It’s not a water crisis. It’s a water management crisis.

By Heather Landis for the Lux Research blog

Fifteen years ago, if you asked Asit Biswas if he believed there was a global water crisis, he would have answered “Yes.” Now, however, the Stockholm Prize winning water researcher says he believes the water crisis is indeed a myth. Biswas made his statement in a lecture at the 2009 Nobel Conference held at Gustavus Adolphus College last October.

While there are notable books on the subject of global water scarcity, including those authored by fellow speaker Peter Gleick, Asit pointed out that he doesn’t see a world water crisis caused by physical water scarcity, but by water management – or rather, a lack of water management.

See full posting here >>

IBM Finds Many Companies Overlook What Could Be The Most Critical Green Initiative

By Sharon Nunes, VP, Big Green Innovations, IBM

Recently, my company conducted a survey of more than 100 public and private sector executives. Their responses concerning water challenges showed some surprising and, in some cases, alarming concerns.

For example, while the cost of treating and delivering water will continue to increase over the next 10 years, many companies do not know how to adapt. About 77 percent of those surveyed felt that water management was extremely critical to their business, yet 51 percent said they lacked formal guidelines for implementing it and an additional 63 percent of executives said they lacked access to integrated water management systems.

View article from Environmental Leader >>

Sonny & Cher...and WeatherTRAK?

Well, maybe not quite. But pretty close. A house in Encino owned by the duo in the 1960's was purchased and rehabbed by a local architect after being damaged by fire. While he was committed to restoring the house to its original look, he also wanted to make it as environmentally sustainable as possible. As part of that he:

...retrofitted the roof with 54 solar panels and fully insulated the house, which he also equipped with Low-E windows, a tank-less water heater and energy-efficient furnaces. The pool is solar-heated and its pump boasts a high-efficiency motor.

In the yard, low-water rotor sprinkler heads and a WeatherTrak irrigation system that schedules watering by satellite based on local weather conditions, contributes to the overall effectiveness of the green upgrades.

While possibly not quite a brush with fame, it's close enough for us.

We got you babe.

Landscaping Gets Its Own "LEED" Certification Standard

As reported in USA Today, landscaping will now be eligible for it's own certification of environmental friendliness:

"Green" seals of approval are slapped on dishwashers, heat pumps, light bulbs and entire buildings. So why not the outdoors?

As of Thursday, even open-air spaces — from parks and parking lots to corporate and college campuses — will have their own environmental rating system.

"The recognition of the need to address climate change and sustainability is going up and up," says Nancy Somerville, CEO of the American Society of Landscape Architects, who worked with the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas-Austin to create the first national rating system for sustainable landscapes.

The guidelines for achieving certification are available online, and of course include the use of smart irrigation controllers. This is just one more reason for landscape architects, developers and corporations to seriously consider WeatherTRAK as the cornerstone of their smart water management plans.

Go Green, Save Money

The Arizona Republic has an article out today promoting ways to save water and money on landscaping. My favorite recommendation?

Use smart irrigation controllers. Modern irrigation controllers can save thousands of gallons a year by adapting to soil and weather conditions and not overwatering. Many cities offer rebates to homeowners associations and individuals for converting to smart irrigation controllers and also for converting green areas to desert landscaping.

"You can program a timer the first of January and not have to worry about it for the rest of the year unless something happens," said Jim Potts of Caretaker Landscape and Tree Management in Gilbert. "The controllers check temperatures, humidity, it does it all itself. Use that technology. The initial investment is pretty high, but the return on that investment is quick. Not to mention all the water it saves."

Truer words were never spoken :-) Thanks Jim!

CA Legislature Comes Through With Water Management Plan!

In what some are hailing as an historic piece of legislation, the California legislature overcame both partisan and regional differences and passed legislation that will go a long way toward securing the state's water supply for the future. As part of the compromise, one of the original five bills, dealing with illegal water diversion, was dropped, though some of it's provisions will be added to other legislation with somewhat reduced penalties. Otherwise though, most of what was planned was passed. Coverage in the state's papers is widespread, so finding in depth details of the event and what it means should be easy. Below is an excerpt of coverage from the San Jose Mercury News:

Monumental plans to overhaul California’s water system — decades in the dreaming and months in the works — finally emerged from an exhausted Legislature early Wednesday, defying regional squabbles to become the signature accomplishment in a year mostly lamented for budget cuts.

The overwhelmingly bipartisan reforms — which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signaled he would approve — firmly nudge the state into changing the way it uses and manages its precious water supplies.

“This is the best investment in the future of California anyone can make,” Schwarzenegger said Wednesday. The state Senate gave final approval to the last in a series of five bills just before 6 a.m.

Water use statewide will be reduced, with agencies required to draw up plans for city residents to cut back 20 percent by 2020. Groundwater supplies will be measured all across the state — ending California’s status as the lone Western state that does not regulate groundwater.

And more than $11 billion in bond money would be set aside for new dams, regional water projects, groundwater cleanup and land preservation — if, that is, voters approve the hefty bond sale next year. That may not be a given, with the state’s chronic deficits and warnings from the state treasurer that paying the debt on those bonds could detract from spending for already-strapped social programs.

One of the provisions, requiring residents to cut back on water use 20% by 2020, sounds challenging but really, isn't that difficult at all. For many, that goal is achievable with a single household upgrade.

Overall, this is great news for the entire state, and a significant accomplishment by the legislature. Kudos to them on finding a way to get this done!

Groundwater Crisis - Coming to a Water District Near You

I linked to this in my previous post, but thought it deserved a bit more attention given the seriousness of the issue, and the likelihood that the CA legislature will end up kicking this particular can down the road rather than address it head on. From Science Daily:

Although declining streamflows and half-full reservoirs have gotten most of the attention in water conflicts around the United States, some of the worst battles of the next century may be over groundwater, experts say — a critical resource often taken for granted until it begins to run out.

Aquifers are being depleted much faster than they are being replenished in many places, wells are drying up, massive lawsuits are already erupting and the problems have barely begun. Aquifers that took thousands of years to fill are being drained in decades, placing both agricultural and urban uses in peril. Groundwater that supplies drinking water for half the world’s population is now in jeopardy.

Lest anyone think that this is a future issue, the article provides several examples of how impacts are being felt now:

"In the northern half of Oregon from Pendleton to the Willamette Valley, an aquifer that took 20,000 years to fill is going down fast," Jarvis said. "Some places near Hermiston have seen water levels drop as much as 500 feet in the past 50-60 years, one of the largest and fastest declines in the world.

"I know of a well in Utah that lost its original capacity after a couple years," he said. "In Idaho people drawing groundwater are being ordered to work with other holders of stream water rights as the streams begin to dwindle. Mississippi has filed a $1-billion lawsuit against the City of Memphis because of declining groundwater. You're seeing land subsiding from Houston to the Imperial Valley of California. This issue is real and getting worse."

In the process, Jarvis said, underground aquifers can be irrevocably damaged (emphasis mine) -- not unlike what happened to oil reservoirs when that industry pumped them too rapidly. Tiny fractures in rock that can store water sometimes collapse when it's rapidly withdrawn, and then even if the aquifer had water to recharge it, there's no place for it to go.

So, while California's legislature dawdles, held hostage to local interests with short term views, the long term viability of the state's single largest reservoir of freshwater is being put at risk. And with it, the state's future as an agricultural powerhouse and a driver of industrial innovation and economic growth.

CA Water Management Legislation Update

Well, you have to give them points for trying. The CA legislature worked through midnight last night in a attempt to pass the 5 bills necessary to guide the future of water use in California. They made it through three and then...well, here's what the NY Times had to say about it:

The California Legislature appeared to be heading toward an historic breakthrough on water reform last night before an impasse over mandatory groundwater monitoring arose and threatened to crush a package of policy and financing bills.

Early in a long night of roll-call votes, signs were pointing to the state Senate delivering key portions of a comprehensive water package to the Assembly. The Senate passed a negotiated water policy bill, 29-4, before easily securing the two-thirds threshold required to move a controversial $9.99 billion water bond, 28-8.

Then groundwater monitoring reappeared and slowed momentum in the chamber. A bill that would require statewide monitoring of water pumped from the ground — as opposed to more relaxed local control — was defeated under pressure from agribusiness groups and water districts, just as it was rejected earlier this fall.

The Senate then recessed floor action and later called it quits for the night.

Bottom line: They were making great progress until they attempted to pass a bill that would align California with the other49 states and ensure monitoring of groundwater use at the state, rather than local, level.

The irony of NOT monitoring groundwater use is huge when you consider that groundwater supplies are being depleted so quickly that land subsidence is becoming an issue even in states that monitor it, much less California. And once depleted, groundwater becomes more saline, often accelerating the degradation of agricultural land due to salt intrusion. The USGS estimates that 400,000 - 700,000 acres of arable land in California will be lost to agriculture due to this issue alone by the end of 2010.

And so the quest for common sense in Sacramento continues...

California Closing in on Water Management Solution? Maybe Not...

Following up on this post, it seems I was overly optimistic about the California legislature's ability to address the state's growing water crisis. They've made almost no progress since I last posted on this, and it doesn't look like they will anytime soon. As the Los Angeles Times reports:

Lawmakers have been chewing over water legislation for weeks, unable to seal a final deal despite threats from the governor, weekend negotiating sessions and their own deep desire to disprove the widespread perception that they can't get anything done.

Unusually for California's legislature, the sticking points aren't all falling along partisan lines so much as aligning with regional interests.

Some Bay Area Democrats, who could be expected to back a leadership proposal, have withheld support over delta provisions they fear could ultimately cost local districts water.

Republicans, fiercely fighting some of the fine-print details, rolled out their own version of the bill Tuesday, frustrating Democrats who say they've already compromised enough.

The endorsement of some of the biggest players in delta and water politics has not even assured passage.

At this point, it's impossible to predict what form the eventual solution will take. Or even if any major changes will be approved. In the end it just proves the old adage that all politics are local, and none more so in California than water rights.

Water Conservation's Secondary Benefits

One of the often overlooked benefits to water conservation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, gets some coverage today. According to the Las Vegas Sun:

Energy experts across the country are starting to look at just how the nation’s water supply systems affect electricity consumption, the strain they put on grids and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from the treatment and transporting of water. It was one of the topics at the 2009 Water Smart Innovations conference held in Las Vegas this month.

About 25 percent of America’s electricity goes to moving and treating water, according to a 2005 California Energy Commission report.

One state is leading the way on dealing with this issue and will hopefully serve as an example for others to follow:

California passed a law three years ago that is aimed, in part, at the electricity burned to move and treat water. The legislation requires greenhouse gas reduction for water utilities, which have been instructed to make their operations more energy efficient and to incorporate renewable energy. With population growth, demand for water and water treatment are expected to grow. At the same time water treatment standards are expected to become stricter. That all adds up to a prediction that the energy demand for water will continue to grow significantly.

With climate change legislation looming on the horizon, southwestern states in particular will need to address this issue in the near future. Las Vegas could benefit greatly considering that the "amount of electricity used to move and treat water in Southern Nevada annually is enough to power the entire valley several times over."

Fortunately, managers of the area's water utilities are aware of the issue and working towards moving to more sustainable energy sources.

Henderson plans to have the first local wastewater treatment facility using renewable power. The city recently got federal funding to build a 4-megawatt solar installation to help power its wastewater treatment facilities and to install turbines in some of its downhill-sloping water pipes to generate electricity emission-free from the flowing water.

They've also acknowledged that new, mulit-billion dollar infrastructure projects aren't the only component of the solution and are encouraging residents to get on board and implement common sense water conservation measures. After all, less water used translates directly into reduced costs, reduced electrical use and generation, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Or as they put it:

Those changes could do a lot more good — in many more ways — than most people realize.

Drought Compounded by Population Growth

Two articles today highlight the contribution population growth has made in amplifying the drought in the southeastern United States from inconvenience to crisis. First up, the indispensable Peter Gleik from the Pacific Institute:

The amount of water in a river basin or watershed is fixed. It goes up and down with natural variability, and it may change over time due to climate changes, but water is a renewable resources and our use of it does not affect the amount we get next year.

...

In a recent paper, Richard Seager of Columbia and his colleagues analyzed the recent drought in the southeastern United States. This drought led to water use restrictions, depleted flows in the major river basins of the region, and growing political tensions over water sharing between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. The authors of this paper concluded that the recent drought in the Southeast was not climatologically different from past droughts, but was felt more severely largely due to the growth in population in the region.

The Christian Science Monitor adds to the story:

Was the drought, which also seemed to extend laterally to the Southwest, the result of human-induced climate change?

A new Columbia University study concludes that, in this case, climate change wasn’t to blame. In fact, historically speaking, the drought wasn’t even among the worst of the dry spells that periodically grip the region — the most recent in 1998-2002.

Rather, water shortages in the region — at the height of the drought, Atlanta’s main reservoir dropped by over 14 feet — stemmed directly from increased demand on water. And the surging demand was driven by the rapid population growth of recent decades.

An article on Columbia University’s Earth Institute website paints the picture by numbers:

In 1990, Georgia, which uses a quarter of the region’s water, had 6.5 million people. By 2007, there were 9.5 million — up almost 50 percent in 17 years. The population is still ascending, driven largely by migration. However, little has been done to increase water storage or reduce consumption. There has been increased sewage discharge near water supplies, and vast tracts of land have been covered with impermeable roofs, roads and parking lots, which drain rainfall away rapidly instead of storing it.

So, what to do? Obviously we can't arbitrarily limit a region's growth, which leaves us to choose between massive infrastructure upgrades like new dams and all the economic and environmental costs associated with them, and increased efficiency measures to reduce water use per household and business. But is efficiency alone enough? According to the conservation organization American Rivers, it just might be.

In a report titled “Hidden Reservoir: Why Water Efficiency is the Best Solution for the Southeast,” it argues that “19th century approaches,” such as building more dams and creating more reservoirs, are not adequate to 21st-century challenges. They’re up to 8,500 times more expensive than simple “efficiency investments.”

They list nine measures which, taken together have already proven effective in other regions. Number five on the list?

