Our Work – Page 2 – Pacific Institute

Energy – Page 2 – Pacific Institute

December 9, 2022December 12, 2022

Water Advances on Global Climate Agenda at COP27

Author: ()
Geography:
Level of Detail:

Availability:

Water Management Strategies:

Specific Benefits or Trade-offs:

Water Advances on Global Climate Agenda at COP27
Pacific Institute featured at COP for water resilience thought leadership, innovative tools

Dr. Amanda Bielawski & Jason Morrison

Key takeaways:

For the first time, water was visible in the final UN Climate Summit COP declaration.
Water solutions play a pivotal role in both climate mitigation and adaptation, with attention moving more toward adaptation at COP27.
The transformative change and radical collaboration needed are at the heart of the Pacific Institute’s work advancing water resilience.

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) closed in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the science was grim. At the same time, water management’s role in climate mitigation and adaptation—the heart of the Pacific Institute’s work—was more widely recognized than ever before.

Photo: UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell shared opening remarks at COP27. Photo credit: UN Climate Change (COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh to Focus on Delivering on the Promises of Paris | UNFCCC)

Climate mitigation progress falls short, placing more emphasis on adaptation

COP27 closed with the stark recognition there may be no feasible path to reach the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree goal. New research finds the last eight years are projected to be the warmest eight on record. Climate mitigation efforts have simply not progressed quickly enough—with devastating impacts felt primarily through the water cycle in the form of intensifying flooding and drought.

“United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres opened COP27 by acknowledging the world is approaching a tipping point—and urging a focus on rapid implementation of solutions: “The good news is that we know what to do and we have the financial and technological tools to get the job done . . . We need all hands on deck for faster, bolder climate action.”  

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the opening of the Climate Implementation Summit at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. UNFCCC/Kiara Worth

Water breaks new COP barriers

While the water agenda rose in prominence during COP26 last year in Glasgow, it broke through new barriers this year at COP27. Visible in both the Blue Zone and Green Zone, water was recognized during negotiations as a powerful solution to address climate change both through mitigation and adaptation.

Notably, this is the first time the final COP declaration directly acknowledged the critical role of water and its many co-benefits:

“. . . Recognizing the critical role of protecting, conserving and restoring water systems and water-related ecosystems in delivering climate adaptation benefits and co-benefits, while ensuring social and environmental safeguards . . .”

The final declaration also urged Parties to include water in adaptation plans:

“. . . Emphasizes the importance of protecting, conserving and restoring water and water related ecosystems, including river basins, aquifers and lakes, and urges Parties to further integrate water into adaptation efforts . . .”

Now in its second year, the Water and Climate Pavilion united more than 40 international organizations, as well as Indigenous leaders, youth, and academics—to advance water on the climate agenda.

The Pacific Institute played a key role. Across more than a dozen sessions, many of them attended remotely, Pacific Institute colleagues shared water resilience thought leadership and innovative tools to build water resilience.

Photo: Jason Morrison, Pacific Institute President and Head of the CEO Water Mandate, (left) pictured with Vania Paccagnan of CDP (right), discusses the role of corporate action to build water resilience at COP27.

If climate is the shark, water is the teeth

To many, COP27 may feel like a far-off meeting. But, for millions of people around the world, decisions made during COP27—and decisions made by the public and private sector leaders every day of the year—will directly impact their personal lives and livelihoods. This is especially true through human interactions with water. As has been stated, “If climate is the shark, water is the teeth.”

A growing swell of research—some of it conducted over the past 30-plus years by the Pacific Institute—is unpacking the specific relationships between climate change and the water cycle. The science is clear. Climate change is intensifying water-related disasters, such as floods and droughts, which have affected millions and cost billions this year alone.

Photo 1: Aerial view of summer 2022 floods in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan in Pakistan. Photo credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe. Photo 2: Lake Powel on August 16, 2017, (left) and on August 6, 2022 (right). Photo credit: NASA. Photo 3: © UNICEF/Kate Holt; Somali women and children stand outside temporary tents in the Dagahaley refugee camp near the Kenya-Somalia border. 

