What's your story? Practitioners' tacit knowledge and water demand management policies in southern Africa and Canada

Water Policy ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Beliefs And Values ◽  
The World ◽  
Consumption Rates

Water efficiency research has focused on consumption rates and the tools—for example, pricing—designed to modify consumers' demand. But municipal practitioners can also be a highly influential group and have been neglected in the conventional water demand management (WDM) research. To understand better how to make WDM policy implementation more successful, practitioners “tacit knowledge” must be identified and examined. Tacit knowledge consists of deep beliefs and values about the way the world works and is important. Grounded in practical experience, tacit knowledge is informal, unspoken and often difficult to articulate. People may not even be consciously aware of their tacit knowledge; rather, their deepest beliefs and values operate as an implicit and unquestioned background understanding that shapes how they see the world and act within it. Tacit knowledge influences why practitioners are concerned about WDM, how they act on that concern and what they say about the issue when they talk to their colleagues. Identifying and understanding the potential influence of tacit knowledge would be tremendously valuable for day-to-day practices in growing municipalities and for government agencies that are responsible for infrastructure and sustainable development. By understanding practitioners' learning processes, their rationale for action and the organizational cultures in which they operate, it will be possible to make more informed policy recommendations.

Assessment of real losses in potable water distribution systems: some recent developments

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. McKenzie ◽  
C. Seago
Keyword(s):  
Water Demand ◽  
Distribution Systems ◽  
Water Distribution ◽  
Potable Water ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Water Distribution Systems ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
The World ◽  
Real Losses

Considerable progress has been made over the past 10 years in the assessment and benchmarking of real losses in potable water distribution systems. Most of the advances have been based on the burst and background estimate (BABE) methodology, which was first developed in the mid-1990s by the UK water industry and has since been widely accepted and used in many parts of the world. Since the original BABE methodology was developed, several other key concepts have been added to the evergrowing list of water demand management tools. In particular, the infrastructure leakage index (ILI) and unavoidable annual real losses (UARL) introduced by A. Lambert, and the fixed area variable area discharge (FAVAD) theory by J. May, are now recognised as key “tools of the trade” in any water demand management assessment. One of the first main developments where the above-mentioned concepts were applied in practice to benchmark leakage was in South Africa, where the local Water Research Commission supported the production of the BENCHLEAK Model. This was basically the first comprehensive model to assess real losses in potable water distribution systems using the UARL and ILI concepts. The model was developed by one of the authors together with A. Lambert, and was soon followed by similar developments in Australia (BENCHLOSS) and New Zealand (BENCHLOSSNZ). Both models incorporated additions and enhancements to the original South African model, and were tailored to suit the local conditions in line with the clients' requirements. Similar developments took place in parallel by various leakage specialists, most notably in Brazil, Malaysia and Cyprus, to mention just a few of the similar initiatives. Each time a new model was developed, certain improvements were made and the “science” of leakage management and benchmarking was enhanced. Through the use of the different models and from discussions with various researchers from around the world, it has become clear that there is a genuine need for such models, and they are being readily accepted by clients in most areas. The discussions have also raised many questions concerning the derivation of the terms used to calculate the UARL and the ILI, and, to address these concerns a specialist group was created through the IWA to investigate the various issues. This paper will highlight the progress that has been made to date with regard to the key issues that have been raised by the task-team members, and recommendations based on the feedback that has been received from around the world. The paper will also present some of the results that have been obtained from different parts of the world to highlight both the progress and the problems associated with the assessment of real losses. The paper will conclude with a short description of several new models that have been developed and are in use, which demonstrate the latest improvements to an ongoing process to assess and benchmark real losses in water distribution systems.

