Evaluating Conservation Potential in Agricultural and Municipal Water Use in South Florida

A System Dynamics model is developed for South Florida to capture the complex interrelationships between water availability and competing water demands for municipal, agriculture, and environmental needs. The policies of introducing low flow appliances, xeriscaping, and pricing are tested for their effectiveness in reducing municipal water demand. The policies of area reduction, micro irrigation, and crop substitution are tested for their effectiveness in reducing agricultural water demand. Performance criteria of reliability, resilience, and vulnerability are used to measure the effectiveness of policies. Policies are also evaluated for their impact on environmental flow requirements. Model is calibrated for population growth, municipal water demand, crop area, agricultural water demand, and water levels in Lake Okeechobee from 1980 to 2005, and simulation are carried out till 2030 on a monthly time step. The status-quo simulations show a reduction in environmental flows after 2010 that leads to an increase in the number of incidences when environmental flow requirements are not met. Policies tested show potential for reduction in both municipal and agricultural water demands and an improvement in environmental flows