Landscape to minimize water waste. 58% of urban water use is devoted to our lawns — spiking to as much as 80% in the hottest summer months — and studies have shown that 50%
of outdoor water is wasted – lost to the watering of driveways and sidewalks, evaporation, or
over-watering. Implementing smart irrigation practices including smart irrigation controllers can eliminate much of this waste.

So what's the payoff for implementing efficiency measures?

– Cary, N.C., increased water supply by 11 percent with efficiency measures alone.
– Tampa, Fla., has grown its per capita water supply by 26 percent with efficiency measures.
– Boston succeeded in reducing its overall water consumption by one-third while increasing its customer base by 2 million people. The result? Not needing to build a proposed dam saved the city $500 million.

The bottom line: municipalities and states can continue to grow and prosper within their current water supplies and without investing billions in costly and environmentally questionable projects by simply promoting and enforcing basic efficiency standards.

Water Management: A Growing National Issue

Lest anyone think that smart water management is only an issue for California or the West, these stories out today highlight that it truly is a national issue.

First up is a story out of Chicago, where groundwater resources are being stretched thin:

The Chicago region faces a long-term water shortage that could hit some outlying suburbs by 2015, much sooner than previously anticipated, according to recently updated studies.

Projections by the University of Illinois’ Illinois Water Survey show that water supplies that lie under Aurora, the state’s second-largest city, and Joliet soon won’t be able to keep up with population growth.

The deep aquifers are “not going to go dry, but it will become cost-inefficient to pump water from them,” said Josh Ellis, a water policy expert at the Metropolitan Planning Council, a Chicago-based regional policy think tank. “2015 is the tipping point.”

Better planning and conservation measures — starting now, before water shortages become a crisis — could postpone that scenario, according to land use and environmental activists.

CircleofBlue.org reports on water issues facing the nation as a whole:

Americans have good reason to be concerned about the future of the nation’s supply of clean fresh water, according to state and federal research and resource agencies.

The U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly online report produced by the Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, notes in its latest assessment that one-third of the continental United States is suffering abnormally dry or drought conditions.

Drought conditions grip more than half of the West, with little change from the same time last year. The hardest-hit areas include California, in its third year of a statewide drought, and Arizona, which has been experiencing abnormally dry or drought conditions since August .

Groundwater resources, which provide half of the country’s drinking water as well as irrigation for crops and water for industrial use, also are diminishing, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Groundwater Resources Program. The Ogallala Aquifer, the massive groundwater network that lies under the Great Plains and feeds water to more than a quarter of the region’s irrigated land, continues to be a significant concern.

“Basically the groundwater is being depleted of its resource,” said Kevin Dennehy, the USGS project coordinator. “It’s been happening for quite some time and it’s going to continue to happen. The removal of water from the aquifer is at a greater rate than water is being re-charged in the aquifer naturally.”

And the issues go beyond scarcity, touching on everything from agricultural productivity to the safety of our drinking water:

...as Circle of Blue reported last year, increased competition for water in the United States poses a growing threat to the American way of life. Scientists and resource specialists warned that freshwater scarcity was hurting farm productivity, limiting some regional economic growth, increasing business expenses and draining local treasuries.

The deteriorating condition of the Ogallala is a case in point. According to a June USGS report water from the aquifer is generally acceptable for drinking, irrigation, and livestock. But irrigation and leakage of nutrients down inactive irrigation wells is increasing concentrations of contaminants including nitrates deep in the aquifer, posing long-term risks to its safety as a source of drinking water.

Without 360 degree sustainable resource management, we could eventually end up in as much trouble as countries like India, where over drawing of the aquifer that supplies most of one region's agricultural irrigation is endangering that nation's food supply.

California Closing in on Water Management Solution?

There's potentially good news percolating up out of the morass that is California's legislative process. The governor's threat to veto up to 700 bills submitted by the legislature finally spurred some action from representatives, who are now possibly closing in on an agreement for managing California's scarce water resources. Of course it's not yet a done deal and as anyone with knowledge of the state's legislative process can tell you, there's still plenty that can go wrong. As reported in the Fresno Bee:

… Even if an agreement is reached, they’d still have to sell it to rank-and-file lawmakers, who will be lobbied hard by regional water districts and environmentalists — all of whom have different needs.

Outstanding issues appear to include policy proposals favored by Democrats to mandate conservation, set new rules for groundwater monitoring and crack down on illegal diversions of water.

Environmentalists, backed by Democrats, say the plans will “break the cycle of conflict and environmental damage that have plagued California’s water management system for decades,” according to a letter sent to leaders by a key coalition of environmentalists.

But Republicans, farm groups and some industrial water users oppose the plans as written, saying they would create a “vast new government bureaucracy.”

Unsurprisingly, there are some sticking points mentioned, though they seem to be over areas that (somewhat unusually for the CA legislature) are backed by common sense. For example, Democrats want to mandate conservation. Seeing as California is an arid state that gets hit periodically by drought and is facing an uncertain water future thanks to climate change, how is this controversial? Particularly in light of the successes individual cities like Long Beach have recently had, conserving 1.6 billion gallons of water this year, compared to last.

They also favor regulating groundwater use at the state level. Considering that:

California is the only state that does not regulate or even monitor groundwater use. Those with a well can pump all they they want, whenever they want, without regard for how it affects a neighbor -- even if the neighbor happens to be an entire city that depends on groundwater.

It would seem like managing underground aquifers, which are just as critical to California's future as its extensive system of surface reservoirs, also falls into the realm of common sense.

Last of all, they want to crack down on illegal diversion of water. Somebody please explain to me how that's controversial, because I would have thought that one a no-brainer.

Let's face it, if California is to remain an economic powerhouse, it needs to get smarter about water management. With population growth projected at around 20 million between now and 2050, water scarcity will only grow as a day to day issue, for residents and businesses alike. Unless we get a lot smarter, a lot faster.

The legislature is on the right track at the moment. Let's hope they're able to pull it off in a way that benefits all of us, without losing sight of the critical nature of the issue.

Dr. Peter Gleick Outlines Soft Path to Sustainable Water Supply

Speaking earlier this week at the Nobel Conference H20 Uncertain Resource, Dr. Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute presented a grim picture of our water supply, but went on to say, “I actually am optimistic about the future of water, if we do the things that we’re starting to do more aggressively, more carefully, and in a more widespread fashion.”

He outlined a “soft path” to a sustainable water system for the planet and its inhabitants through Smart Water Management. (The hard path involves expensive infrastructure upgrades.)

Steps along Gleick’s soft path include:

• Better define the water supply. That means thinking about wastewater as an asset. It means using rainwater harvesting to recharge depleted aquifers.
• Rather than looking for more water, use less. By Gleick’s calculations the U.S. is already using less water than it did for everything 30 years ago. It used to take 30 gallons of water to make a square inch of semi-conductor; now it takes 3-4 gallons.
• Consider distributing different water of different quality. Gleick’s prime example: It makes no sense to be flushing our toilets with high-quality drinking water.
• Price water properly: it's a human right, but it also has economic value and should be priced with both of those factors in mind.
• Protect our ecosystems, satisfying human needs as well as the needs of nature.
• Link energy management to water management: it takes a lot of energy to get the water we want, and it takes a lot of water to create energy. The two are inextricably linked.
• Address growth in a responsible way, with a focus on sustainability.

View Dr. Gleick's lecture here: http://gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/2009/about.php

Thanks to Dr. Craig Bowron, whose article for MinnPost.com was referenced in developing this post.

Ancient creature - once thought extinct - keeps New Zealand water pure

This is just neat.

Scientists feared ancient phreatoicids (pronounced "free-at-o-ik-ids") were extinct after they went missing from the scientific record for 60 years.

But a painstaking search has revealed all nine known species - and four new species - were living unnoticed in South Island pools, swamps and drains.

The 2-cm creatures play a major role in cleansing Canterbury's groundwater and keeping Christchurch's drinking water naturally pure.

Read more from The New Zealand Herald >>

Researchers Predict Megadrought in Southwest

Researchers from Princeton and Columbia universities report that the Southwest's drought could last 90 years. Their research shows a marked increase in climate temperatures and indicates that these temperatures will continue their climb.

The water level of the Colorado River, which supplies most of the region's water, has already dropped by 15%.

With water infrastructure uncomfortably stressed in the Southwest and elsewhere, we face tough questions: How long can the system support current demand, let alone development? How will our supplies be allocated? Clearly, we must focus on conserving the supply we have with water-efficient practices and technologies.

For more about this study, visit ABC News >>

Water: The Worldwide Crisis Grows

In the summer of 2008, the UK newspaper The Guardian published a story on the drought in South Australia, commenting that:

Australia's epic drought is tightening its grip as a deepening ecological crisis unfolds in the south of the country. After seven years of the Big Dry, water levels in lakes at the mouth of the mighty Murray river have fallen by up to 50cm below sea level and environmental damage is spreading on a massive scale, according to conservationists.

At Bottle Bend Lagoon, drought and over-use of water by farmers for irrigation has left swaths of riverbed exposed, producing a toxic chemical reaction that is spreading. The banks are lined with poisonous aluminium and manganese salts and the water is dun-coloured, smells like rotten eggs and is as corrosive as battery acid. Fish have died in their thousands and red gum trees and plants are also dying.

...

The crisis has come about because Australia is in the grip of the worst drought in a century. Years of scant rainfall have left vast areas parched and last month it was predicted that up to a million people could face a shortage of drinking water if the drought continues. The report from government officials warned that there could be problems supplying drinking water from the Murray Darling in 2008-2009 unless there is significant rainfall soon.

In a follow up story published yesterday, The Guardian is reporting that the dire predictions of last summer are, unfortunately, coming to pass:

The water in Australia's biggest river is running so low and is so salty that the nation's fifth-largest city, Adelaide, is at risk of having to ship water in to its residents, politicians have warned.

Adelaide's water crisis follows similar problems in cities around the world, as the combination of growing population, increasing agricultural use and global warming stretches resources to the limit. Experts are warning of permanent drought in many regions.

Salinity levels in some stretches of the Murray river already exceed the World Health Organisation's (WHO) recommendations for safe drinking, and South Australia's water authority and 11 rural townships east of Adelaide have been told to prepare for the worst.

...

"There's simply too many people pulling water out of the river," said Roger Strother, Coorong council mayor. "We've been saying that one day it would catch up, and this summer is when it is going to happen. It could be next week."

As the story make plain however, this is not exclusively an Australian problem:

Adelaide is one of many cities around the world facing acute water shortages as populations grow, long-term droughts continue and ground water is not replenished. The Chinese water minister, Chen Lei, today told engineers at a water conference that two-thirds of Chinese cities now face serious shortages due to rapid industrialisation and climate change.

"Compared to 1956-79, the average rainfall has dropped 6% in three major river basins," Lei said. "Most parts in the north of China are now facing water shortages problems, especially because of the increasing influence of climate change and the faster speed of industrialisation and urbanisation."

...

According to a new UN environment programme report, perennial drought conditions are developing in south-eastern Australia and south-western North America. "Projections suggest that persistent water scarcity will increase in a number of regions in coming years, including southern and northern Africa, the Mediterranean, much of the Middle East, a broad band in central Asia and the Indian subcontinent," the report said.

With the impacts of climate change only just beginning to be felt, and the added issues of growing human populations and increasing urbanization, reports like this will become commonplace. The report concludes with this short list of cities around the world that are dealing with these impacts right now:

Beijing: Most of Beijing's water comes from the Miyun reservoir, but a decade of drought and huge population increase has left extreme shortages. Water diversion projects are helping, but this is depleting resources from other regions. The city must spend $3.5bn (£2.2bn) in the next five years to cope with a population expected to rise to 17 million.

Nairobi: The city has imposed water rationing, following an acute drought that has affected all Kenya's water catchment areas. River and reservoirs are at historically low levels. Flower farms and export-oriented agriculture are also reducing supplies available to people.

Mexico City: 2009 has been the driest year recorded in the city of 19 million people. Water is rationed and many areas have no piped water for days at a time. The government has imposed fines of up to $1,200 for hosing down cars and sidewalks or watering lawns during daytime hours. Signs warn that the city could run out of water next spring unless residents switch to low-flow showers and toilets, and plug leaks.

Gaza: Water fit for human use will run out in the Gaza strip within 10 years, the Gaza Coastal Municipal Water Utility and UN agencies said this month. Tap water is already salty, and only 5-10% of groundwater is drinkable. Gaza's population is expected to increase to 3 million by 2025.

Kathmandu: Erratic rainfall and drier winters have left Nepal's capital very short of water. The water company can provide only 160m litres a day but the demand is well over 200m litres. Many households are drilling their own boreholes to extract groundwater with electric pumps, but the water table is sinking approximately 2.5 metres a year and this is not sustainable in the medium term.

It's time we all recognized that water is now a critical resource, in increasingly short supply worldwide. Smart water management needs to be on everyone's radar as a critical issue to be addressed at every level, from governments to corporations to individuals. There's no escaping our need for water and the longer we wait to apply corrective actions the harder and more expensive they will be.

WeatherTRAK Technology Saves ANOTHER Million Gallons of Water...

A small mention of a big win for one of our customers appeared recently in the San Diego Business Journal:

…I guess we can say Jack’s no longer all wet! The American Society of Irrigation Consultants recognizes San Francisco-based HydroPoint Data Systems. Why? The Bay Area firm collaborated with Jack in the Box’s corporate staff to upgrade the irrigation system in Kearny Mesa to significantly reduce water use. The result? Jack is now saving a million gallons of water a year…

Way to go Jack! I can't help but wonder what a million gallons of water translates to in dollars saved for Jack in the Box. Regardless, it's another real life demonstration of corporate sustainability translating directly into improvements in the bottom line. Conserving water and cash, not a bad combination during a drought and a recession...

El Niño Sputters: Chances for Drought Relief Recede

Hopes for a wetter than average winter, provided by developing El Niño conditions in the central Pacific, are waning, the San Diego Tribune reports. Increases in ocean surface water temperatures, first detected back in June, are slowing, which increases the chances that California's drought will continue:

Long-range forecasters are less and less bullish about El Niño, a global atmospheric condition that could bring extra precipitation to San Diego County.

Most of them say the odds still slightly favor a wetter-than-normal rainfall season in California, which could use a drenching after three straight years of drought. But the fledgling El Niño is showing signs of losing steam.

