A Water Management Crisis
In The Hero of Haarlem by Mary Mapes Dodge, a little a Dutch boy saves his country by putting his finger in a leaking dike. Almost 150 years have passed since the story’s publication, but the problem and the solution remain relevant. Most of the time, discussions about water conservation focus on limited supply and diminished availability, but that is only half of the equation. Protecting our supply is important, but how we use it directly affects our ability to meet the needs of our community, our country, and our world.
In August 2006, Asit Biswas, head of the Third World Centre for Water Management, stated, “There is no shortage of water in the world”—bold words, especially at a time when the prevailing wisdom upholds the notion that the disparity between the water we need and the water we have can be blamed on diminishing supply.
It is true that less than 1% of the earth’s water is suitable for human consumption. Additionally, there is little doubt that our “1%” is in danger. The world’s population continues to increase exponentially. By 2025 demands for all non-irrigation uses will rise by 62%. All the while, oceans and lakes continue to absorb the over 200 million pounds of contaminants dumped into them each year. Within this context, it seems reasonable to worry that we do not have enough water to go around.
We must certainly protect our water supply, but doesn’t part of that protection involve an analysis of water usage? Biswas’s comments suggest the first step toward developing a plan should be a change in perspective. By challenging the myth of a water shortage, Biswas defines our real problem as “a crisis of management of water supplies.” According to Biswas, in the search for a solution to the word’s water problems, fixing system leaks and replacing crumbling infrastructure should be the first step.
Could patching up old pipes and replacing outdated meters really make a difference? One need only look south of the border for the answer. Calexico, CA, and Mexicali, Mexico, share more than just a border; they share a culture, a commingled population, and water from the All American Canal. The canal, built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in the 1930s (and completed in 1942), supplies drinking water to nine US cities. The 26,155 cubic feet per second of water flowing through irrigate over 500,000 acres of land, making the All American the largest irrigation canal in the world.
Throughout the years, leaks in this 65-year-old canal have supplied the city of Mexicali with enough water to supply 112,000 homes and over 400 farms. A water rights battle between the US and Mexico has been waged for over two decades, but it has now reached a fever pitch due to the US government’s decision to replace this aging portion of the canal with a 23-mile concrete-lined parallel trough: effectively shutting off the tap for an entire community.
The rehabilitation of the All American Canal continues to languish amid legal battles and international negotiations. Nevertheless, the billions of gallons of water currently leaking out into the southern California desert prove Biswas’s point. We know about this leak; its existence irrigates and hydrates a city with a population well over 650,000. But how many other leaks are out there, spilling water into empty expanses of land or sea? Imagine the billions of gallons that could be saved by similar rehabilitation projects. The effect would be tantamount to discovering an entirely new water supply.
Not all waste involves gallons of gushing water. Over time, even small leaks add up. According to Biswas, between 40% and 60% of municipal water never reaches the end user because of leaks and faulty maintenance. As Biswas points out, fixing a pipe is much cheaper than building a dam. And these small fixes put effective water resource management within reach. After all, any community—from a large modern city with elaborate water infrastructure to a third world village relying on a local river and a town well—can afford to fix a leaky pipe.
Eliminating current water misuse and waste can be achieved by developing comprehensive leak detection programs and implementing effective monitoring systems. Some of the methods available include state-of-the-art technologies like AMR and fixed networks, but do not underestimate the power of a simple water audit or meter upgrade. In the end we must tackle the misuse of our current resources by cutting waste whenever possible and being as vigilant about leaks as that brave little Dutch boy.
Author's Bio: Elizabeth Cutright is the Editor of Water Efficiency magazine.
May-June 2007
A Water Management Crisis
In
The Hero of Haarlem by Mary Mapes Dodge, a little a Dutch boy saves his country by putting his finger in a leaking dike. Almost 150 years have passed since the story’s publication, but the problem and the solution remain relevant. Most of the time, discussions about water conservation focus on limited supply and diminished availability, but that is only half of the equation. Protecting our supply is important, but how we use it directly affects our ability to meet the needs of our community, our country, and our world.
In August 2006, Asit Biswas, head of the Third World Centre for Water Management, stated, “There is no shortage of water in the world”—bold words, especially at a time when the prevailing wisdom upholds the notion that the disparity between the water we need and the water we have can be blamed on diminishing supply.
It is true that less than 1% of the earth’s water is suitable for human consumption. Additionally, there is little doubt that our “1%” is in danger. The world’s population continues to increase exponentially. By 2025 demands for all non-irrigation uses will rise by 62%. All the while, oceans and lakes continue to absorb the over 200 million pounds of contaminants dumped into them each year. Within this context, it seems reasonable to worry that we do not have enough water to go around.
We must certainly protect our water supply, but doesn’t part of that protection involve an analysis of water usage? Biswas’s comments suggest the first step toward developing a plan should be a change in perspective. By challenging the myth of a water shortage, Biswas defines our real problem as “a crisis of management of water supplies.” According to Biswas, in the search for a solution to the word’s water problems, fixing system leaks and replacing crumbling infrastructure should be the first step.
Could patching up old pipes and replacing outdated meters really make a difference? One need only look south of the border for the answer. Calexico, CA, and Mexicali, Mexico, share more than just a border; they share a culture, a commingled population, and water from the All American Canal. The canal, built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in the 1930s (and completed in 1942), supplies drinking water to nine US cities. The 26,155 cubic feet per second of water flowing through irrigate over 500,000 acres of land, making the All American the largest irrigation canal in the world.
Throughout the years, leaks in this 65-year-old canal have supplied the city of Mexicali with enough water to supply 112,000 homes and over 400 farms. A water rights battle between the US and Mexico has been waged for over two decades, but it has now reached a fever pitch due to the US government’s decision to replace this aging portion of the canal with a 23-mile concrete-lined parallel trough: effectively shutting off the tap for an entire community.
The rehabilitation of the All American Canal continues to languish amid legal battles and international negotiations. Nevertheless, the billions of gallons of water currently leaking out into the southern California desert prove Biswas’s point. We know about this leak; its existence irrigates and hydrates a city with a population well over 650,000. But how many other leaks are out there, spilling water into empty expanses of land or sea? Imagine the billions of gallons that could be saved by similar rehabilitation projects. The effect would be tantamount to discovering an entirely new water supply.
Not all waste involves gallons of gushing water. Over time, even small leaks add up. According to Biswas, between 40% and 60% of municipal water never reaches the end user because of leaks and faulty maintenance. As Biswas points out, fixing a pipe is much cheaper than building a dam. And these small fixes put effective water resource management within reach. After all, any community—from a large modern city with elaborate water infrastructure to a third world village relying on a local river and a town well—can afford to fix a leaky pipe.
Eliminating current water misuse and waste can be achieved by developing comprehensive leak detection programs and implementing effective monitoring systems. Some of the methods available include state-of-the-art technologies like AMR and fixed networks, but do not underestimate the power of a simple water audit or meter upgrade. In the end we must tackle the misuse of our current resources by cutting waste whenever possible and being as vigilant about leaks as that brave little Dutch boy.