The evidence is visible before us:

- Record-setting flooding in Pakistan earlier this year left one-third of the country submerged. An estimated 7.9 million people were displaced, while 1,700 died.
- On the other end of the water extreme, in the US West, the current 22-year megadrought is projected to be the driest period in 1,200 years. Lake Powell, the second-largest water-storage reservoir in the United States and a major source of water for millions, was photographed by NASA in August at its lowest level since the mid-1960s.
- Meanwhile, Oxfam warned in October that historic drought in East Africa is likely to kill one person every 36 seconds through the end of 2022.

Climate change is projected to increase the severity and frequency of these sorts of droughts and floods even further into the future, compounding an already concerning water crisis.

Transformation to water resilience—the heart of the Pacific Institute’s work

During the run-up to COP27, Christiana Figueres, who led the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) when the 2015 Paris Agreement was adopted at COP21, called for a new mindset and radical collaboration across sectors. Figueres wrote: “One company or one government alone cannot make the kind of difference we need; the transformations must be systemic and exponential, and delivered with justice in mind.”

This type of transformative change and radical collaboration are at the heart of the Pacific Institute’s work.

In 2019, the Pacific Institute announced an organizational goal to “catalyze the transformation to water resilience in the face of climate change” by 2030. This forward-looking goal builds on more than 30 years of thought leadership on climate-water connections. Long before this connection was recognized in mainstream policy discussions, the Pacific Institute conducted early research, made early warnings, and proposed some of the earliest solutions.

During the early 1990s, climate-water assessments were conducted both domestically and internationally—from the Bay Area of California to the Nile River Basin in Africa. In 1990, the Pacific Institute conducted one of the earliest assessments of sea-level rise impacts for the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2009, this analysis was expanded to cover the entire California coast, becoming a significant lever for policy change.

Photo: Area of San Francisco Bay Threatened by a 1-meter Sea-Level Rise: Southern Portion. From 1990 Pacific Institute report.

In advance of COP26 in Glasgow, the Pacific Institute launched its Water Resilience Issue Brief, calling on decisionmakers across the private and public sectors to rapidly scale solutions. Many solutions stem from what our colleague, Dr. Peter Gleick, Senior Fellow and Co-Founder of the Pacific Institute, describes as the “soft path” for water. This more-sustainable framework calls for decentralized infrastructure, innovative and efficient use of technology, the protection of ecosystems, and reversing the policy inertia historically focused on endlessly increasing water supplies. Some of the specific solutions include integrating nature-based solutions (NBS), which offer multiple co-benefits, as well as increasing inclusion of water efficiency and reuse approaches. Recent Pacific Institute research found water efficiency measures could reduce urban water use in California by up to 48 percent, while also playing a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Building an equitable movement powered by collective action

At COP27 and beyond, the Pacific Institute is convening and equipping decisionmakers, including utilities, corporations, and public policymakers, to serve as key levers of change. In all cases, we call for equitable approaches that prioritize the most impacted stakeholders, especially frontline communities often disproportionately impacted by climate change, as well as the natural environment.

During COP27, the Pacific Institute advanced this work during a wide range of sessions. Our colleague Dr. Peter Gleick provided an assessment of the integrated nature of water, climate, and food challenges for the Science, Technology, and Society session organized by the Japanese government.

