WASHINGTON (CN) — As global temperatures are expected to rise by at least 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, environmental researchers urge a greater focus on water conservation as the precious resource is set to become scarcer due to climate change.
In a report released Thursday by the SUREAL Engineering Lab, a collaboration between the University of Miami and EXP U.S. Services Inc., researchers urged local leaders to adopt region-specific conservation plans in favor of centralized systems.
“Rapid urbanization and rising water use, which put stress on centralized systems, provide significant difficulties for urban water infrastructure,” Esber Andiroglu, University of Miami professor and lead author of the report, wrote.
“Historically, cities have relied on these systems, but they are unable to meet the growing needs and are made worse by problems including resource-intensive operations, outdated infrastructure and inefficient energy use,” Andiroglu wrote.
At a press conference Thursday hosted by the International Code Council to unveil the findings, Andiroglu emphasized the need for urgent action, pointing to estimates that show within 50 years over 40% of the global population are expected to live in countries facing water scarcity.
The researchers sought to map out ways communities facing water scarcity can optimize their water usage, focusing on four cities: Phoenix, Houston, Las Vegas and Des Moines.
While desert cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas seem obvious choices, the researchers explained that the humid Houston and Des Moines were selected to highlight a wider range of optimization practices. The study highlighted new and existing single-family homes and the amount of water that could be saved over six years by harvesting rainfall and condensation, adopting efficient plumbing fixtures and treating and reusing wastewater.
In Houston, homes could save over 15.67 billion gallons of water each year. If such measures are only installed in new homes, the city could still save 23.3 billion gallons over six years. That number jumps to 27.6 billion if just 1% of existing homes received such renovations along with the new homes, and another 44.1 billion with 5% renovated.
Andiroglu explained that for homeowners to save around 1000 gallons per year, each renovation would require a one-time cost of a few hundred dollars.
In Houston, rainfall and condensation renovations would cost $338 — but spread over an average 30-year mortgage would equate to $11 per year. Efficient plumbing fixtures would cost $254 and wastewater recycling $483.
Phoenix could save 16.1 billion gallons each year, with 7.3 billion gallons over six years if only new homes are optimized, 10.58 billion with 1% renovated existing homes and 23.55 billion with 5% renovated. Rainfall and condensation renovations in the arid city would cost more, $1,610, while plumbing improvements would take $210 and waste recycling $460.
Las Vegas could see 4.09 billion saved each year, 1.7 billion over six years with just new homes optimized, 2.55 billion with 1% renovated existing homes and 5.84 billion with 5% renovated. With similar arid conditions such renovations breakdown to: $2,074 for rainfall harvesting, $212 for plumbing and $464 for waste recycling.
Finally, in Des Moines, the city could see 3.02 billion gallons saved annually, 1.57 billion over six years with optimized new homes, 2.19 billion with 1% renovated and 4.63 billion at 5%. One-time renovation costs would take $483 for rainfall harvesting, $236 for plumbing and $510 for waste recycling.
Andiroglu was joined Thursday by a group of officials representing local and national organizations, including the Bureau of Reclamation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National League of Cities and DC Water.
Roque Sánchez, senior adviser at the Bureau of Reclamation, explained how cities like Phoenix — which has been in a drought for 24 years — have been leading the way in water conservation. He highlighted that the city, the fifth largest in the country, has been able to cut per capita water use in half without hampering growth.
“Between landscaping changes, the fixtures used inside — toilets, faucets, other domestic uses — is a huge tool in terms of bringing down that total water used to allow communities to continue to grow the way they’ve been used to for the last century,” Sánchez said.
While water issues have long been a hot issue of debate in Western states — reaching the Supreme Court Wednesday — a major eastern city like Washington faces a unique set of challenges, such as protecting the city’s main water source, the Potomac River.
Maureen Holman, vice president of shared services at DC Water, explained that like the West, water in and around the nation's capital is allocated to different states and counties. But with a fluctuating amount of water in the system year-to-year, it’s difficult to plan for drought conditions in the same way.
“We are not looking at a situation as dire as out in the West, but in an odd way it almost is more complicated,” Holman said. “The Potomac is the only single source of drinking water here in this region. But are there other ways in which we can look to capture some of it?”
She added that local jurisdictions were considering plans to create a reservoir at the Travilah Quarry in Maryland, just 20 miles northwest of Washington. But in the meantime, enacting the suggestions made by Andiroglu and the SUREAL team would help Washington’s current water system go even further, Holman said.
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