A wake-up call on water use

A wake-up call on water use
A long-running resource issue finally trickles down to more consumers.

By Gloria Goodale | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor/ June 10, 2009 Santa Monica, Calif.

Move over, carbon, the next shoe to drop in the popular awareness of eco-issues is the “water footprint.”

That’s the word in environmental circles these days. Just as the image of a heavy carbon foot made it possible for the masses to grasp the power of carbon-dioxide emissions, water footprint is the phrase now drawing attention to the impact of human behavior regarding water.

“H2O is the next CO2,” says Nicholas Eisenberger, managing principal of GreenOrder, a consulting firm that specializes in sustainable business. As a phrase, water footprint “will probably move more quickly through the public mind as it catches on,” he says, because water is more tangible than carbon.

Measuring how much water an individual, business, or government uses is a concept everyone can viscerally relate to, he adds, “because they put their hands on it every day, which is not the case, necessarily, with carbon.”

Why is “water footprint” coming to the fore now? And why does what is arguably humanity’s most vital resource need what some call a gimmick to connect people with its importance?

“You can’t control what you don’t measure,” says Laura Shenkar, principal of the Artemis Project, a water consulting firm. People take water for granted, she says, but the growing talk about climate change inevitably includes water. And recent droughts in the usually verdant southeastern United States have helped bring the issue to public attention.

But causing people to take action on this issue isn’t necessarily going to be easy. One simple “wake-up” tool is the calculator at the website of the Water Footprint Network. It asks questions about your diet and lifestyle and then churns out eye-popping “prints,” or water consumption estimates in the hundreds of gallons.

These figures include both direct use and indirect, or what’s known as “virtual water,” meaning how much H2O your Big Mac or Toyota Prius required all the way through the production chain – including growing the alfalfa that fed the cow that made the beef patty.

But calculators that return such large numbers that they convince people they’d never be able to live a comfortable lifestyle, “aren’t really helpful,’ says activist Alexandra Cousteau, who adds that she prefers to pursue projects that will “inspire and empower people.”

On June 8, the granddaughter of undersea explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau will complete a 100-day global journey to expand awareness of the “interconnectedness of our hydrosphere.”

She and her team are chronicling critical water sites on five continents. “Expedition: Blue Planet” delves into crises such as the dwindling River Ganges in India and solutions such as a state-of-the-art Coca-Cola bottling plant in the Palestinian city of Ramallah (It’s the only multinational corporation in the West Bank.)

According to Greg Koch, director of the company’s Global Water Stewardship program, Coca-Cola (whose water brand, Dasani, is a sponsor of Ms. Costeau’s tour) eventually hopes to achieve “water neutrality” at its plants worldwide. (Water neutrality compares the amount of groundwater used with how much is returned to the earth through conservation measures.)

Agriculture uses about 70 percent of the global water footprint, while industry clocks in at around 20 percent.
But individual awareness and behavior is an important starting point in reducing one’s impact on the environment, says Alex Mayer, director of the Center for Water and Society at Michigan Technological University in Houghton.

Even small steps can make a difference. “Maybe even a calculator meter magnet on your fridge, so that every time you open the door or run the faucet, you’re faced with your own behavior,” he says with a laugh.

Nobody has to tell California officials about growing water crises. The state, now in its third year of drought, declared a water emergency in February. Two days after Easter, southern California water agencies announced mandatory cuts for the summer and September rate hikes for the 19 million residents of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties.

“We’re always looking for ways to encourage people to change their ways with water,” says Bob Hayward, general manager of Lincoln Avenue Water Co. in Altadena, a water district of 16,000 users in the heart of Los Angeles. His customers were asked to voluntarily cut their water use by 10 percent last year, which most were able to do.

But now the district is asking customers to cut back an additional 20 percent. “They’re not taking that very well,” Mr. Hayward says with a sigh. Officials are hoping to inspire residents to switch from water-hungry gardens and lawns to plants that are more suited for arid locales.

What many people may not realize, notes Mr. Hayward, is that nearly 75 percent of residential water use in California goes to outdoor purposes, mostly landscaping.

Across southern California, water districts maintain demonstration gardens that illustrate how to have plants and conserve water at the same time. At one on the edge of the grounds of Santa Monica College, Andrew Villegas, a local high school senior, says he knows about the carbon footprint but hasn’t heard about the water footprint. He likes the alternative garden, which is full of drought-tolerant grasses and water-wise options to shrubs.

Adjacent to the “good” garden, a traditional one grows the thirsty roses and pansies favored by many homeowners in the region. Brochures show the differences in waste, water, and maintenance between the two gardens.

Sitting nearby with her 2-year-old daughter Lucy, Annie Bloom says she likes the water footprint idea and tries hard to keep hers down. When she bathes Lucy, she rarely fills the tub anymore, and sometimes, she adds with a laugh, she’ll even give her a bath in the kitchen sink. “That takes much less water.”

Even as the water-footprint concept is catching on, some think it’s just a start. “What’s good for water conservation may not be good for energy efficiency, for example,” says Cameron Wilson, a research analyst of environmental and building technologies with Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm in Toronto.

