WaterWired

WaterWired's Top 10 Water Watching Blogs

The folks at Blogs.com invited me to do a guest stint and list my Top 10 Water Watching Blogs. So I'm going to decline such an invitation?

They are all listed on my blogroll. I was limited to just 10 - no exceptions, even though I threatened to call in Campanastan's formidable secret police. I had to leave off four favorites: the Portland Water Bureau's The Water Blog, H2ONCoast,  Water Words That Work, and the Western Water Blog.

One of my Top 10,  JFleck, is not strictly a water blog - he does climate and other stuff too, but when John posts about water, it's definitely worth noting.

And to Kaveh and my friends at Water SISWEB: forgive me for again calling it a 'blog'. Since I am now a Category Supervisor, I know it's really a social bookmarking site. But I wanted to include it on my list.

And in the interests of full disclosure, Abby Brown, who owns Water For The Ages, is a student of mine, but she was running the blog long before that.

Enjoy!

"The Rio Grande is the only river I ever saw that needed irrigation." -- Will Rogers (thanks to John Fleck)

PacInst: Bottled Water Can Be 2000X More Energy-Intensive Than Tap Water

I got this in an email from the Pacific Institute. I suspect I'll get some comments.

In a newly published article in the February 2009 edition of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters the Pacific Institute estimates that the annual consumption of bottled water in the U.S. in 2007 required the equivalent of between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil—roughly one-third of a percent of total U.S. primary energy consumption.

The article, “Energy Implications of Bottled Water” by researchers Peter H. Gleick and Heather Cooley, is the first peer-reviewed analysis of its kind. Gleick and Cooley find bottled water is up to 2000 times more energy-intensive than tap water. Similarly, bottled water that requires long-distance transport is far more energy-intensive than bottled water produced and distributed locally.

“As bottled water use continues to expand around the world, there is growing interest in the environmental, economic, and social implications of that use, including concerns about waste generation, proper use of groundwater, hydrologic effects on local surface and groundwater, economic costs, and more. But a key concern is how much energy is required to produce and use bottled water,” said article co-author Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute. “It turns out the answer is, a lot.”

The authors note that a single estimate of the energy footprint of bottled water is not possible due to differences among water sources, bottling processes, transportation costs, and other factors. Gleick and Cooley calculate the energy requirements for various stages in bottled water production, including the energy to manufacture the plastic bottles, process the water and the bottles, and transport and cool the final product.

Combining the energy intensities for these stages, the analysis finds that producing bottled water requires between 5.6 and 10.2MJ per liter—as much as 2000 times the energy cost of producing tap water. The authors further estimate that to satisfy global demands, the energy equivalent of 50 million barrels of oil per year is used just to produce the bottles, primarily made of PET plastic, almost all of which are currently made from virgin, not recycled, material.

For water transported short distances, the energy requirements of bottled water are dominated by the energy to produce these plastic bottles. Long-distance transport, however, can lead to energy costs comparable to, or even higher than, the energy to produce the bottle. In the article, the authors calculate the energy costs of three different scenarios for a bottle of water consumed in Southern California—a locally produced bottle and bottled water from both France and Fiji transported to the region.

“With the U.S. consumption of bottled water exceeding 33 billion liters a year, and with intensifying efforts to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, these data should help identify ways to reduce the energy costs of bottled water and may help consumers themselves make more environmentally sustainable choices,” said co-author Heather Cooley, senior research associate at the Pacific Institute.

Here is the article "Energy Implications of Bottled Water".

"No glaciers were harmed in making this water." -- label on Tap'd NY, a brand of bottled NYC tap water

2009 DC Water Report 3: Serendipity, Global Water, and Hydrophilanthropy

'Serendipity' is one of my favorite English words. I love its sound, but more importantly, I love what it signifies. I certainly am indebted to the Three Princes of Serendip. 

On Tuesday 24 February I made the rounds of the Oregon Congressional delegations on behalf of my institute and NIWR. I did not have appointments for all offices – only two out of seven, actually. Since I had some free time, I dropped in on a few offices to see if anyone had a spare minute or two to see an OWG.

I decided to visit OSU’s new Congressman, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR). It turned out that was a fortuitous decision, because a delightful young man, Ethan Pittleman, whose specialized in energy, had a few minutes available. We chatted, and discovered that we both shared a fascination with Central Asia. I then mentioned my work in Kazakhstan and the South Caucasus.

