Water Accounting in Western US, Australia, and Spain: Comparative Analysis
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 146, Issue 3
Abstract
Water accounting—the measurement, processing, and communication of information on water availability and use—is essential for effective and sustainable water resource management. Such information becomes especially important during droughts. It facilitates transparent, flexible, and efficient water allocations that benefit the economy and environment, and reduces conflicts among users. This is especially crucial in dry regions such as the western United States, where water demands often exceed available supplies. A web-based review of water accounting practices, supplemented by interviews with more than 50 experts, informed a comparative analysis of how 12 western states and two other countries—Australia and Spain—gather, process, and share information to manage water. These regions were selected because of their similarities in water management challenges, but also because they have comparable levels of economic development and institutional capabilities. We focus on how water availability is assessed; how varying institutional and legal frameworks define water claims; how water use is quantified; how water allocation decisions are made based on regulatory and physical constraints and available information; and finally how the information is shared to improve decision making. We found a huge variety of accounting practices to support different water accounting frameworks in developed regions. This variability is a legacy of the historical evolution of water management practices and challenges, and is usually driven by cultural practices, institutions, and legal frameworks. Drawing on the comparative review, we select management practices that strengthen water accounting. Although these lessons are based on places that share resource-management challenges of advanced economies in dry regions, they can be useful for developing regions to reduce common conflicts in managing groundwater sustainability, dedicating adequate water to support the natural environment, or allocating surface water during times of scarcity.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
No data, models, or code were generated or used during the study.
Acknowledgments
Supported with funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; and the Water Foundation, an initiative of the Resources Legacy Fund. This publication was developed with partial support from Assistance Agreement No. 83586701 awarded by the USEPA to the Public Policy Institute of California. It has not been formally reviewed by the EPA. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the agency. The EPA does not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this publication. The authors are also grateful for the suggestions of two anonymous reviewers, the associate editor, and the editor of the journal.
References
Allen, R., M. Tasumi, and A. Morse. 2007. “Satellite-based energy balance for mapping evapotranspiration with internalized calibration (METRIC) model.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng. 133 (4): 380–394. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9437(2007)133:4(380).
Andreu, J., J. Capilla, and E. Sanchís. 1996. “AQUATOOL, a generalized decision-support system for water-resources planning and operational management.” J. Hydrol. 177 (3–4): 269–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(95)02963-X.
Australia National Water Commission. 2004. Intergovernmental agreement on a national water initiative. Turner, Australia: Australia National Water Commission.
Bales, R. C., N. P. Molotch, T. H. Painter, M. D. Dettinger, R. Rice, and J. Dozier. 2006. “Mountain hydrology of the western United States.” Water Resour. Res. 42 (8): W08432. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR004387.
Batchelor, C., J. Hoogeveen, J. M. Faurès, and L. Peiser. 2016. Water accounting and auditing. A sourcebook. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization.
Bureau of Meteorology. 2018. “Water information standards.” Accessed May 19, 2018. http://www.bom.gov.au/water/standards/index.shtml.
Bureau of Meteorology. 2019. “Water information.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://www.bom.gov.au/water/.
CWCB and DWR (Colorado Water Conservation Board and Colorado Department of Water Resources). 2019. “Colorado’s decision support systems.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://cdss.state.co.us/software/Pages/StateMod.aspx.
Department of Water Resources. 2014. “List of adjudicated basins and subbasins.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://www.water.ca.gov/groundwater/docs/List%20of%20adjudicated%20basins%20and%20subbasins_01012014.pdf.
Department of Water Resources. 2019a. “California data exchange center.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://cdec.water.ca.gov.
Department of Water Resources. 2019b. “Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Data Viewer.” Accessed November 21, 2019. https://sgma.water.ca.gov/webgis/?appid=SGMADataViewer.
Dettinger, M. D., F. M. Ralph, T. Das, P. J. Neiman, and D. R. Cayan. 2011. “Atmospheric rivers, floods and the water resources of California.” Water 3 (2): 445–478. https://doi.org/10.3390/w3020445.
Escriva-Bou, A., H. McCann, E. Hanak, J. Lund, and B. Gray. 2016. Accounting for California’s water. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
Escriva-Bou, A., M. Pulido-Velazquez, and D. Pulido-Velazquez. 2017. “Economic value of climate change adaptation strategies for water management in Spain’s Jucar basin.” J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage. 143 (5): 04017005. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000735.
eWater Limited. 2019. “eWater source—Australia’s national hydrological modelling platform.” Accessed November 21, 2019. https://ewater.org.au/products/ewater-source/.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). 2016. “AQUASTAT country fact sheets.” Accessed May 3, 2016. http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/main/index.stm.
Fishman, C. 2016. “Water is broken: Data can fix it.” New York Times, March 17, 2016.
Gillilan, D., and T. Brown. 1997. Instream flow protection: Seeking a balance in western water use. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Gray, B. 2015. “The reasonable use doctrine in California water law and policy.” Chap. 4 in Sustainable water: Challenges and solutions from California, edited by A. Lassiter, 83–107. Berkeley, CA: Univ. of California Press.
Gray, B., E. Hanak, R. Frank, R. Howitt, J. Lund, L. Szeptycki, and B. Thompson. 2015. Allocating California’s water: Directions for reform. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
Hanak, E., and E. Stryjewski. 2012. California’s water market, by the numbers, update 2012. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
Harrington, N., and P. Cook. 2014. Groundwater in Australia. Adelaide, Australia: National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training.
