Decision Center for a Desert City’s WaterSim Model explores Phoenix water issues

Project Description

Decision Center for a Desert City developed the WaterSim simulation model to analyze the potential effects of future climate conditions, population growth, land use change, and policy options on water supply and demand in Phoenix from the present until 2030. WaterSim is shown in Arizona State University's Decision Theater, a multi-screen visualization and decision space, and is also disseminated to the public on the Web (http://watersim.asu.edu).

We created WaterSim as a tool for users to consider the consequences of today's policy decisions (e.g., satisfy current per capita demand versus impose sustainable groundwater use) for future shortage conditions, to consider the possibility of multiple futures, and to evaluate risks and how to achieve desirable outcomes and avoid undesirable ones. Although WaterSim was developed to support decision making and policy analysis in Phoenix, this type of modeling and this specific model have broader relevance to the general problem of managing regional water systems in the face of climatic uncertainty and rapid growth.

ASU Project Staff

Patricia Gober (Decision Center for a Desert City and School of Geographical Sciences), Mike Tschudi (Decision Center for a Desert City), David Sampson (Decision Center for a Desert City), Tim Lant (Decision Theater, formerly with Decision Center for a Desert City)

Funding

Decision Center for a Desert City is funded by the National Science Foundation. It is one of five NSF-funded centers studying Decision Making Under Uncertainty.