Many sessions also focused on the pivotal role the corporate sector must play by reducing water impacts of their operations and value chains—and by uniting through collective action. The Pacific Institute is proud to partner with the United Nations Global Compact in leading the CEO Water Mandate, which unites more than 200 companies to build water resilience. This work was front and center at COP27:

- The CEO Water Mandate launched the new Water Action Hub 4.0, a global online platform that highlights more than 1,600 projects and 1,000 organizations to build water resilience. The 4.0 version adds the new Corporate Water Benchmark Tool for companies to gauge their water practices and performance against industry peers.
- The CEO Water Mandate’s water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-focused program, WASH4Work, also launched a new Corporate Declaration for Climate-Resilient WASH, establishing a framework for business WASH action across supply chains and in communities.
- Along with the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation, International Water Management Institute, and World Resources Institute, the Pacific Institute and the CEO Water Mandate also launched the Corporate Guidance for the Water Resilience Assessment Framework to measure and enhance resilience across a range of industries.
- The Pacific Institute and the CEO Water Mandate launched a new Stakeholder Engagement Guide for Nature-Based Solutions for inclusive, culturally appropriate engagement with diverse stakeholders.
- At the Climate Ambition Hub, we premiered the “Ripples of Water Resilience; Stories of Global Impact and Collective Action” campaign highlighting the collective action work of the Water Resilience Coalition.

All hands on deck

As United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in his COP27 opening remarks, “The good news is that we know what to do and we have the [tools] to get the job done.”

As we see the water-related impacts of climate change ravage communities around the world—from Pakistan to the US West—one thing is clear. The risks of not acting quickly enough are simply unacceptable.

Indeed, we have the tools. Through transformative change and radical collaboration, now is the time to rapidly accelerate one thing: action.

—

Contributions made to the Pacific Institute by December 31 will be matched dollar for dollar up to $100,000.

November 18, 2022November 18, 2022

Advancing Innovative Water Efficiency Solutions at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference 2022

Author: ()
Geography:
Level of Detail:

Availability:

Water Management Strategies:

Specific Benefits or Trade-offs:

Key takeaways

Innovative water efficiency solutions not only reduce water use; They also offer multi-benefits, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving water equity.
Pacific Institute research finds water efficiency efforts could reduce California’s urban water use by up to 48%.
Cross-sector collaborations uniting utilities, companies, and NGOs can effectively advance water efficiency solutions.

Pacific Institute research and innovative solutions related to water efficiency and conservation were recently featured at the 2022 WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas. From October 4 to 6, technical sessions covered a spectrum of water efficiency and conservation topics, including advancing the adoption of water-efficient products, alternative water supplies, and marketing and outreach.

Pacific Institute researchers presented three technical sessions on innovative water management approaches that save water and build long-term water resilience, while providing a range of related multi-benefits, including saving energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and supporting low-income communities. Below are summaries of the three Pacific Institute presentations and key takeaways.

Harnessing the Power of Water to Meet
Energy and Climate Goals

Heather Cooley, Director of Research, Pacific Institute

As conventional water sources become constrained, communities are considering more energy-intensive options, threatening to increase water’s energy and greenhouse gas footprints. Using California as a case study, this session drew on new data to develop future scenarios of water supplies and demands to estimate water’s energy and greenhouse gas footprints. For instance, key finding from Next10 report found that more comprehensive water conservation and efficiency efforts in urban California could reduce water related electricity usage by 19 percent, natural gas use by 16 percent, and GHG emissions by 41 percent cumulatively between 2015 and 2035. While focused on California, the methodology and results can help inform decisions for communities across the western United States and beyond. 

“Water and energy are intricately connected – we use energy across the water management cycle. This energy use results in greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change. Urban water efficiency offers the greatest reductions in water-related energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.”

– Heather Cooley, Director of Research, Pacific Institute

Read more about the future of California’s water-energy-climate nexus here.

The Untapped Potential of California’s Urban Water Supply: Water Efficiency, Water Reuse, and Stormwater Capture

Dr. Sonali Abraham, Research Associate, Pacific Institute

This session highlighted the results of a recent Pacific Institute study that quantified California’s potential to significantly expand urban water efficiency, water reuse, and stormwater capture solutions. When implemented, these solutions can both reduce inefficient and wasteful water uses and expand local water supplies. Previous assessments have proven these options are also more cost effective than traditional approaches, which are also increasingly difficult to implement to expand supply. Tapping this potential would help solve California’s long-standing water problems and provide added benefits.

