4. Partners for Water Sustainability
• In Arizona, cities “function like space
stations, importing every ounce of fresh
water from distant rivers or fossil aquifers.”
• “In arid places…physics amplify
evaporation and drought, visible in the
dust-dry farms of the Murray-Darling River
Basin in Australia.
Source: Barbara Kingsolver, “Water Is Life”, National Geographic, “Water Our Thirsty World”, April 2010
5. Partners for Water Sustainability
“As the state struggles to match water supplies with its
booming population and ensure reliable water delivery to
future generations, the Commission will need to expand its
efforts at conservation into uncharted areas.”
Chairman Kristen Mayes, Arizona Corporation
Commission
“The water industry in South Australia is changing
quite rapidly – so the governance and institutional
arrangements supporting the industry also need to
change,…it will mean South Australia can take a
holistic and integrated approach to water management
for the very first time.”
Commissioner for Water Security, Robyn McLeod
8. Water Scarcity
[The]“water crisis” is really about the political realization in
many parts of the world that we cannot continue to live as if
water availability were not a restraint on our activities. It is a
bit like coming to terms with the fact that Santa Claus does
not exist. For years, politicians and engineers have worked to
create the illusion that abundant water is part of nature’s
bounty, wherever in the world it is required. It was easier to
maintain the pretence of plentiful water in the past.
The illusion is becoming much more difficult to maintain.
Sources:
World Resources Institute (2003) and
Global Water Intelligence (11 Feb 2010)
9. Arid City of the Future
Source: The World Bank, “Making the Most of Scarcity - Accountability for Better Water Management Results in the Middle East and North Africa”, 2007
10. Source: UN FAO (http://www.fao.org/nr/water/art/2008/wateruse.htm) and UN “World at Six Billion”
11. By 2025, 1.8 billion of the world’s projected 8.9
billion people will be living in countries or
regions that are experiencing “absolute water
scarcity”, and two-thirds of the world population
could be under conditions of water stress
Source: UN FAO (http://www.fao.org/nr/water/art/2008/wateruse.htm) and UN “World at Six Billion”
15. Supply-Side Management - Desalination
• Saudi Arabia uses 1.5 million barrels of oil per day at its
desalination plants.
730 gallons of fuel per second. It takes 1850 gallons of water to
refine this fuel from crude oil.
Source: Arab News
16. Supply-Side Management - Desalination
• Saudi Arabia uses 1.5 million barrels of oil per day at its
desalination plants.
730 gallons of fuel per second. It takes 1850 gallons of water to
refine this fuel from crude oil.
Source: Arab News
21. Infrastructure – ASR/ASTR
Arizona has a rich history in managed aquifer recharge to counteract the
overdraft of groundwater sources, and to “bank” its surface water
allocation
Arizona has a world-class groundwater management plan backed by
Statute
Many Az utilities employ:
Recharge Basins
Vadose Zone Injection Wells
ASR (deep injection)
Environmental allotment – requires accounting of ET losses and
maintains a 5% “cut to the aquifer”
Hassayampa River Recharge Project
22. Infrastructure – ASR/ASTR
Global Water:
The Global Water Hassayampa River Recharge Project pioneered
“in-basin” recharge.
Transports water from the CAP west of Phoenix to the Hassayampa
River Basin, where it percolates to the aquifer
Recharged approximated 10,000 AF in 2007, 20,000 AF in 2008, and
23,000 AF in 2009
Hassayampa River Recharge Project
23. ASR/ASTR
• Aquifer Storage & Recovery, Aquifer Storage Transfer & Recovery
• Two available water sources:
• Storm water run-off
• Reclaimed water discharged currently from wastewater operations
• Collect, treat and recharge underground both supplies
• Develop long term water availability
• Recover, treat and distribute to non-potable uses
• Duplex complementary upsides:
• Long term growth of value of water rights
• retail distribution sales
Renewable
water recovery
Storm-water Renewable water
treatment & treatment, short term
recharge Underground storage and distribution
Reclaimed feed Storage
& recharge
26. Price Signals = Conservation
Source: Brett Walton “The Price of Water: A Comparison of Water Rates, Usage in 30 U.S. Cities”, April 26, 2010, Circle of Blue
Source: Oliver M Brandes et al, “Worth Every Penny: A Primer on Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing”, POLIS Water Sustainability Project, May 2010
27. Price Signals = Conservation
Source: Brett Walton “The Price of Water: A Comparison of Water Rates, Usage in 30 U.S. Cities”, April 26, 2010, Circle of Blue
Source: Oliver M Brandes et al, “Worth Every Penny: A Primer on Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing”, POLIS Water Sustainability Project, May 2010
28. Opportunities for Arid Regions to Collaborate
• Develop a new Paradigm for Sustainability
• Pool our resources to maximize water
efficiency
• Provide access to markets for innovative
technologies
• Provide Best in Class Technologies,
Business Practices and Management
Practices for Arid Regions
• Provide policy development aligned with
resource development
• Provide opportunities to finance water
reuse infrastructure and systems