“If I were buying up water futures, I would not be reaching deep into my wallet at this point,” said Jan Null, a former forecaster for the National Weather Service who now runs a meteorological company.

California's water managers are taking a similar stance: They're not relying on El Niño to fill the state's depleted reservoirs. The shrinking supply has forced many water providers — including virtually all of the ones in San Diego County — to implement voluntary or mandatory restrictions on usage.

“We're planning for a dry 2010,” said Elissa Lynn, senior meteorologist for the California Department of Water Resources.

With an end to the drought in doubt, and water restrictions and rate hikes thus likely to continue, the economic and environmental benefits of Smart Water Management have never been clearer. Whether you represent a business with multiple properties, an HOA or an individual residence, WeatherTRAK products are the solution for surviving the drought and the recession without killing your landscape or your finances.

Unintended Consequences

The LA Times has a story out today highlighting a new danger posed by California's ongoing drought:

Scientists suspect that parts of the San Joaquin Valley have started to sink again after years of stability, a troubling development that geologists say can be traced to increased pumping of groundwater.

State water managers are worried that falling land surfaces could damage the California Aqueduct, which carries water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the valley and Southern California.

One more example of why water management needs to be approached in a holistic, all encompassing way in order to capture all the threats and opportunities for any given scenario. Just think, if that philosophy had been applied here, this threat to a major component of Southern California's water supply could have been identified, mitigated and possibly entirely avoided.

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Sacramento - Two Steps Forward...

One step back. I really don't understand what's going on in Sacramento. How can the capital city of a drought stricken state not be leading the way on smart water management? With so many great examples to follow, like LA, Long Beach, Marin and Sonoma Counties, why do they continue to get even the simple things wrong? Here's the latest from the Sacramento Bee, whose reporters seem to be working overtime trying to save the city from itself, at least where water use is concerned:

This summer the city of Sacramento moved to conserve water with new rules that extended a watering ban earlier in the morning on watering days.

The heart of the water-use ordinance, which uses an odd/even day schedule, is a ban on watering lawns and gardens from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. That's two hours longer than the previous limit of noon to 6 p.m.

But a look at what's behind the extended hours found that water conservation, even during the third consecutive year of drought, was just one of the ordinance's goals – and not the most important, ranking behind things like saving on electricity it takes to pump water.

The review also found that the new watering hours do not conserve as much water as possible considering the city's weather conditions.

That's because the ordinance's ban includes hours when the evaporation rate during watering is actually lower than during some of the hours Sacramentans are now allowed to irrigate.

...

An analysis by The Bee found that the city could conserve more water, especially during summer, if it would instead ban watering between 6 and 8 p.m. when temperatures and the Delta breeze are still robust.

...

Calculations show that during the summer – June, July and August – an evening watering ban from 6 to 8 p.m. would conserve 3.9 percent to 5.3 percent more water than the existing morning ban of 10 a.m. to noon.

That's a savings of as much as 16 gallons for a typical system that runs 20 minutes once a week over 1,000 square feet of lawn.

Should it really take research by the Bee to point these things out, or should we expect water managers to factor these things into the equation without the expert assistance of journalists?

The Bee also pointed out the easiest, and best, way to make sure your landscape irrigation accounts for both evaporation and transpiration:

Some of the newer "smart" watering controllers can sense weather conditions such as temperature and if it's raining, and adjust the amount of water used.

"If it's raining, it won't water. And if it cools down, it will water less," Ingels said. "You set your program, and it will take over."

Now if only I knew where to get one of these smart controllers...

Water Scarcity Threatens the Entire Southwest

The New Mexico Independent published commentary yesterday that really brings home the future outlook for water in the southwestern U.S.:

When your neighbors are in trouble, chances are you’re in trouble too. Look around southwest and mountain west America. Everywhere you’ll find major cities from Los Angeles to Denver, and Las Vegas to Phoenix worried sick about their water supply – as well they should be.

If the Colorado river continues to dry up and western drought becomes a perpetual hazard as current predictions have it, Las Vegas, Nevada will be facing a Katrina-like catastrophe, only this time it won’t be about flooding, but about running dry. Some 90 percent of Las Vegas’s water comes from the diminishing Colorado River.

Phoenix, Tucson, Denver and Los Angeles are in different boats, but their ponds are shrinking too.

And New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming — the “upper basin” states in the Colorado Compact of 1922 — have “junior” water rights to California, Arizona, and Nevada, the states that comprise the “lower basin.” And that means in a crisis, upper basin states won’t get their water until lower basin states have their’s.

The article continues, highlighting the danger to New Mexico if, as a holder of junior water rights to the Colorado, demand from California, Arizona and Nevada continues to increase. But that danger isn't limited to New Mexico, it's shared with, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Four U.S. states that could quite literally not have enough water to meet demand in the foreseeable future. Add to that the continued issues of groundwater depletion and contamination in 3 of the 4 states due to natural gas extraction, and the continued push from energy companies to begin exploiting oil shale (another water intensive process) in Colorado and Utah and you've got a recipe for disaster for millions of residents.

We need to get smarter, faster.

Water Rate Hikes: The New Normal?

Five news reports out today highlight the increasingly frequent answer to water scarcity caused by aging water distribution infrastructure, growing populations, drought and changing precip patterns; rising water rates.

Water rate hike passes Newark Post By Doug Rainey Newark City Council members approved a hefty 35 percent water rate increase for both residents and non-residents. That is on top of a rate ..

Nassau communities pay highest water rates, face hike Newsday Pennsylvania-based Aqua is proposing a 27 percent rate hike for the fire districts it serves. The legislators urged their constituents to attend a meeting ...

PUC to probe water rate hike request PoconoNews.net The Commission voted 5-0 to investigate the proposed $281927 (68.9 percent) increase for water revenues and the proposed $318297 (45.5 percent) increase for ...

Customers Protest Water Rates Amid Conflicting Reports Bell Gardens Sun By Elizabeth Hsing-Huei Chou, EGP Staff Writer Some customers are balking at the latest water rate hikes from the Central Basin Municipal Water District and ...

Residents facing a utilities rate hike Tampa Bay Newspapers 29 Pinellas County Commissioners will meet to decide how much more they will charge the cities for water and sewer services. The new rate hike becomes ...

These are just the stories published today, and it wasn't a particularly heavy water news day. So if you're getting hit with rate increases, click here to find out the easiest and most effective way to reduce your bill, and your water footprint.

California Regions Set New Conservation Records in Responding to the Drought

More good news concerning CA's response to Year 3 of the drought. First up, the AP is reporting that Los Angeles has reduced its water use by record amounts this year:

The nation's second-largest city cut water use by an overall 17 percent in July compared to a year earlier, officials said Wednesday.
...
The Department of Water and Power, which has 680,000 water customers and 1.4 million electric customers, said single-family homes cut water use nearly 21 percent, multifamily properties cut use more than 8 percent, businesses cut usage nearly 22 percent and government properties reduced usage more than 34 percent.

The story goes on to talk about another, mostly hidden, advantage of cutting water use:

Huge reductions in electricity usage were also reported.

The DWP saved a record 318 gigawatt-hours for the fiscal year ending June 30, an amount that equals removal of 53,000 households from the grid and avoids 178,700 metric tons of greenhouses gases.

LA isn't alone in its success, as San Diego is seeing similar decreases in water use:

In June and July, water consumption countywide plunged 21 percent and 16 percent, respectively, compared with the same months last year.
...
Of the 24 water agencies in the region, 19 recorded savings of 10 percent or more in the past four months, compared with the same period in 2008. The top five performers were Camp Pendleton, Poway, Lakeside, Vallecitos and Ramona.

So, while the water crisis continues to grow, some areas are taking it in stride and really making a difference. Hopefully they will provide an example for other cities and regions to follow.

I wonder if anyone in Sacramento is paying attention...

In Sunday's Washington Post, an opinion piece showed up that illustrates an important point about water use in America: It isn't all about drought. We're still a growing country, and as population increases, so too will the need for water.

In the United States, we constantly fret about running out of oil. But we should be paying more attention to another limited natural resource: water. A water crisis is threatening many parts of the country -- not just the arid West.
...

In Florida, excessive groundwater pumping has dried up scores of lakes. In South Carolina, a paper company recently furloughed hundreds of workers because low river flows prevented the company from discharging its wastewater. That state's battle with North Carolina over the Catawba River has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Water has become so contentious nationwide that more than 30 states are fighting with their neighbors over water.

Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes, is too shallow to float fully loaded freighters, dramatically increasing shipping costs. North of Boston, the Ipswich River has gone dry in five of the past eight years. In 2007, the hamlet of Orme, Tenn., ran out of water entirely, forcing it to truck in supplies from Alabama.

Droughts make matters worse, but the real problem isn't shrinking water levels. It's population growth. Since California's last major drought ended in 1992, the state's population has surged by a staggering 7 million people. Some 100,000 people move to the Atlanta area every year. Over the next four decades, the country will add 120 million people, the equivalent of one person every 11 seconds.

But with most of our rivers already damned, most of our groundwater sources already tapped, aging infrastructure leaking billions of gallons of water a day and climate change affecting the distribution of rainfall, how can we continue to meet the need for water? We're just going to have to get smarter about how we use the resource. A lot smarter in fact.

Landscape Runoff Worse Than Thought

Two stories published today covered findings presented at the American Chemical Society conference in Washington, D.C. Water Technology Online reports that:

The amount of water pollution contributed by homes may have been underestimated by up to 50 percent, according to researchers who presented their findings during the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held here through August 20.

According to an ACS August 19 press release, the study of eight residential areas in California’s Sacramento and Orange counties found that runoff from rainfall and lawn-watering ends up in municipal storm drains. It washes fertilizers, pesticides and other contaminants into storm drains, and they end up in rivers, lakes and other bodies of water.

“Results from our sampling and monitoring study revealed high detection frequencies of pollutants such as pesticides and pathogen indicators at all sites,” researcher Lorence Oki said of the study. Darren Haver and colleagues joined Oki in the study.

Scientific American's coverage noted that:

Water that runs off from these green acres typically picks up a load of fertilizers, pesticides and other potentially toxic chemicals, and washes them—via sewers or directly—into lakes, rivers, streams and even the ocean. Once there, joined by similar runoff from agriculture, the chemicals can drive a host of environmental problems, ranging from dead zones to contaminated fish.

Previous estimates of how much water pollution derived from the suburbs was based simply on rainfall. But horticulturalist Lorence Oki of the University of California, Davis, and his colleagues found that sprinklers and other irrigation techniques also led to significant runoff that, in some cases, carried more pollution with it from the eight neighborhoods studied in Sacramento and Orange counties than runoff after a rain storm.

Great stories by both publications, though honestly, it's not really news to us here at Hydropoint. After all, our controllers have been proven in CalEPA studies to reduce runoff pollution by 71%. So what's the bottom line here? Home landscapes contribute 50% more runoff pollution than previously thought, in some cases irrigation is responsible for more pollution than rainfall, and you can reduce your contribution to this problem by nearly 3/4 by installing a WeatherTRAK controller. Big problem, simple solution.

New Study Details Groundwater Use Issues in California

The USGS just released results of a study showing a mixed bag of good and bad news for California groundwater users. Among other things, the study found:

• Overall, groundwater levels are declining in the southern, Tulare Basin portion of the San Joaquin Valley as more water is pumped out than recharges naturally. But the southern valley also shows the most promise for large-scale artificial groundwater recharge, particularly along the eastern side with its coarse-grained soils from river and alluvial-fan sediments.

• By contrast, groundwater levels in the Sacramento Valley and the northern portion of the San Joaquin Valley are generally stable.

• As the state faces its third year of below-average precipitation, groundwater supplies are under increasing pressure, according to data gathered since 2003. Landowners are drilling more and deeper wells, and underground water levels are starting to drop once again – as they did during previous droughts in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

It goes on to explain why groundwater is so critical for California:

The Central Valley is more than 400 miles long, comprised of the water-rich Sacramento Valley in the north and the drier San Joaquin Valley in the south. One of the nation’s most productive agricultural regions, the Central Valley has the largest groundwater system in the state. The groundwater basin, or aquifer, contains one-fifth of all groundwater pumped in the nation.

It is, in effect, California’s largest reservoir.

But unlike above ground reservoirs, once drawn down it takes more than single good winter's worth of precipitation to refill it. This story is being repeated all over the globe. If we don't get smarter about water management soon, we could end up in a situation that makes today look like the good old days of abundant water.

The Hits Keep Comin'

Escondido is the latest California community hit with rate hikes.

Despite objections from coin-operated laundries and residents, Escondido officials will hike water rates by 8 percent on Sept. 1 and increase sewer rates by 5 percent on Jan. 1.

The higher rates, which city officials blamed on the California drought and infrastructure problems at Escondido's sewer treatment plant, will increase the monthly bill for a typical family by $3.28.

But excessive users could face much larger increases because of penalties under a conservation policy implemented in February, city officials said.

While the increase is moderate for the average family, local businesses and organizations appear to be bearing the brunt of the increase:

Vivian Doering from the Escondido Woman's Club said being classified as a restaurant has spiked monthly bills at the club from $61 to $235 in just three months.

Escondido isn't alone; there are stories in the news today about water rate increases in OK, NE, NJ, LA, and OR.

Of course, they can all offset these rate increases by reducing their water use. And it's easy.

Baby Steps for Sacramento

It looks like Sacramento might be getting the tiniest bit serious about conserving water. As reported in the Sacramento Bee, the city will be offering residents classes on how to properly irrigate their lawns while still saving water.

The city of Sacramento offers residents a free class Aug. 29 to learn how to use water wisely and comply with new watering rules.

The Saturday class runs from 10 a.m. to noon at the city's Water Conservation Office, 2260 Glen Ellen Circle. Participants will learn about new watering rules that took effect June 12, which restrict landscape irrigation to alternate days and certain hours on those days, among other things.

They'll also learn how to maintain a beautiful yard while reducing water consumption.

I guess it's a start, though offering just one class seems like a guarantee that at most, a few hundred might participate. Talk about a drop in the bucket. If they sent a few city employees to the class though, it might just have some long term benefits, considering their recent track record of water waste. Of course they could just let technology take care of things, and save even more water without all the labor...

