Comment pubs.acs.org/est
When the Well Runs Dry
B
basins. Somehow we must slow down the water, increase the rate of aquifer recharge, and reuse it repeatedly. We should adapt not only in drought stricken California, but also in “water rich” Des Moines, Chicago, and Washington DC. There, we are also using too much water and withdrawing far more from streams and glacial aquifers than we can supply on a sustainable basis. Water stress exists throughout the country wherever we withdraw more water than falls on our footprint. It is not only a national problem, but a global one. Fortunately, aquifers are forgiving. They are renewable resources and can be recharged and replenished. And wastewater can be treated fully to drinking water standards. Still, our water must be protected from hazardous chemicals and biological agents that can prevent aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) or direct potable reuse. Simply replenishing our aquifers would go a long way toward a more resilient and adaptable water infrastructure. That is true in Texas and California, but also in Des Moines, Chicago, and Washington DC. Water reuse, desalination, and aquifer recharge are a necessity of the “new normal” as we face both increasing pressure on our water resources and climate change. Before the well runs dry, we should act.
ig Springs, Texas, does not spring any longer. Their wells have run drylakes, too, and the people face unprecedented drought. Building a $12 million wastewater treatment plant and recycling two million gallons for drinking water should help, but Big Springs citizens never thought they would be drinking treated domestic sewage. “Direct potable reuse” of treated wastewater is no longer a punch line, but rather an increasingly common solution to a desperate situation in many locations. Nearby cities of Wichita Falls, Lubbock, and Amarillo have declared a stage 5 emergency. It is the driest on recordeven more serious than the 1930s Dust Bowl. For many towns in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas on the Ogallala Aquifer, it is a game changer. That is incredible when you live on the largest aquifer in North America which supplies 30% of all irrigation groundwater in the U.S. I guess there’s three reasons why we’ve finally embraced water reuse: (1) It is raining too little in dry places; (2) We are withdrawing too much water; and (3) We are not conserving it as we should. The first reason is likely due to climate change, and the prospects for the future are grim until we actually begin to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. In the second case, too much withdrawal causes aquifers to be depleted (mined unsustainably). And the third reason is all about the crazy cheap price of water. We only learn what water’s worth when we have none. California might be “ground zero” for lack of water in the U.S. today. They’ve suffered by some measures the worst drought on record over the past three years. The largest desalination plant in the western hemisphere is planned for San Diego County. It is bad all over in “Cali”, but perhaps nowhere worse than Kern County (Bakersfield area). The Kern County Water Agency and Shafter Wasco Irrigation District have denied 13 water districts any water allocations. Zero percent of nothing is nothing. They have completely run out of surface water, and groundwater is all that is left. The well has not yet run dry, but so far groundwater potentials have been pumpeddown more than 50 feet since fall of 2011. There are many places on earth to store water including aquifers, surface reservoirs, and snowpack or glaciers. But in California, all of the above are in short supply. Snowmelt runoff comes earlier in the year, and little remains for fall and winter months. Snowpack levels in the Sierra Nevada range are 29% of normal and reservoirs only 40−50% of capacity. Weather is notoriously variable but a drier climate pattern is beginning to emerge. According to climate models, the West and Southwest are projected to become drier and more prone to drought, much like we are presently experiencing. Is this the “new normal”? Is climate changing so rapidly that we must harvest rainwater, reuse wastewater, curtail irrigated agriculture, drink recycled sewage, and refill depleted aquifers? I think so. In some cases it may require changing crops to use less water. It also could imply low impact development measures such as green roofs, rain gardens, permeable pavements, and infiltration © 2014 American Chemical Society
■
Jerald L. Schnoor, Editor-in-Chief AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
[email protected]. Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS. The authors declare no competing financial interest.
Published: May 8, 2014 5351
dx.doi.org/10.1021/es502046f | Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 5351−5351
When the Well Runs Dry
B
basins. Somehow we must slow down the water, increase the rate of aquifer recharge, and reuse it repeatedly. We should adapt not only in drought stricken California, but also in “water rich” Des Moines, Chicago, and Washington DC. There, we are also using too much water and withdrawing far more from streams and glacial aquifers than we can supply on a sustainable basis. Water stress exists throughout the country wherever we withdraw more water than falls on our footprint. It is not only a national problem, but a global one. Fortunately, aquifers are forgiving. They are renewable resources and can be recharged and replenished. And wastewater can be treated fully to drinking water standards. Still, our water must be protected from hazardous chemicals and biological agents that can prevent aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) or direct potable reuse. Simply replenishing our aquifers would go a long way toward a more resilient and adaptable water infrastructure. That is true in Texas and California, but also in Des Moines, Chicago, and Washington DC. Water reuse, desalination, and aquifer recharge are a necessity of the “new normal” as we face both increasing pressure on our water resources and climate change. Before the well runs dry, we should act.
ig Springs, Texas, does not spring any longer. Their wells have run drylakes, too, and the people face unprecedented drought. Building a $12 million wastewater treatment plant and recycling two million gallons for drinking water should help, but Big Springs citizens never thought they would be drinking treated domestic sewage. “Direct potable reuse” of treated wastewater is no longer a punch line, but rather an increasingly common solution to a desperate situation in many locations. Nearby cities of Wichita Falls, Lubbock, and Amarillo have declared a stage 5 emergency. It is the driest on recordeven more serious than the 1930s Dust Bowl. For many towns in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas on the Ogallala Aquifer, it is a game changer. That is incredible when you live on the largest aquifer in North America which supplies 30% of all irrigation groundwater in the U.S. I guess there’s three reasons why we’ve finally embraced water reuse: (1) It is raining too little in dry places; (2) We are withdrawing too much water; and (3) We are not conserving it as we should. The first reason is likely due to climate change, and the prospects for the future are grim until we actually begin to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. In the second case, too much withdrawal causes aquifers to be depleted (mined unsustainably). And the third reason is all about the crazy cheap price of water. We only learn what water’s worth when we have none. California might be “ground zero” for lack of water in the U.S. today. They’ve suffered by some measures the worst drought on record over the past three years. The largest desalination plant in the western hemisphere is planned for San Diego County. It is bad all over in “Cali”, but perhaps nowhere worse than Kern County (Bakersfield area). The Kern County Water Agency and Shafter Wasco Irrigation District have denied 13 water districts any water allocations. Zero percent of nothing is nothing. They have completely run out of surface water, and groundwater is all that is left. The well has not yet run dry, but so far groundwater potentials have been pumpeddown more than 50 feet since fall of 2011. There are many places on earth to store water including aquifers, surface reservoirs, and snowpack or glaciers. But in California, all of the above are in short supply. Snowmelt runoff comes earlier in the year, and little remains for fall and winter months. Snowpack levels in the Sierra Nevada range are 29% of normal and reservoirs only 40−50% of capacity. Weather is notoriously variable but a drier climate pattern is beginning to emerge. According to climate models, the West and Southwest are projected to become drier and more prone to drought, much like we are presently experiencing. Is this the “new normal”? Is climate changing so rapidly that we must harvest rainwater, reuse wastewater, curtail irrigated agriculture, drink recycled sewage, and refill depleted aquifers? I think so. In some cases it may require changing crops to use less water. It also could imply low impact development measures such as green roofs, rain gardens, permeable pavements, and infiltration © 2014 American Chemical Society
■
Jerald L. Schnoor, Editor-in-Chief AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
[email protected]. Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS. The authors declare no competing financial interest.
Published: May 8, 2014 5351
dx.doi.org/10.1021/es502046f | Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 5351−5351
