Conserving Our Finite Water Supplies in an Era of Chronic Drought: Practical Steps1

Despite America's abundant supplies of freshwater, a growing number of cities and towns face the challenge of providing an adequate and safe supply of drinking water. Increasing population, sprawl, chronic drought, pollution, and now the spectra of terrorism are sharpening the nation's focus on how we can better preserves and protect our water for the future. While often ignored, many water systems in the United States and overseas waste significant quantities of water through excessive leakage and inefficient "end uses" in the home, yard, office, factory, and farm. This article explores the links between our growing demand for more water, population, the environment, and the myriad technologies and practices that can be utilized to blunt our increasing water demands through aggressive conservation actions. America possesses abundant supplies of freshwater, yet a growing number of cities and towns face the challenge of providing an adequate and safe supply of drinking water. Increasing population, sprawl, chronic drought, pollution, and now the spectra of terrorism are sharpening the nation's focus on how we can better preserves and protect our water for the future (Vickers, 2001, p. xv). We can ensure that we have enough water in the future, but we face significant hurdles to making that a reality. Conservation-more efficient use of water-can and must play a central role in the future if we are survive and thrive within our existing resource limitations. Consider these facts: America's population now stands at over 285 million. By 2050, it is projected to reach 413 million-a 45% increase in almost as many years. The world's population, now 6.1 billion, is projected to increase to over 9 billion by 2050, a 50% increase (Population Reference Bureau, 2001, pp. 2, 4). However, our water budget remains largely the same and fixed by nature, if not diminished by the contamination of sources that were not adequately protected. While desalination and wastewater reuse technologies are indeed additional supply options, they require massive capital investments. Such infrastructure translates into increased costs to consumers, many of whom are already seeing steep increases in their water and sewer bills. Further, such options are not without adverse environmental consequences (for example, excessive salt loading, increased power and chemical use, and pollution combustion byproducts that contribute to global warming). A New Era of Chronic Drought Our experience and definition of drought may alter in the future as the primary symptom of drought-shortage of water-occurs on a more frequent and extended basis. While drought has historically been experienced as an inevitable but temporary climatological event in the natural world from which we eventually get relief, the human world may trump that cycle. Increasing demands (population) in effect further limit our water supplies, resulting in the creation of chronic and year-round drought conditions-water shortages- even when there is normal rainfall. For example, the 2002 drought across much of the United States affected not only the arid regions but also hit "water rich" New England in the winter. During the week before Christmas 2001, Gov. Angus King of Maine-a water rich state-declared a drought. A year later, some areas are still in drought conditions, despite increased rain. Even without a formally declared drought, regions that share water resources-such as Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, as well as states that draw heavily from the Colorado River, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and California-continue to place increasing demands on their sources of supply, despite obvious resource limitations and symptoms of ecosystem stress. Increasingly, such "water wars" are tangled in litigation, often without clear outcomes for the long term. We have more people wanting more water, but nature's water budget remains the same: fixed. Again, alternative supply options such as desalination and wastewater reuse are possible in some areas, but they are expensive, demand copious amounts of energy, and can only be delivered at a cost to the environment. …