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Improved principles, standards, and procedures for evaluating federal water projects
Author(s) -
Eisel Leo M.,
Seinwill Gerald D.,
Wheeler Richard M.
Publication year - 1982
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 - 10.1029/wr018i002p00203
Subject(s) - scope (computer science) , water resources , environmental planning , risk analysis (engineering) , environmental resource management , computer science , business , management science , environmental economics , engineering , environmental science , economics , ecology , biology , programming language
Over the past 40 years, many attempts have been made to develop improved evaluation criteria for Federal water resources development projects. The scope of evaluation expanded markedly with the introduction of multiobjective planning embodied in the 1973 principles and standards adopted by the U.S. Water Resources Council. Recent improvement efforts by the Council included revisions to the principles and standards and the development of an accompanying manual of evaluation procedures for use in determining the overall attractiveness of alternative plans for water resources development. Analysis of these improvements indicates that the revised procedures for evaluating beneficial and adverse economic effects of water resources development are more consistent with theoretical principles, although in some cases the new procedures include compromises necessitated by limited data, computation complexity, and political and legal contraints. Furthermore, these revisions to the principles and standards stress nonstructural measures and water conservation, which should make these planning guidelines more responsive to the increasing need for cost efficient as well as environmentally sound water resources development.