He asked me if had received a recent email on global water from Stephanie Cappa, a staffer in Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s (D-OR) office. I replied that I had not. He advised me to give her a call or email. I thanked him and followed his advice, explaining in an email to Stephanie my interest in global water issues.

Rep. Blumenauer is not my Congressman, but one of his interests is water and he was the main House member behind the Water for the Poor Act. His heart and head are in the right place. Stephanie answered my email at 11 PM that night, and told me to call Wednesday morning. I did, and by 10:30 AM I was over in the Rayburn House Office Building.

She wanted to advise me that the Congressman was on the verge of reintroducing the Sen. Paul Simon Water for the Poor Enhancement Act, something he had done last session (H.R. 7180), only to have it languish. His rationale for the act was simple: the original act, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, has not been implemented as Congress intended. The new act would provide the tools and structures necessary to fully implement the original act.

Here is what the new act would do:

1) Establish aUSAID Office of Water that focuses on providing safe, affordable, and sustainable drinking water and sanitation in developing nations.

2) Establish a State Department Bureau of International Water, to ensure that international freshwater issues are represented in US international policies and diplomatic relations with other nations and multilateral organizations.

3) Enhance the Safe Water and Sanitation Strategy to strengthen the US commitment to achieving the Clean Water Millennium Development Goal.

4) Provide innovative funding mechanisms and local training programs to help developing nations create the capacity to deliver affordable, equitable, and sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation on their own.

5) Require an updated report on international water programs, to account for the expected impacts of global warming.

Rep. Blumenauer also has written to Peter Orszag, Director of OMB, requesting that he include $500M in President Obama’s FY2010 budget to implement the original act. He and 40 of his House colleagues also sent a letter to President Obama urging him to reestablish US global leadership in ths area and offering Congressional commitment.

I will try you keep you informed about this.
                                                                                      

Indeed, serendipity strikes again!

Let me add a final note, at the risk of sounding fawning or patronizing. Until I started making these Congressional visits about eight years ago, I had no idea how young most of the Congressional staffers were: 20- and 30-somethings – like Ethan and Stephanie. And these folks, possessed of boundless energy, passion, and brains, aren’t gofers, but are crafting legislation, building coalitions, solving problems, etc. After seeing these young people in action I don’t worry much about the “younger generation”.

I just hope my generation does not saddle them with boundless debt. I fear we will.

"Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome. " -- Samuel Johnson 

2009 DC Water Report 2: Bob Hirsch Opines on Climate Change and Water Resources, Part 2 - Actionable Science, Adaptation, Advice

Yesterday I posted Part 1 of this two-parter in which Bob Hirsch left us with two thoughts:

1) search for actionable science and 2) adapt to uncertainty.

Actionable Science
So what is 'actionable science'? Bob gave these three quotes:

Data analysis, and forecasts that are sufficiently predictive, accepted, and understandable to support decision-making, including capital investment decision making. -- David Behar, San Francsico Public Utilities Commission and Staff Chair, Water Utility Climate Alliance.

Water managers should take the initiative to clearly communicate their needs for applied science to the climate research community, and must seek opportunities to guide hydroclimate research in directions that will support real-world problem solving -- Western Governors' Association

In order to be actionable, an issue has to be well-defined and climate change is not...There is insufficient coordination among the various groups conducting the studies...If we are to achieve the level of predictiability necessary to spur action by the conservative water industry, the research simply must improve.-- Patricia Mulroy, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Diving in the Deep End

Bob noted that Mulroy called for the President to develop a strategy to combine research efforts, now diffused through multiple federal agencies, into a single, Los Alamos-type center.

We both think that's not a great idea. I would also add that much of the relevant research occurs in university settings. I do agree that better coordination is desirable, but I disagree that a Los Alamos-type approach (or Manhattan Project, if you will) will necessarily produce 'actionable science'.

Adapt to Uncertainty
Okay so what about adaptation?

How about a seven step program from Marc Waage of Denver Water and the Water Utility Climate Alliance?

1. Deny uncertainty
2. Debate uncertainty
3. Investigate uncertainty
4. Attempt to reduce uncertainty
5. Accept uncertainty
6. Plan for uncertainty
7. Adapt to uncertainty

Bob then mentioned USGS Circular 1331, authored by four federal agencies, about which I posted earlier this month: Climate Change and Water Resources Management: A Federal Perspective. 

