No silver bullet in
search for more water
Solution lies in maximizing
supply, minimizing waste
May 28, 2013 10:30 PM
Editor's Note:This is the last in a series called Yuma County Water Rights, which takes a look at pressing water issues in the region.
When it comes to offering solutions to the looming threat of
water shortages across the Southwest, there are some very creative ideas
out there, like hooking onto icebergs and towing them to Los Angeles or
running a pipeline west from the Mississippi River.
Those were some of the more far-out ideas of the 150-plus options submitted for the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand published in late 2012.
Other options are far less costly and more technically feasible. A number of measures will help produce “new water” that now is lost through misuse, lack of recycling and poor watershed management, officials agree.
The real issue is the low value given to water because it is “ridiculously cheap,” suggests Robert Glennon, University of Arizona law professor, who encourages the nation to abandon its wasteful and extravagant use of water in his book, “Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What We Can Do About it.”
“People are spoiled,” he said. “They pay less for water than they do their cell phone. We need to value and appreciate it for the special thing it is.”
Why, he asks, are California farmers using millions of acre-feet of water to grow alfalfa to ship to China to feed Chinese cows when cities all over the Southwest are wondering how to keep the taps running.
“But it doesn't have to be cities versus farmers,” Glennon said. “If cities want the water, they need to pay. They need to take care of the rural areas. They could pay farmers to modernize their irrigation systems and stay in farming but free up water for municipalities and industry.”
And rather than come up with grand schemes like icebergs and huge pipelines, he said, “we need to look inward at conservation, reuse and desalination.”
Conservation doesn't apply just to farmers, he said. There are lots of ways municipalities can save water.
One very simple way is for people turn off lights they're not using, he said. “It takes water to produce electricity. A 6-volt light on for 12 hours a day takes 6,300 gallons of water. Tell people if they want to save water, turn off lights.”
Cities also need to look at issues like landscaping, water running down the street and other wasteful practices, he said.
For example, in Tucson there's a cultural emphasis on desert landscaping, said UA professor Thomas Meixner, who serves on the Tucson Citizens Advisory Committee.
There's peer pressure coupled with a city policy that the more water a household uses, the more per unit they will pay, he explained. Over the years, there's been a substantial reduction in water use.
Tucson also has been among the leading communities in the nation in reuse of wastewater. Other cities are turning to treatment plants as well to supplement their water supply.
While the idea of reclaiming sewage for drinking water may sound unappealing, treatment plants around the nation and aboard the International Space Station are turning out water with good reviews. Other communities use wastewater to irrigate golf courses and parks, and industries often recycle and recirculate their water.
Meixner also noted that with better management of watershed areas, not only would forests be healthier, fewer trees and undergrowth would mean more water to reach streams that feed into water supplies.
While it's unknown how much additional water might be realized with better watershed management, he said, one study in northern Arizona indicates it could be 5 percent. “That's enough to think about.”
The same may be true for the salt cedar that has taken over the banks of the Colorado River.
Another option related to the watershed is weather modification, said Herb Guenther, a water consultant and former director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Winter cloud seeding is already being used in Utah, he said. It has resulted in 14 to 20 percent more precipitation and increased runoff of 250,000 acre-feet at a low cost of $1.02 per acre-foot.
Yet another option is desalination, not a new subject for Yuma, home to the Yuma Desalting Plant that has sat idle for much of its existence. Desalination is technology now being used by 11,000 plants in 120 countries, Guenther said. And despite its age, the Yuma plant performed beyond expectations during a demonstration run a few years ago.
Jim Cherry, former head of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Yuma Field Office and now a consultant, says there's a source of water underneath the Yuma area that rivals the storage capacity of both Lake Mead and Lake Powell. That water now is a nuisance to farmers and homeowners in the Yuma Valley because of the high groundwater it creates and has to constantly be pumped to protect crops.
There's an estimated 49 million acre-feet of groundwater in Yuma Valley, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
“It's a resource that's not being closely looked at,” Cherry said. “It's a little salty but it could be taken down to river levels and used. It would be cheaper than desalting ocean water.”
