Transcript Information Pyramid

Outline
• Principles of Sustainability
• Sustainable Water Resources
Roundtable
• Criteria & Indicators
• Indicator Examples
Alan D. Steinman, Ph.D.
Annis Water Resources Institute
Grand Valley State University
Muskegon, MI 49441
Language in PA No. 148:
(a) Sec. 32803 (2): The council
shall
Study the sustainability of the
state’s groundwater use and
whether the state should
provide additional oversight of
groundwater withdrawals
Principles of Sustainability
Brundtland Commission
(World Environment and Development Commission, 1987)
Sustainable development:
• meets the needs of the present while not
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
• encompasses the environmental,
economic, and social systems and their
contribution to meeting human needs.
Principles Regarding Sustainability
in Water Resources
“The sustainable development of water
resources is a multi-dimensional way of thinking
about the interdependencies among natural,
social, and economic systems in the use of
water. In this view, our efforts to achieve
economic vitality should occur in the context of
the enhancement and preservation of ecological
integrity, social well-being, and security.”
Source: Kranz, Gasteyer, Heintz, Shafer, and Steinman (2004)
Sustainability of Water Resources
Involves:
- policies, plans, and activities that improve equality
of access to water
- recognizes that there are limits and boundaries of water
use beyond which ecosystem behavior might change in
unanticipated ways
- requires consideration of interactions occurring across
different geographic scales: global, national, regional,
and local
- challenges us to look to the future and to assess and
understand the implications of decisions made today on
the lives and livelihoods of future generations and the
ecosystems upon which they depend.
Source: Kranz, Gasteyer, Heintz, Shafer, and Steinman (2004)
Sustainable Water
Resources Roundtable
Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable
(SWRR)
Purpose:
Serve as a forum to share information and
perspectives that will promote better decision
making in the US regarding the sustainable
development of our nation’s water resources
http://water.usgs.gov/wicp/acwi/swrr/
The Sustainable Roundtables are
public/private efforts to develop sets
of national-scale sustainability criteria
and indicators for the nation’s
resources
Sustainable Roundtables exist for
fresh water, forest, rangeland, and
minerals
Participants include Federal
agencies, as well as
representatives of industry,
academia, Tribal governments
and NGO’s.
The Roundtables are developing
a comprehensive set of criteria
and indicators to assess our
progress toward sustainable
resource management.
There are many definitions of
Sustainable Development
because there is disagreement
about how to balance the
economic, social, and
environmental dimensions of
sustainability.
Progress toward social,
economic, and environmental
sustainability, however it is
defined, can be tracked through
the use of criteria and
indicators.
Criteria and Indicators
What is meant by the use of
criteria and indicators
• Criteria: technical properties that help to
choose an indicator
• Criteria should not be directional (SWRR)
• Example:
– Inappropriate: increase water for the
environment
– Appropriate: adequate water supply and
timing for the environment
What is meant by the use of
criteria and indicators
• Indicators: measurements that track
conditions over time; should be
scientifically defensible, quantifiable,
consistent, and understandable
• Examples:
– Groundwater quality
– Groundwater withdrawal depth
Background (SWRR)
• The indicators sets should consider all aspects
of resource systems so as to provide a balanced
outlook;
• The indicators are national scale, though many
are based on local data; and
• The indicators are not intended to be used for
new regulatory development and there are no
associated reporting requirements.
Use of Indicators
• The indicators will contribute to the
Congressionally mandated 2005 Update of the
2000 Resource Planning Act Assessment;
• The indicators will be refined over time and may
become part of the overall indicator set used in
the US to assess our progress toward a
sustainable America; and
• The indicators will support an informed debate
about water systems and their contribution to
sustainability
Relationship among goal, criteria, indicators and measures
within capital.
GOAL
Develop Sustainable Water Resources
Adequate water supply
CRITERIA
INDICATORS
Ecosystem water
supply
MEASURES
Hydroperiod
Natural
variability
Natural Capital
Agricultural & utility
water supply
Residential water
supply
Water
demands
Water
demands
Reservoir
stage
Economic Capital
Reservoir
stage
Social Capital
Develop Sustainable Water Resources
Economic Capital System Ex.
GOAL
CRITERIA
Adequate Water
Supply for
Agriculture
INDICATORS
Water
Quality
Water
Recycling
Proportion
Groundwater/
Surface Water
Supply
Adequate Water
Supply for Electric
Production
Annual
Precipitation
Rate
Groundwater
Withdrawal
Depth
Irrigation
Water Cost
Snow
Pack
Condition
Mean
Reservoir
Depth
Present Flow
Rate/10 yr
Average
Flow
Examples of sustainability
indices
Universal Sujoy, Goldstein and
Summers (USGS) Sustainability Indices
Domestic Use
7%
Commercial Use
3%
Industrial Use
8%
Irrigation Use
40%
Livestock Use
2%
Mining Use
1%
Freshwater Withdrawal
Thermoelectric Use
39%
• Water Supply Sustainability
Index
• Thermoelectric Cooling
Constraint Index
• Based on easily accessible
data
• Include multiple assumptions
• Unquantified uncertainties
• Basis for more detailed
analysis of sustainability issues
• A Survey of Water Use and
Sustainability in the United
States with a Focus on Power
Generation (EPRI 1005474)
Annual, Cumulative Monthly Precipitation
Minus ET, Ave. 1934-2002
Groundwater Withdrawal/Available
Precipitation (1995)
Summer Deficit 1995 Using 3-Year
Rolling Average Minimum
Precipitation
Change in Summer Deficit,
Business as Usual, 1995-2025
Water Supply Sustainability Index:
EPRI
• Extent of development of available renewable water:
– use of available precipitation
• Sustainable groundwater use:
– ratio of groundwater withdrawal to available precipitation
• Environmental regulatory limits on freshwater withdrawals:
– number of aquatic endangered species
• Susceptibility to drought:
– summer deficit during low precipitation years
• Growth of water use:
– Increase of freshwater withdrawals from 1995 to 2025
• New requirements for storage or withdrawal from storage:
– increase in summer deficit from 1995 to 2025
Developing Indicators of
Freshwater Ecosystems
Dan Tunstall
WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE
WRI Indicators
 Value Indicators
 Condition Indicators
 Risk indicators
Value Indicators
• What is the extent and location of each ecosystem
or habitat type?
• What is the distribution of goods and services
derived by the ecosystem (e.g., priority areas for
the conservation of particular species)
• What is the quantity and value of the good or
service being produced?
Condition Indicators
• How has the ecosystem changed through time?
• What pressures and changes is it experiencing today?
• Is the capacity of that system to provide that service
being enhanced or diminished over time?
• What is the condition and changing capacity of the
ecosystem?
Risk Indicators
• What pressures and changes is the ecosystem
experiencing today?
• What are the potential threats to species or
ecosystems?
• Where are the areas at risk? (Projections of key
threats and pressures)
Summary
• Sustainability must take into account the
environmental, economic, and social sectors
• Criteria and indicators are useful ways
to characterize and track sustainability
• Recommend that the council develop
groundwater criteria and indicators
to assess sustainability for final report