Howard, J., and M. Merrifield. 2010. “Mapping groundwater dependent ecosystems in California.” PLoS One 5 (6): e11249. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011249.
IDWR (Idaho Department of Water Resources). 2019c. “Water rights—Modeling resources.” Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.idwr.idaho.gov/water-rights/transfers/resources.html#espa.
IDWR (Idaho Department of Water Resources). 2019d. “Water rights accounting.” Accessed November 21, 2019. https://maps.idwr.idaho.gov/agol/Accounting/.
Karimi, P., W. G. M. Bastiaanssen, and D. Molden. 2013. “Water accounting plus (WA plus)—A water accounting procedure for complex river basins based on satellite measurements.” Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 17 (7): 2459–2472. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-2459-2013.
Leblanc, M., S. Tweed, A. Van Dijk, and B. Timbal. 2012. “A review of historic and future hydrological changes in the Murray-Darling basin.” Global Planet. Change 80: 226–246.
MAPAMA (Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación). 2019. “Hydrologic information monitoring networks.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://sig.magrama.es/saih/.
Maupin, M., J. Kenny, S. Hutson, J. Lovelace, N. Barber, and K. Linsey. 2014. Estimated use of water in the United States in 2010. Washington, DC: USGS.
Mount, J., B. Gray, C. Chappelle, J. Doolan, T. Grantham, and N. Seavy. 2016a. Managing water for the environment during drought: Lessons from Victoria, Australia. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
Mount, J., B. Gray, C. Chappelle, T. Grantham, P. Moyle, N. Seavy, L. Szeptycki, and B. Thompson. 2017. Managing California’s freshwater ecosystems: Lessons from the 2012–2016 drought. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
Mount, J., E. Hanak, C. Chappelle, B. Colby, R. Frank, G. Gartrell, B. Gray, D. Kenney, J. Lund, P. Moyle, and L. Szeptycki. 2016b. Improving the federal response to western drought: Five areas for reform. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
NDNR (Nebraska Department of Natural Resources). 2019. “Nebraska interactive streamgage map.” Accessed November 21, 2019. https://nednr.nebraska.gov/RealTime//.
NDWR (Nevada Division of Water Resources). 2019. “Mapping data links.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://webgis.water.nv.gov/.
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). 2016. “World water day: Building a sustainable future for water.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://www.noaa.gov/world-water-day-building-sustainable-future-water.
NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service). 2019. “State water supply outlook reports.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/state_outlook_reports.htm.
Pierce, D. W., et al. 2008. “Attribution of declining western US snowpack to human effects.” J. Clim. 21 (23): 6425–6444. https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JCLI2405.1.
State Water Resources Control Board. 2015. “2010–2013 average demand dataset.” Accessed September 3, 2015. http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/analysis/.
State Water Resources Control Board. 2019. “eWRIMS—Electronic water rights information management system.” Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/ewrims/.
Szeptycki, L., J. Forgie, E. Hook, K. Lorick, and P. Womble. 2015. Environmental water rights transfers: A review of state laws. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality). 2019. “Water availability models.” Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/water_rights/wr_technical-resources/wam.html.
Times-News. 2016. “Water budget and recharge resolutions heading to governor.” Accessed March 19, 2016. http://magicvalley.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/water-budget-and-recharge-resolutions-heading-to-governor/article_53049600-6de3-524b-b9df-95b92643f547.html.
TWDB (Texas Water Development Board). 2019. “Texas water conditions report.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://www.twdb.texas.gov/surfacewater/conditions/report/index.asp.
UNSD (United Nations Statistics Division). 2012. System of environmental-economic accounting for water. New York: UNSD.
USBEA (US Bureau of Economic Analysis). 2019. “Principal federal economic indicators.” Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.bea.gov/.
US Bureau of Reclamation. 2016. “Hydromet, Upper Snake River basin canal data.” Accessed May 3, 2016. http://www.usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/idwd.html.
US Census Bureau. 2019. “United States Census Bureau website.” Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.census.gov/en.html.
USDA. 2015. “State fact sheets.” Accessed May 3, 2016. http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets/.aspx.
USGS. 2014. “Estimated use of water in the United States in 2010.” Accessed November 21, 2019. https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1405/pdf/circ1405.pdf.
USGS. 2019e. “Active groundwater level network.” Accessed May 3, 2016. http://groundwaterwatch.usgs.gov/default.asp.
USGS. 2019f. “Water data for the nation.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis.
Vardon, M., M. Lenzen, S. Peevor, and M. Creaser. 2007. “Water accounting in Australia.” Ecol. Econ. 61 (4): 650–659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.07.033.
Victorian Water Register. 2019. “Water availability and use.” Accessed November 21, 2019. http://waterregister.vic.gov.au/water-availability-and-use.
WASB (Water Accounting Standards Board). 2014. Water accounting conceptual framework for the preparation and presentation of general purpose water accounting reports. Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.
Western States Water Council. 2012. Western States Water Council position 386. Murray, UT: Western States Water Council Office.
Western States Water Council. 2014. Western state water program capabilities assessment survey & report. Murray, UT: Western States Water Council Office.
Western States Water Council. 2015. Western States Water Council position 366. Murray, UT: Western States Water Council Office.
White House. 2016. Presidential memorandum: Building national capabilities for long-term drought resilience. Washington, DC: White House.
Wurbs, R. A. 2014. “Sustainable statewide water resources management in Texas.” J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage. 141 (12): A4014002. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000499.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 146 • Issue 3 • March 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 11, 2018
Accepted: Jun 26, 2019
Published online: Jan 10, 2020
Published in print: Mar 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Jun 10, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.