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Updated: May 7, 2026
12:44
Watershed Planning within a Quantitative Scenario Analysis Framework
Published on: July 24, 2016
Risk-based principles for defining and managing water security
1Environmental Change Institute, , University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Summary
This study explores using risk management principles to address water security challenges like scarcity and floods. It highlights how this approach can better manage uncertainties and trade-offs in water resource planning.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Water Resource Management
- Risk Analysis
Background:
- Water security encompasses human and natural systems, addressing scarcity, floods, and water quality issues.
- Risk management principles are widely used in public policy but have limitations with severe uncertainties and contested values.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the applicability of risk-based principles for formalizing discussions on water security.
- To assess how risk concepts can address inherent variability in water systems.
- To demonstrate improved water resource planning by accounting for uncertainties and actor-specific risks.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual exploration of risk-based principles in water security.
- Simulation study to illustrate interconnections between risk, uncertainty, and water systems.
- Analysis of epistemic uncertainties, risk tolerability, and inter-actor risk trade-offs.
Main Results:
- Risk concepts offer a normative framework and explicit means to address variability in water systems.
- Simulation demonstrates how to integrate epistemic uncertainties and risk trade-offs into planning.
- Water resource planning can be enhanced by explicitly considering risk and its distribution.
Conclusions:
- Risk-based principles provide a valuable framework for understanding and managing water security.
- Accounting for uncertainties and diverse actor perspectives is crucial for effective water resource management.
- Simulation modeling aids in visualizing and addressing complex risk dynamics in water systems.
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