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 strategies
Several 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.
