Tools: WaterStrategyMan Tool (Decision Support System for the Development of Sustainable Water Management Strategies)
The GIS-based Decision Support System developed for the WaterStrategyMan Project (WSM
DSS) aims to assess the state of a water resource system in terms of sources, usage, water
cycles (pathways) and environmental quality. In addition, it evaluates the effects of actions,
on the basis of different scenarios, alternatives and policies. Water allocation is performed
according to a set of demand and supply priorities reflecting the pricing system, social
preferences, environmental constraints and development priorities. Among the many ways of
classifying implementation approaches or policy options, social system responses are of
particular importance for the WSM DSS, being conceived as four types of management
options:
- Supply enhancement options, intended to increase available water quantities during
drought; they concern structural interventions which attempt to enhance water supply; - Demand management options, aiming at decreasing water demands through various
conservation techniques and use limitation; - Socio-economic measures needed to mitigate impacts, also by means of socioeconomic
instruments, such as pricing and changes in the regional development
priorities; - Methods able to produce management strategies through combinations of control
measures seeking optimum and efficient solutions.
The WSM DSS can model water conditions in a given area and be used to estimate how
much water is needed to meet the existing and projected demand, to determine what
interventions are necessary, as well as when and where, and their cost. It can provide
indicators of performance for selected actions under potential availability and demand
scenarios, and use them to rank the scenarios. The DSS supports the user to assess the
functionality and performance of the water system within the entire region of application as
well as individual points of interest.
The following material is available for download:
