TY - JOUR
T1 - Determinants of small-area water consumption for the City of Phoenix, Arizona
AU - Wentz, Elizabeth
AU - Gober, Patricia
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgement This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. SES-0345945 Decision Center for a Desert City (DCDC). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
PY - 2007/11
Y1 - 2007/11
N2 - Rapid population growth in the face of an uncertain climate future challenges the desert city of Phoenix, Arizona to consume water more prudently. To better understand the demand side of this important issue, we identified the determinants of water consumption for detached single-family residential units using ordinary least squares regression (OLS). We compared the results from the OLS model to those of a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to determine whether there are spatial effects above and beyond the effects of the OLS variables. Determinants of residential water demand reflect both indoor and outdoor use and include household size, the presence of swimming pools, lot size, and the prevalence of landscaping that requires a moist environment. Results confirm the statistical significance of household size, the presence of a pool, landscaping practices, and lot size. Improvement of the GWR over the OLS model suggests that there are spatial effects above and beyond the effects for household size and pools - two of the four determinants of water demand. This means that census tracts exhibit water consumption behavior similar to neighboring tracts for these two variables. Model parameters can be used to investigate the effects of policies designed to regulate lot size, pool construction, and landscaping practices on water consumption and to forecast water demand in areas of new construction.
AB - Rapid population growth in the face of an uncertain climate future challenges the desert city of Phoenix, Arizona to consume water more prudently. To better understand the demand side of this important issue, we identified the determinants of water consumption for detached single-family residential units using ordinary least squares regression (OLS). We compared the results from the OLS model to those of a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to determine whether there are spatial effects above and beyond the effects of the OLS variables. Determinants of residential water demand reflect both indoor and outdoor use and include household size, the presence of swimming pools, lot size, and the prevalence of landscaping that requires a moist environment. Results confirm the statistical significance of household size, the presence of a pool, landscaping practices, and lot size. Improvement of the GWR over the OLS model suggests that there are spatial effects above and beyond the effects for household size and pools - two of the four determinants of water demand. This means that census tracts exhibit water consumption behavior similar to neighboring tracts for these two variables. Model parameters can be used to investigate the effects of policies designed to regulate lot size, pool construction, and landscaping practices on water consumption and to forecast water demand in areas of new construction.
KW - Geographically weighted regression
KW - Ordinary least squares regression
KW - Spatial effects
KW - Urban water policy
KW - Water consumption
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U2 - 10.1007/s11269-006-9133-0
DO - 10.1007/s11269-006-9133-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34548256649
SN - 0920-4741
VL - 21
SP - 1849
EP - 1863
JO - Water Resources Management
JF - Water Resources Management
IS - 11
ER -