Oil and natural gas development in the Bakken shale play of North Dakota has grown substantially since 2008. This study provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of water quantity and management impacts from this development by (1) estimating water demand for hydraulic fracturing in the Bakken from 2008 to 2012; (2) compiling volume estimates for maintenance water, or brine dilution water;...

Most water managers use a mixture of both supply-side and demand-side policies, seeking to capitalize on the relative advantages of each. However, supply augmentation undertaken to avoid overdrafts can reduce the effectiveness of demand management policies if the two strategies are not carefully integrated. Such a result can stem from a type of moral hazard phenomenon by which consumers, aware ...

This study evaluated the effectiveness of soils with different textures and thickness to treat BOD, N and P eluted from household septic effluent. The assessments were accomplished by leaching undisturbed soil monoliths of 30, 45 and 60 cm thickness and 25 cm in diameter, representing the four different textural groups and hydraulic loadings recommended by the Kentucky Health Department, with d...

Environmental and demographic pressures have led to the current importance of Water Demand Management (WDM), where the concepts of efficiency and sustainability now play a key role. Water must be conveyed to where it is needed, in the right quantity, at the required pressure, and at the right time using the fewest resources. This paper shows how modern Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques ca...

A promising area of application for agent based social simulation is social policy analysis. This promise stems from the ability of ABSS models to describe key processes and relationships in actual societies. However, existing descriptive studies with ABSS have been too abstract convincingly to inform policy analysis. This paper describes the transition from one such study towards a usefully de...

This paper describes recent experience with integrated resource planning (IRP) and the application of least cost planning (LCP) for the evaluation of demand management strategies in urban water. Two Australian case studies, Sydney and Northern New South Wales (NSW) are used in illustration. LCP can determine the most cost effective means of providing water services or alternatively the cheapest...

Irrigation water demand accounts for more than 95% of the total water use in the Kaidu-kongqi River Basin. Determination of the spatial and temporal trends in irrigation water demand is important for making sustainable and wise water management strategies in this highly water deficit region. In this study, the spatial and temporal trends in irrigation water demand as well as net crop irrigation...

Residential water demand is a function of several factors, some of which are within the control of water utilities (e.g., price, water restrictions, rebate programs) and some of which are not (e.g., climate and weather, demographic characteristics). In this study of Aurora, Colorado, factors influencing residential water demand are reviewed during a turbulent drought period (2000-2005). Finding...