Best Practices in Water Resources Planning

Overview of Planning

In general, planning is analysis to identify a "best" set of actions to attain a more desirable future for someone (some intended beneficiary). Planning analyses vary in scope, scale and level of detail, according to:

• who is the intended beneficiary (ex: a country, a community, a business, an individual)
• what types of future conditions are desired
• what range of actions will be considered for attaining the future conditions.

Generic Problem to be Solved

In general, planning analyses are initiated because someone (possibly the intended beneficiary) perceives that planning is needed. That is, someone perceives a "problem" (that the future condition is not likely to meet expectations) or someone perceives an "opportunity" (that the future condition could be better if some actions were taken).

Generic Planning Issues

Types of Planning

References

• "Review Procedures for Water Resources Project Planning," Panel on Peer Review, Committee to Assess the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Methods of Analysis and Peer Review for Water Resources Project Planning, National Research Council (USA), 2002.

• "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Water Resources Planning: A New Opportunity for Service", Coordinating Committee, Committee to Assess the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Methods of Analysis and Peer Review for Water Resources Project Planning, National Research Council (USA), 2004.

• Urban Planning

• Websites for Futures Research