Water Conservation Flows Downstream: The Role of State Policy in Municipal Action

Authors

  • Martin Koch University of Kansas
  • Travis Gliedt University of Oklahoma

Keywords:

water conservation, drought, innovation, state water policy, United States

Abstract

Severe drought once seemed like a thing of the past for the American Southwest, relegated to grainy newsreel footage of Dust Bowl disasters. However, many areas of Oklahoma, California, and Arizona are once again affected by recurring water shortages, and climate change could lead to a further increase in the frequency and severity of such events. Many states are creating water policies focused on conservation or water restriction mandates, but how effective are they at encouraging municipal actions? Additionally, which municipal actions are most effective and feasible? This project used a pilot survey of water managers to examine why water conservation initiatives vary within and between states as a means of understanding the effect of state-level policies on municipal actions. The findings will help decision makers design more efficient policies to allocate funding for water system changes. Recommendations for states interested in creating water conservation goals, and municipal water managers seeking to implement cost-effective and politically feasible conservation measures, are discussed.

Author Biographies

  • Martin Koch, University of Kansas
    Masters of Arts, Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science
  • Travis Gliedt, University of Oklahoma
    Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability

References

Antoniou, Dimitri Theodore. "Water Conservation for the County of San Luis Obispo."

Commons at Cal Poly (2010): 1-156.

Baruch, Yehuda and Brooks C. Holtom. "Survey response rate levels and trends in

organizational research."

Bassett, Ellen and Vivek Shandas. "Innovation and Climate Action Planning: Perspectives From

Municipal Plans."

Borowski, Ilke, and Matt Hare. "Exploring the Gap Between Water Managers and

Researchers: Difficulties of Model-Based Tools to Support Practical Water Management."

Brox, James A., Ramesh C. Kumar, and Kenneth R. Stollery. "Estimated Willingness to Pay for Improved Water Quality in the Presence of Item Nonresponse Bias."

California State Water Resources Control Board. "Water Conservation Portal

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/emergency_regulation.shtml

Cettner, Annicka, Richard Ashley, Maria Viklander, and Kristina Nilsson. "Stormwater management and urban planning: Lessons from 40 years of innovation."

Choi, Eugene. "Green on Buildings: The Effects of Municipal Policy on Green Building

Designations in America's Central Cities."

City of Norman, OK. "Water Reclamation." Utilities. (2015). Web.

http://www.normanok.gov/utilities/wr/water-reclamation

City of Oklahoma City Utilities Department. Squeeze Every Drop. (2015). Web.

http://www.squeezeeverydrop.com/

Daley, Dorothy M., Megan Mullin, and Meghan E. Rubado. "State Agency Discretion in a Delegated Federal Program: Evidence from Drinking Water Investment." Publius 44.4 (2014): 564-586.

Derissen, Sandra, Martin F. Quaas, and Stefan Baumgartner. "The Relationship Between

Resilience and Sustainability of Ecological-Economic Systems."

Dishman, Michael C., Joseph H. Sherrard, and Menahem Rebhun. "Gaining Support for Direct Potable Water Reuse."

Dolnicar, S., & Sch

Environmental Protection Agency. Drinking Water State Revolving Fund 2009 Annual Report. (2010). Web.

http://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/dwsrf/upload/dwsrf-annualreport2009nov2010.pdf

Famiglietti, Peter. "California has about one year of water stored. Will you ration now?"

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-oe-famiglietti-drought-california-20150313-story.html

Glieck, Peter H. "Global Freshwater Resources: Soft-Path Solutions for the 21st Century."

Green, Deborah. Water Conservation for Small-and-Medium-Sized Utilities. Denver: American Water Works Association, 2009. Print.

Griffin, et al. "An Act."

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20ENR/SB/SB1456%20ENR.PDF

Hancock, Nathan T., Pei Xu, Molly J. Roby, Juan D. Gomez, and Tzahi Y. Cath. "Towards direct potable reuse with forward osmosis: Technical assessment of long-term process performance at the pilot scale."

Hanson, David J. "The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984."

Hornberger, G. M., Hess, D. J., & Gilligan, J. (2015). Water conservation and hydrological transitions in cities in the United States. Water Resources Research.

