Drought Management in New England: A Method for Integrating Short Range Operational and Long Range Investment Strategies

摘要

Strategies are developed to prepare for future droughts in New England. These consist of (1) documenting the safe yield of supply sources for a design drought severity, such as return frequency and duration; and (2) developing specific short-term management and long-term investment plans to adequately meet or reduce projected shortages. Cost-benefit relations are described for specific water supply management alternatives. To evaluate specific supply increase and demand reduction alternatives, a methodology is developed and applied to Concord, New Hampshire and Fall River, Massachusetts. A computerized approach to predict reservoir response and select drought management alternatives is applied to Brockton, Massachusetts. Detailed case studies of the aforementioned New England cities are included. The appendices consist of state maps of water supply system adequacy based on available data, state population trend maps, and computer simulation and stochiastic control models for providing guidance for daily water systems operations.