Other “built in” options include mandating efficient fixtures and facilities in local building codes and regulations. Requiring high efficiency toilets and shower heads in new residential construction, conditioning restaurant permits on the use of low-flow pre-rinse sprayers, and giving favorable treatment to construction with water recapture or recycling systems are all examples of “built in” conservation.
Removing disincentives for conservation is also important. Homeowners associations routinely require green lawns or shrubbery, and residents may be fined for failure to maintain lush landscaping. These types of requirements need to be reexamined or removed. Maintaining a large green lawn in a desert community is not the best and most efficient use of water. Agricultural water subsidies should also be examined. Water used to grow water-intensive crops in an arid region could be more effectively deployed in a different way.
Finally, we need to realize that even if we aren’t going to run out water completely, we may be running out of cheap water. Although American water rates are currently relatively low, that may need to change in order to maintain a safe, efficient and reliable water supply. Inclining block rates, which charge customers more per unit for water used beyond a certain base level, are an important conservation tool. Beyond that, however, significant investment in water-related infrastructure projects will likely be necessary. Water projects are rarely cheap – these are multi-million dollar, or even billion dollar, projects. Nonetheless, if multi-year droughts become increasingly common, the communities that thrive will be the ones making the hard choices regarding water investment right now.
One of the most effective ways to address water reliability is to invest in water storage. Additional water storage options help communities by capturing water in wet years to be later used during dry cycles. Dams have long been used for water storage by creating reservoirs. Environmental and other concerns, however, can make it difficult to construct a new dam today. Underground water storage using aquifer recharge may be a better option. Additionally, aquifer recharge can be configured to use reclaimed water, meaning that stored water could be increased even during drought periods.
In certain cases, it may not be enough to maximize the efficient use of existing water – a new water supply may be necessary. Desalination is one of the few ways to create a new potable water supply. Desalination is drought-proof, since it is not dependent on rainfall. The desalination process is energy-intensive, however, and the cost of desalinated water is usually more expensive than recycled water or water from rivers or groundwater. When compared to the cost of having no water however, the math begins to work out. Construction of a fifty million gallon per day desalination plant is underway in Carlsbad, California, which, when completed, will be the largest desalination facility in the Western Hemisphere. If drought conditions continue and spread, similar projects may become more common.