“California has made progress to reduce water use, but more is needed in the face of intensifying drought and climate change. Efficient technologies and practices can reduce California’s urban water use by 30% to 48%.”

– Dr. Sonali Abraham, Research Associate, Pacific Institute

Read more about the untapped potential of California’s urban water supplies here.

Advancing Water Efficiency in Low-Income Housing: Southern California Case Study

Cora Kammeyer, Senior Researcher, & Dr. Christine DeMyers, Research Associate, Pacific Institute

This session shared results from a cross-sector project in which corporations, NGOs, and water utilities worked together to install and monitor remote leak detection technology in three low-income apartment buildings in Southern California. The session covered the estimated water, energy, and cost savings from the project; stakeholder perspectives; and how the unique set of partners came together to make the project happen. The session also shared learnings from project implementation, including the project design and how to effectively partner across sectors. 

“With this project, we’re helping affordable multi-family housing properties realize the multiple benefits of participation in conservation and efficiency programs. The leak detection technology we are piloting saves water, reduces utility bills, and improves building maintenance workflow.”

– Dr. Christine DeMyers, Research Associate, Pacific Institute

Learn more about the project here.

To learn more about Pacific Institute’s work and keep up to date on future presentations and events, visit pacinst.org/presentations and sign up for our newsletter at pacinst.org/newsletter.

October 5, 2022October 5, 2022

Saving Water Makes Cents

Author: ()
Geography:
Level of Detail:

Availability:

Water Management Strategies:

Specific Benefits or Trade-offs:

Water Efficiency Efforts Have Potential to Save Hundreds for Households and Millions for Communities, But Equity and Access Issues Must be Addressed

By Heather Cooley, Morgan Shimabuku, and Dr. Christine DeMyers

Key takeaways

For the past 30 years, water rates in the United States have risen faster than inflation and all other utility rates, adding to the struggle faced by millions of people across the nation to pay water and sewer bills.
More efficient devices and climate-appropriate plants can immediately cut household utility costs by hundreds of dollars annually, reducing the financial burden of water access.
Water efficiency is also frequently the least expensive source of new water for communities. Water efficiency investments reduce the need for expensive new water and wastewater infrastructure, saving communities hundreds of millions and in some instances billions of dollars in capital costs and millions more in annual operating costs.
A major equity issue remains, as lower-income households face barriers to access water efficiency programs. More work is needed to ensure full and equitable access.

Water efficiency supports affordability for households and the larger community

People across the United States are struggling to pay their water and wastewater bills. While water isn’t always the largest utility bill for US households, over the past 30 years, water rates have risen faster than inflation and other utility costs. This rising trend is expected to continue due to deferred maintenance, emerging contaminants, climate change, and the rising costs of construction among other factors.

A new Pacific Institute white paper, “Advancing Affordability through Water Efficiency,” finds water conservation and efficiency improvements improve water affordability for both conserving households and the larger community. Using national data on utility rates, the study shows that reductions in household water use provide an immediate reduction in water bills and, in some instances, wastewater and energy bills for the conserving household. Because water efficiency is typically less expensive than developing new supplies, case studies from the western United States show that water efficiency also helps utilities avoid the need to build expensive new water and wastewater infrastructure, resulting in lower utility bills and connection fees for the broader community over the long term.

Water affordability for conserving households

Water efficiency measures can result in an immediate reduction in household water bills and, for certain measures, wastewater and energy bills. Replacing old, inefficient devices inside the home, including showerheads, clothes washers, and toilets, could cut a household’s utility bills by $242 to $408 per year. For those homes with grass in hot, dry areas, installing plants suited to the local climate could provide additional savings on water bills. These savings are based on national average rates for water, wastewater, and energy and would be even larger for those living in communities with higher utility rates.

