Public Administration and Water supply Management in Urban Areas of USA Background Water supply management has become a major issue of concern for the urban areas of USA on account of increasing population, climatic changes, shortages of water, etc.Public administrative bodies at national, state and city levels have taken various initiatives to properly manage water supply in urban areas. However, questions still arise about the efficiency of these policies or initiatives in managing water supply in urban areas of the country. According to a report of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of USA, more than 50 percent of water supplied by public authorities is used by domestic households, while businesses or industries consume significantly less water. However, there is some variation in the amount used based on location. (EPA, 2013) With increasing usage of water, many states of USA have already started to feel the pressure, particularly in urban areas. Water shortages have become a common problem in almost all the regions of USA. (Borisova et al. 2009) The administrative bodies are now dealing with growth in population, increasing usage of in-stream water, environmental side-effects (negative) of continuous withdrawal of groundwater, impact of climate changes with respect to water supply and distribution across the country (Dziegielewski and Kiefer 2008). Over the years, efficiency with respect to water usage has been improved, but rapid population growth, mainly in urban areas, has led to a huge increase in withdrawal of groundwater by public authorities to supply water (Marella 2008). Making provision for adequate water for the incasing urban population has become a major concern for water supply managers of the country (Borisova et al. 2009). This concern has been heightened by the long-term effects of climatic changes. For example, changes in the amount of rainfall, evaporation, groundwater recharge, etc. on account of variation in climate significantly influence availability of and demand for freshwater (Borisova et al. 2009). With respect to the quality of drinking water, there are concerns about disinfection by chemical substances, mainly in urban areas. In order to deal with these issues, various supply-side and demand side measures have been taken by the government. For example, supply side management tools include higher desalination with fresher water to maintain desired quality of drinking water, collection of excess surface water at the time of rainy season in storage reservoirs, reclamation of water used by domestic households with highly efficient treatment for other non-drinking purposes, etc (Dziegielewski and Kiefer 2008; Borisova et al. 2009). On the other hand, demand side management tools include quality control, making provisions of price incentives for water conservation, increasing water rates during droughts, water shortages, high demand, etc., utilization of educational programs to raise public awareness about ...

1. Public Administration and Water supply Management in Urban
Areas of USA
Background
Water supply management has become a major issue of concern
for the urban areas of USA on account of increasing population,
climatic changes, shortages of water, etc.Public administrative
bodies at national, state and city levels have taken various
initiatives to properly manage water supply in urban areas.
However, questions still arise about the efficiency of these
policies or initiatives in managing water supply in urban areas
of the country.
According to a report of Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) of USA, more than 50 percent of water supplied by
public authorities is used by domestic households, while
businesses or industries consume significantly less water.
However, there is some variation in the amount used based on
location. (EPA, 2013)
With increasing usage of water, many states of USA have
already started to feel the pressure, particularly in urban areas.
Water shortages have become a common problem in almost all
the regions of USA. (Borisova et al. 2009)
The administrative bodies are now dealing with growth in
population, increasing usage of in-stream water, environmental
side-effects (negative) of continuous withdrawal of
groundwater, impact of climate changes with respect to water
supply and distribution across the country (Dziegielewski and
Kiefer 2008).
Over the years, efficiency with respect to water usage has been
improved, but rapid population growth, mainly in urban areas,
has led to a huge increase in withdrawal of groundwater by
public authorities to supply water (Marella 2008). Making
provision for adequate water for the incasing urban population
has become a major concern for water supply managers of the

2. country (Borisova et al. 2009). This concern has been
heightened by the long-term effects of climatic changes. For
example, changes in the amount of rainfall, evaporation,
groundwater recharge, etc. on account of variation in climate
significantly influence availability of and demand for
freshwater (Borisova et al. 2009). With respect to the quality of
drinking water, there are concerns about disinfection by
chemical substances, mainly in urban areas.
In order to deal with these issues, various supply-side and
demand side measures have been taken by the government. For
example, supply side management tools include higher
desalination with fresher water to maintain desired quality of
drinking water, collection of excess surface water at the time of
rainy season in storage reservoirs, reclamation of water used by
domestic households with highly efficient treatment for other
non-drinking purposes, etc (Dziegielewski and Kiefer 2008;
Borisova et al. 2009). On the other hand, demand side
management tools include quality control, making provisions of
price incentives for water conservation, increasing water rates
during droughts, water shortages, high demand, etc., utilization
of educational programs to raise public awareness about water
usage, etc (Dziegielewski and Kiefer 2008; Borisova et al.
2009). Besides, EPA has developed a partisanship project,
WaterSense that promises to teach the Americans simple ways
to reduce water usage with the help of using water-efficient
products (EPA, 2013).
Research Question
Water resource and supply managers at national and state levels
have a portfolio of strategies to address limited water supply
and growing water demand in urban areas of USA. However, it
is necessary to choose the most effective methods of adequate
and persistent water supply in urban areas. Expansion of
already available water supplies certainly has some important
benefits for areas that are experiencing huge population growth
(Borisova et al. 2009). However, sometimes expansion in the

3. available water supply appears to be costly (Dziegielewski and
Kiefer 2008; Borisova et al. 2009). But, demand side
management tools, inspite of being cost effective, do not always
bring effective results. In such a situation, the present study
will place its focus on one supply side management tool and
examine its efficiency in one of the overpopulated urban region
of the country. For the purpose of the study, focus will be
placed on the strategy of desalination and the chosen area would
be Florida, one of the highly dense urban sectors of the country.
Hence, the research question would be as follows:
How does the strategy of higher desalination of water helps in
better water supply management in overly populated urban
sector?
Research method
For the purpose of the proposed study, the case study of
desalination of water in Florida will be taken into account.
Besides, a comparative analysis will be conducted where the
desalination strategy and its effectiveness for better water
supply management will be compared with that implemented in
other areas, such as European Union. This comparison might
help in detecting the loopholes in the existing system used in
Florida and offering some recommendations. The proposed
study will use secondary data for answering the research
question. Data will be collected from the federal and state
government, public water supply agencies, and peer reviewed
journal articles. Newspaper and magazine articles will also
provide some important information.
References
EPA- United Stated Environment Protection Agency. (2013).
Water Supply in the U.S. Available at
http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/pubs/supply.html
Dziegielewski, B. and Kiefer. J.C. (2008). U.S. Water Demand,
Supply and Allocation: Trends and Outlook (2007-R-3).
Washington, D.C.: United States Army Corps of Engineers.

4. Marella, R.L. (2008). Water Use in Florida, 2005 and Trends
1950–2005. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of
Environmental Protection and Florida Water Management
District Headquarters
Borisova, T., Rawls, C. And Admas, D. (2009). Balancing
Urban Water Demand and Supply in Florida: Overview of Tools
Available to Water Managers. University of Florida,
Gainesville, FL: Food and Resource Economics Department.