Bob's Final Thoughts for Managers

1. Keep monitoring
2. Explore the data
3. Be prepared for surprises
4. Adapt to uncertainty, it won't go away
5. Consider all of the sources of uncertainty
6. Focus on flexibility and regional collaboration

Bob's Final Thoughts for Universities

1. Keep your eye on all the major change drivers, not just climate
2. Improve understanding of the determinants of water uses and impacts of water use (agriculture)
3. New planning paradigm - hydro, statistics, operations research, political science, law economics
4. Describe the changing world

Bob then provided some examples of (1) - major drivers of change important to water planning over the next several decades:

1. Ground water depletion
2. Nutrient use and management
3. Urban growth and choices of landscape design
4. Public concern and legal requirements for ecosystem preservation or restoration
5. Energy production alternatives and greenhouse gas mitigation strategies
6. Thermal-electric
7. Biofuels
8. Coal-bed and deep methane sources
9. Geosequestration of CO2
10. Climate change

Planning and management paradigms must be adjusted based on the following:

1. Adaptation to many types of change, not just climate
2. Uncertainty in several of the areas of change is unlikely to go away any time soon - this includes climate change.
3. Substantial attention to diversification of supplies, regional cooperation, and flexibility
4. Better understanding of the determinants of water use is crucial - this includes undertsanding the roles of pricing, education and technology transfer, operation of water markets, and the related legal systems. Coming to grips with the constitutional question, 'Is water an article of interstate commerce?' has significant bearing on the future of water.

The university community has a potentially large role to play in helping the water planning and management community by developing new approaches that move away from a stationary paradigm to one in which adaptation to uncertanty is a constant.

Well said, Dr. Hisrch.

"The only books that separate ground water and surface water are our law books." -- Duane Smith, Executive Director, Oklahoma Water Resources Board 

2009 DC Water Report 1: Bob Hirsch Opines on Climate Change and Water Resources, Part 1 - Background

I am back in DC again for the National Institutes of Water Resources (NIWR) annual meeting and "Capitol Hill crawl' to exercise our First Amendment rights. If we tap into some of that thar 'stimulus' money - well, that'd be just dandy.

Faithful readers of WaterWired know that in my previous two NIWR visits, I posted about the "water words of wisdom' from Dr. Robert (Bob) Hirsch of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who had addressed  the group during those visits. You can read my 2007 and 2008 reports.

Bob is no longer serving in an administrative capacity, having returned to research last spring, so his presentation was more specific this year. He dealt primarily with the climate change aspects of water resources. I think you'll find his comments off the beaten track.

Bob came prepared for me - as I approached him to obtain his permission to blog his comments, he smiled and told me he assumed as much and gave me a paper copy of what he said. So now I have so much material that I will report it in two separate posts.  

Bob opened by referring to the Milly et al. (2008) paper (he was a co-author) dealing with the 'demise' of stationarity and repeated two salient points from that work:

1. Modeling should be used to synthesize observations; it can never replace them.

2. In a nonstationary world, continuity of observations is crucial.

Number two is especially important these days; it says we need to keep making observations - streamflow, precipitation, ground water levels, etc. Data collection programs are often the first ones to get axed in tight financial times. Guess what Bob and many of us are worried about?

He then described what the data suggest vis-a-vis climate change and water resources:

1. Flow timing shifts in areas where snow has been significant.

2. Predominantly, there have been increases in low streamflows and average streamflows.

3. Changes in flooding have been very unclear.

4. Changes in ground water recharge have been very unclear.

Bob then referred to comments made by Ralph Keeling from an article in Science [2008, pp. 1771-1772]. Ralph Keeling is the son of  Dave Keeling, responsible for the Mauna Loa CO2 curve, arguably the most important climate data we have today. Here is what Ralph said:

A continuing challenge to long-term Earth observations is the prejudice against science that is not directly aimed at hypothesis testing [emboldening mine]. At a time when the planet is being propelled by human action... We cannot afford such a rigid view of the scientific enterprise.

The only way to figure out what is happening to our planet is to measure it and this means tracking changes decade after decade, and poring over the records.

 Doesn't sound very sexy, does it?

Okay, so what does all this stuff mean, especially to water mangers, who must actually manage water reources in the face of climate change? There are two emerging schools of thought emerging:

1. Search for 'actionable science'

2. Adapt to uncertainty

So, class, we'll pick up from this point tomorrow.

To be continued...

"Today we're seeing that climate change is about more than a few unseasonably mild winters or hot summers. It's about the chain of natural catastrophes and devastating weather patterns that global warming is beginning to set off around the world.. the frequency and intensity of which are breaking records thousands of years old." -- President Barack Obama