Sustainability Criteria for Water Resource Systems

Proceedings of the 1999 Georgia Water Resources Conference, March 30 and 31, Athens, Georgia.The presentation reviews a monograph produced by the ASCE Task Committee on Sustainability Criteria. The monograph examines many of the major issues and challenges raised by the concept of sustainability applied to water resource system design and management. It reviews various guidelines that have been suggested for achieving a greater degree of sustainability and the extent to which they have been applied in the development and management of water resource systems. It outlines some approaches for measuring and modeling sustainability and illustrates ways in which these measures and models might be used when evaluating alternative designs and operating policies. This monograph is written for those interested and involved in the planning and management of water resource systems. This includes students as well as practitioners. It was written by individuals sharing a background in environmental and water resources systems planning and management, but having differing experiences and opinions. Hence different points of view are presented with the hope that they will stimulate thinking about just how water resource systems should be developed and managed, not only for those living today but also for those who will be dependent on these systems in the future. This document is the product of two groups of professionals: a working group of the International Hydrological Programme of the United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and members of the Task Committee of the Division of Water Resources Planning and Management of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Both groups were formed to explore ways in which the concept of sustainability might be used as a measure of system performance when evaluating alternative water resource plans and management policies.Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of TechnologyThis book was published by the Institute of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202 with partial funding provided by the U.S. Department of Interior, geological Survey, through the Georgia Water Research Insttitute as authorized by the Water Research Institutes Authorization Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-397). The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of the University of Georgia or the U.S. Geological Survey or the conference sponsors