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.