Integrating Land Use Planning and Water Management in U.S. Cities: A Literature Review

Abstract

This literature review covers the research and practice related to the integration of land use planning and water management in the United States (U.S.). Research articles are the primary source of information for this review, but reports published by consultancies, public utilities, municipalities, and advisory groups are also included. This review presents strategies to better integrate the two professions. We describe each strategy and provide examples that have been published in the literature. Strategies are divided into legal strategies which would require either federal, state, or local governments to pass new legislation, and strategies that could be implemented in the absence of new laws. This review is intended to be a resource for researchers, students, and practitioners seeking to advance the quality and effectiveness of land use planning and water management in the U.S.

Total Maximum Daily Loads and Escherichia coli Trends in Texas Freshwater Streams

“…This evidence suggests that as urbanized centers grow in Texas, achieving water quality improvements will be increasingly difficult. In anticipation of continued land use development, improved integration of land-use planners and water managers is required to manage and plan around the interconnections between land and water (Stoker et al 2022).…”

Featured Collection Introduction: “Connecting Land and Water for Healthy Communities”

“…Cross-cutting themes emerged in each of these pieces, including issues of scale, context, complexity; the need for new research, new ways of knowing, new tools; working in interdisciplinary teams and spanning boundaries across professions and organizations; the need for local as well as regional land-water coordination; and the use of an institutional lens in recognition of ways society can work more collectively toward larger scale societal sustainability. Stoker et al (2022) begin this collection with a review of regulatory and non-regulatory strategies for integrated land-water solutions. The authors synthesize existing literature and emphasize the need for new research to establish the evidentiary basis to support the implementation of these strategies, prioritize one strategy over another, and determine the contexts in which various strategies are likely to be most effective.…”

“…We should strive to create comprehensive open-source data and use exploratory processes and data-driven tools to examine complex issues so that we can learn from each other and provide better decision support, the value of which is illustrated in the articles by Sampson et al (2022) and Wang and Vivoni (2022). The need to determine metrics to examine water outcome goals and to use these metrics to understand success over time across case studies and contexts was emphasized by Stoker et al (2022) and suggested in various ways throughout this collection. Developing paths forward to allow for adaptive management in planning, policy, and rulemaking and for institutional transformations rely not only on good analytic and evaluative techniques, but on the ability to build and use interdisciplinary teams, partnerships, and champions of new ideas to work on complex issues, as reinforced in the articles by Turner et al (2022) and Endter-Wada et al (2022).…”

“…Stoker et al. (2022) begin this collection with a review of regulatory and non‐regulatory strategies for integrated land–water solutions. The authors synthesize existing literature and emphasize the need for new research to establish the evidentiary basis to support the implementation of these strategies, prioritize one strategy over another, and determine the contexts in which various strategies are likely to be most effective.…”

“…The need to determine metrics to examine water outcome goals and to use these metrics to understand success over time across case studies and contexts was emphasized by Stoker et al. (2022) and suggested in various ways throughout this collection. Developing paths forward to allow for adaptive management in planning, policy, and rulemaking and for institutional transformations rely not only on good analytic and evaluative techniques, but on the ability to build and use interdisciplinary teams, partnerships, and champions of new ideas to work on complex issues, as reinforced in the articles by Turner et al.…”