Ultimately, he would like to see the discussion move beyond individual components in the ecosphere. If it has to be a catchy line, he says, “let’s try an ‘ecological footprint.’ ” 

( More stories )

Comments
1. SCHMENDRIC | 06.10.09

We may ultimately go back to water pitchers with wash basins, before advanced
plumbing replaced having to bring water in from the well. As water resources continue to shrink, that may well bring the past into the future.


2. Christopher | 06.10.09

I live in Orange County, California where development is rampant. Hundreds of homes were built on the land that was once a Marine Corps base in Tustin. In Tustin and Irvine, there are several new mega-malls. New office buildings and apartment complexes have been built. In my opinion, given the energy and water situation, this development is unjustifiable and outrageous.


3. cliff west | 06.10.09

Only until human society curtails and decreases its propogation will scarcity be resolved. Hopefully this goal can be acheived voluntarily. Thankfully, Mao imposed this on his countrymen. The philosphical, cultural, and religious arrogance the assumes humans are supreme, are a causative factor in this unrestrained population growth.


4. Leonard | 06.10.09

cliff west; Would you have been so thankful if Mao’s policies included you as one of the many that had to go? That kind of backwards thinking is how millions died, usually in the most horrendous ways possible. Unfortunately, water footprint seems like another path to government control. Do you people really want to give more power to the government that has so far crippled just about every service and industry it can get it’s hands on? We need a plan that is comprehensive and smart, not a dumb down blanket proposal that deprives us of our individualism.


5. dave slusser | 06.11.09

When you see major seasonal flooding practically every year in some area of the midwest and droughts predominantly in the west, water problems in both areas might be solved if some kind of mega plumbing system could alleviate the devastation in flood areas by pumping it to areas that need the water. Major hurdles include: 1. the climb over the Rockies, 2 a place to store the water in the west, 3 cost to build and maintain the plumbing, 4 transport of invasive organisms. Solutions:Use the Green The San Juan, or the Colorado river to transport water to Nevada. Chlorinate the water en route. a worthy government project. put engineers to work on something practical and grand.


6. BeWaterWise Rep | 06.11.09

Thank you for this very informative post! Today when fresh water levels in Southern California have dropped alarmingly, the need to be water wise is gaining more importance. We all have to make a conscious effort to conserve water at home and work. In fact BeWaterWise.com has a very good section on how to conserve water - http://tr.im/o9qh . Check out these easy to implement and inexpensive tips. They can save gallons of water every day. Hope the info is useful!


7. Dr. Paul | 06.11.09

It is one of the flaws in human nature to want to concoct new ways to control other people under the guise of the good of society. Those that don’t want to be controllers become the controlled.

We should be careful not to accept news stories on a topic, e.g. water management as necessarily good for society. What seems like a good idea can grow to be the monster under the bed. Who oversees centralized control of water conservation? Again, human nature may link it to population control, eugenics, etc. Regulations get shifted to agency or governmental bureaucrats for decisions. Do we really want other people telling us how to live or die?

In an era of more and more government control and regulation, perhaps we (the people) need to demonstrate our ability to govern ourselves. We need to take more personal responsibility, be more honest, get rid of greedy motives, let our actions reflect what is also good for our fellow, and live lives that deserve the freedom our marvelous country and Constitution provide.

8. deborah dunne | 06.11.09

why does it have to be chlorinated?? water in Colorado is not allowed to be collected and stored in that State (perhaps the East, I dont know) because the rights to the water are owned by Kansas!!!…go figure. perhaps some of these old laws need to be revisited


9. ProfRaze | 06.11.09

Fresh water isn’t the new carbon, it’s the new oil. It’s a valuable resource that is disappearing everywhere. The Darfur conflict started from a drought. We’re going to see a lot more such conflicts in the future.

Humans have historically dealt with overpopulation and scarce resources through one mechanism: War.


10. Pops | 06.11.09

If you want water freedom get a bucket and go to the river. Dig a well. Use rainfall collectors. It’s amazing how people argue against government regulation on government distribution. Seems like most people are for socialism when they profit, but against if they have to sacrifice.

Face it, you have already agreed to being controlled. Until you get your own power, your own water, make your own roads, etc….

There is a finite amount of usable water, quit the waste, quit the whining and find solutions.


11. ElephantInTheRoom | 06.11.09

I find it amazing that articles and conservation efforts for water always focus on individuals, when the statistics (given in this article) make it clear that agriculture and industry use 90% of the water. Even if everyone in the huge body of individuals began to employ draconian conservation in their own lives, it wouldn’t make a dent in the water shortage problem. Where are the efforts to persuade agriculture and industry to be water wise?


12. James | 06.11.09

I conceded to Dr. Paul the point he makes regarding our desire to want to control others. I think it comes from the part of the mind that says, ‘I am, me, mine’…the ego.

Ironically, the conclusion he draws is based on that same premise. ‘Do you really want other people telling us how to live or die,’ is a non-practical, egotistical question. We are in this together. If your neighbors run out of water, you won’t have any either. I think this is a more immediate threat than eugenics.

