Articles | Volume 28, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1089-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1089-2024
Research article
 | 
01 Mar 2024
Research article |  | 01 Mar 2024

Water productivity is in the eye of the beholder: benchmarking the multiple values produced by water use in the Phoenix metropolitan area

Benjamin L. Ruddell and Richard Rushforth

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Cited articles

Arizona Department of Water Resources: Notification of 2009 Gallons per Capita per Day (GPCD) and Lost and Unaccounted (LandU) for Water Percentages, Notification for Arizona Water Company – Apache Junction, Report Number: 56-002000.000, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Phoenix, AZ, 2011a. 
Arizona Department of Water Resources: Second Notification of 2009 Gallons per Capita per Day (GPCD) and Lost and Unaccounted (LandU) for Water Percentages, Notification for City of Avondale, Report Number: 56-002003.000, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Phoenix, AZ, 2011b. 
Arizona Department of Water Resources: Notification of 2009 Gallons per Capita per Day (GPCD) and Lost and Unaccounted (LandU) for Water Percentages, Notification for Town of Buckeye, Report Number: 56-002006.000, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Phoenix, AZ, 2011c. 
Arizona Department of Water Resources: Notification of 2009 Gallons per Capita per Day (GPCD) and Lost and Unaccounted (LandU) for Water Percentages, Notification for City of Chandler, Report Number: 56-002009.000, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Phoenix, AZ, 2011d. 
Arizona Department of Water Resources: Notification of 2009 Gallons per Capita per Day (GPCD) and Lost and Unaccounted (LandU) for Water Percentages, Notification for Town of Gilbert, Report Number: 56-002017.000, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Phoenix, AZ, 2011e. 
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Short summary
This study finds that bedroom cities show higher water productivity based on the standard efficiency benchmark of gallons per capita, but core cities that host large businesses show higher water productivity using a basket of economic values like taxes, payroll, and business revenues. Using a broader basket of water productivity benchmarks that consider more of the community’s socio-economic values and goals could inform more balanced and equitable water allocation decisions by policymakers.