Drop by Drop
With mounting pressure on the planet's freshwater supply, many regions, including the western United States, are seeing their traditional sources of water dry up. "We've already tapped all of our major water supplies," says Doug Obegi, an attorney with NRDC's western water project. "Rather than taking more water out of actual rivers, California has created a 'virtual river'" through efficiency, recycling, and projects such as roadside gardens and green roofs, which help filter stormwater and preserve groundwater quality.
The virtual river got a big boost last November, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law setting the nation's first statewide water-efficiency goals. The legislation, championed by NRDC, aims for a 20 percent average per-capita reduction in water use by 2020 throughout all of California's urban water districts.
Some of the new efficiency measures will be quite simple, Obegi says. Charging for water by volume, for example, can increase efficiency dramatically. Some water districts plan to meet the goal by offering rebates on water-efficient clothes washers, showerheads, and toilets, as well as incentives for landscaping with drought-resistant plants.
Water districts that don't comply with the new law will be barred by the state of California from applying for grants and loans -- a huge disincentive. "Overall," Obegi says, "this law gives us a lot of the tools we need to get started."
