Integrated modelling to assess the impacts of water stress in a transboundary river basin: Bridging local-scale water resource operations to a river basin economy

Leila Eamen; Roy Brouwer; Saman Razavi

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149543

Integrated modelling to assess the impacts of water stress in a transboundary river basin: Bridging local-scale water resource operations to a river basin economy

Leila Eamen^*, Roy Brouwer, Saman Razavi

^*Corresponding author for this work

Environmental Economics

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

In this study, we develop a hydro-economic modelling framework for river-basin scales by integrating a water resources system model and an economic model. This framework allows for the representation of both local-scale features, such as reservoirs, diversions, and water licenses and priorities, and regional- and provincial-scale features, such as cross-sectoral and inter-regional connectedness and trade flows. This framework is able to: (a) represent nonlinearities and interactions that cannot be represented by either of typical water resources or economic models; (b) analyze the sensitivity of macro-scale economy to different local water management decisions (called ‘decision levers’ herein); and (c) identify water allocation strategies that are economically sound across sectors and regions. This integrated model is applied to the multi-jurisdictional Saskatchewan River Basin in Western Canada. Our findings reveal that an economically optimal water allocation strategy can mitigate the economic losses of water stress up to 80% compared to the existing water allocation strategy. We draw lessons from our analysis and discuss how integrated inter-regional hydro-economic modelling can benefit vulnerability assessment and robust decision making.

Original language	English
Article number	149543
Pages (from-to)	1-15
Number of pages	15
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	800
Early online date	8 Aug 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149543
Publication status	Published - 15 Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are thankful to Howard Wheater, Mohamed Elshamy, and Patrick Lloyd-Smith for providing input at various stages of this work. They are also thankful to the three anonymous reviewers whose comments helped us improve the quality of this paper. The technical support of Mustakim Ali Shah and Kasra Keshavarz in creating the MODSIM model is acknowledged. The study presented in this paper received financial support from the Integrated Modelling Program for Canada (IMPC), funded as part of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) project, Global Water Futures (GWF). Financial support for this study was furthermore provided by an International Dean's Scholarship and a Graduate Research Fellowship from the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and a PhD Excellence Scholarship from the School of Environmental and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

Integrated hydro-economic model
Robust decision making
Vulnerability assessment
Water allocation
Water stress

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10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149543

Integrated modelling to assess the impacts of water stress in a transboundary river basinFinal published version, 4.7 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

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title = "Integrated modelling to assess the impacts of water stress in a transboundary river basin: Bridging local-scale water resource operations to a river basin economy",

abstract = "In this study, we develop a hydro-economic modelling framework for river-basin scales by integrating a water resources system model and an economic model. This framework allows for the representation of both local-scale features, such as reservoirs, diversions, and water licenses and priorities, and regional- and provincial-scale features, such as cross-sectoral and inter-regional connectedness and trade flows. This framework is able to: (a) represent nonlinearities and interactions that cannot be represented by either of typical water resources or economic models; (b) analyze the sensitivity of macro-scale economy to different local water management decisions (called {\textquoteleft}decision levers{\textquoteright} herein); and (c) identify water allocation strategies that are economically sound across sectors and regions. This integrated model is applied to the multi-jurisdictional Saskatchewan River Basin in Western Canada. Our findings reveal that an economically optimal water allocation strategy can mitigate the economic losses of water stress up to 80% compared to the existing water allocation strategy. We draw lessons from our analysis and discuss how integrated inter-regional hydro-economic modelling can benefit vulnerability assessment and robust decision making.",

keywords = "Integrated hydro-economic model, Robust decision making, Vulnerability assessment, Water allocation, Water stress",

author = "Leila Eamen and Roy Brouwer and Saman Razavi",

note = "Funding Information: The authors are thankful to Howard Wheater, Mohamed Elshamy, and Patrick Lloyd-Smith for providing input at various stages of this work. They are also thankful to the three anonymous reviewers whose comments helped us improve the quality of this paper. The technical support of Mustakim Ali Shah and Kasra Keshavarz in creating the MODSIM model is acknowledged. The study presented in this paper received financial support from the Integrated Modelling Program for Canada (IMPC), funded as part of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) project, Global Water Futures (GWF). Financial support for this study was furthermore provided by an International Dean's Scholarship and a Graduate Research Fellowship from the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and a PhD Excellence Scholarship from the School of Environmental and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier B.V.",

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N1 - Funding Information: The authors are thankful to Howard Wheater, Mohamed Elshamy, and Patrick Lloyd-Smith for providing input at various stages of this work. They are also thankful to the three anonymous reviewers whose comments helped us improve the quality of this paper. The technical support of Mustakim Ali Shah and Kasra Keshavarz in creating the MODSIM model is acknowledged. The study presented in this paper received financial support from the Integrated Modelling Program for Canada (IMPC), funded as part of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) project, Global Water Futures (GWF). Financial support for this study was furthermore provided by an International Dean's Scholarship and a Graduate Research Fellowship from the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and a PhD Excellence Scholarship from the School of Environmental and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan . Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V.

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N2 - In this study, we develop a hydro-economic modelling framework for river-basin scales by integrating a water resources system model and an economic model. This framework allows for the representation of both local-scale features, such as reservoirs, diversions, and water licenses and priorities, and regional- and provincial-scale features, such as cross-sectoral and inter-regional connectedness and trade flows. This framework is able to: (a) represent nonlinearities and interactions that cannot be represented by either of typical water resources or economic models; (b) analyze the sensitivity of macro-scale economy to different local water management decisions (called ‘decision levers’ herein); and (c) identify water allocation strategies that are economically sound across sectors and regions. This integrated model is applied to the multi-jurisdictional Saskatchewan River Basin in Western Canada. Our findings reveal that an economically optimal water allocation strategy can mitigate the economic losses of water stress up to 80% compared to the existing water allocation strategy. We draw lessons from our analysis and discuss how integrated inter-regional hydro-economic modelling can benefit vulnerability assessment and robust decision making.

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Integrated modelling to assess the impacts of water stress in a transboundary river basin: Bridging local-scale water resource operations to a river basin economy

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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