Promoting Domestic Water Conservation through the Utilization of a Scenario-Based Planning Support System

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Burgess, Amy G.
Language:English
Published: University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1277000131
id ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin1277000131
record_format oai_dc
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Urban Planning
Water Conservation
Scenario-Based Planning Support System
Public Education
CommunityViz
spellingShingle Urban Planning
Water Conservation
Scenario-Based Planning Support System
Public Education
CommunityViz
Burgess, Amy G.
Promoting Domestic Water Conservation through the Utilization of a Scenario-Based Planning Support System
author Burgess, Amy G.
author_facet Burgess, Amy G.
author_sort Burgess, Amy G.
title Promoting Domestic Water Conservation through the Utilization of a Scenario-Based Planning Support System
title_short Promoting Domestic Water Conservation through the Utilization of a Scenario-Based Planning Support System
title_full Promoting Domestic Water Conservation through the Utilization of a Scenario-Based Planning Support System
title_fullStr Promoting Domestic Water Conservation through the Utilization of a Scenario-Based Planning Support System
title_full_unstemmed Promoting Domestic Water Conservation through the Utilization of a Scenario-Based Planning Support System
title_sort promoting domestic water conservation through the utilization of a scenario-based planning support system
publisher University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate 2010
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1277000131
work_keys_str_mv AT burgessamyg promotingdomesticwaterconservationthroughtheutilizationofascenariobasedplanningsupportsystem
_version_ 1719433186273918976
spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin12770001312021-08-03T06:14:05Z Promoting Domestic Water Conservation through the Utilization of a Scenario-Based Planning Support System Burgess, Amy G. Urban Planning Water Conservation Scenario-Based Planning Support System Public Education CommunityViz Water is one of the most important life-supporting resources on the planet. Many Americans use more water than is necessary to live healthily. This contributes to water resource depletion, ecosystem degradation, and difficulty in supplying quality water to present and future generations. Involving the public more readily in community planning related to water consumption may avoid some problems associated with identifying these water issues only after major impacts have been caused (Fletcher and Deletic 2008). The increasing awareness of climate change requires immediate attention of water resource planners and the general public. It is pertinent to adopt water conservation strategies, especially in areas facing water availability challenges. This study aims to increase the awareness of water conservation among consumers by promoting the idea “think globally, act locally, start with me!”A water consumption model is built into a scenario-based planning support system (SB-PSS) to enable planners to relay water conservation plans to the public. The input of the model includes various water conservation strategies reflecting indoor and outdoor water consumption rates for different land uses under different climate conditions (temperature and precipitation). In addition to the Baseline scenario, six water conservation scenarios were developed to demonstrate the effect of various strategies being implemented individually or collectively. They are 50% turf-to-xeriscape conversion; 100% Turf-to-Xeriscape Conversion; Pool Cover Utilization; Indoor Conservation; and an All Conservation scenario that uses inputs from the 100% Turf-To-Xeriscape Conversion, Pool Cover Utilization, and Indoor Conservation Scenarios. A scenario was developed to reflect climate change with indoor conservation. The model is implemented with a commercial planning support system software package – CommunityViz. A user can adjust the water consumption rates, temperature, precipitation, and future land use configuration in a study area to analyze consumption using various conservation techniques. Results display the differences between scenarios using maps, graphs, and tables. It is important to show comparison between scenarios and also within scenarios (Deal and Pallathucheril 2007). The model computed parcel-based daily water consumptions, which were summarized spatially by neighborhood, block group, or land use type. The choice of scenarios is based on the review of Las Vegas, a city with water scarcity. Existing literature shows that residents are the largest consumers of water in Las Vegas (Southern Nevada Water Authority 2009). With the help of scenarios-based planning approaches planners can involve the public in the collaborative environmental planning and decision-making process in order to help communities make better-informed decisions (Randolph 2004). A set of educational strategies are created to display how the scenario-based planning support system can be used to educate the public of the different types of water conservation and how their actions can help reduce water consumption. This study will give planners and engineers an easy-to-use tool for including water conservation into their master plans. This application can be adapted to any region in order to make water conservation decisions. It gives visual representations of conservation scenarios that can be used to educate the public and make lasting changes to the way water is used. 2010-07-22 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1277000131 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1277000131 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.