Water: A Critical Consideration for Corporate Management

The world's second largest sovereign wealth fund and the biggest single investor in European stocks, Norway's Government Pension Fund, is increasingly pushing the companies in its portfolio to factor environmental and sustainability concerns into their management plans. Why is an investment fund putting environmental concerns front and center?

Norway's wealth fund, the biggest owner of European stocks, believes that environmental factors may sooner or later hit earnings and profitability of the companies it owns and sees its green ambitions as part its wider push for long-term profits.

While this in itself isn't news (the fund has been pro-sustainability for some time), the latest addition to their list of environmental concerns corporations need to address is:

Another new priority for the fund is dealing with water management, said Kvam, because continued availability of water resources will have a "huge impact" on how the Norwegian fund will develop in the decades to come.

Kvam said water was an important input or production factor for about 1,100 companies in the fund's current portfolio, whose combined market value is some $43 billion.

"The shortage of water and increased demand is going to create risks for huge amounts of companies going forward and we as investors need to know that the companies are managing these risks," she said in an interview.

It's nice to see that European financial markets are recognizing the growing importance of sustainable water use. Will American investors follow suit? Just think of the advances we could make if major investors like CalPERS took similar steps... Of course, some forward looking U.S. companies are already responding to the issue. Let's hope more get on board soon.

New Watering Rules Will Require Adjustments; Why Not Automate Them?

Across the U.S., water agencies are implementing landscape watering restrictions that limit watering to just 2 or 3 days per week. This presents a conundrum for gardeners seeking to keep plants lush and healthy while they comply with conservation regulations. See this Press-Enterprise story about a homeowner caught between a rock and a hard place as she struggles to balance the aesthetic requirements of her HOA with the City of Temecula's new limits on watering >>

Water agencies from California to South Carolina recommend smart controllers like the WeatherTRAK system because these devices simplify compliance with watering rules and ensure plants receive the water they need, and not a drop more.

New Research

The Central Valley Business Times writes today of new research that shows California has enough water to meet it's needs, it's just a question of managing it well.

A new report Tuesday argues that California has enough water supply right now to avoid drought-like conditions, if it were properly managed.

“California has already developed enough water supplies to satisfy our needs into the foreseeable future by utilizing existing infrastructure and existing cost effective technologies,” says the report by a group calling itself the Environmental Water Caucus.

“Water efficient technologies and approaches … can save or reduce water consumption in urban areas by as much as 5 million acre feet a year by 2030 compared with current trends – enough water to support a population growth of 29,000,000 people,” the report says. That would be more than current population projections for the next 40 years.

It's all about smart water management. Not only will it solve the issues of water scarcity, the side effects benefit us as well, as today's company press release highlights:

HydroPoint Data Systems, Inc., provider of the WeatherTRAK® Smart Water Management solution, reveals that its subscribers reduce peak water and energy demand by eliminating outdoor water waste. During the summer months, water and energy consumption typically skyrocket as commercial and residential users react to higher temperatures by applying more water to landscapes and powering up cooling systems.

Water and energy are intrinsically related; energy is needed to transport and deliver water, while generating power requires massive quantities of water. The U.S. EPA links water and energy savings, equating 1 gallon of water to approximately 4 watt hours of power. Nearly 20 percent of California’s electricity consumption is attributable to water-related energy use, according to the California Energy Commission. In the interest of national security, the Department of Energy launched the Water-Energy Nexus program to encourage the development and use of clean technologies that reduce water-related energy demand.

You can read the whole thing here.

It's Not Just Scarcity or Sustainability

You'll read a lot on this blog about water issues related to drought, wasteful use of water vs. sustainable use and other conservation related topics. But as the stories below illustrate, smart water management is about a lot more than just how we use water, it's about taking a holistic, all encompassing view of water as a resource, and balancing it against competing needs.

In Wyoming's Powder River Basin, an area rich in natural gas, the extraction of that resource also depletes, and in some cases pollutes another resource; the local groundwater supply that farmers and ranchers rely on for their livelihood. A recent research report:

...said that between 1987 and 2006, BLM collected data from 111 monitoring wells in Wyoming’s portion of the basin using a deep network designed to evaluate potential leakage between the coalbed methane water-producing coal deposits and adjacent sandstone beds, and to measure the drawdown in the producing zones.
During that period, CBM production in the Wyoming PRB withdrew 4.1 billion bbl of groundwater at total pumping rates up to 77.3 million gallons daily, the report said. Based on BLM’s deep monitoring well data, water levels in some of the monitored CBM wells have declined up to 625 feet within the CBM production areas of the Wyoming PRB’s CBM production areas, it indicated.

In Delaware, increasing development in formerly agricultural areas is raising questions of the impact to groundwater, the major source for human consumption:

Groundwater is both the source of drinking water and the method of disposing of wastewater, said Scott Andres, hydrogeologist with the Delaware Geological Society. There is plenty of water to be had, he said, but the challenge is protecting public and environmental health.

As nutrient-pollution limits increase the cost of septic, land-based disposal systems are becoming more economically appealing, said Andres.

Different methods of disposal add different amounts of water to the groundwater system. They also add contaminants, including nutrients, household chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Andres said there is no data yet on the human health effects of those pollutants....

Land use adds pollutants to groundwater, and, when the flow of water changes, so do rates of natural filtration, said Ator. Less natural filtration could mean fewer contaminants are pulled out of the water.

In Michigan, years of illegal dumping of waste products from fruit processing is contaminating streams and groundwater. No one knows how long it will take the environment to recover:

In Michigan's prized fruit and vegetable industry, processors have contaminated groundwater with metals and arsenic by spraying wastewater on fields -- a 40-year-old practice that has led to polluted wells.

But in some cases, they also have dumped or spilled their waste into streams, marshes and wetlands, damaging them for years to come.

These issues aren't limited to any particular state or country. NASA's GRACE satellite mission recently confirmed that India is depleting it's groundwater faster than it's being replenished. In an area where groundwater is responsible for supplying much of the water used to irrigate crops, as well as provide drinking water to 600 million Indians, this has disaster written all over it:

Farming is a thirsty business on the Indian subcontinent. But how thirsty, exactly? For the first time, satellite remote sensing of a 2000-kilometer swath running from eastern Pakistan across northern India and into Bangladesh has put a solid number on how quickly the region is depleting its groundwater. The number "is big," says hydrologist James Famiglietti of the University of California, Irvine--big as in 54 cubic kilometers of groundwater lost per year from the world's most intensively irrigated region hosting 600 million people. "I don't think anybody knew how quickly it was being depleted over that large an area."

With climate change threatening to change the distribution of rainfall across the globe, it seems like now would be a good time to start addressing these issues. An ounce of prevention and all that...

Sacramento - Excessive Water Use Nothing New

It turns out the Sacramento Bee's story about the unsustainable use of water by the city was simply a confirmation of long known problems, driven in large part to the city's legacy of un-metered water use, among other things. A previous story from March of this year highlighted the challenges the city faces in reducing its Bigfoot like water footprint of 280 gallons a day per person.

In a workshop on water conservation, a majority of the Sacramento City Council said aggressive new policies are needed to save water. This may include stronger enforcement of water waste, new landscaping rules, accelerated water-meter installation – perhaps even requiring a retrofit of homes with low-impact appliances before they're resold.

"I think it's absolutely critical for this city and this region to be at the forefront … of responsible water use," said Councilman Rob Fong.

The council directed staff to draft proposed ordinances. These could be enacted as early as June to prepare for a hot summer in the third year of a drought gripping the state.

It marks a dramatic shift from the past, when the city actively opposed basic water conservation programs now common throughout California.

For instance, Sacramento fought – and ultimately failed – to avoid state policies requiring water meter installation. And it has also fallen far behind on a number of conservation promises made in 2000.

By last June, Sacramento had achieved none of 16 conservation goals it promised to meet by 2006 as a member of the Sacramento Water Forum.

With a new mayor and a city council that's making the right noises on this issue, maybe Sacramento will be able to change its ways. Maybe. But proposals to require retrofitting houses with water wise appliances upon sale won't accomplish as much as simply requiring retrofit of dumb irrigation controllers with smart ones. Think about it, 60% or more of household water use is directed to our landscapes. If you want to have the biggest possible impact on water use, you need to start with the biggest user of water. It's common sense folks, go for the low hanging fruit first.

It's year three of the drought, and when this one ends, there will be another around the corner. There always is. Meanwhile the effects of climate change, while unpredictable, are unlikely to favor California's water situation. Add to that an ever growing population and sooner or later we're all going to have to pitch in. If Marin County can average 100 gallons a day per person, why can't Sacramento?

Sacramento is No Long Beach (or Sonoma, or Marin, or...)

This 3 page story in the Sacramento Bee shocked me nearly (but not quite!) speechless.

A Bee investigation of water use in Sacramento, based on an examination of three years of metering records, reveals city government itself as the top water scofflaw...

Even when Sacramento issued its first-ever "spare the water" alert this summer, forbidding outdoor watering by residents from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the city's own park and cemetery workers apparently missed the memo...

In the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery off Broadway and Riverside Drive, streams from antiquated jets pooled on crypts. The cemetery may host a drought-resistant garden of native plants maintained by volunteers, but its overall consumption grew by 76 percent from 2006 to 2008, the second-fastest rise of any large user.

Such bad habits are the norm at city agencies. Overall water use at metered city properties shot up by 22 percent in those three drought years, even though water available locally for all users rose by less than 4 percent.

Sacramento could do a 180 on sustainable water use just by emulating Bend, OR, Healdsburg, Newport Beach, and Petaluma, CA, and integrating WeatherTRAK smart controllers into their water management plan. What could be easier?

Weekend Roundup

There continues to be a surplus of news stories dealing with the water use issues the nation is facing today, and into the future. We've collected a few weekend stories here that you might find interesting.

Rate increases make the news in South Carolina, Ohio, Missouri, Arizona, Indiana and Kentucky.

This article offers an in depth look at the groundwater crisis facing Arizona, and possible solutions for it.

Rod Duncan of the Soquel Creek Water District takes a look at what water use in the home might look like in 2030. It's no surprise that smart controllers made the list!

Thanks for stopping by, we'll have more water news for you in a day or two, so be sure to check in again soon.

Long Beach Isn't Alone

Following up on yesterday's post of Long Beach's success in reducing water use in response to the drought are two similar stories. First up is this story from the Ventura County Star:

The call to reduce water use has been heard in Ventura County.

The Calleguas Municipal Water District, which supplies water to most of the county, on Wednesday reported a more than 15 percent decrease in water usage in July.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” said Eric Bergh, resources manager for Calleguas. “The message has been delivered.”

Next up is news from the Press Democrat that Sonoma ,Marin and Mendocino county customers of the Sonoma County Water District, home to some of California's best vineyards, old growth redwoods, beautiful coastline and yours truly, Hydropoint Data Systems, have exceeded some of the most ambitious water conservation goals in the state:

Halfway through a six-month conservation period, the 600,000 people in Sonoma and Marin counties who rely primarily on Russian River water delivered by the Sonoma County Water Agency have reduced consumption from all sources by 29 percent. That easily exceeds the goal of 25 percent.

In Mendocino County, communities along the river are flirting with the 50 percent reduction called for by the state.

“Definitely people have stepped up,” said Mike Thompson, the water agency’s deputy chief engineer. “Just from driving around the area, we see a lot more lawns on the brown side and people seem to be a lot more cognizant of the need to conserve water this year.”

The success has allowed the Water Agency to far exceed the state’s companion mandate that it reduce the amount of water it pumps from the Russian River by 25 percent. In fact, the agency is diverting 34 percent less than it did in 2004, the base year used by the state.

As you can see, Californian's are responding well to the call to conserve. That said, we do think it's worth pointing out that with the application of a little technology, homeowners can conserve water and maintain a beautiful landscape.

Long Beach Gets it Right

Long Beach Water appears to be leading the way in water conservation in California. A press release from the agency states:

During the month of July, which saw no rainfall, and which was notably warmer than July ‘08, citywide water use was 15.3% below average. For the current fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2008, Long Beach water consumption is 16.5% below the historical average. Total water use for July ‘09 was 1% higher than July ’08, breaking an amazing string of 14 consecutive record-setting months of low water use for the city. Despite higher temperatures and no precipitation, July was extremely close to setting another record for low water use.

Kudos to Long Beach for setting the bar so high! You can only wonder how much more water would have been saved if every residence had one of these high tech wonders... :-)

Whiskey is for Drinking...

and water is for fighting over. While the origins of the old adage are disputed, they are a well known part of California's history, and they still ring true as the current situation in Palmdale demonstrates. As reported in the Antelope Valley News:

As Palmdale city and water district officials prepare to return to court over the water district's May rate hike, they are lobbing criticism back and forth.

Palmdale Water District placed a full-page advertisement in Sunday's Antelope Valley Press, saying the city's lawsuit against the water district will only cost taxpayers and ratepayers money that could better be spent in other ways. Mayor Jim Ledford responded Monday in a letter calling the rate hike "exorbitant and incomprehensible" as well as illegal.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge last month refused Palmdale's request for a preliminary injunction to block the rate hike, but another court hearing is scheduled Wednesday in Los Angeles on the city's request for a permanent injunction. A city attorney said it could take months before the request goes to trial.

"PWD has won the first court ruling, but the city insists it will continue lawsuits, so the battle begins," the Palmdale Water District ad said. "PWD estimates it will be forced to spend half a million dollars to defend itself against the city. The city will likely spend half a million dollars to attack PWD. That's one million dollars spent with no benefit to our community."

According to the Palmdale Water District the rate hikes are "...needed because of general increases in costs since 2005, necessary infrastructure repairs, promotion of conservation, improving water quality, responding to decreased water deliveries, among other reasons stated,".

Especially noteworthy is their mention of decreased water deliveries and necessary infrastructure repairs. Much of the country's water delivery infrastructure is aging and desperately in need of repair, an operation costly enough on it's own, but especially so when paired with an ongoing drought causing water scarcity throughout the state. In this environment are rate hikes inevitable? It looks like it will be a few months before we find out if that's the case for Palmdale, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see more stories like this in the near future. Stay tuned...

