I am a retired research engineer and amateur historian. Professionally, I've worked in the field of water resources engineering and have published over 100 papers and over 50 technical reports and books.
Disintegrated Water Resources Management in the US: Union of Sisyphus and Pandora. ... But adapti... more Disintegrated Water Resources Management in the US: Union of Sisyphus and Pandora. ... But adaptive management is inherently incremental in nature, continuously spawning a plethora of new rules, good ideas (as well as bad ones), and procedures that are dispersed ...
A methodology for selecting an optimal flood-warning threshold has been developed by Haimes et al... more A methodology for selecting an optimal flood-warning threshold has been developed by Haimes et al. (1990). The probabilistic evaluation of a forecast system coupled with a stochastic dynamic model of the evolvement of the response fraction in a community reveals that the desire for high present flood-loss reduction must be balanced with the possibility of high future flood loss. In this paper, a case study is given, using data from Connellsville, Pennsylvania.
Flood warning systems are studied in a two-level hierarchical system framework. The interactions ... more Flood warning systems are studied in a two-level hierarchical system framework. The interactions between the forecast subsystem and the response subsystem are investigated. The probabilistic evaluation of a forecast system coupled with a stochastic dynamic model of the evolvement of the response fraction in a community reveals that the desire for high present flood-loss reduction must be balanced with the possibility of high future flood loss. Multiobjective dynamic programming is used to select the optimal flood warning threshold. The proposed methodology is applied to the case study in Milton, Pennsylvania.
Due to the growing recognition of the importance of natural resources to a healthy economy as wel... more Due to the growing recognition of the importance of natural resources to a healthy economy as well as a safe living environment, environmental impact assessment (EIA) has become an essential tool for wise governmental decisionmaking at the international, national, and local levels. Natural resources are as essential as man-made infrastructure is in maintaining a vibrant, sustainable economy. Even ‘environmental infrastructure’ (i.e.; waste water treatment facilities, water supply purification, solid waste disposal, and air pollution control), which is typically thought to be environmentally friendly, needs to undergo a thorough EIA process in conjunction with benefit cost analysis (BCA). The EIA process can be thought of as simply as a parallel or complementary BCA for environmental goods and services. The National Environmental Policy Act of the United States in 1969 was the first example of a framework for integrating EIA into the decisionmaking process. NEPA is well intentioned, but it has spawned an assessment process that is unstructured, incomplete, inconsistent, and not well integrated with all facets of the governmental decisionmaking process. Other models of integrating environmental impact assessment into multiobjective decisionmaking are available and should be drawn upon in order to develop the means for integrating EIA into an overall infrastructure management framework. These models include the U.S. Water Resources Council’s Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies, multiobjective and multiattribute utility theory analytical techniques, and the ecosystem management approach. EIA should be an integral element of the infrastructure management toolkit, and a well-structured framework is needed to assure its coherent implementation, particularly in view of the need to evaluate alternative strategies for watershed and ecosystem management and sustainable development options.
Risk analysis has become a fashionable enterprise, displacing a broad and diverse segment of trad... more Risk analysis has become a fashionable enterprise, displacing a broad and diverse segment of traditional deterministic and standards-based approaches to evaluation and decision making for public health and safety. The general view is that risk analysis provides a formal basis to rationally evaluate much of the uncertainty inherent in difficult social choices about investments for improving health and safety that has heretofore been implicitly factored into conservative design standards. In water resources engineering there is as much a lack of consensus about what risk analysis means and how it is to be applied as is found in other disciplines. A number of perceived and practical difficulties of applying conventional risk analysis methods are investigated in the context of evaluating remedial measures for improving the hydrologic safety of dams.
This volume, "Risk-Based Decision Making in Water Resources VII", comprises edited pape... more This volume, "Risk-Based Decision Making in Water Resources VII", comprises edited papers from the proceedings of the Seventh Engineering Foundation Conference held in Santa Barbara, California on October 8-13, 1995. Participants from government, industry, and universities shared their knowledge and experience in the rapidly growing field of risk-based decision making in water resources. Although, many of the topics and lingering issues were addressed in at least one or more of the previous six conferences, a sense of maturity prevailed during the five days of intensive sessions. Legislative initiatives and risk assessment, climate change, maintenance and rehabilitation, reliability of physical infrastructure, and risk of extreme events were among the main topics that dominated the discussion. Intensive brainstorming sessions revealed what many participants have already known. As we succeed in developing theory and methodology in risk assessment and management and apply them to water resources problems, much more remains to be addressed in future conferences and research.
Over the past decade, there have been great improvements in economic and multiobjective technique... more Over the past decade, there have been great improvements in economic and multiobjective techniques for quantifying social and environmental objectives in water resources planning. Nevertheless, problems remain. Among others, they include: application of methods that are inappropriate to the decision making style of the agency; use of value scales and weights in multiobjective analysis that lack the properties that theory requires of them; and inadequate information on the pros and cons of different methods. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of quantification methods and their use.
... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Editors of Proceedings: Thomas M. Ballentine and Eugene Z. Stakhiv--US Army ... more ... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Editors of Proceedings: Thomas M. Ballentine and Eugene Z. Stakhiv--US Army Corps of Engineers Institute of Water Resources Conference ... 11-153 Darryl W. Davis Prescriptive Reservoir System Analysis Model Missouri River System Application ...
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, Jul 1, 1996
A fuzzy rule-based model is constructed to derive operation rules for a multipurpose reservoir. T... more A fuzzy rule-based model is constructed to derive operation rules for a multipurpose reservoir. The case study of the Tenkiller Lake in Oklahoma illustrates the methodology. Operation rules are generated on the basis of economic development criteria such as hydropower; ...