Horwitch, Mel and Bala Mulloth. "The interlinking of entrepreneurs, grassroots movements, public policy and hubs of innovation: The rise of Cleantech in New York City."

Houk, Eric E. "Estimating residential demand in the absence of volumetric water pricing."

Karl, T.R. J.M. Melillo, and T.C. Peterson (eds.). Global Climate Change Impacts in the United

States. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Kiparsky, Michael, Sedlak David L., Thompson, Barton H. Jr., and Truffer, Bernhard. "The Innovation Deficit in Urban Water: The Need for an Integrated Perspective on Institutions, Organizations, and Technology."

Kundzewicz, Z.W., L.J. Mata, N.W. Arnell, P. Doll, B. Jimenez, K. Miller, T. Oki, Z. Sen, and I.

Shiklomanov. "The implications of projected climate change for freshwater resources and their management."

Mandviwalla, Munir, Abhijit Jain, Julie Fesenmaier, Jeff Smith, Paul Weisenberg, and Greg

Meyers. "Municipal broadband wireless networks."

Michelsen, Ari M., J. Thomas McGuckin, and Donna Stumpf. "Nonprice Water Conservation Programs as a Demand Management Tool."

Moore, Michele-Lee, Suzanne von der Porten, Ryan Plummer, Oliver Brandes, and Julia Baird. "Water policy reform and innovation: A systematic review."

Munnell, Alicia H. and Leah M. Cook. "How does Public Infrastructure Affect Regional Economic Performance?"

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. "What is Water Conservation?"

http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5009.html

Oklahoma Climatological Survey. (2015). Annual precipitation variability with 5-year tendencies. Oklahoma Statewide 1895-2014. Available at: http://climate.ok.gov/

Ojima, D., M. Shafer, J. M. Antle, D. Kluck, R. A. McPherson, S. Petersen, B. Scanlon, and K. Sherman,, 2014: "Great Plains."

Olmstead, Shelia, and Robert N. Stavins. "Comparing price and nonprice approaches to urban water conservation."

Opp, Susan, M. and Kyle Saunders. "Pillar Talk: Local Sustainability Initiatives and Policies in

the United States

Rayner, Steve, Denise Lach, and Helen Ingram. "Weather Forecasts are for Wimps: Why Water Resource Managers Do Not Use Climate Forecasts."

Robinson, K.G., C.H. Robinson, and S.A. Hawkins. "Assessment of public perception regarding wastewater reuse."

Rogelberg, Steven G. and Jeffery M. Stanton. "Understanding and Dealing with Organizational Survey Nonresponse."

San Diego County Water Authority. "Introduction."

http://www.sdcwa.org/sites/default/files/blueprint-waterconservaton.pdf

Spiller, M., McIntosh, B. S., Seaton, R. A., & Jeffrey, P. J. (2015). "Integrating Process and Factor Understanding of Environmental Innovation by Water Utilities."

Steele, et al. "Water for 2060 Act."

https://www.sos.ok.gov/documents/legislation/53rd/2012/2R/HB/3055.pdf

Steinberg, Darrell. "Senate Bill No. 7"

http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/sb7/docs/SB7-7-TheLaw.pdf

Tam, Vivian W.Y., Leona Tam, and S.X. Zeng. "Cost effectiveness and tradeoff on the use of rainwater tank: An empirical study in Australian residential decision-making."

Tanverakul, Stephanie A. and Juneseok Lee. "Impacts of Metering on Residential Water Use in

California."

Teodoro, Manny. "The institutional politics of water conservation."

Theodori, G. L., Wynveen, B. J., Fox, W. E., & Burnett, D. B. (2009). Public perception of desalinated water from oil and gas field operations: Data from Texas. Society and Natural Resources, 22(7), 674-685.

White, Dave D., Elizabeth Corley, and Margaret S. White. "Water Managers' Perceptions of the

Science-Policy Interface in Phoenix, Arizona: Implications for an Emerging Boundary Organization."

Yusuf, Juita-Elena, and Gao Liu. "State Infrastructure Banks and Intergovernmental Subsidies for Local Transportation Investment."

Downloads

Published

2018-06-14

Issue

Vol. 20 (2017)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).