| Identifying and Exploring Driving Forces that Could Influence the Outcome of Future Western Water Scenarios |
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| Technology Driving Forces |
Votes Received as the Most Significant Drivers 1/ |
Is the Driver Predetermined to Occur or is its Evolution Uncertain? 2/ |
| Desalination | 29 | Uncertain |
| There are currently and probably will be more technology developments to turn salt water to fresh water. What technologies will emerge? Will they make water delivery from the sea viable? | ||
| Water reuse | 21 | Uncertain |
| There are currently and probably will be more technology developments to reuse water Will costs be low enough to make viable? Will public acceptance make adoption viable? | ||
| Weather Mods | 17 | Uncertain |
| Will new technologies emerge to mine water from the sky? Would massive attempts to do so cause regional or continental changes which are non beneficial? | ||
| Information Technology
Uses for Problem Solving Data Integration Schemes |
17 | Uncertain |
| The ability to collect, retrieve and analyze data has vastly improved with modern computers. Now more data and better analysis tools are available to aid in decision making. What data layers are available? What tools are available? | ||
| Remote Sensing | 11 | Uncertain |
| Remote sensing is a technology to gather large amounts of data in a easy manner. The technology is rapidly emerging. How can new technology help in decision management? How will we know what technology is available? | ||
| More Efficient Hydropower | 6 | Uncertain |
| Hydropower revenues pay most of the repayment costs for development projects. Developments are made regularly to increase the efficiency of hydropower. What improvements will be made? How will they be incorporated into projects? | ||
| Nanotechnology | 5 | Uncertain |
| Nano technology is being developed for many applications, eg inspection and repair. How will we know what technologies are being developed. How will we implement in Reclamation? | ||
| Energy Sources Development | 4 | Uncertain |
| Regional energy sources, fuel cells and other technologies could change the production and distribution of electricity. Will these emerge on a scale to change the power industry? | ||
| New water storage schemes | 3 | Uncertain |
| More water is needed for use. Will more storage be developed to accommodate this need? | ||
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.