Skip to main content Skip to secondary navigation

Decision making in recycled water project implementation: Asymmetry in scientific knowledge and political economy

Main content start

Funding Years: 2008

Research Areas: Food Security, Freshwater, Public Health

Regions: North America 

Based on case studies of at least four water recycling projects in northern California counties, this project will examine how scientific uncertainty, economic incentives, and regulatory pressures influence decisions to implement water recycling projects for agricultural irrigation and ecosystem restoration. Our explanation of the decision-making process incorporates uncertainty in scientific knowledge and considers the effect of higher and lower levels of scientific certainty on perceptions of risk and policymaking. Our ultimate objective is to produce statements about engineering best practices and public policy recommendations to realize the potential of recycled water projects.

Learn more about the Environmental Venture Projects grant program and other funded projects.

Principal Investigators:

Richard Luthy, Silas H. Palmer Professor of Civil Engineering

David Brady, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and at SIEPR and Professor of Political Economics at the GSB and of Political Science, Emertius

Thomas Weber

Related News