Abstract
Recurring droughts pose predictable challenges to water resources management in California. Disparities in water demand and supply over both space and time, fast-growing cities, prominent agriculture, and increasing concerns on maintaining and improving habitat for native species are among the most salient challenges to water allocation in the state. This chapter explores portfolio approaches to water management under drought conditions. We analyze water management portfolios that are economically optimized to minimize water scarcity and operating costs within some physical and operating constraints. Water management portfolios include intra- and inter-regional water transfers, flexible water storage operations, and conjunctive use, water conservation, and water augmentation via reuse or desalination. This enables us to identify economically attractive opportunities for re-operation of the water supply system. Results from the case studies indicate that despite the significant reductions in water supply under drought or climate change, California’s inter-tied network of water resources has the ability to adapt in the long term to these drought events by adding operational flexibility in the system.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alcubilla RG, Lund JR (2006) Derived willingness-to-pay for household water use with price and probabilistic supply. J Water Resour Plan Manage-ASCE 132:424–433
Arbués F, García-Valiñas MÁ, Martínez-Espiñeira R (2003) Estimation of residential water demand: a state-of-the-art review. J Socio-Econ 32:81–102
Connell CR, Medellin-Azuara J, Lund JR, Madani K (2012) Adapting california's water system to warmvs. Dry climates. Climatic Change 109:S133-S149
Department of Water Resources (2009) California water plan update, state of California, Department of Water Resources, Sacramento, CA. Available in http://www.waterplan.water.ca.gov. Accessed May 2011
Department of Water Resources (DWR) (2007) California Central Valley unimpaired flow data, 4th edn. Bay Delta Office California Department of Water Resources. pp. 51
Dracup JA, Lee KS, Paulson EG (1980) On the definition of droughts. Water Resources Research 16:297–302
Draper AJ, Jenkins MW, Kirby KW, Lund JR, Howitt RE (2003) Economic-engineering optimization for California water management. J Water Resour Plan Manage-ASCE 129:155–164
Harou JJ, Pulido-Velazquez M, Rosenberg DE, Medellin-Azuara J, Lund JR, Howitt RE (2009) Hydro-economic models: concepts, design, applications, and future prospects. J Hydrol 375:627–643
Harou J, Medellin-Azuara J, Zhu TJ, Tanaka SK, Lund JR, Stine S, Olivares MA, Jenkins MW (2010) Optimized water management for a prolonged, severe drought in California. Water Resour Res 46:1–12
Hazen A (1914) Storage to be provided in impounding reservoirs for municpal water supply. Trans Am Soc Civ Eng 77:1539–1640
Howitt RE, Ward KB, Msangi S (2012) Statewide agricultural production model (SWAP), Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. University of California Davis, California. Available in http://cee.engr.ucdavis.edu/calvin. Accessed 01 Nov 2009
Howitt R, Medellin-Azuara J, MacEwan D (2009a) Measuring the employment impact of water reductions, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Center for Watershed Sciences. University of California, Davis, California, p. 10. Available in http://swap.ucdavis.edu. Accessed 30 Sept 2009
Howitt RE, MacEwan D, Medellin-Azuara J (2009b) Economic impacts of reductions in Delta exports on Central Valley agriculture, agricultural and resources economics update. Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, Davis, California, pp 1–4
Medellin-Azuara J, Harou JJ, Olivares MA, Madani K, Lund JR, Howitt RE, Tanaka SK, Jenkins MW (2008) Adaptability and adaptations of California’s water supply system to dry climate warming. Climatic Change 87:S75–S90
Newlin BD, Jenkins MW, Lund JR, Howitt RE (2002) Southern California water markets: potential and limitations. J Water Resour Plan Manage-ASCE 128:21–32
Nordin JA (1976) A proposed modification of Taylor’s demand analysis: comment. Bell J Econo 7:719–721
Pulido-Velazquez M, Jenkins MW, Lund JR (2004) Economic values for conjunctive use and water banking in Southern California. Water Resour Res 40:15
Renwick ME, Green RD (2000) Do residential water demand side management policies measure up? An analysis of eight California water agencies. J Environ Econ Manage 40:37–55
Rosenberg D, Lund J (2009) Modeling integrated decisions for a municipal water system with recourse and uncertainties: Amman, Jordan. Water Resour Manage 23:85–115
Stine S, (1990) Past climate at mono lake. Nature 345:391
Tanaka SK, Lund JR (2003) Effects of increased delta exports on Sacramento Valley’s economy and water management. J Am Water Resour Assoc 39:1509–1519
Tanaka SK, Zhu TJ, Lund JR, Howitt RE, Jenkins MW, Pulido MA, Tauber M, Ritzema RS, Ferreira IC (2006) Climate warming and water management adaptation for California. Climatic Change 76:361–387
Taylor LD (1975) Demand for electricity—Survey. Bell J Econ 6:74–110
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2007) Census of agriculture, NASS, Washington, D.C. Available in http://www.agcensus.usda.gov. Access Mar 2011
Wilhite DA, Wood DA (1985) Planning for drought—the role of state government. Water Resour Bull 21:31–38
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Medellín-Azuara, J., Howitt, R.E., Lund, J.R. (2013). Modeling Economic-Engineering Responses to Drought: The California Case. In: Schwabe, K., Albiac, J., Connor, J., Hassan, R., Meza González, L. (eds) Drought in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6636-5_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6636-5_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6635-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6636-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)