Open AccessTaking stock of water resources
Author(s) -
Nuttle William
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2002eo000358
Subject(s) - stock (firearms) , water resources , business , endangered species , environmental science , accounting , environmental resource management , water resource management , geography , ecology , archaeology , habitat , biology
You can only manage what you measure. If this maxim is correct, then a recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey [2002] promises a vast improvement in water management in the United States. The report proposes a consolidated, national accounting of availability and use of fresh water. The proposed accounting clearly will be superior to the present absence of a nationwide assessment of fresh water resources. But is it enough? Traditionally, water managers have measured the availability of fresh water by comparing the volume of water available from various sources against estimated demand. The proposed national assessment adheres to this approach. Gauging water by volume is fine if we are only interested in whether our glasses will be full or empty. But throw an endangered species or wetland preservation into the mix, and the picture becomes less clear.