Disintegrated Water Resources Management in the US: Union of Sisyphus and Pandora. ... But adapti... more Disintegrated Water Resources Management in the US: Union of Sisyphus and Pandora. ... But adaptive management is inherently incremental in nature, continuously spawning a plethora of new rules, good ideas (as well as bad ones), and procedures that are dispersed ...
A methodology for selecting an optimal flood-warning threshold has been developed by Haimes et al... more A methodology for selecting an optimal flood-warning threshold has been developed by Haimes et al. (1990). The probabilistic evaluation of a forecast system coupled with a stochastic dynamic model of the evolvement of the response fraction in a community reveals that the desire for high present flood-loss reduction must be balanced with the possibility of high future flood loss. In this paper, a case study is given, using data from Connellsville, Pennsylvania.
Flood warning systems are studied in a two-level hierarchical system framework. The interactions ... more Flood warning systems are studied in a two-level hierarchical system framework. The interactions between the forecast subsystem and the response subsystem are investigated. The probabilistic evaluation of a forecast system coupled with a stochastic dynamic model of the evolvement of the response fraction in a community reveals that the desire for high present flood-loss reduction must be balanced with the possibility of high future flood loss. Multiobjective dynamic programming is used to select the optimal flood warning threshold. The proposed methodology is applied to the case study in Milton, Pennsylvania.
Due to the growing recognition of the importance of natural resources to a healthy economy as wel... more Due to the growing recognition of the importance of natural resources to a healthy economy as well as a safe living environment, environmental impact assessment (EIA) has become an essential tool for wise governmental decisionmaking at the international, national, and local levels. Natural resources are as essential as man-made infrastructure is in maintaining a vibrant, sustainable economy. Even ‘environmental infrastructure’ (i.e.; waste water treatment facilities, water supply purification, solid waste disposal, and air pollution control), which is typically thought to be environmentally friendly, needs to undergo a thorough EIA process in conjunction with benefit cost analysis (BCA). The EIA process can be thought of as simply as a parallel or complementary BCA for environmental goods and services. The National Environmental Policy Act of the United States in 1969 was the first example of a framework for integrating EIA into the decisionmaking process. NEPA is well intentioned, but it has spawned an assessment process that is unstructured, incomplete, inconsistent, and not well integrated with all facets of the governmental decisionmaking process. Other models of integrating environmental impact assessment into multiobjective decisionmaking are available and should be drawn upon in order to develop the means for integrating EIA into an overall infrastructure management framework. These models include the U.S. Water Resources Council’s Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies, multiobjective and multiattribute utility theory analytical techniques, and the ecosystem management approach. EIA should be an integral element of the infrastructure management toolkit, and a well-structured framework is needed to assure its coherent implementation, particularly in view of the need to evaluate alternative strategies for watershed and ecosystem management and sustainable development options.
Risk analysis has become a fashionable enterprise, displacing a broad and diverse segment of trad... more Risk analysis has become a fashionable enterprise, displacing a broad and diverse segment of traditional deterministic and standards-based approaches to evaluation and decision making for public health and safety. The general view is that risk analysis provides a formal basis to rationally evaluate much of the uncertainty inherent in difficult social choices about investments for improving health and safety that has heretofore been implicitly factored into conservative design standards. In water resources engineering there is as much a lack of consensus about what risk analysis means and how it is to be applied as is found in other disciplines. A number of perceived and practical difficulties of applying conventional risk analysis methods are investigated in the context of evaluating remedial measures for improving the hydrologic safety of dams.
This volume, "Risk-Based Decision Making in Water Resources VII", comprises edited pape... more This volume, "Risk-Based Decision Making in Water Resources VII", comprises edited papers from the proceedings of the Seventh Engineering Foundation Conference held in Santa Barbara, California on October 8-13, 1995. Participants from government, industry, and universities shared their knowledge and experience in the rapidly growing field of risk-based decision making in water resources. Although, many of the topics and lingering issues were addressed in at least one or more of the previous six conferences, a sense of maturity prevailed during the five days of intensive sessions. Legislative initiatives and risk assessment, climate change, maintenance and rehabilitation, reliability of physical infrastructure, and risk of extreme events were among the main topics that dominated the discussion. Intensive brainstorming sessions revealed what many participants have already known. As we succeed in developing theory and methodology in risk assessment and management and apply them to water resources problems, much more remains to be addressed in future conferences and research.
Over the past decade, there have been great improvements in economic and multiobjective technique... more Over the past decade, there have been great improvements in economic and multiobjective techniques for quantifying social and environmental objectives in water resources planning. Nevertheless, problems remain. Among others, they include: application of methods that are inappropriate to the decision making style of the agency; use of value scales and weights in multiobjective analysis that lack the properties that theory requires of them; and inadequate information on the pros and cons of different methods. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of quantification methods and their use.
... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Editors of Proceedings: Thomas M. Ballentine and Eugene Z. Stakhiv--US Army ... more ... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Editors of Proceedings: Thomas M. Ballentine and Eugene Z. Stakhiv--US Army Corps of Engineers Institute of Water Resources Conference ... 11-153 Darryl W. Davis Prescriptive Reservoir System Analysis Model Missouri River System Application ...
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, Jul 1, 1996
A fuzzy rule-based model is constructed to derive operation rules for a multipurpose reservoir. T... more A fuzzy rule-based model is constructed to derive operation rules for a multipurpose reservoir. The case study of the Tenkiller Lake in Oklahoma illustrates the methodology. Operation rules are generated on the basis of economic development criteria such as hydropower; ...
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Papers by Eugene Stakhiv