Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
“Society doesn't have a lot of ability to substantially modify climate
conditions in the short term. And society can have diffi culty staying
with a program with long-term benefi ts and short-term pain, so it's
important they understand the urgency.”
Besides, towing icebergs from far-off Alaska to a parched
Southern California or transporting millions of gallons of water
from a fl ooded Texas to a dry Kansas doesn't make fi nancial sense
today. “Water will have to get much scarcer for that to happen,
because the infrastructure costs are daunting,” says Richards. “And
frankly, I don't think water costs near enough to support that as an
economic model.”
“We put more and more people where water isn't and then com-
plain we have water problems. Is that the climate or is that society?”
Richards asks. “Reality is that in today's society we now require water
to be allocated for environmental purposes, and we place more
demands on water in terms of how we use it. So, while we've changed
the uses of water, we haven't necessarily changed the amount of water
we have.”
Las Vegas, Nevada, is a high-population center in an arid cli-
mate with tight water supplies. However, the city's water utility, the
Southern Nevada Water Authority, also is on the leading edge
of learning to cope. With the level of its major water source, the
Colorado River-fed Lake Mead, down well more than one hundred
feet since January 2000 and population up by more than four hun-
dred thousand since 2002, you would assume water usage has sharply
increased. Actually, it's just the opposite. The Southern Nevada Water
Authority reports that southern Nevadans' annual water consump-
tion decreased by nearly 26 billion gallons between 2002 and 2009.
6
Antiquated Infrastructure
Changes in water usage and climate change aren't the only things
sucking up water supplies. Worn-out and ineffi cient pipes and
waste-water systems in many of the nation's cities add to the drain
and strain. Every single day, millions of gallons of good water drain
away along with the bad. In fact, as talked about in Chapter 1, leaky
pipes account for the loss of billions of gallons of clean drink-
ing water every day, according to the American Society of Civil