Importantly, for some measures, energy bill savings can be significant – even greater than water and wastewater bill savings. A WaterSense-labeled showerhead, for example, is estimated to reduce household water use and wastewater production by 2,700 gallons per year. Using national average water and wastewater rates, this translates to a savings of $16 per year on water bills and $19 per year on wastewater bills. But showerheads save hot water – and the energy required to heat that water. We estimate that household energy bill savings for a WaterSense-labeled showerhead can be $30 per year!

“A more-efficient showerhead alone can save $16 in water, $19 in wastewater, and $30 in energy bills annually.”

Water affordability for the larger community

Water efficiency can also provide long-term cost savings for the larger community by delaying or eliminating the need for new, costly water supply and treatment infrastructure—costs that would be passed on to a utility’s customers. The report examines long-term cost savings by synthesizing results from several recent avoided cost analyses from the Alliance for Water Efficiency. These analyses compare a conserving scenario (i.e., the cost of water with efficiency measures in place) to a non-conserving scenario (i.e., the cost of water without efficiency measures in place).

“Water efficiency typically represents the least expensive source of new water for communities.”

The water and wastewater costs avoided by water efficiency vary from community to community. For example, in Gilbert, Arizona – a small but rapidly growing town near Phoenix – water conservation and efficiency reduced water use from 244 gallons per person per day (gpcd) in 1997 to 173 gpcd in 2015. This reduction in water use resulted in savings of $341 million in capital costs for water and wastewater infrastructure and an additional $3.67 million per year in operating costs. In the absence of water efficiency, combined water and wastewater bills would have been 6.1% higher (averaging $657 compared to $619 per year) and connection fees 82% higher ($17,000 compared to $9,500 per connection).

Los Angeles has seen even greater cost savings from water efficiency improvements. There, per capita water use declined from 180 gpcd in the early 1990s to just 110 gpcd in 2016, avoiding additional water supply, treatment, and pumping costs totaling more than $11 billion. In the absence of water conservation and efficiency, customer water bills would have been more than 36% higher. Comparable levels of wastewater savings were also realized.

Making water conservation and efficiency programs accessible to everyone

While all households benefit from water efficiency improvements, the greatest cost savings are provided to conserving households. Yet, studies show that customers and households from lower income brackets and other hard-to-reach groups, such as renters, are less likely to participate in conservation and efficiency programs. This is because most utility-sponsored efficiency programs are focused on owner-occupied, single-family households with disposable income. For example, rebate programs require participants to pay the up-front cost for the more efficient device before receiving any monetary compensation, which can take several months. These programs are cost prohibitive for households that cannot afford the up-front investment. Greater effort is needed to ensure water conservation and efficiency programs are accessible to everyone, including low-income households, renters, and those in multi-family housing.

Recommendations

The findings from the report can inform policy decisions at the utility scale up to the federal level. For greater water efficiency and, thus, greater cost savings for all, the report recommends:   

Increase investments in water efficiency improvements. Water efficiency typically represents the least expensive source of new water and can help to improve community water affordability. Yet, funding for water efficiency is far less than for other sources of new supply. Federal, state, and local governments should increase investments in water efficiency to levels commensurate with other water supply options.
Design water efficiency programs to be accessible to customers in lower income households. For example, utilities can provide vouchers for discounts on water efficient devices upon sale, rather than offer rebates weeks or even months after purchase. Another approach is to provide fixtures and appliances at no cost to qualified households through device giveaways and direct-install programs. This program in Seattle, for instance, offers free water-saving toilets for income-qualified homeowners. Free leak detection services for income-qualified households can also help reduce water bills by catching leaks. For instance, in Sacramento, the Leak Free Sacramento program helps low-income residents make water repairs that increase efficiency free of charge. Utilities can also offer mechanisms to deliver conservation-related cost savings to renters. Finally, as illustrated in this report from River Network and the WaterNow Alliance, partnerships with community-based organizations help utilities build trust and overcome cultural barriers.   
Improve communications about the costs avoided by water efficiency improvements. Several studies sponsored by the Alliance for Water Efficiency have used avoided cost analyses to powerfully communicate the utility- and community-wide scale of monetary savings associated with water efficiency improvements. Water suppliers should develop and periodically update avoided cost analyses to share this information with ratepayers and elected officials. This will help increase public support for conservation and efficiency investments and programs.
Improve demand forecasting to avoid building unnecessary and costly new water supply and treatment infrastructure. Accurate demand forecasts are essential for fully realizing the benefits of water efficiency improvements. Yet, water suppliers routinely overestimate demand by forecasting that water demand will increase when it remains unchanged or even declines. Forecasters should regularly examine water-use trends, assumptions within their models, and the accuracy of past projections, and adjust their models as needed.