Dr. Paul is right when he recommends that we be more honest and try to govern ourselves. The facts are always neutral. Try reading an article about something you strongly agree with or strongly disagree with as just facts.
Let’s dispassionately study the issue of water scarcity and solve it with innovation. That is the American way.


13. IMHO | 06.11.09

Potable fresh water is THE ultimate constrained resource for humans, and conservation is frankly critical. As a sixth-generation Northern Nevadan (yes, our water in Reno comes naturally downriver from Lake Tahoe, fed by snowmelt over millenia - which provides natural limits on growth/usage in the area), I have never understood the rationale for the existence of a huge, sparkling Las Vegas with countless swimming pools located in the middle of the desert. Such man-made ‘grand’ projects as the Hoover Dam made it possible - but also destroyed downstream flow of the Colorado River & drew huge new populations to an area that simply cannot sustain them naturally. Now, increasingly desperate reaction to ongoing growth is likely to politically force much of the existing water in rural northeastern Nevada into Vegas’ plumbing, just as much of the southeastern Sierra Nevada watershed has been drained on behalf of greater Los Angeles over the last 50 years - all so (as stated above) ‘ignorich’ SoCal residents can have prettier gardens??? Why is so much capital WASTED building unsustainable communities in the middle of arid deserts? In my mind, massive alteration of natural flows often simply wastes prohibitive quantities of capital on ecologically unsustainable human ego. Moving water from the flood-prone Mississippi watershed to the arid southwest sounds good on paper from a massive government spending point of view, but the reality is that we ALL simply need to alter our habits & use our water more wisely. Let’s put our human capital to work devising better ways to use each drop on an individual basis rather than creating massive new ‘mechanificial’ systems funded by future generations who already bear the burden of massive public debt. Because, by the way, Keynes is long dead.


14. MOJO | 06.11.09

Water is not dissapearing!!! All of the water in this world is recycled one way or another. Even our waste water is treated and eventually ends up back in our potable water supply. If you live in a dessert and are worried about water, then move to where it is more plentiful. Or stay where it is scarce. The choice is up to the individual of where to settle in this nation. If you hate the cold, then move down south. If you are worried about earthquakes move to the midwest. If you are worried about hurricanes then move away from the gulf coast,,, etc, etc. etc.!!! Again, all the water in the world is here now and it always was and it alway will be.


15. Mike W | 06.11.09

I agree with “ElephantInTheRoom” in that the focus of water conservation should also include agricultural water use. Here is a little factoid to consider: 1 percent of the water used on California agriculture is equivalent to 10 times the amount used by the Las Vegas Strip Casinos in a year.

In other words, a small gain in water efficiency in ag water use will yeild huge gains. Whereas, turning the water off while brushing your teeth is relativley meaningless.


16. David Malcolm | 06.11.09

Many of the innovations in water efficient products for consumers were originally developed for ag and industry. For example, a new 1.5 gpm showerhead made by HighSierra Showerheads works better than typical low flow showerheads while using 40% less water. The patented devise that produces the spray was orginally developed for golf course irrigation.

A sprinkler that has done more to save water for residential and commercial landscaping (known as the MP Rotator) than any other recent invention was being used successfully for agricultural irrigation for at least 15 years before it evolved into an efficient retrofit for water wasting sprayheads.

Drip irrigation is another example of a water savings product originally designed for ag. The list goes on and on.


17. Cary Elcome | 06.12.09

Please remember that water is increasingly used in plastic bottles. This too causes serious environmental damage! (Added to which, the plastic of which the bottles are made releases toxins when heated, e.g. left in a warm car or in direct sunlight.)


18. Robin | 06.14.09

I’m pleased to see the conversation growing around water use. While it’s true that the amount of water on the planet is not changing, what is changing is where that water is and how much of it is clean enough to use. On top of that is the fact that climate change is making wet places dry and visa versa.

And yes, we can all do something in our own little ways: turn off the tap when brushing our teeth, taking shorter showers, flush only when you really need to. But the fact is that agriculture and industry use 90 percent of the water. So, what we must do is insist farms grow crops that their climate can support, minimize the use of pesticides (which pollute our water), and buy only from companies who are eliminating excess water (and energy) wherever possible. Buy local and organic produce when possible (http://farmersmarket.com/). Or grow your own! And when it’s time to clothe your family or buy new drapes, demand the company use waterless technologies (http://www.airdye.com). These are changes that will make a difference.

19. Sue Frugal | 06.15.09

Zoning laws are one more thing to add. Solar panels are banned in certain neighborhoods, because they are non-traditional, and look “different” In other places they are the new cool. It’s the same with mowed (English) lawns. Only some neighborhoods will allow natural growth in the front yard. We have two water catchment tanks, with 3 filters, and a UV light. Sometimes we drink the water, other times we don’t. Sometimes we add a little chlorine, or baking soda, as needed. Sometimes one tank is sufficient. Other times we borrow water from the larger water tank, originally used for young crops, now not needed. Would your city allow you to have a water catchment tank in your backyard for irrigating your garden, or lawn? I doubt it, and yet the water does fall out of the sky, pure and free. Does it have to go down the drains unused?