Systems by Means of a Systemic Approach

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12073055 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 3055

Author(s):

Karoline Richter ◽

Daniel Costa dos Santos ◽

Aloísio Leoni Schmid

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Well Being ◽

Urban Water ◽

Urban Water Management ◽

Urban Impacts ◽

Urban Water Use ◽

Effective Drainage

The challenges of urban water management and sanitary infrastructure (water supply (WSS), sewage (SS), urban drainage (UDS) systems) are increasingly frequent in Brazilian cities whether as a combined result of overcrowding and/or a lack governmental interest and hence investments, in the sector. Such an increase in environmental pressure reflects directly on population welfare and well-being related to the availability of drinking water, wastewater treatment, and access to effective drainage systems in order to minimize, or at least reduce, the occurrence of urban flooding and associated public health risks. Thus, alternatives with an integrated approach to urban water management are interesting to the reality of countries such as Brazil. The urban water use (UWU) model is a strategic planning tool with integrated way of thinking, which selects measures to mitigate the urban impacts in sanitary infrastructure and buildings. In this sense, the objective of this research is to apply the UWU model in a case study in Curitiba/Brazil to demonstrate the effect of the systematic approach and its intrinsic synergies in the systems in question, promoting water conservation in urban areas. The results are favorable to integrated systems with synergy use, evidencing quantitatively a greater efficiency in them.

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‘Fit-for-Purpose’ sustainability index: a simplified approach for U.S. water utility sustainability assessment

Water Practice & Technology ◽

10.2166/wpt.2016.009 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 35-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

M. Ries ◽

M. Trotz ◽

K. Vairavamoorthy

Keyword(s):

Asset Management ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Financial Management ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Resource Recovery ◽

Urban Water ◽

Water Utility ◽

Sustainability Index ◽

Widespread Adoption ◽

Sustainable Practice

The theoretical framework presented in this paper proposes a method for determining which practices will inform a set of key indicators provide a ‘snapshot’ sustainability assessment of U.S. urban water utilities. It describes the method used to gather data via two qualitative research approaches to inform a sustainability index: semi-structured interviews with an external advisory committee of 12 U.S. urban water utility leaders, and online surveys of water professionals using the freelisting technique. The utility leader interviews revealed public education and communication as the most frequently cited sustainable practice, followed by asset management, community return on infrastructure investment, financial management, green infrastructure, and resource recovery practices. The water professionals survey revealed resource recovery as the most frequently cited sustainable practice, followed by water conservation, asset management and financial management, and energy efficiency. A consensus did not emerge about what is needed to drive more widespread adoption of sustainability indictors. The most frequently cited barriers to more widespread adoption were the absence of a definition of sustainability, lack of incentives, and resource requirements.

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