T161 The Use of Managed Aquifer Recharge to Enhance Groundwater Supplies

Tuesday, 24 September 2024
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
211B

ASSESSING A SOCIAL VALUE OF WATER IN ASR PROJECTS

Paper number: T161-2
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:05 AM – 8:25 AM

Authors

Abstract

Water resource management regimes allocate water across different users and, at least implicitly, across time. The traditional focus has been on satisfying the demands of municipal, residential, agricultural, and commercial uses. Increasingly, demands for water to support ecological functioning have been recognized. However, as communities grapple with the challenges of water scarcity, there is a growing recognition for the need to assess whether current allocations reflect highest and best use of water now and into the future. What is needed are allocations that get the most social value for each acre-foot buck. This requires determining a “social value of water” in each of its uses, including use now versus use in the future and in different circumstances — for example, in good and bad years for precipitation. This presentation explores the concept of assessing social values of water in the context of ASR projects. We show that by properly accounting for social values across all situations, the total contribution of water to social wellbeing in communities can go up, even as the physical amount of water is unchanged. Current approaches may be severely missing that mark. The presentation will highlight the importance of understanding and quantifying the broader economic and social dimensions ASR projects and other management actions and their potential to enhance water security, community resilience, equitable access, and economic activity for present and future generations.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 56, No. 5

doi: 10.1130/abs/2024AM-400747

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