A Template to Enhance Regional Water Supply Planning

Regional water supply planning can be performed in a variety of ways and the impetus behind the creation of a regional water supply plan is as diverse as the constituents the plan serves. Formal water supply planning has been occurring for the last fifty years and a review of recent literature suggests that trends in water supply planning are leading to regional, integrated planning. Integrated regional water supply planning includes aspects of land use, population growth, environmental impacts, and planning for water supply to meet the needs of a region.

A water supply plan outlines the water goals of a region. The regional water supply planning process can be assisted through the use of planning instruments such as an integrated plan template and a regional plan comparison checklist. The primary function of this thesis is to offer tools to guide the water supply planning process. The purpose is to enhance water supply planning by providing a template for integrated regional water supply planning. This thesis provides the planner with three tools: 1) an integrated plan template; 2) a condensed template; and 3) a regional plan comparison checklist. The primary contribution, the integrated plan template, is the result of a list of common water supply plan elements drawn from the current body of knowledge that can serve as a guide to inform community learning about regional water supply planning and/or aid in the structure of new plans.