Conceptual Rule-Based Storage Accounting for Multipurpose Water Resource Systems

Abstract

Rule-based storage accounting provides a framework for efficient and equitable allocation of the benefits, costs and risks associated with operation of multipurpose federal reservoir systems through (1) policies and procedures for exchange of storage among included purposes, and (2) a system of credits and penalties associated with storage use designed to prevent cross-subsidization among included purposes and to check unsustainable demands on storage. Rule-based storage accounting does not allocate water or storage, but defines procedures to ensure operational compliance with allocation formulas agreed upon by users of storage or included purposes. The principal features of rule-based storage accounting are listed as follows: Quantitative accounting of all demands on conservation storage based on established purposes, storage allocation, and system operating rules, priorities and constraints; Tracking and adaptation of reservoir system operating rules, instream flow requirements and water demands to ensure operational compliance and recovery of over-utilized storage. By giving all included purposes a stake in the management of the reservoir system, rule-based storage accounting provides an opportunity for parties in river basin water allocation or management conflicts to achieve consensus on water allocation formulas initially, and for participatory management of the Basins and comprehensive water planning thereafter. Rule-based storage accounting applies to consumptive and non-consumptive uses of water, and provides a practical means to allocate benefits, costs and risks of water management under riparian, appropriative and hybrid river basin management systems.