Operationalizing equity for integrated water resources management

• Published in: Journal of the American Water Resources Association Vol. 59; no. 2; pp. 281 - 298
• Main Authors: Seigerman, Cydney K., McKay, S. Kyle, Basilio, Raul, Biesel, Shelly A., Hallemeier, Jon, Mansur, Andressa V., Piercy, Candice, Rowan, Sebastian, Ubiali, Bruno, Yeates, Elissa, Nelson, Donald R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Middleburg Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-04-2023
• Subjects: Dimensions; equity metrics; Life cycle; Life cycles; planning; Project planning; public participation; social equity; structured decision‐making; Water policy; Water resources; water resources infrastructure; Water resources management
• ISSN: 1093-474X; 1752-1688
• DOI: 10.1111/1752-1688.13086

Advancing social equity has been implicitly and explicitly central to water resources policy for decades. Yet, equity remains largely outside of standard water resources planning and management practices. Inclusion of equity within water resources infrastructure is inhibited by barriers including an incomplete conceptual understanding of equity, a perceived lack of quantitative and qualitative equity metrics, unclear connections between equity and standard project planning frameworks, and the absence of concrete examples. To facilitate greater practical inclusion of social equity in water resources practices, we describe equity relative to dimensions of distribution, procedure, and recognition and identify metrics associated with each. We then map these dimensions of equity onto different stages of a water resources project life cycle. We discuss how inequities are often perpetuated by current approaches and highlight case studies that promote one or more of the facets of equity. Rather than providing a prescriptive solution to “achieve” equity within water resources practices, we emphasize the need for contextualized approaches that include pragmatic steps toward more equitable practices and outcomes.