| Identifying and Exploring Driving Forces that Could Influence the Outcome of Future Western Water Scenarios |
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Environmental Driving Forces |
Votes Received as the Most Significant
Drivers 1/ |
Is the Driver Predetermined to Occur or is its Evolution Uncertain? 2/ |
| Environmental Driver - Increase in Water Demand | 22 | Predetermined |
| It appears inevitable that demand for water in the west will continue to increase. This increase in demand will place a greater focus on western water issue including environmental issues. | ||
| Environmental Driver -Invasive Species | 18 | Predetermined |
| Invasive species continue to be introduced into the west. Although the impact of each new species on western water takes time to discern, it appears clear that new invasive species will be introduced into the west in the future and this could impact western water. | ||
| Environmental Driver - Endangered Species Act | 17 | Uncertain |
| The future of the Endangered Species Act is uncertain. For now it does appear that early intervention in endangered species issues can save significant money and help insure water delivery. | ||
| Environmental Driver - Land Use Change | 17 | Predetermined |
| Land use change in large parts of the western U.S. appears inevitable. Land use has been changing at an increasing rate and this could impact western water. Land use change can impact water quality, quantity, and time of delivery. | ||
| Environmental Driver - Environmental Education | 15 | Predetermined |
| Environmental education is becoming a part of everyday life. Younger generations receive more environmental education than past generations have received. This means the public is more aware of environmental issues. The awareness could result in impacts to western water delivery. | ||
| Environmental Driver - Urbanization | 11 | Predetermined |
| The west continues to become more urban. It does not appear that there is any reason to believe that this trend will change. Increasing urbanization will increase the demand for M&I water and will create conflict with traditional agricultural water customers. In addition, urbanization will impact water quality for downstream water users. | ||
| Environmental Driver - Contaminants | 11 | |
| Contamination of western water seems predetermined by changes in land use and urbanization. These changes in the west will result in increased contaminant loads in rivers and reservoirs. | ||
| Environmental Driver - Future Water Supply | 7 | Uncertain |
| Future climate change is the major uncertainty in future water supply. Changes in climate could result in additional water supplies or they could result in dramatic shortages. It is not clear what impact climate change will have on water supply. Future water supply could also be effected by urbanization, land use change, and contaminants. | ||
| Environmental Driver - Pathogens | 6 | Uncertain |
| The effect of human pathogens on water supplies is uncertain. If pathogens contaminate water supplies, this could create significant problems for western water. | ||
| Environmental Driver - Real-Time Monitoring of Water Demands and Depletion | 5 | Uncertain |
1/ The number of votes that the driver received from all meeting participants. Each meeting participant was given 20 votes. They were asked to allocate their votes based on the drivers that they believed to be the most significant drivers that will influence water supply, water demands, and water uses in the west over the next 20 to 25 years. All 20 votes could be placed on a single driver or spread across several drivers.
2/Predermined Drivers: Predetermined drivers represent drivers that we know are having, or will have, an influence on western water supplies and demands. However, the extent and type of the influence can be uncertain.
Uncertain Drivers: Drivers that could evolve and have an influence on western water supplies and demands.