Editor's Letter
For Drinking Water
Utilities, The Heat Is On
The Water Online offices lie just outside the confines of
Philadelphia, where this summer we experienced the wettest June
in 143 years of record-keeping. We also set a one-day record in
July, recording over eight inches in a matter of hours. The incessant rainfall, oddly enough, made me think of water scarcity.
Moreover, I pondered the juxtaposition of East Coast weather
conditions with those in the Southwest: too much rain versus too
little. Both issues, though at opposite ends of the spectrum, have far-reaching impacts on
nearly every facet of society, and society turns to the water industry to solve them.
Too much rain will overwhelm old infrastructure, resulting in wet-weather discharges.
Sanitary and combined sewer overflows (SSOs and CSOs) can compromise water quality and
make life very difficult for drinking water utilities when they occur upstream from source water
intakes. In severe cases, sewage overflows can even infiltrate clean water lines.
When "superstorm" Sandy wreaked its havoc on the Northeast in October of 2012, the state
of the nation's inadequate infrastructure received some high-profile attention. It was notable
because the worsening problem of our aging and crumbling infrastructure pitted (and losing)
against Mother Nature goes largely ignored by the public — and usually by public officials.
The number of storm events, property damage, and lives it takes before the pleas for action
are actually heeded remains to be seen.
If only we could move those rain clouds out west, where the population continues to
expand as water reserves simultaneously dry up. For many fast-growing communities, water
needs to be brought in from neighboring municipalities, sometimes across state lines.
Losing water reiterates the idea that adequate supply is inextricably linked to quality of life
— as well as a healthy economy. The energy sector, particularly the oil and gas and power
industries, is extremely water-intensive, and rising costs for those industries have a trickledown effect for virtually everyone. Charles Anderson, former president (as of ACE13 in June)
of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), has noted there are cities in Texas that
are "90 days away from having no water." Another prominent voice on the subject, Patricia
Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), recently called the
falling water levels of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the U.S., "an incredible warning sign."
A Climate Of Change
The elephant in the room is that these seemingly disparate issues of too much/too little rain are
caused, at least in part, by the same phenomenon: climate change. The extent to which global
warming has been caused by human activity may be debatable, but climate change itself is a
reality. While most are now convinced (Thankfully, the pool of climate-change deniers is evershrinking — like so many reservoirs), taking action is another story.
Mulroy and SNWA do their part as members of the Water Utility Climate Alliance, an organization comprising 10 of the nation's largest water providers, all dedicated to collaborating and
fixing climate change issues affecting drinking water utilities. Methods promoted to resolve water
scarcity include conservation, water/energy efficiency measures, water reuse, and desalination.
Meanwhile, a U.S. EPA survey recently estimated investment needs for our drinking water
infrastructure to be $384 billion through 2030. A large portion of that would be dedicated to
outdated pipes and under-capacity treatment plants. The answer for dealing with too much
water is to invest and rebuild. Support and buy-in for the effort, however, will only be gained
through a true understanding of what comes from doing nothing — more destruction wrought
by more storms, resulting in persistent threats to the public's health and well-being.
Indeed, keeping our water supply sustainable and safe
in the face of a changing climate will require considerable
planning and foresight. One thing's for sure: We won't see
our way out of it if we put our heads in the sand.
Kevin Westerling
Editor
editor@wateronline.com
6
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