Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable

http://water.usgs.gov/wicp/acwi/swrr/

Tim Smith, Coordinator

Bob Goldstein, Co-Chair

SWRR convened meetings during 2002-2004.

Active Sponsors include:

• Interior Dept• Electric Power

Research Inst• EPA• NOAA• State of Minnesota• CEQ

• Agriculture Dept• Univ Council On

Water Resources• Water Environ Fed• Ecol Soc of Amer• AWRA• Univ. CA Santa

Barbara

Major Actions

• Meetings in Dec.2002, June 2003, Nov.2003, Mar.2004, June 2004, Sep.2004

• Sessions at July 2003 UCOWR conference• Recommendations for water indicators at Jan.2004

Natl Conference on Science & Environment• Talk at July 2004 UCOWR conference• Ongoing outreach effort to public and private

sector: WEFTEC.04 & 05, AWRA04

Reports & Publications

• All meeting proceedings on web site

• Water Resources Update, issue 127, Feb.2004, UCOWR

• Water Environment & Technology, June 2004, Water Environment Federation

Work Groups

• Developing a conceptual model of water sustainability

• Compiling existing water indicators from other efforts

• Identifying criteria for water sustainability

• Defining what research is needed about sustainability

A Criteria & Indicators ModelSustainability of Water Resources

EcologicalSystem

SocialSystem

EconomicSystem

Goal

Criteria

IndicatorCategories Human HealthWater Quality Water Hazards

System Condition or Capacity

IndicatorsProcesses Outputs

Human Effects Ecosystem Effects

Sub-criteria

Draft Model Outline

Ecological Systema. Capacity to make water of appropriate quality & quantity available

to support ecosystems.b. Integrity of ecosystems.Social Systema. Social well-being resulting from use of water resources.b. Social well-being resulting from use of water-related ecological

resources.c. Social conditions that impact water resources.d. Social capacity for management of water & related land resources.Economic Systema. Capacity to make water of appropriate quality & quantity available

for human uses.b. Economic well-being resulting from use of water & affected land

resources.c. Capacity to achieve economic value from the use of water related

ecological resources.d. Capacity to manage land use to maintain or enhance quality or

quantity of water.

Future Activities

• Report to ACWI by Oct.2005 on conditions & trends in water resources that affect long-term sustainability

• Forest Service plans use of SWRR info for their 2005 Resources Planning Act effort

• Identifying national and regional conferences for SWRR presentations and sessions

• Continuing SWRR meetings to identify issues and indicators

Palo Alto Meeting

• EPRI Palo Alto Office• March 2-3, 2004• Approximately 40 attendees• Most attendees from CA• Diverse organizational representation –

federal and state agencies, universities, industry, nonprofit research, consulting, environmentalists

Selected Key Presentations

• Peter Gleick – Pacific Institute• Larry Flowers – NREL• Toby O’Green – UC Davis• Bob Wilkerson _ UC Santa Barbara• William Alley – USGS• Robin Newmark – LLNL• Carl Chen – Systech Engineering• Sujoy Roy – Tetra Tech• Bill Mills – Tetra Tech

Latest Congressional Legislation Concentrates on Technology Development

• National Water Technology R&D Program, (S.2658, Domenici, Bingaman, Craig, Durbin, Feinstein, and others) – Establishes within DOE a research and development program to

improve access to existing and untapped water resources– Major elements include:

• Focus on water supply technology development and technology transfer

• Regional Centers, focused on Labs/University partnerships• Specified R&D themes for each Lab/University partnership• Block grants to regions, plus competitive and cost-shared funding• Policy Institute (UNM)• Program Coordinator (SNL) and Advisory Panel • Ultimately, $225M/yr for 5 years

• Companion House Bill (H.R. 4835, Pombo, Calvert, Pearce, Wilson, and others)