Abstract
A new methodology for determining a sustainability index (SI) for the management of river basins is developed. Sustainability is defined in terms of minimizing the long-term risks to supply and maintaining the ecological, environmental and hydrological integrity of a river resource. The SI procedure developed uses two groups of performance criteria. The first group is based on demand-supply deficits and measures the risk to water supplies. The second group is only applied to river demands and compares a river’s allocation to a target flow regime using the Range of Variability Approach (RVA) and the Modified Hydrological Alteration factor. The RVA measures differences in flow regimes and is used to compare a projected flow regime to a targeted flow regime. This is the first attempt to use the RVA to develop a sustainability index for river basin management. A combined sustainability metric for the system (SS) is also determined. The methodology is applied to an area including the Prescott Active Management Area (AMA) in north-central Arizona. Sustainability for the entire system is determined using the weighted sum of the sustainability indices. The methodology has been used to measure and compare the sustainability of two allocation scenarios for the Prescott AMA.
Highlights
1.1 ObjectiveWater stress is a reality for a large portion of the world’s population (Alcamo et al, 2007; Rijsberman, 2006; Rosegrant et al, 2002; Vorosmarty, 2000)
The Range of Variability Approach (RVA) is being used in this application to compare a ‘projected flow regime’, which is the flow regime projected by the model, to a ‘target’ or ecologically sound flow regime using a Modified Hydrologic Alteration (HA) value
A recent study completed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) (Pool et al, 2011) suggests that pumping in the proposed location would significantly impact the flows of the Verde River, a primary source of water for the City of Phoenix
Summary
Water stress is a reality for a large portion of the world’s population (Alcamo et al, 2007; Rijsberman, 2006; Rosegrant et al, 2002; Vorosmarty, 2000). The dependency of riverine ecological systems on flow regimes has been recognized (Arthington et al, 2006; Poff 2009; Poff et al, 1997) and concern over ecosystem degradation adds to the challenges of river basin management. The questions at hand are: how do managers meet immediate water demands while ensuring water availability for future needs? Mays (2007) defined water resources sustainability as “the ability to use water in sufficient quantities and quality from the local to the global scale to meet the needs of humans and ecosystems for the present and the future to sustain life and to protect humans from the dangers brought about by natural and human-caused disasters that affect sustaining life.”. The SI methodology discussed has been applied by Oxley, Mays, and Murray (2016) and Oxley and Mays (2016) for the optimal allocation of water for a river basin management area
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