Risk Analysis: Water Resources Education

Abstract

The concepts of risk, uncertainty, risk analysis, and risk-benefit analysis have become working tools of the water resource professional. In reality, hydrologists, flood control specialists, and water resource planners and engineers have estimated the magnitudes of a specified design storm, and specified design flood, or the magnitude of the maximum demand day for a water supply system. However, in addition to these more traditional professional specialties, interest in risk and reliability have expanded into other areas of the water resource profession. For example, following the enactment of the Clean Water Act in 1972, the regulatory agencies at both the federal and state levels have been interested in monitoring the performance of waste water treatment plants. Reliability in terms of plant performance has become a significant topic of interest. Facilities which lack reliability in terms of overall system performance may not only pose threats to human and ecosystem health but also may be subject to enforcement actions against the owners/operators of the facilities. Accordingly, it is important to familiarize water resource planners and engineers with working knowledge of engineering systems and associated risk and reliability studies.