Increasing water efficiency is a proven strategy for stretching limited water resources. The Pacific Institute’s new white paper, “Advancing Affordability through Water Efficiency,” highlights the role water efficiency can play in advancing affordability for conserving households and the broader community. It also underscores the critical importance of designing efficiency programs that are fully and equitably accessible to all.

Advancing Affordability through Water Efficiency

Author: ()
Geography:
Level of Detail:

Availability:

Water Management Strategies:

Specific Benefits or Trade-offs:

Overview

This study finds that water conservation and efficiency improvements support efforts to improve water affordability for both conserving households and the larger community. Reductions in household water use provide an immediate reduction in water bills and, in some instances, wastewater and energy bills for the conserving household.

The Future of California’s Water-Energy-Climate Nexus

Author: ()
Geography:
Level of Detail:

Availability:

Water Management Strategies:

Specific Benefits or Trade-offs:

Overview

Water and energy are inextricably linked in California and, as one resource faces constraints or challenges, so does the other. With the state looking to both reach its climate change goals and decarbonize its economy through a transition to 100% clean energy, water will play an integral role.

This report finds that without urgent water efficiency measures, carbon emissions associated with water usage in California are likely to spike in coming years, as changing sources of water supply and population growth drive up energy-intensive urban and agricultural water needs. The report identifies speciﬁc water policies that could play an important role in helping the state meet energy and greenhouse gas emissions goals.

The report was produced by Next 10, in collaboration with the Pacific Institute.

Key Findings

Urban water key findings include:

If urban per capita water demand is maintained at current (2015) levels, statewide urban water demand would increase 24 percent (1.3 million acre-feet, or MAF) between 2015 and 2035 with population growth.
If per-capita water demand increases to levels consistent with urban water suppliers’ projections (a “high case” scenario), urban water demand would increase by 44 percent (2.4 MAF) between 2015 and 2035, resulting in a 40 percent and 45 percent increase in related electricity and natural gas use, respectively.
The authors found that more comprehensive water conservation and efficiency efforts in urban California could reduce water related electricity usage by 19 percent, natural gas use by 16 percent, and GHG emissions by 41 percent cumulatively between 2015 and 2035.
While the total annual electricity use related to urban water use increases in the mid-case scenario, the average energy intensity of water the total electricity used per unit of water used decreases by two percent between 2015 and 2035.

Agricultural water key findings include:

Central Valley agricultural water use under the mid-case scenario is projected to decline by two percent, or 0.3 MAF, between 2015 (23.4 MAF) and 2035 (23 MAF).
There are also large uncertainties in the future energy use of Central Valley agriculture because of its dependence on groundwater, which the state has mandated through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to reach sustainable levels by 2040.

Cross-cutting key findings include:

Overall, urban water efficiency improvements have the largest beneficial effect on California’s water-related energy use and GHG emissions because urban water is much more energy intensive than agricultural water.
Water-related GHG emissions are driven by the pace of California’s electricity decarbonization and end use electrification.

