INVENTORY AND FORECAST

    After the problems and objectives become clearer, preliminary solutions will come to mind.  The "no action" alternative must always be fully developed, as it is the base case against which other alternatives will be judged.  It is in essence, the consequences associated with doing nothing.  The "no action" plan in concert with the objectives will define the study area and scope.  The stakeholders must determine what decisions need to be made and identify the current gaps in knowledge.  This important step will largely determine the study costs, and the investigations should be limited to the level-of-detail necessary to make the decision.  Arriving at a consensus on the level-of-detail is one of the difficult parts of a study.

    The potential linked decisions must also be identified, for example, solving the problem now may preclude other options in the future.  Likewise, if the study is scoped too large or small it may preclude some current options.

Comments?  Last update: 14 August 2002