CA Drought & Groundwater Use Symposium

It's becoming more and more difficult to overstate the seriousness of California's ongoing drought. In the latest example of just how critical sustainable use of the state's water supply has become, the San Joaquin Valley Chapters of the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG) and the Groundwater Resources Association of California (GRA) will be holding a symposium on the possibility of deep land subsidence due to overuse of groundwater resources in the San Joaquin Valley.

According to their website:

The prospect of renewed episodes of deep land subsidence in the San Joaquin Valley is very real: San Joaquin Valley groundwater levels are at historic lows; groundwater pumping is increasing in response to a drought and cutbacks in surface water deliveries; and Valley population growth has imposed an ever-increasing demand on water supplies. Deep land subsidence threatens infrastructure and buildings, water delivery systems, and long-term water supply capacity.

Click the link for more information on what will be discussed and how to register for the event.

Measuring Your Water Footprint: Part II

Just as we're all starting to feel well versed on water use and its relationship to a sustainable lifestyle, along comes this read from Mother Jones to let us know that, just as with your carbon footprint, your water footprint involves more than just your direct use of the resource.

Be sure and check out the links embedded in the story as well, there's a lot more great info hiding in there...

In Texas, drought means conserving every last drop

In Dallas, off-duty police officers are patrolling streets, looking for people illegally watering their lawns and gardens. Residents are encouraged to stealthily rat out water scofflaws on a 24-hour hot line. One Texas lake has dipped so low that stolen cars dumped years ago are peeking up through the waterline. More from U.S. Water News >>

Eleven H2O Facts.

1. Most of the earth's surface water is permanently frozen or salty.

2. Over 90% of the world's supply of fresh water is located in Antarctica

3. Saline water can be desalinated for use as drinking water by going through a process to remove the salt from the water. The process costs so much that it isn't done on a very large scale. The cost of desalting sea water in the U.S. ranges from $1 to $16 per 1000 gallons.

4. 6.8 billion -- Gallons of water Americans flush down their toilets every day.

5. Ninety-seven percent of the earth's water is saltwater in oceans and seas.

6. Of the 3% that is freshwater, only 1% is available for drinking - the remaining 2% is frozen in the polar ice caps

7. It takes about 1,000 gallons of water to grow the wheat to make a two pound loaf of bread

8. Forty trillion gallons of water a day are carried in the atmosphere across the United States

9. Forty percent of the atmosphere's moisture falls as precipitation each day

10. The salinity of the water outside the cells in our bodies is the same as the ocean

11. If all the world's water were fit into a gallon jug, the fresh water available for us to use would equal only about one tablespoon

Why can't we just make it?

It has been estimated that about twenty percent of the world population does not have access to drinking water.
This has long been a fact with life for many developing countries, In the Western world it's a new serious problem, which leads us to wonder: If we need water so badly, why can't we just make it?

The following chemical reaction has been known to mankind for last 200 years, but until now no one has made it work in a manufacturing solution.
2H2 + O2 = 2H2O + Energy

It seems like a basic chemistry, so why not to smash hydrogen and oxygen together and solve the water crisis in our planet.

To create water, we need hydrogen and oxygen atoms, electrons of each atoms must become linked (orbits), and to do that we must have a sudden burst of energy to get these things to be conjoined. Yes, theoretically, it is possible, but it would be an extremely dangerous process-deadly one, because hydrogen is extremely flammable and oxygen supports combustion.

To create enough drinking water to sustain the population of our planet, a very dangerous and incredibly large scale process would be required. We are still not there, so, let’s put a stop-to the Drop.

Sustainability 101: Water, The New Carbon. Measuring Your Water Footprint.

More and more businesses are increasing their awareness of water use by conducting audits to better understand their use and to establish more efficient routines. This makes us vulnerable to higher water cost as water scarcity becomes an issue. Reducing your water consumption now will decrease immediate costs and will lead to an increase in future profits.

Determining your organization’s water footprint not only allows you to track your corporate sustainability indicators, it serves as a stepping stone for calculating and reducing your product’s water footprint as well.

View Heather Gadonniex's post on Triple Pundit >>

Water Scarcity Threatens Half the Planet

Julio Godoy Interviews JONATHAN BAILLIE, Zoological Society of London

If the world's governments fail to reach an immediate agreement on how to manage water resources by 2030, half the planet's population will not have enough water to survive, says scientist Jonathan Baillie.

There are already 2.8 billion people suffering from lack of access to water, noted Baillie, director of environmental conservation at the Zoological Society of London, who participated in the Jun. 12-13 forum of the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE) in Rome. More >>

Simple Ways to Reduce Yard Water Use

The Pasadena Department of Water and Power determined that residential customers use approximately 112 gallons per day per person, much of which is being used ineffectively by wasteful outdoor watering methods.

1. Save up to 20 gallons per leak per day of wasted water by fixing leaks in your sprinkler system.
   
2. Adjust outdoor sprinkler systems so they don’t spray on sidewalks and patios, this will help eliminate up to 25 gallons per minute of wasted water.
   
3. Remember to install a water recycling system if your home or business maintains decorative fountains or ponds.
4. Garden and landscape watering should be done before 10:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m., this way less water will be wasted through evaporation. This can save up to 25 gallons of water usage per day.
5. Install a smart irrigation controller that automatically waters plants based on the weather conditions and soil moisture.

See more tips in Diane Tegarden's story for the Examiner >>

New Watering Rules Take Effect in Sacramento

Sacramento has one of the highest per capita water consumption rates in the nation. Residents each consume about 280 gallons of water per day for all residential uses, compared with the state average of 192. About 65% of that usage goes for landscape irrigation, primarily lawns. See more from Matt Weiser's story for the Sacramento Bee >>

Using the HydroPoint savings calculator, we determined that Sacramento could save 10,764,468 gallons of water each year by watering the State Capitol grounds efficiently. And if one in 4 households used HydroPoint's WeatherTRAK solution, Sacramento would see savings of 796,496,519 gallons of water per year!

Estimate your savings with the calculator >>

Californians' thirst for water has pushed salmon to the brink of extinction

Officials have been directed to cut water supplies to cities and farms by 5-7% to save several fish species.

California's rivers used to brim with trout, salmon, sturgeon and more, but the federal, state and local governments built a monumental system of dams and pipelines in the most populous state that turned a desert into productive farmland and left some rivers dry.

The state faces a water crisis and a third year of drought. Add climate change and a growing population to the mix, and the fate of some salmon runs looks untenable without change, the National Marine Fisheries Service said in a report ordered as part of a long-running court battle over the salmon. More from Peter Henderson's story for Reuters >>

Water Efficiency to Become Critical in Green Building Designs

Over the next five years, water efficiency and conservation will become critical factors in green design, construction and product selection, according to McGraw-Hill Construction’s latest SmartMarket Report. The report finds that architecture and engineering (A/E) firms, contractors and owners believe that water efficiency is quickly becoming a higher priority than other aspects of green building such as energy efficiency and waste reduction.

Buildings consume 20% of the world’s available water, a resource that becomes scarcer each year, according to the United Nations Environmental Program. More >>

Californians conserving more since market drop

Californians said in a recent survey that they are doing more to conserve energy and water since last fall's big stock market drop.

One reason why: 45% of respondents reported driving fewer miles in their car in recent months.

Encouragingly, 79% said they'd be likely or very likely to comply with a 15% reduction in water use this summer.

See the San Jose Business Journal story >>

These behaviors may survive economic recovery if business owners and homeowners adopt no- or low-sacrifice practices and technologies that reduce their costs.

Ambitious California Program Aids Renewables, Efficiency and Water

In March, my colleague Leslie Kaufman wrote about an innovative solar financing scheme taking root in Palm Desert and other California locales, in which homeowners can avoid the high up-front costs by paying for a solar system gradually, through higher property taxes.

Sonoma County appears to have taken the model to its most ambitious level. The county has just launched a program that is notable both for its hefty, $100 million price tag, and also for including energy efficiency and water conservation measures along with solar panels.

See Kate Galbraith's story for Green, Inc., the NY Times' Energy and Environment blog >>

Conservation is best, easiest water policy

85% of Californians are willing to do significantly more to save water because they recognize water supply reliability as one of the most pressing issues we face.

Read the Sacramento Bee opinion piece by Lester Snow of the California Department of Water Resources and Timothy Quinn of the Association of California Water Agencies here >>

Tampa Bay Saves Water, Loses Revenue

"It's a Catch-22," said City Council member John Dingfelder. "We're doing a better job on conservation. Now we're going broke on the water stuff."

Council member Mary Mulhern said it's worth the decline in revenue. "It's better for us not to use up our water than it is for us to make money off it," she said.

See Janet Zink's story for TampaBay.com >>

View a webcast about tiered water rate structures to see how other cities are resolving this dilemma >>

As we use less, we could pay more for water

Dwindling demand for anything usually forces prices down. Not with water.

Here's the rub...

"We're out there telling people to use less water, and yet a lot of the revenue we have is based on what people use," said Gary Breaux, finance director for the East Bay Municipal Utility District, which serves 1.3 million people in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. "It's a circular thing."

See Kelly Zito's story for the San Francisco Chronicle >>

California water projects get $260M in stimulus funds

The cash-strapped state will apply the funds to fix dams, restore fisheries and habitat and to cope with drought conditions, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday.

View the article by Matthew Yi and Kelly Zito for the San Francisco Chronicle >>

Wine Country Water Users Will Pay More for Less

Russian River water consumers soon will be paying more while using less of the precious liquid. Water agencies in Sonoma and Mendocino counties that depend on the Russian River are planning to raise their rates to compensate for income losses stemming from a state directive to cut water use by up to 50 percent. See Glenda Anderson's story for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat >>

Desperation Drove Maltese Government to Integrated Smart Grid Innovation

The Maltese national power and water utilities are making their country the first in the world to build a nationwide smart grid and fully integrated electricity and water system. Learn more about Malta's vanguard approach and its urgent applicability for the rest of us in this BBC interview with Brendon Riley of IBM UK >>

Connecting the dots between climate change, pollution and landscaping

Here at HydroPoint we're advocates of making site-appropriate and native plant choices to conserve water. But did you know that plants absorb more carbon and nitrogen than mowed lawns? See this Herald-Tribune story for more about the affect of landscapes on climate change >>

City of Paso Robles Mandates 50% Reduction in Landscape Water Use

Landscapes are overwatered by anywhere from 30 to 300 percent, according to the American Water Works Association and East Bay Municipal Water District. Given that, landscapes will actually thrive under this new measure - but only if they are watered intelligently with an evapotranspiration-based watering method.

See the story by Josy Petray for Paso Robles Press >>

Your Other Footprint – Just As Big and Bad

By Tricia Kuse, Johnson Controls

No question about it: the buzz for quite some time has been mostly about our “carbon footprint".

Lately, though, I’m hearing a lot about another set of tracks we’re laying down: our “water footprint” – particularly the trail left behind by businesses, governments and other organizations.

One chairman of a major North American company worries that water shortages could actually present a bigger challenge than energy security. He predicts, “We will run out of water before we run out of fuel.” Frightening.

Read the post >>

Water rates up 10% in Littleton, MA

From Littleton Independent
By Kevin Goddard

The Water Department adopted a 10% rate increase for all customers. The new rates, which are based on usage, will help offset rising operational costs. The increase is effective immediately. More >>

Waukesha Sets Example for WI Utilities with Rate Structures that Drive Conservation

Waukesha residents who want to take long showers could face higher water rate increases than their neighbors who conserve under a new rate structure the city's water utility wants to implement.

The newest round of rate increases aimed at rewarding savers and punishing heavier users could bring the utility $500,000, a utility official said.

The utility operates under a conservation rate that makes water more expensive as more is used.

Most utilities in the state operate in the opposite way: the more water consumed, the lower the rate.

See Darryl Enriquez's story for the Journal Sentinel >>

Water Worries Shape Local Energy Decisions

Sustainability requires a holistic view of water, energy and climate change because they are inextricably linked.

That's why power companies are increasingly "pulling back from plans to build traditional power plants that require steady streams of water to operate. In others, renewable-energy projects such as wind farms or solar arrays are gaining momentum because their water needs are minimal...."

See Rebecca Smith's article for Wall Street Journal >

Lockheed Martin Reduced Water Use by 11% in 2008

The company saved 275 million gallons of water through the use of facility and cooling system efficiency projects, detecting and repairing leaks, and installing landscape irrigation controls. Read the landscaping case study >>

Water conservation is part of the company’s environmental program that has established a 25% reduction goal for carbon emissions, waste and water use by 2012. Read the Environmental Leader story >>

Study Finds Progress In Corporate Water Reporting

But Improvement Is Needed

Companies have improved their practices in reporting water use and its effects, but significant efforts must still be made to provide greater disclosure and enable better understanding of the risks and impacts of corporate water needs, according to a recent report by the Pacific Institute. View the Greener Buildings story >>

Focus on Water at Going Green East

HydroPoint Chairman and CSO Chris Spain joins leaders from GE, JP Morgan Chase and others in addressing Water Supply Resilience & Corporate Investment at Going Green East. Watch the video >>

Tiered water rates sought to help spur conservation in San Diego

By J. Harry Jones for San Diego Union-Tribune

The San Diego City Council is considering a proposal to institute tiered water rates that would give a financial “incentive” – a penalty – to encourage the biggest water users to cut back. More >>

Pumping Water Accounts for 20% of Global Energy

Way back in '07, the California Energy Commission reported that 19% of the state's electricity is consumed in meeting the state's water demand. But it's not just California.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the pumping of water alone accounts for more than 20 percent of all global energy consumption. More from the World Water Forum in Istanbul >>

World Water Day is March 22

If you can spare a moment, enjoy these peaceful images from National Geographic:
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photos/patterns-water/surf-ripples-photography.html

EPA Doling Out Nearly $300M for Northwest Water Quality Projects

From Environmental Leader

Three Northwest States, Alaska, and Tribal governments will receive more than $297 million from the EPA for clean water projects to create jobs and protect the environment. More >>

Texas drought loss approaches $1 billion

Blair Fannin for AgNews

The state's ongoing drought has cost the state's farmers and ranchers nearly $1 billion, and losses could continue to mount this spring if sufficient rainfall isn’t received for forage or row crops, Texas AgriLife Extension Service economists report. More >>

Silicon Valley companies unite to conserve water

The water crisis in California is creating a friendly corporate competition in the Bay Area. Companies are trying to conserve as much water as they can. Watch the video >>

Live or work in San Francisco? Water bills will go up soon.

