All Eyes on the West

(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)

By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency

I’m in San Diego, CA this week, attending the AWWA’s annual Conference and Exposition (ACE 09). Interestingly enough, the conference program includes a welcome letter from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who heads a state all too familiar with the challenges and hardships associated with ever increasing demand in the face of diminishing water supplies.
Schwarzenegger is not the only governor dealing with water resource management issues and concerns. This Sunday, the three-day Western Governors Conference began in Park City, UT. The governors plan to focus on key issues that affect the western part of the country, including climate change, energy, and water use. But the governors are not the only concerned parties in attendance—the conference includes representative of President Obama’s administration, along with participants from around the world.
And what the attendees are focusing on could serve as a “to do list” for any water conservation professional: Water Conservation, new technologies, and a rethinking of supply and demand. Additionally, the participants will discuss the diminished water supplies threatening not just the west, but communities in all parts of the world. On Sunday, for example, the conference’s main discussion included experts from Canada, the Middle East, and Australia talking about water resource management under the influence of climate change.
As I stated in my last blog—manmade or not, climate change is a very real threat to our regional water supplies. As access to potable water is limited due to environmental changes and ecosystem collapse, there is a greater chance that communities will find themselves at odds over who gets what and how much. In order to avoid violent water disputes, communities need to first conserve and protect their current resources, although it couldn’t hurt to explore other options—including water reclamation and reuse, rainwater harvesting, and maybe even desalination.
Ultimately, I think the best advice can be found in the comments of Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer—incoming Western Governors’ Association (WGA) chairman—who is quoted in the Associated Press for saying that water should be measured accurately and used efficiently while being conserved on a large scale. I think those three tactics would serve any water purveyor well.
For more information on the WGA: www.westgov.org