A Qualitative Approach to Understand Transitions toward One Water in Urban Areas across North America
Urban water systems across the world are grappled with growing social and environmental pressures. To address these pressures, a transition from traditional water management systems towards a more integrated and sustainable approach known as “One Water” is vital. Although cities are enthusiastic abo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/14/2499 |
| _version_ | 1797587245171998720 |
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| author | Donya Dezfooli Jessica Bolson Mazdak Arabi Michael C. Sukop Inge Wiersema Sarah Millonig |
| author_facet | Donya Dezfooli Jessica Bolson Mazdak Arabi Michael C. Sukop Inge Wiersema Sarah Millonig |
| author_sort | Donya Dezfooli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban water systems across the world are grappled with growing social and environmental pressures. To address these pressures, a transition from traditional water management systems towards a more integrated and sustainable approach known as “One Water” is vital. Although cities are enthusiastic about a One Water paradigm, there is a limited scholarly understanding of how to enable this transition. This study, therefore, aimed to improve intellectual comprehension of the factors that influence One Water transitions based on a series of expert interviews that were conducted with a number of utilities across North America. It was found that achieving social–environmental justice is among the most prominent drivers for utilities to start their transition, followed by concerns about climate change, water quality impairments, groundwater depletion and subsidence, and population growth. Our findings revealed that several critical barriers including a lack of regulatory frameworks and existing institutional siloes impede the transition toward One Water. Additionally, our thematic framework revealed that technological, cultural, and institutional actions are required to enable One Water transitions. However, the frequency of actions in the thematic framework sheds light on the point that cultural, institutional, and regulatory solutions are needed more than technological innovations to support the paradigm shift. Finally, our efforts identified nine key elements of a “One Water City” that could be used to characterize progress towards implementation of One Water approaches. Insights from this paper not only provide water managers with an understanding of the perspectives and actions required for enabling the One Water paradigm shift, but also can be used to develop a framework for self-assessment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:33:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-99af53b4431f4a14909b1140039b71a4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:33:26Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-99af53b4431f4a14909b1140039b71a42023-11-18T21:46:15ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412023-07-011514249910.3390/w15142499A Qualitative Approach to Understand Transitions toward One Water in Urban Areas across North AmericaDonya Dezfooli0Jessica Bolson1Mazdak Arabi2Michael C. Sukop3Inge Wiersema4Sarah Millonig5Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USADepartment of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USADepartment of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USACarollo Engineers Inc., Los Angeles, CA 94598, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USAUrban water systems across the world are grappled with growing social and environmental pressures. To address these pressures, a transition from traditional water management systems towards a more integrated and sustainable approach known as “One Water” is vital. Although cities are enthusiastic about a One Water paradigm, there is a limited scholarly understanding of how to enable this transition. This study, therefore, aimed to improve intellectual comprehension of the factors that influence One Water transitions based on a series of expert interviews that were conducted with a number of utilities across North America. It was found that achieving social–environmental justice is among the most prominent drivers for utilities to start their transition, followed by concerns about climate change, water quality impairments, groundwater depletion and subsidence, and population growth. Our findings revealed that several critical barriers including a lack of regulatory frameworks and existing institutional siloes impede the transition toward One Water. Additionally, our thematic framework revealed that technological, cultural, and institutional actions are required to enable One Water transitions. However, the frequency of actions in the thematic framework sheds light on the point that cultural, institutional, and regulatory solutions are needed more than technological innovations to support the paradigm shift. Finally, our efforts identified nine key elements of a “One Water City” that could be used to characterize progress towards implementation of One Water approaches. Insights from this paper not only provide water managers with an understanding of the perspectives and actions required for enabling the One Water paradigm shift, but also can be used to develop a framework for self-assessment.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/14/2499urban waterOne Watersustainabilitytransitionintegrationcollaboration |
| spellingShingle | Donya Dezfooli Jessica Bolson Mazdak Arabi Michael C. Sukop Inge Wiersema Sarah Millonig A Qualitative Approach to Understand Transitions toward One Water in Urban Areas across North America Water urban water One Water sustainability transition integration collaboration |
| title | A Qualitative Approach to Understand Transitions toward One Water in Urban Areas across North America |
| title_full | A Qualitative Approach to Understand Transitions toward One Water in Urban Areas across North America |
| title_fullStr | A Qualitative Approach to Understand Transitions toward One Water in Urban Areas across North America |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Qualitative Approach to Understand Transitions toward One Water in Urban Areas across North America |
| title_short | A Qualitative Approach to Understand Transitions toward One Water in Urban Areas across North America |
| title_sort | qualitative approach to understand transitions toward one water in urban areas across north america |
| topic | urban water One Water sustainability transition integration collaboration |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/14/2499 |
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