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Historical Trends in Per Capita Water Use Water use in the United States grew rapidly during the 1960s and the 1970s as houses grew in size and additional water-using appliances were added. Since the end of the 1970s, the domestic water use has stabilized at about 100 gallons per day. However, if all of the combined community uses of water are considered (excluding farm irrigation and industrial uses drawn directly from groundwater or surface water) the daily consumption increased 18% between 1980 and 1995 to 118 gallons per person per day (Stephens, 1998). Many water experts predict serious water supply problems for areas of the west that are overdrawing their water supply (Kasindorf, 2002). These events will not be limited to large cities; they will impact
everyone. Solving these problems may require significant changes in government policy. The preparation of a Drought Plan may be an instrumental step in helping a community recognize the need for better water policies.
Leading the Wests growth are rainless inland cities such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Albuquerque and Salt Lake City. They will run out of water to sustain new residents as soon as 2030 if they cant squeeze more water from the Colorado. (Kasindorf, 2002)
time that the water leaves the source and when it arrives at the field where the crop is growing. This is referred to as conveyance loss. Globally, it is estimated that a third of all diverted water is lost in this part of an irrigation system (Leopold, 1990). The second area where significant water conservation is possible is during application of water to the crop. There are many technologies for irrigating crops. The use of subsurface drip, low energy precision application, and micro-spray irrigation technologies allows farmers to reduce their water usage by 30-50%. For more information, see Fact Sheet # 5. Stormwater Capture and Increased Groundwater Storage Communities are beginning to design stormwater systems that provide for detention and infiltration rather than quickly discharging the runoff to nearby waterways. This improvement takes surface runoff that was once a potential pathway for transporting pollution into the rivers and streams and allows it to soak into the soil naturally. This strategy cleans the water at the same time it recharges the groundwater. An example project can be examined at http://www.pubs.asce.org/ WWWdisplay.cgi?0522181 Provisions for Population Growth in Drought Planning When planning for drought it is important to consider the potential impact an increase in population will have on water demands. A water resources inventory is essential and provides planners with information about how much water is coming into and leaving the planning area. Once that is known, the impact of existing uses can be evaluated and options for future growth can be assessed. The NARC&DC would like to thank the USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service for their assistance in the development of this fact sheet.
Lessening the Impact of Population Growth Declining water levels are a sure indicator that water resources are being consumed more quickly than they are being replaced. Water resources depend on consistent replacement of used water. Drought planning can include steps to better balance the recharge and withdrawal rate and accommodate growth in a community. Here are some good examples. Water Recycling Examples of water recycling are relatively common. In farming, irrigation runoff water is captured and reused for irrigation. In industry, wastewater from processing is captured and used as irrigation water. Municipalities have developed programs that reuse municipal wastewater for industrial process water. In other instances the treated wastewater is used for agricultural irrigation. In each case, the water is being used to meet an additional need prior to releasing it back into the hydrologic cycle. For additional information visit http://www.scitrav.com/wwater/waterlnk.htm Efficient Irrigation There are two areas of irrigation that can be addressed in water conservation. The first area for improvement involves reducing the loss from ditches between the
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March, 2006