Water Conservation and Hydrological Transitions in American Cities

美国城市的节水和水文转变

• 批准号: 1416964
• 负责人: George Hornberger
• 金额: $ 71.76万
• 依托单位: Vanderbilt University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-01 至 2018-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1416964&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Water; Conservation; Hydrological; Transitions; American

American cities recognize water supply as a central scientific, technological, and socioeconomic problem. In response to the public concern with the risks posed to water supplies, cities and related metropolitan water organizations have faced the need to undertake transitions in their systems of water supply and management. These transitions involve a mix of social, economic, political, and technological change. Of the various approaches to satisfying water demand, water conservation, as an essentially free new "source" of water, is typically the most cost effective. Water conservation also has significant indirect benefits, such as energy conservation and the reduction of stress on ecosystems. The goal of this research is to understand better why some cities have moved ahead to have extensive water conservation policies and some have not. The research also will investigate why cities with similar water shortage regimes respond differently to proposals to deepen and extend water conservation. An extensive data base on water availability, water use, and the conservation policies for major cities in the U.S. will be assembled and analyzed. Interviews with public officials involved in water conservation planning will provide context. The project will educate students across many disciplines and will produce results that will be useful in guiding water managers and political leaders on different water conservation strategiesSeveral major research questions will be addressed to understand how U.S. metropolitan areas have transitioned to advanced water conservation strategies to minimize impacts of water stress. What is the range of water conservation transitions in American cities? What social and hydroclimatological factors affect the pattern of water conservation transitions? The research project will test hypotheses developed from the existing literature on sustainability and related policies to determine the factors that affect the pace and depth of the transition toward a higher level of water conservation. A comprehensive data set for as many as 381 cities will be assembled and analyzed using statistical and data visualization methods. The project will develop the first systematic, interdisciplinary database of water conservation regimes in American cities. The research will develop detailed case studies of four cities using interviews of key public officials and will incorporate the information gained into mathematical models that include decision variables as well as physical constraints. These studies will explore the complex properties of the interactions of political power, user practices, infrastructure design, and hydroclimatology in achieving high levels of water conservation.

美国城市认识到供水是一个中心的科学，技术和社会经济问题。为了回应公众对供水风险的关切，城市和相关的大城市供水组织面临着在供水和管理系统中进行转型的必要性。这些转型涉及社会、经济、政治和技术变革的混合。在满足水需求的各种方法中，节水作为一种基本上免费的新“水源”，通常是最具成本效益的。节约用水还具有重大的间接效益，如节约能源和减少对生态系统的压力。这项研究的目的是更好地理解为什么有些城市已经采取了广泛的节水政策，而有些则没有。该研究还将调查为什么水资源短缺状况相似的城市对深化和扩大水资源保护的建议反应不同。将收集和分析关于美国主要城市水资源可用性、水资源利用和保护政策的广泛数据库。与参与水资源保护规划的政府官员的访谈将提供背景。该项目将教育学生跨越许多学科，并将产生的结果，这将是有用的指导水资源管理人员和政治领导人对不同的水资源保护战略几个主要的研究问题将得到解决，以了解美国大都市地区如何过渡到先进的水资源保护战略，以尽量减少水资源压力的影响。美国城市节水转型的范围是什么？哪些社会和水文气候因素影响了节水转型的模式？该研究项目将测试从现有的可持续性和相关政策的文献中开发的假设，以确定影响向更高水平的水资源保护过渡的速度和深度的因素。将使用统计和数据可视化方法收集和分析多达381个城市的综合数据集。该项目将开发美国城市水资源保护制度的第一个系统的跨学科数据库。这项研究将利用对主要政府官员的访谈，对四个城市进行详细的案例研究，并将所获得的信息纳入包括决策变量和实际限制因素在内的数学模型。这些研究将探讨政治权力，用户实践，基础设施设计和水文气候学在实现高水平的水资源保护的相互作用的复杂特性。