Concluded Meixner of the dilemma of increased demand for water in the Southwest even as a lingering drought and climate change threaten the supply: “There's not a silver bullet. We just need to maximize the benefits of water and minimize waste.”
Those were some of the more far-out ideas of the 150-plus options submitted for the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand published in late 2012.
Other options are far less costly and more technically feasible. A number of measures will help produce “new water” that now is lost through misuse, lack of recycling and poor watershed management, officials agree.
The real issue is the low value given to water because it is “ridiculously cheap,” suggests Robert Glennon, University of Arizona law professor, who encourages the nation to abandon its wasteful and extravagant use of water in his book, “Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What We Can Do About it.”
“People are spoiled,” he said. “They pay less for water than they do their cell phone. We need to value and appreciate it for the special thing it is.”
Why, he asks, are California farmers using millions of acre-feet of water to grow alfalfa to ship to China to feed Chinese cows when cities all over the Southwest are wondering how to keep the taps running.
“But it doesn't have to be cities versus farmers,” Glennon said. “If cities want the water, they need to pay. They need to take care of the rural areas. They could pay farmers to modernize their irrigation systems and stay in farming but free up water for municipalities and industry.”
And rather than come up with grand schemes like icebergs and huge pipelines, he said, “we need to look inward at conservation, reuse and desalination.”
Conservation doesn't apply just to farmers, he said. There are lots of ways municipalities can save water.
One very simple way is for people turn off lights they're not using, he said. “It takes water to produce electricity. A 6-volt light on for 12 hours a day takes 6,300 gallons of water. Tell people if they want to save water, turn off lights.”
Cities also need to look at issues like landscaping, water running down the street and other wasteful practices, he said.
For example, in Tucson there's a cultural emphasis on desert landscaping, said UA professor Thomas Meixner, who serves on the Tucson Citizens Advisory Committee.
There's peer pressure coupled with a city policy that the more water a household uses, the more per unit they will pay, he explained. Over the years, there's been a substantial reduction in water use.
Tucson also has been among the leading communities in the nation in reuse of wastewater. Other cities are turning to treatment plants as well to supplement their water supply.
While the idea of reclaiming sewage for drinking water may sound unappealing, treatment plants around the nation and aboard the International Space Station are turning out water with good reviews. Other communities use wastewater to irrigate golf courses and parks, and industries often recycle and recirculate their water.
Meixner also noted that with better management of watershed areas, not only would forests be healthier, fewer trees and undergrowth would mean more water to reach streams that feed into water supplies.
While it's unknown how much additional water might be realized with better watershed management, he said, one study in northern Arizona indicates it could be 5 percent. “That's enough to think about.”
The same may be true for the salt cedar that has taken over the banks of the Colorado River.
Another option related to the watershed is weather modification, said Herb Guenther, a water consultant and former director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Winter cloud seeding is already being used in Utah, he said. It has resulted in 14 to 20 percent more precipitation and increased runoff of 250,000 acre-feet at a low cost of $1.02 per acre-foot.
Yet another option is desalination, not a new subject for Yuma, home to the Yuma Desalting Plant that has sat idle for much of its existence. Desalination is technology now being used by 11,000 plants in 120 countries, Guenther said. And despite its age, the Yuma plant performed beyond expectations during a demonstration run a few years ago.
Jim Cherry, former head of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Yuma Field Office and now a consultant, says there's a source of water underneath the Yuma area that rivals the storage capacity of both Lake Mead and Lake Powell. That water now is a nuisance to farmers and homeowners in the Yuma Valley because of the high groundwater it creates and has to constantly be pumped to protect crops.
There's an estimated 49 million acre-feet of groundwater in Yuma Valley, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
“It's a resource that's not being closely looked at,” Cherry said. “It's a little salty but it could be taken down to river levels and used. It would be cheaper than desalting ocean water.”
Concluded Meixner of the dilemma of increased demand for water in the Southwest even as a lingering drought and climate change threaten the supply: “There's not a silver bullet. We just need to maximize the benefits of water and minimize waste.”
2 comments:
Yes Jim, I also would like to know:
Have you ever given out the IP address of anyone that has posted at the Rim Country Gazette Blog to anyone?
Never.
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