Modeling Integrated Water Resources in Los Angeles

"The history of the growth and development of Los Angeles... reveals its conscious use of water as a tool to build the 'great metropolis of the Pacific'"
-- Vincent Ostrom, 1962

Welcome to the repository for Artes, an integrated model of urban water resources in metropolitan Los Angeles (LA). It evaluates the potential for enhanced local water supplies in LA.

Los Angeles (LA) relies on large infrastructure systems that import water over hundreds of miles. Communities in LA face a future of increased water scarcity and reduced imports. Hundreds of water agencies serve nearly 10 million people within the county. Laws, institutions, and hydrogeology all influence the capacity of these agencies to adapt to future changes. To analyze the potential for future local water reliance and resilience, we used systems analysis of urban water management in metropolitan LA County to assess opportunities for increasing local water reliance. We developed a detailed network flow model to investigate management tradeoffs across engineered, social, and environmental systems.

The model and its underlying data have been used to produce 11 peer-reviewed studies. Model outputs and methods have also informed numerous regional studies and plans, including:
- the LA County Sustainability Plan,
- UCLA's Los Angeles Environmental Report Card,
- the Santa Monica Groundwater Sustainability Plan's evaluation of integrated basin management options,
- California's Fourth Climate Change Assessment (Los Angeles Regional section).

The model is a product of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA.

Cast and Crew:
Erik Porse, Stephanie Pincetl, Katie Mika, Mark Gold, Madelyn Glickfeld, Eric Fournier, Kartiki Naik, Terri Hogue, Kimberly Manago, Diane Pataki, Liza Litvak

What's In This Repository?
The repository contains source code, data, and a descriptive manual of the model.

Acknowledgements:
This work was supported by the Water Sustainability, & Climate Program at the National Science Foundation (NSF Award # 1204235), the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation.

Citing the Model:
Porse, E. (2022). Artes: Modeling Water Resources Management in Los Angeles, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/c2a8bb7e07b3409995c90a86120b2a9f

Research Studies:
Porse, Erik C., Kathryn B. Mika, Alvar Escriva-Bou, Eric Fournier, Kelly T. Sanders, Edward Spang, Jennifer Stokes-Draut, Felicia Federico, Mark Gold, and Stephanie Pincetl. “Systems Analysis of Energy Use for Urban Water Management by Utilities and Households in Los Angeles”. Environmental Research Communications. 2020: 2.1

Porse, Erik and Stephanie Pincetl. (2018). “Effects of Stormwater Capture and Use on Urban Streamflows.” Water Resources Management. 33.2 (2019): 713-723.

Porse, Erik. (2019). "Merging Network Governance and Systems Analysis for Urban Water Management." Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems. 2019: 1-19.

Pincetl, Stephanie, Thomas W. Gillespie, Diane E. Pataki, Erik Porse, Shenyue Jia, Erika Kidera, Nick Nobles, Janet Rodriguez, and Dong-ah Choi. (2019) "Evaluating the effects of turf-replacement programs in Los Angeles." Landscape and Urban Planning. 185: 210-221.

Pincetl, Stephanie, Erik Porse, Kathryn B. Mika, Elizabeth Litvak, Kim Manago, Kartiki Naik, Terri Hogue, Mark Gold, Tom Gillespie, and Diane Pataki. (2018). “Adapting Urban Water Systems to Manage Scarcity in the 21st Century: The Case of Los Angeles.” Environmental Management. 63.3. pgs 293-308

Porse, E., Mika, K. B., Williams, R., Gold, M., Blomquist, W., & Pincetl, S. (2018). “Groundwater Exchange Pools and Urban Water Supply Sustainability: Modeling Directed and Undirected Networks.” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 144(8)

Porse, Erik, Kathryn B. Mika, Elizaveta Litvak, Kimberly F. Manago, Terri S. Hogue, Mark Gold, Diane E. Pataki, and Stephanie Pincetl. (2018). “The Economic Value of Local Water Supplies in Los Angeles.” Nature Sustainability, May.

Porse, Erik. (2018). “Open Data and Stormwater Infrastructure in Los Angeles: Implications for Green Infrastructure and Sustainability”. Local Environment. 1-13.

Porse, Erik C., Kathryn B. Mika, Elizabeth Litvak, Kim Manago, Kartiki Naik, Madelyn Glickfeld, Terri Hogue, Mark Gold, Diane Pataki, and Stephanie Pincetl. (2017). “Systems Analysis and Optimization of Local Water Supplies in Los Angeles.” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. 143(9).

Pincetl, Stephanie, Erik C. Porse, and Deborah Cheng (2016). “Fragmented Flows: Water Supply in Los Angeles County”. Environmental Management. 58(2). Pg. 208-222

Porse, Erik C., Madelyn Glickfeld, Keith Mertan, and Stephanie Pincetl. (2015) “Pumping for the Masses: Evolution of Groundwater Rights in Metropolitan Los Angeles.” Geojournal.