Dynamic marginal cost curves to support water resources management.

Marginal cost curves (MCCs) are popular decision-support tools for assessing and ranking the cost-effectiveness of different options in environmental policy and management. However, conventional MCC approaches have been criticized for lack of transparency and disregard for complexity; not accounting for interaction effects between measures; ignoring ancillary benefits and costs; and not considering intertemporal dynamics. In this paper, we present an approach to address these challenges using a system dynamics (SD)-based model for producing dynamic MCCs.

A state-of-the-art model for spatial and stochastic oil spill risk assessment: A case study of oil spill from a shipwreck.

Oil spills are serious environmental issues that potentially can cause adverse effects on marine ecosystems. In some marine areas, like the Baltic Sea, there is a large number of wrecks from the first half of the 20th century, and recent monitoring and field work have revealed release of oil from some of these wrecks. The risk posed by a wreck is governed by its condition, hazardous substances contained in the wreck and the state of the surrounding environment.

Sustainability assessments of regional water supply interventions - Combining cost-benefit and multi-criteria decision analyses.

To cope with present and future challenges, a growing number of water utilities in Sweden, Europe and elsewhere initiate various forms of inter-municipal cooperations creating a new regional level of drinking water governance. In order to reach viable decisions of alternative ways forward, there is an international consensus that sustainability needs to be addressed in water supply planning, design and decision-making. There are, however, few decision aids focusing on assessing the sustainability of inter-municipal cooperations and the inter-municipal policies and interventions that regional decision-makers are faced with.

Risk-based cost-benefit analysis for evaluating microbial risk mitigation in a drinking water system.

Waterborne outbreaks of gastrointestinal diseases can cause large costs to society. Risk management needs to be holistic and transparent in order to reduce these risks in an effective manner. Microbial risk mitigation measures in a drinking water system were investigated using a novel approach combining probabilistic risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of risk-reduction measures to reach water safety targets.

Identifying the most suitable risk-reduction measures in drinking water systems requires a thorough analysis of possible alternatives. In addition to the effects on the risk level, also the economic aspects of the risk-reduction alternatives are commonly considered important. Drinking water supplies are complex systems and to avoid sub-optimisation of risk-reduction measures, the entire system from source to tap needs to be considered.

Fault tree analysis for integrated and probabilistic risk analysis of drinking water systems.

Drinking water systems are vulnerable and subject to a wide range of risks. To avoid sub-optimisation of risk-reduction options, risk analyses need to include the entire drinking water system, from source to tap. Such an integrated approach demands tools that are able to model interactions between different events.