Water and sewage rates in San Francisco are poised to increase in July, largely to pay for seismic safety improvements to the water system. See John Cote's story for San Francisco Chronicle >>

Newark City Council voted unanimously to raise water fees 15%.

The increase takes effect March 1.

More than a dozen people testified at the last meeting of the Council. They told of hard times, lost jobs, and higher fees for power and gas. But city resident Amy Roe offered conservation in response, saying, "I'm sure I can save 15 percent off my water use."

See the story by Robin Brown for Delaware Online >>

Water Providers Raise Rates to Prompt Conservation, Pay Off Bond Debt

This Arizona Republic story from Edythe Jensen examines the City of Chandler's rising water rates. The city plans to raise rates for the second time in two years - and again every year until 2014. More >>

We conserve water when our usage lightens our wallets. That's why the Foster City City Council (San Francisco Bay Area) is considering a water rate structure that escalates the cost of water as more of it is used. See the Mercury News story >>

Drought spreads across Texas. Meanwhile, Long Beach, CA water use at record low.

By Bill Hanna for Star-Telegram

As if the economy weren’t bad enough, Texas will have to deal with a growing drought this year. The latest U.S. drought monitor came out Thursday, and it shows the debilitating dry conditions slowly spreading across the state. More >>

Conservation is the answer, as business owners and home owners in Long Beach, CA recognize. With California in the midst of a prolonged drought, water consumption in Long Beach is at a record low, city officials announced Thursday. More >>

Let's Innovate and Conserve to Cope with Drought

By Michael Carlin and Spreck Rosekrans for the San Francisco Chronicle

The ongoing struggles of managing California's limited water supply to support our cities, farms and natural environment are well known. As we face what some are calling one of the worst droughts in California history, we must all learn to conserve water wherever possible. Just as the Bay Area has long been the center of innovation in technology, today San Francisco is pioneering a new approach that encourages "water entrepreneurs" to find more cost-effective ways to reduce water use. More >>

Business Warned to Heed Potential for Water Scarcity

A new report from CERES and the Pacific Institute reveals that "too few businesses and investors are taking into consideration the potential for economic upheaval if water resources become as scarce as predicted."

Naturally, we were pleased to see a number of HydroPoint customers cited among those companies taking action to reduce their water footprint.

Read the story on Environmental Leader >>
Go to the CERES report >>

EPA Releases Final Guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The EPA released official guidance for the portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that includes the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The Act allocates 20% of the $6 billion appropriated to these two funds to green programs such as those that improve water efficiency. View the EPA memo here (PDF) >>

Delawareans Brace for 100% Water Rate Hike

Water rates outpace power rates in Delaware.

From The News Journal
By Aaron Nathans

As worked up as Delawareans got two years ago over the price of electricity, the cost of another necessity of life has been growing at a faster rate in recent years: water.

Two of the state's largest private water companies are seeking rates that, if granted, would be more than 100 percent higher than customers were paying in 2000.

It's something that is happening around the country, particularly in areas of rapid growth or where water is becoming increasingly scarce. More >>

Las Vegas Running Out of Water Means Dimming Los Angeles Lights

Here's a different sort of example of the relationship between water and power...

"If the drought persists and more water is diverted from the Colorado, the lake could drop to 1,050 feet. That would prevent water from flowing into the intake pipe and cut 40 percent of Las Vegas’s supply -- the disaster Mulroy is trying to head off. Hoover Dam, completed in 1935 to regulate the river and form Lake Mead, wouldn’t be able to produce electricity for the 750,000 people it supplies in Los Angeles."

See John Lippert and Jim Efstathiou Jr.'s (Bloomberg) story for Bloomberg >>

Sacramento under severe water rationing

Sacramento Bee
Matt Weiser

More than 400,000 people in the Sacramento region are now living under severe water rationing orders in response to California's worst drought in a generation, and more are likely to join them. More >>

Federal water supply may be cut off from California

MSNBC
Melissa Mecija

Federal water managers say they might have to cut off water supplies to some of California's largest farms, thanks to the state's severe drought. More >>

Conserving Water = Higher Rates?

Fox News On the Scene
Brooks Blanton

In case you didn’t know, the Southeastern United States has been in a drought for the last several years. The City of Atlanta was in danger of losing their water supply and many small towns in Tennessee simply ran out. More >>

Fighting Carbon Emissions One Drop at a Time

Join San Francisco Business Leaders at Business Council on Climate Change (BC3) Event

Date: Feb 19, 6:00 – 7:30pm
Location: SHIFT Communications, 260 California St, Suite 900, S.F., CA 94111

Please join BC3 and HydroPoint in a review of how building owners and tenants can improve their water efficiency for a multitude of environmental and financial gains. We'll explain how water waste translates into energy waste and in turn to the carbon emissions that exacerbate climate change and drought.

Presentations by Tom Ash, HydroPoint Director of Conservation and David Zetland, S.V. Ciriacy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellow in Natural Resource Economics and Political Economy at U.C. Berkeley, followed by extended Q&A session. More info >>

Carl's Jr. Opens Green Restaurant, Aims to Make It a Company Prototype

CARPINTERIA, Calif. -- The CEO for CKE Restaurants Inc. cut the ribbon on his firm's new eco-friendly Carl's Jr. this week with a goal of making it the flagship for the company's green building efforts.

The restaurant is just two miles from the headquarters of CHK, which operates the Carl's Jr. and Hardee Restaurant chains.

If the new shop lives up to its expectations for energy efficiency, water conservation and other environmental performance areas, it will become the model for projects to build or retrofit restaurants in both chains, according to CEO Andrew F. Puzder. More >>

Despite severe storms, state's snowpack below normal

Recent rains don't alleviate long-term drought conditions. Efficient water use is required.

From the Seattle Times
By Nicholas K. Geranios (AP)

The record storms that pounded the state earlier this winter haven't meant there will be more precious water in dry summer months...

Response to drought is dry run for a response to climate change

From the San Francisco Chronicle
by Richard Rominger and Michael Dimock

California's unfolding drought - now three years running - may prove to be the worst in recorded history. Farms have begun to fail, communities to crumble, food prices to rise and more people are going hungry. How we respond to the drought will offer us a template of how to respond to global climate change. More >>

How to Go Green in Hard Times

Normally we keep the focus on water, but we could not resist posting this article from Yuliya Chernova and Sari Krieger at The Wall Street Journal. Read about lower cost ways to go green.

Is Water the Next Carbon?

From Fast Company
By Anya Kamenetz

It's become commonplace in the sustainability world to say water is the oil of the 21st century. But it may be more accurate to say it's the new carbon. The problem is not about absolute scarcity--after all, the world's supply of water has remained constant since forever. Instead, we must allocate the resource fairly among competing human needs such as industries, agriculture, and cities. And the solutions have to do with finding efficiencies and closing loops to achieve "water neutrality"--when an enterprise returns the same amount of clean water to the world as it uses. More...

Water Rate Hikes Outpacing Oil and Gas

Water rates are rising sharply, up 27% over the last 5 years according to the Earth Policy Institute. See this excerpt from Mike Taugher's story for the Contra Costa Times and San Jose Mercury News...

The decline in housing construction and a slide in revenues due to more efficient water use among East Bay Municipal Utility District customers are some of the factors pinching the district's budget.

"It's the economic situation and the drought," said Carol Nishita, EBMUD's director of administration.

The district's board of directors was told recently that if nothing changes, customer rates would have to increase 21 percent. Nishita said that her staff came up with a list of ways lower that figure by increasing revenues, freezing new hires, and deferring construction and discretionary expenses. More>>>

California may be facing worst drought in modern history...

USA Today
Calif. facing worst drought in modern history
Kent Porter, AP
State officials reported a Sierra Nevada snowpack smaller than normal on Thursday and said California may be at the beginning of its worst drought in modern history. More...

San Francisco Chronicle
Worst drought ever expected after mild January
Kelly Zito
California teeters on the edge of the worst drought in the state's history, officials said Thursday after reporting that the Sierra Nevada snowpack - the backbone of the state's water supply - is only 61 percent of normal. More...

Water Efficiency Investments Deliver 2.5-2.8X Returns

Additional $2 Billion for Water Efficiency Grants Requested

From the Alliance for Water Efficiency

Water efficiency projects have tremendous potential to save water, energy and resources in our communities. Investments in drinking water systems will put tens of thousands of people to work, and create lasting benefits by strengthening public health, safety, and quality of life. A recently released AWE position paper showed that for every $1 billion invested in water efficiency projects, between 15,000 and 22,000 jobs are created, including construction, plumbing, and manufacturing jobs. Total economic output per million dollars of water efficiency investment is between $2.5 and $2.8 million, a significant multiplier effect. More...

Drought, Rationing & Surcharges Making News Around the US

AgWeb.com
Drought Monitor: Texas Drought Continues to Expand
Pro Farmer Editors
According to NOAA's Drought Monitor, the drought continued to expand under a dry, unseasonably warm weather regime. More>>>

ABC 7 San Francisco Bay Area
EBMUD cashing in on drought surcharges
Laura Anthony
East Bay Municipal Utility District is cashing in on the drought, at least when it comes to collecting those surcharges levied against customers who use too much water. More>>>

KUSI 9 San Diego
Water Rationing in San Diego?
Water could be rationed in San Diego as early as this summer due to the ongoing drought and a projected cut to deliveries to the region, Mayor Jerry Sanders warned.. More>>>

The Press-Enterprise
Water districts consider mandatory limits
Douglas Quan
Eastern Municipal Water District, one of the Inland region's largest water agencies, next week could approve mandatory water-use restrictions limiting when customers water their lawns and how they wash their cars. More>>>

New Tool Devised to Measure Corporate Water Footprint

From GreenBiz.com, 1/27/2009
The nonprofit Center for Sustainable Innovation has come up with a resource that enables companies to measure their water footprint. The tool called the "Corporate Water Gauge" is valuable, its creators say, because it takes into account corporate water consumption as well as the impact of usage on water supplies, the population sharing them, the geographic location, topography and watershed boundaries. More...

Liquidity Crisis (from the Clean Tech Investor Summit)

Water and fossil fuels have more in common than we’d like to think. Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, noted that they permeate the ways we make things and consume things. But growing long-term demand and competition for both threaten us with scarcity and environmental harm. More on LA Times Blog >>>

Wal-Mart Launches Green Jobs Council

Council to Identify Opportunities for Green Job Creation

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has established a partnership with many of its leading sustainability suppliers to facilitate the creation of green jobs in the United States. The Wal-Mart Green Jobs Council is comprised of representatives from throughout the retailer’s divisions, including store operations, real estate, logistics and sustainability, and representatives from suppliers across a variety of industries.

Participants are working to more clearly define standards for green jobs and to work collaboratively towards facilitating green job development. More than 30 suppliers participated in the inaugural meeting, including large and small companies such as BP Solar, Dematic, General Electric, HydroPoint Data Systems, Lennox, ReCold, Schneider Electric, SwissLog, Systecon, Thermastor, and Zurn. More >>>

Regency Centers Monitors Irrigation, Conserves H20

To conserve water, Regency Centers, a grocery-anchored shopping center chain, has teamed up with HydroPoint Data Systems. The company will save 42 million gallons of water annually by using the WeatherTRAK Smart Water Management System to monitor weather data and closely control outdoor irrigation, according to the companies. More at: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/01/23/regency-centers-monitors-irrigation-conserves-h20/

Reducing Your Water Footprint Saves Energy

The companies we work with often ask us to translate their water savings into energy and CO2 emission savings. To do so, we use the following ratios, which have been reported by the EPA and DOE, respectively:

1 gallon of water = 4 watt hours of power
1 kWh = 1.34 pounds of CO2

So, 1 million gallons of water conserved prevents the emission of 5,360 pounds of carbon dioxide.

- Sharon Thompson, Vice President, Marketing, HydroPoint

Webcast: Jack in the Box Reduces Water Footprint

HydroPoint presents the following free webcast event as part of the company's Sustainability 2.0 educational series:

Case Study: Jack in the Box Reduces Water Footprint

January 16, 2009, 2 PM Eastern (11 AM Pacific)

Greg Sutton, Operations Manager, Corporate Facilities, Jack in the Box, Inc., and Jeff Foote, Director of Environment and Water Resources for The Coca-Cola Company, will share effective strategies for cutting costs by reducing water footprint.

Register online

Domestic Water Rate Survey

See this survey of water rates from cities around the country here.

Anheuser-Busch Cuts Water Use Ratio 4.4%

From Environmental Leader

Anheuser-Busch released its 2007 corporate social responsibility report (PDF) and reported that its breweries reduced their water use ratio by 4.4 percent and have set a 2010 stretch goal of 4 hectoliters of water per hectoliter of beer packaged. The company reported that it has returned on average more than 70 percent of the total water used at the breweries back to local watersheds. More >>

Arizona's water and power supplies intertwined

The Arizona Republic
By Shaun McKinnon

But changing a light bulb and soaping up faster are not separate acts. Energy and water are tightly connected, each requiring copious amounts of the other and each increasingly vulnerable to volatile supplies of the other. The connection is even more pronounced in Arizona and the wide-open West, where moving water where it's needed, often uphill, consumes enough power to light whole cities. More >>

Climate change, drought to strain Colorado River

Sign On San Diego
By Mike Stark

Seven Western states will face more water shortages in the years ahead as climate change exacerbates the strains drought and a growing population have put on the Colorado River, scientists say. Read the story >>

How to Make the Drought in the South Pay

From BusinessWeek
By Jeremy Quittner

Walking through a soybean field in rural Georgia's Flint River Basin, it's easy to overlook a blue dome the size and shape of a police car siren sitting in the brown-red loamy soil. But thanks to a number of aggressive small companies, that dome is at the center of rapid change in the Southeast, where entrepreneurs are tackling a drought that's said to be the worst the region has seen in 100 years. Today, areas of serious drought stretch from Tennessee and the Carolinas to Kentucky and Virginia, Alabama and Georgia. More >>

Save water, save energy, save money, save manpower

By Harry Fuller
GreenTech Pastures, ZDNet.com

Moving water around uses a lot of energy in the United States and many other agricultural nations. A Petaluma, California, firm is selling digital control systems that can save both water and the energy needed to move it about. The company is HydroPoint. The product is called Weathertrak.

