Premium
Environmental water efficiency: Maximizing benefits and minimizing costs of environmental water use and management
Author(s) -
Horne Avril C.,
O'Donnell Erin L,
Loch Adam J.,
Adamson David C.,
Hart Barry,
Freebairn John
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: water
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.413
H-Index - 24
ISSN - 2049-1948
DOI - 10.1002/wat2.1285
Subject(s) - allocative efficiency , environmental economics , water use , water resources , context (archaeology) , business , environmental resource management , water efficiency , water use efficiency , water conservation , environmental flow , integrated water resources management , resource (disambiguation) , environmental science , environmental planning , computer science , economics , ecology , paleontology , computer network , neoclassical economics , climatology , irrigation , biology , geology
Environmental water management is a relatively new discipline, with concepts, management practice and institutional mechanisms that are still emerging. The efficient and effective use of environmental water to maximize environmental benefits, or environmental water use efficiency , is one such emerging concept. Currently, much of the focus is on allocative efficiency, where the objective is to achieve a better balance between consumptive and environmental water uses in a cost‐effective way. However, this may not provide the most efficient and effective way to manage environmental water in the long term, where managers are seeking productive (or operational) efficiency . Here, the objective is to maximize environmental outcomes relative to the cost of managing the available resource. This paper explores the concept of water use efficiency in the context of environmental water. This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Planning Water Human Water > Value of Water