AWWA SOURCES55766

In densely populated countries such as The Netherlands, water companies are faced with decreasing availability and quality of raw water due to economic activities (e.g. industry, agriculture). This conflict of interest demands careful definition of sustainable water management objectives and allocation of resources in time and space, taking into account the interests of all parties concerned. The goal of sustainable resource management is the fine-tuning of economic and ecological functions of water catchment areas in order to protect the availability and quality of groundwater and surface water. In general, three methods for achieving sustainable water management are: matching water demands (water quality, water quantity) to available resources; matching socio-economic functions at local scale; and, matching socio-economic functions at water catchment scale. The advantages of sustainable water management are obvious. Costs and waste production during the process of water production are reduced, and negative effects of water management measures on the natural environment are prevented. To assess the impact of water management measures on natural resources and functions, mathematical models and analytical techniques are used as described in this paper. Includes 7 references, tables, figures.