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 thermody namic property of entropy, i.e. a measure of a system's increasing inabilit y to do work. It is concluded that a consideration of water utility as a de terminant is more appropriate than the conventional volume-paradigm applied to water resourcing.