The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Vancouver campus
Faculty of Applied ScienceThe Water Planning Lab at the School of Community and Regional Planning
  • Home
  • People
    • Alumni
  • Research
    • Student Projects
  • Teaching
  • Resources
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Academia in the time of Covid-19: Our chance to develop an ethics of care

    by Esteve Corbera, Isabelle Anguelovski, Jordi Honey-Rosés and Isabel Ruiz-Mallén

  • Percent Change as a Measure of Price Escalation in Water and Energy Utilities

    We advance the idea of using percent billing changes as a simple measure of price escalation. This simple yet underused metric may help evaluate rate structure design in public utilities. We illustrate how price escalation may generate useful insight for utility managers by analyzing rate structures from water utilities in British Columbia, Canada. We observe […]

  • Metrics and Methods for Comparing Water Utility Rate Structures

    Utility managers must design rate structures that meet multiple objectives: full cost recovery, fairness, economic efficiency, and resource conservation. To reach these multiple goals, the design of an optimal rate structure would ideally include detailed information on cost of service, demand elasticity, and preferences of the customer base within each utility. However this information is […]

  • What Participation? DistinguishingWater Monitoring Programs in Mining Regions Based on Community Participation

    Water issues are a major concern for the mining sector and for communities living near mining operations. The emergence of Participatory Water Monitoring (PWM) programs in mining regions reflects a shift toward greater stakeholder collaboration and more inclusive water governance. This article proposes a new framework to evaluate community involvement in PWM programs across Latin […]

  • SCARP Alumni’s Master’s Project Used by Rural Drinking Water Committees in Chile

    SCARP graduate and Water Planning Lab member Claudio Pareja (MCRP 2017) spent 4 months collaborating with the National Federation of Rural Drinking Water (FENAPRU) in Chile for his Master’s project. His project focused on the translation of the new Rural Sanitation Service law for rural drinking-water committees in Chile. Given the technical nature of the […]

Introducing the Water Planning Lab

The Water Planning Lab at the University of British Columbia seeks to build partnerships between researchers and professional planners to address water-related challenges in British Columbia. We live in a region with relatively abundant fresh water, however we are not immune to problems of scarcity, pollution or inefficiency. Furthermore, climate change is likely to modify precipitation patterns and alter the hydrological cycle around the world, including here in B.C.

Our research group has expertise in water economics, program evaluation, water treatment, watershed planning, aquatic ecology, water governance and stakeholder engagement. We seek to apply this knowledge to address real water planning problems where we live.

We are particularly interested in water demand management among residential consumers. We hypothesize that municipal governments in Metro Vancouver have multiple opportunities to reduce residential water use through a combination of programs or policies based on incentives, information or social norms. We are interested in comparing the effectiveness of different water conservation strategies frequently used by municipal governments. Which approach is most successful in reducing household water consumption? How persistent are the effects? Under which circumstances are they effective? Which strategy is most cost-effective? How do these approaches compare to supply based measures? We are especially interested in answering these questions through an experimental design with residential water users. An experimental design will produce robust results and help us contribute to the evidence-base for water conservation strategies.

If you are interested in collaborating with the Water Planning Lab, please contact us.

Water Planning Lab, School of Community and Regional Planning
Vancouver Campus
1933 West Mall Annex
Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z2
Tel 604 822 0168
Find us on
 
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility