Introduction
Optimization is a very large topic, even within the confines of water resources planning and management. For today, I would like to focus on a single application, which I found while reading the Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA). I highly recommend JAWRA as a great source on all things water resources and for updates on the latest issues. In the February 2011 issue (yes, I'm a little behind on my reading), there is an article called "Optimal Pollution Trading without Pollution Reductions: A Note". I would like to take the time to write up a review of this article.
Pollutant Trading Application
Pollutant trading is in it's infancy - the experimental stages. Current challenges include high transaction costs, difficulties in transferring liabilities, and pollution allowances in existing programs. This article describes how two different types of polluters (farm and factory) can collaborate in order to reduce the impact on receiving waters. While the factory discharges pollutants at a constant rate, irrespective of its surroundings, a farm might discharge in spikes depending on the occurrence of storm events. Optimization was used to minimize the environmental damage to the receiving water body. Factors considered in the optimization include uncertainty in runoff pollutants and enforcement costs.
Traditionally with pollutant trading, the thing being traded is a reduction in pollutant concentration. A reduction in pollutant load at point A is traded for an equal increase in pollutant load at point B on the receiving water body. In the case of this example, temporary retention of pollutants is instead being traded.
References:
Garcia, Jorge H., Heberling, Matthew T., Thurston, Hale W. "Optimal Pollution Trading without Pollution Reductions: A Note". JAWRA 2011, Vol. 47, No. 1, pg 52.
Optimization is a very large topic, even within the confines of water resources planning and management. For today, I would like to focus on a single application, which I found while reading the Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA). I highly recommend JAWRA as a great source on all things water resources and for updates on the latest issues. In the February 2011 issue (yes, I'm a little behind on my reading), there is an article called "Optimal Pollution Trading without Pollution Reductions: A Note". I would like to take the time to write up a review of this article.
Pollutant Trading Application
Pollutant trading is in it's infancy - the experimental stages. Current challenges include high transaction costs, difficulties in transferring liabilities, and pollution allowances in existing programs. This article describes how two different types of polluters (farm and factory) can collaborate in order to reduce the impact on receiving waters. While the factory discharges pollutants at a constant rate, irrespective of its surroundings, a farm might discharge in spikes depending on the occurrence of storm events. Optimization was used to minimize the environmental damage to the receiving water body. Factors considered in the optimization include uncertainty in runoff pollutants and enforcement costs.
Traditionally with pollutant trading, the thing being traded is a reduction in pollutant concentration. A reduction in pollutant load at point A is traded for an equal increase in pollutant load at point B on the receiving water body. In the case of this example, temporary retention of pollutants is instead being traded.
References:
Garcia, Jorge H., Heberling, Matthew T., Thurston, Hale W. "Optimal Pollution Trading without Pollution Reductions: A Note". JAWRA 2011, Vol. 47, No. 1, pg 52.
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