Water Conservation and Hydrological Transitions in American Cities

美国城市认识到供水是一个核心的科学、技术和社会经济问题。为了回应公众对供水所构成的危险的关切，各城市和有关的都市供水组织都面临着在其供水和管理系统中进行过渡的需要。这些转变涉及社会、经济、政治和技术变革。在满足用水需求的各种办法中，节约用水作为一种基本上免费的新“水源”，通常是最具成本效益的。节约用水也有显著的间接效益，如节约能源和减轻对生态系统的压力。这项研究的目的是为了更好地理解为什么有些城市已经采取了广泛的节水政策，而有些城市却没有。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。将收集和分析美国主要城市的水可用性、水使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多个学科，并将产生的结果将有助于指导水资源管理者和政治领导人制定不同的水资源保护战略。几个主要的研究问题将被解决，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水资源涵养转型模式？该研究项目将检验从现有可持续性文献和相关政策中提出的假设，以确定影响向更高水平节水过渡的速度和深度的因素。将使用统计和数据可视化方法，对多达381个城市的综合数据集进行汇总和分析。该项目将建立第一个系统的、跨学科的美国城市水资源保护制度数据库。这项研究将利用对主要公职人员的访谈，对四个城市进行详细的个案研究，并将获得的信息纳入包括决策变量和物理限制在内的数学模型。这些研究将探索政治权力、用户实践、基础设施设计和水文气候学在实现高水平节水方面相互作用的复杂特性。

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.