Smart Water Management

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

2010-01-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-11-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-05T12:17:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-05T11:55:00.001-08:00

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!

2009-11-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-03T12:45:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-03T12:09:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-10-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-10-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-06T14:33:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

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.

Webcast: 360° Approach to Sustainability Engages Employees and Drives Down Costs

2009-09-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

Measure. Manage. Monitor. Report.

Organizations that embed sustainability into their strategic plans differentiate themselves from competitors, reduce costs and improve employee morale.

Learn just how Valley Forge Fabrics achieved company-wide adoption of sustainability practices while it significantly reduced costs and GHG emissions.

You'll come away from this webcast with a clear path toward scoring fast and lasting sustainability wins for your organization.

Event Details:
Friday, October 16, 2009
11 am PT / 2 pm ET
Duration: 40 minutes (including Q&A)
Register online: HydroPoint.com/webcasts

Sacramento - Two Steps Forward...

2009-09-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-08-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

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...