Approaches to Planning Water Resources

This paper attempts to summarize and organize various technical  approaches often seen or discussed for water resources planning. The basic approach to rational planning is presented, followed by brief reviews of Requirements-based, Benefit-Cost-based, Multi-objective, Conflict Resolution, Market-based, and Muddling Through approaches to planning. Each approach has particular advantages and disadvantages for specific situations. Each approach also tends to have somewhat different analytical requirements. These approaches are discussed in terms of practical contributions to solving long-term water problems in contemporary contexts.