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Water demand management in times of drought: What matters for water conservation
Author(s) -
Maggioni Elena
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1002/2014wr016301
Subject(s) - water conservation , subsidy , water use , per capita , business , demand management , water trading , water resources , natural resource economics , corporate governance , order (exchange) , water supply , water efficiency , water pricing , water storage , integrated water resources management , environmental economics , environmental science , environmental resource management , economics , finance , environmental engineering , engineering , ecology , biology , mechanical engineering , population , demography , macroeconomics , sociology , market economy , inlet
Southern California is subject to long droughts and short wet spells. Its water agencies have put in place voluntary, mandatory, and market‐based conservation strategies since the 1980s. By analyzing water agencies' data between 2006 and 2010, this research studies whether rebates for water efficient fixtures, water rates, or water ordinances have been effective, and tests whether structural characteristics of water agencies have affected the policy outcome. It finds that mandates to curb outdoor water uses are correlated with reductions in residential per capita water usage, while water rates and subsidies for water saving devices are not. It also confirms that size is a significant policy implementation factor. In a policy perspective, the transition from a water supply to a water demand management‐oriented strategy appears guided by mandates and by contextual factors such as the economic cycle and the weather that occur outside the water governance system. Three factors could improve the conservation effort: using prices as a conservation tool, not only as a cost recovering instrument; investing in water efficient tools only when they provide significant water savings; supporting smaller agencies in order to give them opportunities to implement conservation strategies more effectively or to help them consolidate.