Sacramento implements guidance for river, growth and demand management

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 241-248
Author(s):  
Charles W. Pike
Keyword(s):  
Water Demand ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
Water Supplies ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
American River ◽  
The World ◽  
Aesthetic Values ◽  
Regional Water

The Sacramento California Region has long enjoyed ample water supplies and popular rivers providing esthetic, recreation and environmental resources. Ground and surface water supplies have been managed by twenty independent management agencies. In the 1980s and 1990s the region experienced dramatic population growth and increased water demand. Environmental organizations sought to preserve the environmental values of the Lower American River. Six years of negotiation resulted in the Water Forum Agreement, a memorandum of understanding signed by business and agricultural leaders, citizens groups, environmentalists, water managers, and local governments to fulfill two co-equal objectives: (i) to provide a reliable and safe water supply for the region's economic health and planned development to the year 2030; and (ii) to preserve the fishery, wildlife, recreational, and aesthetic values of the Lower American River. This paper describes three major parameters guiding the water future of the Sacramento Region, which may be a model for other regions of the world: (1) the seven policy elements of the Water Forum Agreement; (2) the Regional Water Authority (RWA) and the Sacramento Groundwater Authority help to implement the policies of the Water Forum Agreement; (3) RWA's regional water efficiency program provides “pick and choose” water efficiency measures to twenty water suppliers in three counties.

Water demand management - philosophy or implementation?

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-32
Author(s):  
J.S. Buckle
Keyword(s):  
Water Demand ◽  
Community Education ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Water Industry ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Management Philosophy ◽  
Leakage Reduction ◽  
Drought Conditions ◽  
African Context

This paper describes the introduction of water demand management in the southern African context. Originally a response to drought conditions, water demand management is now a key element in Rand Water's strategy of water cycle management - a mix of interventions that (holistically and continuously) keep the water industry viable and sustainable. This experience points to awareness and community education programmes being an essential companion to the technical interventions such as leakage reduction measures.

Social interaction in water demand management implementation

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 295-301
Author(s):  
J.S. Buckle
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Education Project ◽  
Broad Concept ◽  
Efficient Water Use

This article describes a successful awareness and education project undertaken in an East Rand township by the Water Cycle Management Section of Rand Water. The Project's focus was to create awareness in the community of the broad concept of water cycle management within an environment and to transfer skills to community members (facilitators) who could then assist in ensuring effective and efficient water use.

Elicitation of expert knowledge to develop decision support tools for use in water demand management planning

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 53-60
Author(s):  
D. Inman ◽  
D. Simidchiev ◽  
P. Jeffrey
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Decision Processes ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Influence Diagrams ◽  
Decision Support Tools ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Support Tools

This paper examines the use of influence diagrams (IDs) in water demand management (WDM) strategy planning with the specific objective of exploring how IDs can be used in developing computer-based decision support tools (DSTs) to complement and support existing WDM decision processes. We report the results of an expert consultation carried out in collaboration with water industry specialists in Sofia, Bulgaria. The elicited information is presented as influence diagrams and the discussion looks at their usefulness in WDM strategy design and the specification of suitable modelling techniques. The paper concludes that IDs themselves are useful in developing model structures for use in evidence-based reasoning models such as Bayesian Networks, and this is in keeping with the objectives set out in the introduction of integrating DSTs into existing decision processes. The paper will be of interest to modellers, decision-makers and scientists involved in designing tools to support resource conservation strategy implementation.

Water-demand management: assessing impacts of climate and other changes on water usage in Central Arizona

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 288-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Netra B. Chhetri
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Active Management ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Central Arizona

Planning for sustainable water management in the arid region of the southwestern USA is challenging mostly due to only partial understanding of factors converging around water supply and demand. Some of the factors that prompt concern about the adequacy of water resources are: (a) a growing urban population seeking a range of services, including the need to preserve and enhance aquatic ecosystems; (b) dwindling water storage due to multi-year drought conditions; and (c) the prospect of human-induced climate changes and its consequences in the hydrologic system of the region. This study analyzes the potential for water saving in the Phoenix Active Management Area (AMA) of Central Arizona, which includes the city of Phoenix, one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country. Based on an extensive literature review and secondary data analysis, this paper investigates multiple factors that place increasing strain on current water resources, and attempts to extend this analysis to 2025. Outdoor water use within the residential landscape is the most important factor that strains water resources in Phoenix AMA. Any gain in efficiency through agricultural water demand management would not only improve the availability of water for other uses in the AMA, but would facilitate adaptation of the agricultural system to climate and other ongoing changes.

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