 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Solutions to the Unfolding Water Crisis
Environmental Building News Examines Water
This three-part series on water from Environmental Building News examines products and technologies to conserve water, alternative sources of water, and policies that are reducing water consumption across the country. Some experts argue that water will be a more challenging problem in the coming years and decades even than energy as growth and development put increasing pressure on limited water supplies. The State of California declared a drought emergency in mid-2008, and some scientists are projecting that Lake Mead on the Colorado River, which supplies Las Vegas with 90% of its water, will be effectively empty by 2021. And even areas that have previously not had to deal with water shortage and drought, such as the southeastern U.S., have been grappling with these concerns during the past two years. Together, these three articles will provide a good introduction both to the challenges faced by a water-constrained nation and to the opportunities before us for using water more efficiently in and around our buildings and finding alternative sources.
Water: Doing More With Less
Evironmental Building News Volume 17, Issue 2 — February, 2008
No place is more emblematic of water shortage than Las Vegas. The metropolitan area receives about four inches (100 mm) of rainfall per year and has doubled in population just since 2000 (to 1.9 million). It is 90% dependent on Lake Mead—a half-full (half-empty?) lake whose level has dropped more than 100 feet (30 m) since 1990.
But Las Vegas is not alone in grappling with water shortages. From the uncharacteristically thirsty Atlanta in 2007 to the Pacific Northwest, water shortages are expected to become more and more common in the coming decades. A 2003 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office reported that 36 states are likely to experience water shortages by 2013.
This article looks at strategies for reducing water use in and around buildings, addressing both residential and commercial water uses. This is by no means comprehensive coverage of these products and technologies but should provide an idea of the opportunities available to us.
Alternative Water Sources: Supply-Side Solutions for Green Buildings
Evironmental Building News Volume 17, Issue 5 — May, 2008
The severe 2007 drought throughout the southeast U.S. should be a wake-up call. This drought, which continues in some areas of the region, taught us that even areas of the country we have long assumed to have plenty of water are not immune from water shortages, and it showed us how woefully inadequately prepared we are to respond to severe drought. One might expect to be unprepared for water shortage in a region that usually receives 50 inches (1,270 mm) of rain per year. We cannot, however, use the same excuse in Las Vegas, a city that receives just four inches (100 mm) per year. A new report in the journal Water Resources Research forecasts a 50% likelihood that Lake Mead and Lake Powell will essentially run dry by 2021; 25 million people (in seven states), including the mushrooming city of Las Vegas, get their water from these sources.
Continue reading Alternative Water Sources: Supply-Side Solutions for Green Buildings
Water Policies: Encouraging Conservation
Evironmental Building News Volume 17, Issue 9 — September, 2008
In a state facing widespread water woes, Cambria, California, is unique. The coastal town of 6,200 people, located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, gets all of its water from the groundwater basins of two relatively small creeks that are recharged annually by rainfall. Even with water conservation measures, there simply isn’t enough water to provide adequately for fire protection and other town needs.
Responding to this acute water shortage, in 2001 Cambria instituted a moratorium on water permits, blocking almost all new construction. For the few homes that are built each year, with water service that is grandfathered in or transferred from a house being razed, the developers have to offset the projected water use from those houses by as much as ten-to-one. Based on the lot size and the number of bedrooms of the planned house, a certain number of points must be earned by retrofitting existing buildings in Cambria with water conservation measures. These measures range from replacing toilets, faucets, and clothes washers to adding cisterns for rainwater catchment. Developers may choose to carry out these offsets themselves or pay a hefty fee to the town. Cambria has more severe problems than the rest of the state, but the situation is bad enough that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a statewide drought emergency in June 2008.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|