I recently spoke with their President and CEO, Paul Ciandrini.

He explained the components of their system. HydroPoint has seven software patents for a system that calculates eighteen variables for any irrigation or outdoor water use system. Things like weather, soil type, grade or slope, amount of shade, crop or plant varieties. Using real-time weather data from the many thousands of U.S. weather stations plus data on the specific local conditions of the customer’s landscape can yield a set of projections on how much water is needed. The data is analyzed by Weathertrak algorithms, then directions are sent wirelessly via regular cell phone frequencies to the specific irrigation system controller. Caindrini explains the system works by calculating evapotranspiration per square kilometer and has a dependable moisture replenishment model. More >>>

Water Neutral: Is the Latest Eco-Term Just Corporate Hype?

AlterNet
By Jeff Conant

In early 2008, the Coca-Cola Company began making public claims that it would become "the most efficient company in the world in terms of water use in the beverage industry." Central to the company's PR campaign is the claim that it is working toward the goal of becoming "water neutral." More >>

Water authority urges turning off irrigation systems

From La Jolla Light

Rainstorms provide opportunity for everyone to help conserve water

National Weather Service forecasters are predicting rainfall for the San Diego region starting as early as Tuesday and potentially through the weekend. The San Diego County Water Authority is urging residents, businesses and public agencies to immediately shut off landscape watering systems this week to conserve water. View article >>

Experts fear 3rd straight dry winter likely

From the San Francisco Chronicle
By Kelly Zito

Dodging a disastrous third year of drought in California could take the kind of winter mega-storms that leave almost as much ruin as they do rain. But even a few "pineapple express" storms - torrents of warm, wet air carried from the southwest - won't totally offset two critically dry years and legal rulings that limit water pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, scientists at a state water conference said Friday. More >>

Keep Your Recession Lawn Green

From All About Lawns, 11/24/2008
By Dawn West

The high dollar item for any healthy lawn is water. Landscape irrigation accounts for over 60% of residential outdoor watering, according to the City of Fresno Water Conservation Department. Here are a few smart irrigation tips...

DWR warns of drought, water rationing in 2009

From Capitol Weekly
By Sarah Kay Hannon

California faces another drought as 2009 approaches, and the state’s top water officials say they’re doing what they can to prevent water shortages. But projections show that 2009 could look like the early, parched 1990s — or even worse.

Nine counties have already requested emergency drought assistance, including Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern.

Wendy Martin, statewide drought coordinator for the state Department of Water Resources (DWR), said the state has informed contractors they will only receive 15 percent of their normal allocation.

As of Sept. 1, the drought has cost farmers of the Central Valley $260 million, a figure that doesn’t factor in the amount for crops that won’t be harvested this fall. Many farmers are being forced to make difficult choices, including abandoning harvesting some crops this year altogether. More >>>

Farming with drip irrigation consumes more water

From LA Times Greenspace
By Bettina Boxall

It's the opposite of conventional wisdom: When farmers use drip irrigation on their crops, they wind up consuming more water than if they used less efficient irrigation techniques. At least that's what water resources professor Frank A. Ward concludes in a new study.

Ward, who is on the faculty of New Mexico State University, used computer models to analyze farm water use in the upper Rio Grande River basin.

While drip irrigation can require half the water that flood irrigation does, plants absorb more water with drip, crop yield increases and more water is lost to evapotranspiration. Because drip is more efficient, there is also less overflow to seep back into aquifers or wash into nearby streams or rivers.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2008/11/farming-with-dr.html

Water District Tightens Lawn Irrigation Restrictions

From The Tampa Tribune
By Neil Johnson

New rules imposed Tuesday that essentially bar homeowners from replacing sod on their lawns come at the best time of year to put in new sod, when the grass would require less water than in the summer. More >>

Gulp! Is Water the Next Oil?

From Global Real Estate Monitor
By Jennifer Duell

Can you imagine a day when water is more precious and more expensive than oil? A day when wars are waged over water? In many countries, these scenarios are already reality. And experts worry that the day is quickly approaching when the U.S. will face the same water shortages as other parts of the world.

Although developed nations have long taken for granted the availability of cheap fresh water, it's now in jeopardy. By 2025, more than half the countries across the globe will either experience shortages with their freshwater resources or those resources will be stressed – meaning that more people demand more water than is available for use. Over the same period, 46 countries with a combined population of 2.7 billion people will see "a high risk of violent conflict" over water, according to London-based International Alert.

As populations soar and cities expand, water supply cannot keep pace with demand. Moreover, water quality is deteriorating in many areas of the world due to pollution and poor water treatment and management systems. About 95 percent of the world's cities still dump raw sewage into their waters. More >>

Green Gadgets: The Digital Toys Edition

By E.B. Boyd on November 12, 2008 - 4:15pm.

It’s the beginning of the holiday season and that means one thing: Toys! Here are some of our favorite new digital gadgets to help you do right by Mother E. Go to Lime.com story...

Water conservation reaches new heights in LA

Environmental Expert, 11/11/2008

The twin office towers of Watt Plaza in Century City are the first Class A commercial high rise in Los Angeles to undergo a 100% retrofit with Falcon Waterfree urinals. The resulting 2.2 million gallon per year water savings at this single building provides welcome relief for the drought stricken area and exemplifies the success of comprehensive planning by local officials. More...

El Dorado Irrigation District considers drought rates

The Sacramento Bee, 11/12/2008
By Cathy Locke

El Dorado Irrigation District customers could end up paying more for less in a drought. District officials are considering a rate schedule that would go into effect if a drought were declared. Typically when a water agency goes into drought mode, "your costs go up while your revenue goes down," Doug Dove of Bartle Wells Associates, the district's financial adviser, told board members Monday. http://www.sacbee.com/197/story/1390202.html

Forget To Change Sprinkler Timers? Fines May Sprout Up

The Suncoast News, 11/7/2008
By Yvette C. Hammett

The Southwest Florida Water Management District issued a warning that those who don't reset their sprinkler systems face a fine of $100 for a first offense, up to $500. Failure to pay the fines gets you a summons to appear before a code enforcement special magistrate.

http://suncoastpinellas.tbo.com/content/2008/nov/07/forget-change-sprinkler-timers-fines-may-sprout/

California American Water Launches Turn Off Your Sprinklers Conservation Campaign

MarketWatch, 11/6/2008

With the rainy season just getting underway, California American Water is launching a public awareness campaign to remind local residents to turn their sprinklers off -- a simple step that protects the environment while saving water and money during the winter months.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/California-American-Water-Launches-Turn/story.aspx?guid=%7B690327C9-DDDC-49C5-991B-84D218F26CCB%7D

Neighborhood Rally Kicks Off Palm Springs Sustainability Summit

mydesert.com, 11/6/2008
By Amy Blaisdell

The Mayor, joined by City Council colleagues, challenged neighborhood leaders to help the City on its path to becoming a Sustainable community by asking them to take on the cause in their own neighborhoods -- and come up with ideas on their own. He also unveiled a special Sustainability banner which will be at summit events throughout the week ñ and asked the crowd to sign it.

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20081106/GETPUBLISHED/811060342/1006/news01

Drought worsening in S.A. area

My San Antonio News, 11/07/2008

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor, released Thursday, puts Bexar County into the “extreme drought” category for the first time since mid-August.

Extreme drought, the second-to-worst category, has spread from 5 percent of Texas to 6.8 percent since last Thursday, according to the Drought Monitor. That's a 36 percent increase.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/34067484.html

Water: Sustaining, allocating it key to Tucson area's future

Tuscon Citizen, 11/6/2008
By B. POOLE

The Tucson-Pima County Water Study Oversight Committee has been collecting information for a report to city and county leaders. The report, which the committee plans to complete by February, will attempt to define sustainability where water use is concerned.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/fromtopemails/101963.php

From Soft Drinks to Real Estate: How a Looming Water Crisis Affects Our World and How to Optimize the Business Opportunity

MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta
October 23, 2008
Studios of Georgia Public Broadcasting

Climate change has already turned chronically short fresh water supplies in places like the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa into dire emergencies. It has even precipitated terrible resource conflicts such as in Darfur. But the Third World isn’t the only place tension and upheaval over water resource may be found. Those from the desert Southwest have contended with shortages for over a century. Now the Southeastern US is dealing with the worst drought in nearly 150 years. This program will discuss:

• How is the Water Crisis impacting businesses broadly?
• What is the impact on key industries such as real-estate development and agri-business?
• How does the cost of water impact the cost of goods from hamburgers to t-shirts?
• How are new technologies being used to mitigate the crisis?

View the recording here: mms://mediam1.gpb.org/np/2008/NP_MIT_EnterprisingGA_10-23-08_558kbps.wmv

Drought more menacing, but it gets less mention

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.com, 11/2/2008
By Dan Chapman

Drought? What drought? The rains still haven’t come. Lake Lanier drops ever lower. And Georgia’s water wars with Florida and Alabama slog along.

Yet last fall’s doomsday water scenarios have disappeared from newspaper front pages and state officials’ lips. Instead, this fall, Georgians are consumed with the financial crisis, the presidential election and gas prices.

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2008/11/02/drought_1102.html

Control Your Sprinkler From The Web with HydroPoint

From Earth2Tech.com
By Craig Rubens

While we often write about startups aiming to help consumers monitor their energy consumption via the web, what about water consumption? Petaluma, Calif.-based startup HydroPoint Data Systems has a solution called WeatherTRAK that lets you control sprinkler systems across multiple properties from one web interface. Recently HydroPoint rolled out version 5.4 of its web-based interface, which allows users to monitor their irrigation systems with real-time feedback on field conditions, reducing the number of required site visits.

The system works by pulling data from 40,000 independently operated weather stations to create a high-resolution weather map that gives WeathTRAK information down to the square kilometer. Beyond merely measuring rainfall, the system figures out a given area’s evapotranspiration rate. That information is then transmitted to the field via cellular networks where smart irrigation hardware can decide if plants in the landscape needs more water. More...

Blue is the New Green

From Inc Magazine
By Adam Bluestein

Forget for a moment about carbon emissions. The world is facing a more immediate crisis -- it is running out of clean water. The prospect of widespread shortages is creating a new kind of new economy. Meet 11 entrepreneurs who are ahead of the curve, finding opportunity in the largest emerging market the world has seen in some time.

First, some numbers. The United Nations estimates that by 2025, two-thirds of the world's population will face periodic and often severe water shortages. And the problem is not limited to the developing world. Here in the U.S., water managers in 36 states are predicting significant shortfalls within the next decade. Even in regions that do have sufficient supplies, aging infrastructure, inadequate treatment facilities, and contamination pose more problems. No surprise, then, that battles over water rights are becoming commonplace, pitting states and sometimes nations against one another in increasingly bitter conflict. More...

Science: Planet Earth Peak Water: Aquifers and Rivers Are Running Dry. How Three Regions Are Coping

Tuesday 04.21.08 6:00 PM
posted from WIRED MAGAZINE: 16.05

That the news is familiar makes it no less alarming: 1.1 billion people, about one-sixth of the world's population, lack access to safe drinking water. Aquifers under Beijing, Delhi, Bangkok, and dozens of other rapidly growing urban areas are drying up. The rivers Ganges, Jordan, Nile, and Yangtze — all dwindle to a trickle for much of the year. In the former Soviet Union, the Aral Sea has shrunk to a quarter of its former size, leaving behind a salt-crusted waste.

Water has been a serious issue in the developing world for so long that dire reports of shortages in Cairo or Karachi barely register. But the scarcity of freshwater is no longer a problem restricted to poor countries. Shortages are reaching crisis proportions in even the most highly developed regions, and they're quickly becoming commonplace in our own backyard, from the bleached-white bathtub ring around the Southwest's half-empty Lake Mead to the parched state of Georgia, where the governor prays for rain. Crops are collapsing, groundwater is disappearing, rivers are failing to reach the sea. Call it peak water, the point at which the renewable supply is forever outstripped by unquenchable demand.

This is not to say the world is running out of water. The same amount exists on Earth today as millions of years ago — roughly 360 quintillion gallons. It evaporates, coalesces in clouds, falls as rain, seeps into the earth, and emerges in springs to feed rivers and lakes, an endless hydrologic cycle ordained by immutable laws of chemistry. But 97 percent of it is in the oceans, where it's useless unless the salt can be removed — a process that consumes enormous quantities of energy. Water fit for drinking, irrigation, husbandry, and other human uses can't always be found where people need it, and it's heavy and expensive to transport. Like oil, water is not equitably distributed or respectful of political boundaries; about 50 percent of the world's freshwater lies in a half-dozen lucky countries. More...

Lake Mead may go dry by 2021

From CNET News.com
Michael Kanellos

There is a 50 percent chance that Lake Mead, which was created by the Hoover Dam and the Colorado River, will go dry by 2021 because of escalating human demand and climate change, according to a study by Tim Barnett and David Pierce of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California at San Diego.

Lake Mead straddles the Arizona-Nevada border, and Lake Powell is on the Arizona-Utah border. Aqueducts carry water from the system to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other communities in the Southwest.

By 2017, there is a 50 percent chance that the reservoir could drop so low that Hoover Dam could no longer produce hydroelectric power. Water conservation and mitigation technologies and policies thus need to be implemented now, the study stated. More...

Green Is Good For Business

From the CRO.com
By Dennis Walsh

Companies like General Electric and DuPont use sustainable practices to reshape their supply chain management, while Nike and Wal-Mart focus their environmental efforts on one of the most widely traded resources in the world.

Nature provides perhaps the best model for new forms of capitalism. Trees are able to take moisture out of the air and pump it back into the soil. Corporations need to be able to do the same. They must be profitable while at the same time delivering strong returns to shareholders and still promoting the health of people and the planet.