Resources

Water Energy Appendix

Video: The Future of California’s Water Energy Climate Nexus Briefing (September 2021)

Briefing Slides: The Future of California’s Water Energy Climate Nexus Briefing (September 2021)

Stacked Incentives: Co-Funding Water Customer Incentive Programs

Author: ()
Geography:
Level of Detail:

Availability:

Water Management Strategies:

Specific Benefits or Trade-offs:

Overview

Water utilities throughout the United States offer customer incentives to motivate action and foster engagement with their customers. These incentive programs can take many forms, from rebates for high-efficiency fixtures and appliances to technical assistance for installing cisterns and rain gardens. In addition to providing water-related benefits, many of these programs generate additional co-benefits, including reductions in energy use for heating or treating water and wastewater, increased carbon sequestration in landscapes, enhancements to local biodiversity, and more. These co-benefits present water utilities with an opportunity to build collaborative partnerships and co-funding for customer incentive programs through “stacked incentives.”

Stacked incentives are customer incentive programs that are co-funded by two or more separate entities to motivate voluntary action on public or private property. This approach provides water utilities with an opportunity to increase funding for customer incentive programs through collaborative partnerships, improve marketing and engagement with customers, increase access to incentives for low-income households, and more.

This report defines stacked incentives, highlights successful examples throughout the United States, and identifies best practices for water utilities and other organizations to collaborate on these programs.

Key Findings

Key findings from the report include:

Water managers are collaborating to develop and co-fund “stacked incentives” for water customers throughout the country, and there are opportunities for more. Stacked incentives are co-funded rebate, technical assistance, and education programs that help scale multi-benefit incentive programs. These programs include, for example, collaborations among water conservation and stormwater departments to offer rebates for removing turf and replacing it with a rain garden. There are opportunities to advance these multi-benefit incentive programs throughout the country.

Stacked incentives help increase investments in water strategies that achieve multiple benefits. Coordination and collaboration may not be easy, but the benefits of combining efforts, funding, and other resources can outweigh the costs for both the collaborating entities and the customers.

Third party coordinators help support successful program development, coordination, and outreach. During interviews, water managers throughout the country noted that third party coordinators were nearly essential for successful stacked incentive programs. By engaging a third-party coordinator, many entities were better able to simplify engagement with customers and increase overall uptake of the program.

When implemented well, stacked incentive programs may deliver more equitable incentive programs. Stacked incentive programs can help improve low-income assistance programs by increasing the total value provided by the incentive, reducing the number of applications necessary to apply for incentive programs, and engaging local community groups to help administer the programs.

Stacked incentives provide opportunities to build local water and climate resilience. Building programs that improve climate resilience will require many of the same processes as developing stacked water incentives: examining program alternatives; determining benefits; connecting benefits with beneficiaries; and building partnerships to implement programs. As these avenues mature, it is essential that stacked customer incentive programs and other collaborative funding models are included.

Resources

Video: “Stacked Incentives: Co-funding Water Customer Incentive Programs”

Financing Water Supply and Sanitation in a Changing Climate

Author: ()
Geography:
Level of Detail:

Availability:

Water Management Strategies:

Specific Benefits or Trade-offs:

Overview

Human-caused climate change is real and accelerating, creating new challenges for all aspects of freshwater management, including meeting basic human needs for water and sanitation. Important gaps in our understanding of these challenges include both the complications climate change poses for planning, implementing, and sustaining water supply and sanitation systems, especially for the poor; and the links between these systems and the emissions of greenhouse gases that worsen the overall climate problem.

This report, created in collaboration with Water.org, addresses these gaps. It examines the energy and greenhouse gas implications of expanding access to safely managed water and sanitation, presents the current understanding of the climate impacts affecting water resources and built water systems, and assesses these impacts in the context of specific water supply and sanitation interventions. Additionally, it evaluates opportunities for green finance and microfinance to reduce climate-related risk.

Op-Ed: The Future Has Arrived. These Explosive Fires Are Our Climate Change Wakeup Call

Author: ()
Geography:
Level of Detail:

Availability:

Water Management Strategies:

Specific Benefits or Trade-offs:

Op-Ed

Scientists have been warning of the growing threat of climate change, and now those projections are a reality

Like millions of people in the western United States this week, I woke up to deep red, sunless skies, layers of ash coating the streets, gardens, and cars, and the smell of burning forests, lives, homes, and dreams. Not to be too hyperbolic, but on top of the political chaos, the economic collapse, and the worst pandemic in modern times, it seemed more than a little apocalyptic.

