Assessing the effects of water restrictions on socio-hydrologic resilience for shared groundwater systems

• Published in: Journal of hydrology (Amsterdam) 2018-11, Vol.566, p.872-885
• Main Authors: Al-Amin, Shams, Berglund, Emily Z., Mahinthakumar, G., Larson, Kelli L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agent-based model; Complex adaptive system; Demand management; Groundwater management; Sustainability index; Water shortage
• ISSN: 0022-1694; 1879-2707
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.08.045

•Coupled human-water system framework models the dynamic interactions among water users, managers, and water resources.•Impacts of water restrictions are assessed for proactive and reactive management approaches.•A case study demonstrates water savings at the user end, sustainability indices at cities/towns, and groundwater at basin-level. Groundwater resources are shared across management boundaries. Multiple management units that differ in scale, constraints and objectives may manage a shared resource in a decentralized approach. The interactions among water managers, water users, and the water resource components influence the performance of management strategies and the resilience of community-level water supply and groundwater availability. This research develops an agent-based modeling (ABM) framework to capture the dynamic interactions among household-level consumers and policy makers to simulate water demands. The ABM is coupled with a groundwater model to evaluate effects on the groundwater table. The framework is applied to explore trade-offs between improvements in water supply sustainability for local resources and water table changes at the basin-level. A group of municipalities are simulated as agents who share access to a groundwater aquifer in Verde River Basin, Arizona. The framework provides a holistic approach to incorporate water user, municipal, and basin level objectives in evaluating water reduction strategies for long-term water resilience.