Today’s environmental initiatives are not just public relations campaigns intended to fool consumers. Neither is corporate attention to social issues altogether altruistic. A social initiative designed around a public relations campaign is fairly easy to recognize. BP’s five-year “Beyond Petroleum” advertising campaign was largely a public relations exercise. Five years ago it was revolutionary for an oil company to claim human activity had any effect at all on the climate, let alone to suggest that oil companies were not acting responsibly. The campaign made many of us adjust our view of “big oil.” Still, the campaign was not in itself revolutionary.

More....

Using Water Management Strategies to Boost the Triple Bottom Line

From GreenerBuildings.com
By Tom Ash

As American consumers and businesses look for new ways to reduce the environmental impact of daily life, the notion of green buildings is extending beyond their four walls and into the surrounding landscape. Certifications such as LEED and others provide a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction, including landscaping and grounds keeping.

Developers, builders and contractors can leverage smart water management technology to gain points necessary to achieve LEED certification of their outdoor areas. Smart water management uses smart irrigation controllers that monitor and use information about site conditions (such as soil moisture, rain, wind, slope, soil, plant type and more), and apply the right amount of water to the landscape based on those factors. Once the smart controller is installed and set up, it automatically makes seasonal weather and site-specific adjustments, and does not require ongoing monitoring.

Water, Water Everywhere -- or Is It? Water consumption is being targeted because, quite simply, it is becoming a scarce commodity -- and its price is rising. More than half the U.S. suffers from drought conditions and, as a result, water rates are rising faster than energy costs. In fact, water use also consumers energy; every one billion gallons of water consumed requires 4 billion watt-hours of power, and results in an environmentally unfriendly 5.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. More...

Nestle, Unilever, Cadbury Schweppes, Others To Cut Water Use

From Environmental Leader

A group of 21 companies, including Birds Eye Iglo, Cadbury Schweppes, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestlé UK, Premier Foods, Tate & Lyle, Unilever and United Biscuits, agreed to cut their water use by 20 percent by 2020, reports the Financial Times. Along with agriculture, food and drink companies are the biggest industrial users of water, accounting for about 10 percent of water use in the UK’s industrial sector.

Water is gaining more attention as rainfall patterns have changed and as droughts and floods become more frequent, according to the article.

The companies involved, led by the Food and Drink Federation, will supply data on their water usage within the next three months to Envirowise, a government-funded body charged with helping businesses reduce their environmental impact. Within six months they must draw up plans on how to cut water wastage. They will then report on their annual use to Envirowise, which will judge whether they are making sufficient progress in water efficiency to meet the 2020 goal.

Hubert Patricot, managing director of Coca-Cola Enterprises, said the company had cut water waste by 41 percent since 2001. Mars Snackfood UK used 40 percent less water in 2007 than in 2006. A recent Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management report said that increased water reuse by industry would have a range of benefits and should be a vital part of achieving more sustainable water management in the UK.

Short Ownership Periods Require Quick Payback On Green Building Initiatives

Businesses are launching initiatives to make their buildings environmentally friendly, and aiming for a return on their investment, Investor’s Business Daily reports. The stakes are big. Every time you drive down the operating cost of a building by $1, you increase its market value by $10.

But building management has changed. “Ten to 20 years ago, institutional investors held onto large office buildings for a decade or longer, but today the average period of ownership has fallen to five years or less,” said David Pogue, senior managing director with CB Richard Ellis Group CBG. “With ownership periods so short, it’s hard for a responsible third-party manager to propose building improvements with a seven-year payback.”

Even inexpensive adjustments can result in big cost savings. For instance, cost studies have shown that daytime instead of nighttime janitorial service can cut the annual energy bill of a 100,000-square-foot office tower by more than 10 percent, as lighting and air conditioning can be shut down earlier.

CBRE has set a goal to become carbon neutral by 2010 and a plan to assist clients with energy efficiency programs at the 1.7 billion square feet of building space that the company manages.

Water laws may throttle growth

By Deborah Schoch, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 14, 2008

Statutes force a district near Lake Perris to assess whether supply will be available for huge warehouse project, which is now on hold.

The planned distribution center for the footwear firm Skechers USA would rise on 1.7 million square feet in the Inland Empire, making it one of the largest warehouses in the United States. It would anchor a new community called Rancho Belago, a variation of the Italian for "beautiful lake," after nearby Lake Perris reservoir.

Now, in a sign of growing water anxieties, the Skechers warehouse and six other large projects in western Riverside County are on hold until March or later because the local water agency could not promise to deliver water to serve them.

The dilemma shows what can happen when construction and global trade, key drivers of the regional economy, are reined in by a potential lack of water.

"Just looking at the raw numbers, we kept coming up short," said David J. Slawson, president of the board of directors of the Perris-based Eastern Municipal Water District, one of the largest districts in the state. More...

How To Develop A Two-Phase Corporate Water Strategy

Business for Social Responsibility and the Pacific Institute have published a new trends report that focuses on corporate water strategy. At the Crest of a Wave: A Proactive Approach to Corporate Water Strategy(PDF) explains the drivers behind water trends, their implications for business and, most importantly, how to prepare for them.

“In the next two to five years, companies will need to adapt to availability, quality and access concerns,” said Emma Stewart, Ph.D., BSR Director of Environmental Strategy. “Proactive corporate action that dramatically overhauls how companies use and invest in water supplies will be crucial for mitigating risks, gaining regulatory and community goodwill, and improving reputation.”

The report steers readers through developing and implementing a two-phase corporate water strategy, and includes examples from companies such as Unilever, Nestle, Toyota, General Motors, Anheuser-Busch, GE, and Proctor & Gamble.

Saving water makes cents for valley businesses

From San Jose Mercury News
By Heather Cooley and Ian Hart

Contrary to popular belief, growth in California's population, economy and water use is no longer linked. From 1975 to 2001, our population increased by 60 percent and gross state product increased by 250 percent. Yet during that same period, total water use decreased statewide. Improved efficiency technology, forward-thinking lawmakers and changes in our industries have helped make this possible.

Given today's myriad water concerns, from delta levees to climate change, we are grateful that per capita water use has experienced such a substantial decline. Today, we have an even greater pool of efficiency and technical improvements on which to draw. While individuals are taking advantage of existing technologies - from low-water shower heads to high efficiency appliances - businesses statewide can still do more to cut water use. The kicker is that by improving water efficiency, businesses will not only save water - they will save money.

When businesses cut water use, they save money on their water and wastewater bills. When businesses cut hot-water use, they also save the energy they would have used to heat that water. For businesses dependent on hot water, such as laundries and restaurants, cutting hot-water use may be the easiest way to reduce a business's energy consumption.

Some cost-effective upgrades are cheaper than a dinner for two. For instance, anyone who has ever worked in food service is familiar with the high-pressure spray valves used to prep pots and dishes for the dishwasher. According to PG&E, switching from an old valve to a modern water-efficient version would cost a restaurant $60 per valve, but could save that business 200 gallons of water each day and enough energy annually to heat four homes for a year.

PG&E has many similar examples, and the cumulative savings can cut thousands of dollars from a business's energy, water, and wastewater bills. To prime the pump, PG&E offers rebates on some efficient product upgrades. Similarly, the Santa Clara Valley Water District provides rebates for process or equipment upgrades to encourage business customers to take steps to reduce water use. These programs can be powerful tools to encourage businesses to adopt more efficient practices, and they can take the sting out of a business's upgrade costs.

Getting businesses involved in cutting water use makes sense for all of us who worry about our water future. In Santa Clara County, commercial, industrial and public water uses account for about a third of total water use. This non-residential use is predicted to grow, driving future demand on our groundwater, the Tuolumne River, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and other resources. More...

Las Vegas area golf courses report billion gallon water savings

Since 2001, Las Vegas area golf courses have converted more than 18.5 million square feet of grass -- about 425 acres -- to water-smart landscaped, target-style courses resulting in a 1 billion gallon per year water savings.

Eleven courses in Southern Nevada currently are in the midst of landscape conversions. Among them, Red Rock Country Club has converted more than a million square feet this year alone at its Arroyo and Mountain courses.

Spanish Trail Golf and Country Club is undergoing a major overhaul of the entire course, including turf removal, reshaping and improving ponds and moving irrigation lines, said GCSAA Class A superintendent Jon Valentine.

The city of Henderson has launched major landscape conversions at its municipal Wild Horse Golf Course, while the Angel Park Golf Club is in the midst of a 70-acre conversion scheduled for completion in 2008, said GCSAA Class A superintendent Bill Rohret. So far, he said, players are giving the changes "rave reviews."

"We don't hear any more complaints about balls being lost in the rough," Rohret said. More...

We're running out of water

From The San Francisco Chronicle
By Martin Lagod

When I took my oldest daughter to college for the first time, I was struck by the number of students I saw lugging bottled water into their dorm rooms, case after case. Wasn't tap water good enough for these kids, I wondered? Why pay $2 a bottle for something that I always thought of as free?

Of course, water has never been free, and we take it for granted at our peril. Envision a future when a $2 bottle of water will seem cheap, when water scarcity drives up its price, leading to mass suffering, riots and, quite possibly, water wars. In parts of the world, this is already reality. The fact is our planet is in danger of running out of potable water faster than we realize.

According to data collected from NASA and the World Health Organization, 4 billion people will face water shortages by 2050. Already in China, water levels in the Yellow River -- a source that supplies more than 150 million people -- are down 33 percent from the average. In China's cities, wastewater pollution and inadequate treatment facilities have contaminated the water consumed by more than half the population. Of its 669 major cities, 440 face moderate to severe water shortages. The Chinese government -- desperately seeking solutions -- calls the water shortage a social, environmental and economic crisis.

The crisis in China has global implications. Its agricultural industry has been nearly crippled by groundwater contamination, making the Chinese dependent on grain supplies from the West. If the Chinese population continues to grow, the demand for grain could cause global shortages and rising prices.

In sub-Saharan Africa, where the population grows by more than 2.6 percent each year and severe drought affects the supply, less than 70 percent of water needs are met. The same is true in India, where all 14 major rivers are polluted and drying up. The United Nations deems dirty water a leading cause of death for children under age 5, responsible for the deaths of more than 1.8 million children every year. More...

High-Tech, Easy Ways to Conserve

US News & World Report Cover Story
By Matthew Shulman

Most of us have probably been told to turn off the faucet while brushing our teeth or to take shorter showers to conserve water. But new technologies take water efficiency to unprecedented levels, allowing households to save both water and money. John Koeller, technical adviser at the California Urban Water Conservation Council and the Alliance for Water Efficiency, gave Matthew Shulman of U.S. News some tips on how to conserve.

What new technologies are available to conserve water in the bathroom?
Toilet fixtures ... can yield significant water reduction through new high-efficiency toilets that flush with 1.3 gallons or less. The current standard in the U.S. is 1.6 gallons maximum. If you cannot afford to replace the toilet, at least replace internal parts to get rid of leaks.
Bathroom faucets need aerators that [limit the flow to] a gallon per minute or less. It's still sufficient to shave and wash your hands, but you really don't need the kind of flows that existed maybe 15 or 20 years ago in older homes.

Install a low-flow shower head. Whereas the trend these days in the luxury homes seems to be high-flow shower systems with multiple heads, generally speaking, the trend on the efficient side is to come down to 2 to 2.5 gallons a minute on the shower head.

Let's move to the kitchen.
People are using their dishwashers less and less and less. Why is that? Because people are eating out more and more and more. Dishwashers that used to be used almost once a day are now cycling only 215 times a year. There are many machines out there that now function with less than 6 gallons. In the old days, it was perhaps as much as three times that much water.

How about the laundry room?
Now we have clothes washers that are so efficient that when it comes time to replace your old one, you ought to purchase an Energy Star washer. Energy use generally correlates with water use. So if you look for an Energy Star machine, you're going to see both energy and water use reduction.

What are ways to conserve water outdoors?
First, repair the system—busted sprinkler heads, leaking pipes. Then put a good controller on. There are weather-based controllers—otherwise known as smart controllers—that operate off of either historic or current weather patterns, as opposed to a clock [for watering the lawn]. They adjust themselves to actual weather patterns and to actual plants you're watering by downloading a signal from a satellite every day.

The carwash industry is probably more efficient at washing cars than you are at home with a hose. So, go to a carwash.

What will make people change their water-use habits?
We're seeing more drought conditions and water quality problems, in states you'd never dreamed have water problems. People are thinking: What can I do to help? Water utilities [that] are aggressive are providing financial incentives for customers to change products and hopefully change their habits, too. More...

Global Warming Cuts Salmon Habitat

Associated Press, Forbes.com

Global warming is likely to greatly increase spending on fighting wildfires and greatly reduce salmon habitat in the Northwest, two new reports suggest.

The University of Oregon's Institute for a Sustainable Environment projects that an average wildfire year for Oregon in the 2020s will see 50 percent more acres of forest burned than during the 20th century. By the 2040s the increase will be 100 percent.

Thinning forests may reduce the severity of wildfires, but not the frequency, and annual state spending to fight wildfires is likely to increase from the current range of $40 million to $64 million to, in inflation-adjusted dollars, $60 million to $96 million in the 2020s and $80 million to $128 million in the 2040s, the report said.
More...

Colorado Parks & Rec saves $10,450 in water costs at 1 park in 3 months

[This case study contributed by HydroPoint, provider of WeatherTRAK smart irrigation solutions.]
Challenge Park in Douglas County, CO sees thousands of visitors each day during warm weather months. Since children play recreational sports on its fields, landscape conditions must be just right. Falling on dry, hard-packed turf is dangerous as is the other extreme, standing pools of water.

Meanwhile, faced with monthly water bills as high as $18,000, the park needed to cut water costs. The challenge was achieving conservation objectives while maintaining a safe, playable field.

Adding to this struggle was the local water district’s mandate that landscapes could only be watered every three days. Since the park sees so much traffic during the day, they watered at night. But park officials quickly realized that watering 12½ acres of turf every third day within a tight water window was not realistic, nor was it good for plant health.

“At the time, we thought our only solution was to convert the entire park to synthetic turf. Then we heard about WeatherTRAK,” said Douglas County Parks Supervisor Chuck Klafka.

To read the whole story, click here and scroll to page bottom.