Growth and Underinvestment System Archetype as a Guide to Holistic Water Quality Management
Abstract
Many water quality problems (e.g., lake eutrophication) are similar in nature but continuously appear in different geographical locations. System archetypes may be used as a tool for conceptual modeling of such problems, illustrating underlying system structures that generate undesirable long-term patterns of system behavior. These archetypes can also facilitate identification of policy levers for addressing the problem, with testing of policies done using more detailed quantitative models. Here, Growth and Underinvestment (G&U) is discussed as an important system archetype governing many water quality problems. Building on the well-known Limits to Growth archetype, the G&U archetype emphasizes the need for adequate, continuous investment in those parts of the system that, if overlooked, threaten to limit the system's growth. Case studies of Great Lakes watersheds and South Florida demonstrate how the G&U archetype can guide water quality policy.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFM.H41K1390M
- Keywords:
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- 1880 HYDROLOGY Water management;
- 1879 HYDROLOGY Watershed