Analytical and Modeling Tools for Integrated Water Resources Management in Urban Environments

Through a variety of influences, including development pressures, environmental factors, climate change, political or financial considerations, and public opinion, many water resource engineers and policy makers are moving towards adopting a more holistic approach to water resource management. The traditional approach of analyzing water resource issues independently of each other does not sufficiently meet the growing and increasingly complex need for managing water resources within watersheds. Stormwater managers, wastewater operators, drinking water providers, and floodplain managers are realizing that an integrated approach better recognizes the interdependence of these groups and the impacts that management decisions in one group may have on the others and local communities. An integrated set of analytical and modeling tools that can cost-effectively handle multiple, and oftentimes competing, uses of water will allow water resources professionals to adopt an integrated approach effectively. This paper discusses the need and the options available for analytical and modeling tools to support integrated water resources management. It also presents a number of models and case studies about integrated modeling.