Water Planning for Growing Southwestern Communities - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 270

water plans encourage municipal water rights holders to reuse effluent to augment return
flows to streams, as this flow can help meet the allotments of downstream users.* Long
used for industrial and agricultural and turf irrigation, there is widespread recognition of
the value of this water resource, with less agreement on the uses of it. Effluent, or as is more
politically correct, reclaimed water , is often regulated separately from other sources of water.
For example, in Arizona, it is distinct from surface water, even when flowing in a river after
discharge, and from groundwater. The Arizona Department of Water Resources, which
oversees the state's groundwater regulations, does not have the same authority over effluent.
In the category of nontraditional sources, I include desalinated water, highly treated
reclaimed water, and conserved water, that is, water saved as a result of efficiencies in use. I
label these supplies as nontraditional because the first two have not been common compo-
nents of community potable water portfolios in the Southwestern United States. Even though
conservation has long been a part of the water ethic of the Southwest, many communities
find that they have not emphasized the importance of conserved water as an indirect water
supply. Reduction in community per capita water use typically means that a given water
supply can serve more users. † An interesting example of new, nontraditional, initiatives is
illustrated by the city of El Paso, which has included reclaimed wastewater and conserved
water as components of their water budget and is now using desalinated brackish water to
help meet water demand. ‡ In New Mexico, most municipal water right permits include a
condition imposed by the State Engineer that the utility achieve a specific conservation goal. §
Desalinated seawater has become an economically viable option for communities
(Figure 15.2). In Mexico and California, seawater desalination programs are in various
stages of development. ¶ Inland states are also dealing with saline water issues as a response
FIGURE 15.2
Desalination plant. (From U.S. Bureau of Reclamation home page for the San Juan-Chama Project Colorado and
New Mexico, http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Project.jsp?proj_Name=San%20Juan-Chama%20Project, accessed
on July 15, 2011.) (Courtesy of the US Bureau of Reclamation.)
* New Mexico State Water Plan and Regional Water Plan Template, Middle Rio Grande Regional Water Plan , A -2 7.
† For an example of how community per capita water use affects the population that can be served, see Megdal. 6
‡ El Paso Water Utilities has been using reclaimed water since 1963. Its most recent endeavor, a joint project with
Fort Bliss is a desalinization plant capable of producing 27.5 million gallons of fresh water daily. See website
for more information: http://www.epwu.org/water/water_resources.html (accessed July 28, 2009).
§ See Longworth 7 and Office of the State Engineer. 8
¶ See, for example, Rodgers. 9