The papers in this menu offer viewpoints on various aspects of water resources management.
An edited version of the introductory piece for a column Venhuizen produced for “Onsite Water Treatment”, this piece reviews how he came to understand and embrace a “decentralized concept” of wastewater management as the overarching philosophy for integrating this function into a more sustainable water resources management strategy.
Produced as a discussion piece about a proposed 1999 water deal between the City of Austin and the Lower Colorado River Authority, this paper reviews the importance of a holistic consideration of water resources management, in particular the impact of efficiency improvements on ultimate demands.
This article was stimulated by observations of how ATU/spray systems are coming to dominate on-site wastewater practice in the Texas Hill Country, and of how a continuation of this trend is likely to lead to water quality – and perhaps public health – problems in these watershed, at least if the current level of “management” continues to be applied. Alternate strategies – biofiltration treatment and subsurface drip irrigation – are suggested as a superior strategy to blunt, or even eliminate, those impacts. Drip irrigation also offers a practical beneficial reuse strategy that can defray significant demand on the original water resources.
