Water resource managers, planners, investors and other interested parties must make decisions in the face of uncertainty about a variety of factors. How many times has a professional been in a meeting where a critical future factor was unknown and the discussion was basically an exchange of unsubstantiated opinion? Would a credible quantification of the likelihood and consequence of the impact of future events facilitate better, faster and cheaper planning and decision-making? Continue reading
Author Archives: Rodney T. Smith
On Markets and Water Security
Resource risk management is an important element of Water Security. The changing hydrologic risk on the Colorado River provides a context to address how risk is currently allocated, how it may be reallocated, how we may reduce risk, and how we quantify risk and measure improvements in Water Security. Continue reading
Changing Economics of Rural to Urban Water Transfers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects U.S. farm income to increase to an inflation-adjusted $110 billion (2005$) in 2013, the highest level in 40 years. The changing economics on-farm will change the economics of rural-to-urban transfers. Continue reading
California Desalination: Orange County Negotiating another Poseidon Project
The Municipal Water District of Orange County (“MWDOC”) released last month a draft Water Reliability Agreement Term Sheet outlining the terms under which it may buy 56,000 AF per year of drinking water from Poseidon Resources’ Huntington Beach Seawater Desalination Project. As with San Diego’s desalination plant in Carlsbad, another wholesale water agency in Southern California is seeking fully reliable water supplies. Continue reading