Regional water management has long been practiced throughout history. The Roman Empire,
the Anasazi Indians of the Southwestern United States, and countless water agencies and districts across the
western United States have long endeavored to bring water to arid areas that receive little local rainfall.
Early efforts focused on bringing supply to densely populated areas, or for crop irrigation. Over time, the
scarcity of water coupled with environmental and social concerns has resulted in an increasingly complex
regulatory environment surrounding the management of water resources. This complex interplay has led to
statewide, regional, and local battles over how to manage water resources in a sustainable fashion over
time. Within California, the state legislature has recognized this problem, and fostered a new way of
managing water resources called Integrated Regional Water Management Planning (IRWMP).
IRWMP focuses on maximizing the beneficial use of water resources across all disciplines including water
supply and quality, flood control, wastewater and water reuse, and watershed and habitat management and
protection. Rather than an either/or notion of water being managed for a single purpose, IRWMP focuses
on maximizing the benefit of water resources management for as many uses as possible. With IRWMP, it
is possible to create water management scenarios that benefit both the human uses of water while
maintaining and even improving the environment. This paper explores the idea of IRWMP as a means
of promoting the wise and sustainable management of water resources. The paper discusses the
historical context for regional water management, including the problems encountered in California due to
the movement of water for urban and agricultural use. The discussion then focuses on the development
of IRWMP in California, including the State's IRWMP grant program. Focusing on the Bay Area as a case
study, the paper concludes with a discussion of the opportunities and challenges associated with
implementing IRWMP at a larger regional level, including recommendations for improving IRWMP at the
regional and state levels. Includes 15 references, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 5.8 MB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 49 |
| Published : | 06/01/2007 |
