Entropy and Water Management

Water management can be set within a conceptual framework which emphasises the importance of maximising the usefulness of water as it moves through a catchment area. The framework is based upon a consideration of the thermodynamic property of entropy, i.e. a measure of a system's increasing inability to do work. It is concluded that a consideration of water utility as a determinant is more appropriate than the conventional volume-paradigm applied to water resourcing.