New Stanford software helps identify cost-effective ways to invest in clean water
By Elizabeth Rauer
A stream in Monterrey, Mexico. RIOS was developed with partners in Latin America, where countries such as Mexico are experimenting with new conservation financing and water security mechanisms known as water funds that are designed to improve the reliability of clean water.
Freshwater is one of the planet's most scarce resources. Demand for it is growing, and climate change threatens its supply. It's a serious problem.
But a new free software tool, the Resource Investment Optimization System (RIOS), developed by researchers from the Natural Capital Project at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, could be part of the solution.
Using the RIOS approach in Colombia has dramatically improved the return on investment over previous approaches to watershed investment.
For example, if a water fund manager has $10,000 to spend on improving a stream's water quality, the RIOS software can help determine the most effective investment, whether it's paying farmers to avoid cultivation near the stream, stemming deforestation or building fences to keep animals away.
RIOS incorporates local knowledge and preferences to help prioritize investments in watersheds. It has been field-tested throughout Latin America and could prove useful anywhere in the world.
"This problem of where to invest in watersheds used to be so hard that people just paid any landowners who were willing to participate in water fund programs," said Heather Tallis, a Stanford researcher who became the lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy in February, and was one of the lead designers of RIOS. "With RIOS, we can bring science and practicality into the picture."
"This is a revolutionary way to think about infrastructure investments," said Mary Ruckelshaus, the managing director of the Natural Capital Project. "RIOS provides a scientifically sound and easy way to guide investments in nature in a way that is good for people and the environment."
RIOS offers a standardized and flexible approach to water fund design and investment by putting a value on water quality and other environmental returns through hydrological computer models, while accounting for preferences and requirements of stakeholders.
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New Stanford software helps identify cost-effective ways to invest in clean water