UHERO Working Papers
How Will Climate Change Affect Water Demand? Evidence from Hawai‘i Microclimates
WORKING PAPERS ARE PRELIMINARY MATERIALS CIRCULATED TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION AND CRITICAL COMMENT. WHILE WORKING PAPERS BENEFIT FROM ACTIVE UHERO DISCUSSION, THEY HAVE NOT UNDERGONE FORMAL ACADEMIC PEER REVIEW.
The findings and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views or official positions of UHERO, the University of Hawai’i, or any funding or supporting organization.
The effect that natural hazard resilience will have on water resource sustainability is gaining international interest, particularly in regions where stocks are strained due to changing climate and increasing populations. Past studies focus mainly on how water availability will be affected by natural hazard resilience, with little attention paid to how consumer behavior is likely to react. How a changing climate affects water demand could be equally or more important to management solutions as its influence on water supply. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between residential water use and climate on the Hawaiian island of O‘ahu, and apply downscaled climate projections to estimate end-of-century water use.
Published Version: Nathan DeMaagd and Michael J. Roberts. How Will Climate Change Affect Water Demand? Evidence from Hawai‘i Microclimates. Water Economics and Policy, (2021).