ERI: Analyzing the Impact of Outdoor Water-Use Restrictions and the COVID-19 Pandemic on Water Consumption in Massachusetts

ERI：分析户外用水限制和 COVID-19 大流行对马萨诸塞州用水量的影响

• 批准号: 2138539
• 负责人: Katherine Schlef
• 金额: $ 11.43万
• 依托单位: Western New England University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-01-15 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138539&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ERI; Analyzing; Impact; Outdoor; Water

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).This Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) project will provide critical understanding of the impacts of outdoor water-use restrictions on water consumption in Massachusetts. Despite relatively abundant rainfall and regulations on water withdrawal, Massachusetts’ water supplies are stressed. Consequently, public water suppliers are often required to implement outdoor water-use restrictions by the regulatory authority. These restrictions are complex, non-uniform, and contentious, and the COVID-19 pandemic is yet another confounding factor. This project, the first of its kind to be implemented at a state-wide scale anywhere in the United States, will (a) provide new insights to facilitate integrated water resources management at the scale of major river basins, (b) provide comprehensive analysis to inform regulatory action, and (c) empower public water suppliers with improved understanding of the factors influencing restriction effectiveness. Furthermore, this project will identify the impact of the pandemic, thus providing knowledge about the resilience of Massachusetts’ water supply systems and revealing important lessons for ensuring water supply under future unforeseen conditions. Lastly, this project will provide meaningful research experiences for undergraduate and master students, including those in minority/underrepresented groups, resulting in valuable benefits such as increased independence and intrinsic motivation to learn.The project consists of developing a panel regression model, complemented by interviewing public supply water managers. The panel regression will be based on 11 years of monthly data across all Massachusetts’ public water suppliers, with water consumption as the dependent variable and drivers of consumption as the independent variables. The consumption drivers fall into three main categories: hydrometeorological conditions (e.g., precipitation, temperature, and drought status), consumer characteristics (e.g., income, household size, and political affiliation), and public water supplier management decisions (e.g., restriction severity and timing, promotion of water conservation, and pricing). Additional independent variables will be used to represent impervious or green area and to address the presence and severity of the pandemic. The interviews with water managers will be used to create storylines that guide the development and interpretation of the panel regression. The interview questions focus on demand and drought management and on how the pandemic has affected water consumption. The project will provide the first state-wide assessment of water-use restrictions to be performed anywhere in the United States, will generate insight on the effectiveness of both drought-based and permanent restrictions, and will identify the impacts of the pandemic on water consumption.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该奖项是根据2021年《美国救援计划法》的全部或部分资助的（公共法117-2）。本工程研究启动（ERI）项目将对户外水利用限制对马萨诸塞州的水消耗的影响进行批判性了解。尽管降雨量相对丰富和水的降雨法规，但马萨诸塞州的水供应还是强调的。因此，通常需要公共供水商来实施监管机构的户外水利用限制。这些限制是复杂的，不均匀的，有争议的，而COVID-19大流行是另一个混​​杂因素。该项目是在美国任何地方在州范围内在州范围内实施的第一个项目，将（a）提供新的见解，以促进主要河贝斯规模的集成水资源管理，（b）提供全面的分析，以告知监管行动，并（c）对公共水供应商的影响，对影响限制性效果的因素提高了对公共水供应商的了解。此外，该项目将确定大流行的影响，从而提供有关马萨诸塞州供水系统弹性的知识，并揭示重要的教训，以确保未来不可预见的条件下的供水。最后，该项目将为本科生和硕士学生提供有意义的研究经验，包括少数群体/代表性不足的群体的学生，从而带来了可观的好处，例如增加独立性和学习的内在动机。该项目包括开发一个通过采访公共供应水经理完成的面板回归模型。面板回归将基于马萨诸塞州所有公共供水商的11年每月数据，其用水作为因变量和消费驱动力作为自变量。消费驱动因素分为三个主要类别：水文学条件（例如，精度，温度和干旱状况），消费者特征（例如收入，家庭规模和政治会员），以及公共供水供应商管理决策（例如限制性，限制性和时机，促进供水和定价）。其他独立变量将用于代表不透水或绿色区域，并解决大流行的存在和严重性。对水管理人员的访谈将用于创建故事情节，以指导面板回归的发展和解释。访谈问题的重点是需求和干旱管理以及大流行如何影响用水量。该项目将对美国任何地方进行的水利用限制进行首次评估，将洞悉基于干旱和永久性限制的有效性，并将确定大流行对水消耗的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过评估基金会的评估诚实地支持了基金会的诚实支持，并诚实地对基金会的影响进行了评估。