The numbers are in, and the news is good: American’s are using less water. According to a report released by USGS, water use in the US is the lowest it’s been since the 1950s. In fact, in the last 30 or so years, the change in water use in the US has been nothing short of amazing: Today our nation consumes less water than it did 30 years ago, and per capita use is down nearly 30% from what it was in 1975. This is what all of us in the industry have been working towards, and it’s heartening to see numbers that illustrate without a doubt that the US has finally and firmly moved away from water waste and inefficiency, and set a course towards thoughtful, studied, and efficient water use.
Every five years, the USGS releases an assessment of water use in the US, but the numbers that appear in this most recent report have generated a lot of excitement. Some of the USGS report statistics for 2005 include:
* A reduction of total water use from 410 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d)—for residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial, and power plant cooling—down from 413 Bgal/day in 2005 (and 5% less than the peak numbers reported in 1980)
* Fresh groundwater withdrawals of 79.6 Bgal/day in 2005 (about 5% less than in 2000)
* 128 Bgal/d for irrigation withdrawals (about 8% less than in 2000 and approximately equal to estimates of irrigation water use in 1970)
* And although there was a 2% increase in public supply withdrawals (44.2 Bgal/d in 2005), population increased by more than 5% during the same period.
While the conservation numbers are exciting, it’s also interesting to see exactly where all our water goes:
* Nearly 30% of all fresh surface-water withdrawals in 2005 occurred in five states: California, Idaho, Colorado, Texas, and Illinois.
* Irrigation accounts for more than half of all groundwater withdrawals in California, Texas, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Idaho.
* Almost 67% of fresh groundwater withdrawals in 2005 were for irrigation.
* Another 18% of groundwater withdrawals were for the country’s public supply.
* In Florida, 52% of all fresh groundwater withdrawals were for public supply, and 34% were for irrigation.
All of us involved in water efficiency and conservation should feel proud. The USGS report specifically credits water-saving technologies and public outreach for the drop in usage throughout the country. As Susan Hutson, one of authors of the report, points out, “Even during a time of population growth and economic growth, we are all using less water. It’s exciting to see we have responded to these crises by really seeking solutions.”
So what do you think? Should we be celebrating that even in the face of exponential population growth and ever-expanding economic demands, we’ve managed to essentially keep total water use in the US static for the last five years? Do the report’s statistics indicate that the country is on a secure course towards increasingly efficient water use? And is there a danger that this good news will lull the general population into thinking the hard work’s over when it’s really just only begun?