Too much of the western United States is on fire, and many areas not suffering directly from fire are enveloped in choking, acrid smoke.

While fires in the west are not unusual or unexpected, these fires are different: they’re earlier, bigger, and hotter than usual. They are expanding explosively, overwhelming towns and firefighting resources. And there’s no getting away from them. As of Thursday evening, five of the ten largest wildfires in California’s history are burning. Seven of the 10 largest fires have occurred in the last four years. This isn’t normal.

What’s different now? Human-caused climate change.

We’re reaping the consequences of more than a century of using the thin, delicate layer of atmosphere that surrounds the planet as a dumping ground for the major waste product of burning fossil fuels – carbon dioxide. For more than half a century, scientists have been warning of the growing threat of climate change. My own work on climate and water 35 years ago found that rising temperatures would alter California’s snowpack, water availability, and soil moisture in ways we’re now seeing in our mountains and rivers. In the early 1990s, scientists such as Margaret Torn, Jeremy Fried, Kevin Ryan, Colin Price, and others were evaluating the risks of increases in western wildfire areas and intensity under scenarios of climate change. The National Climate Assessments required by federal law have regularly warned that worsening fires were a likely future consequence of accelerating climate change.

Projections have turned to reality. The future has arrived. What we’re seeing now, with massive wildfires, worsening storms, unprecedented heat, and record droughts and floods is just the beginning of the climate changes to come. On top of rising oceans, the accelerating destruction of the Arctic ice cap, expanding water crises, and new health disasters, these climate impacts are something no human society has ever experienced and for which we remain woefully unprepared.

I’m not arguing any individual disaster has been caused by climate change, though the science is strengthening on that as well. I’m saying we are now seeing the unambiguous influence of climate change on these disasters. What used to be considered acts of God are now also acts of humans. Hurricanes such as Harvey in 2017 are stronger and they’re delivering more devastating floods. Heat waves are happening earlier and they’re longer and hotter than they used to be. California just experienced its hottest August on record including what may have been the hottest temperature ever recorded, in Death Valley. The wildfires, as we’ve seen, are turning into fierce, fearsome, monsters.

What we’re seeing now is just the beginning of the climate changes to come.

The influence of climate change on wildfires is easy to see. Global warming is diminishing our mountain snowpack, leading to hotter and drier summers. Eighty percent of California, 95% of Oregon, and all of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico are currently in drought. Severe droughts over the past decade have killed hundreds of millions of trees in our forests, adding to the fuels available to burn. Higher temperatures further dry out forest and rangeland soils. Unusual lightning storms are igniting multiple fires at a time, overwhelming our ability to squelch them early.

We’re not alone. The wildfire signal of climate change is being seen around the world, in southern Europe, Canada, Australia, South America, and Africa, and other climate-change impacts are accelerating too, in the form of storms, melting glaciers, rising seas, and more.

More and more scientists are speaking out about the connections between these disasters and climate change. The media is slowly getting better at reporting these links, though too many stories still fail to do so.

It is also time for our politicians to lead or get out of the way. For decades both major political parties in the US ignored the climate problem, putting off decisions for the next generation and permitting the rich and powerful fossil fuel interests to hide, misrepresent, and deny the science and the threat. And the claim that the cost of tackling climate change is too high is complete crap. The reality is the cost of failing to address the problem is so much higher.

We have no more time to twiddle our collective thumbs. The bad news is that the long delay in tackling climate change means that some severe impacts, like the fires we’re seeing now, are no longer avoidable and we must begin the process of adapting to them. We must, at the same time, accelerate the complete elimination of fossil-fuel combustion to slow the rate of future climate changes and prevent even worse, potentially catastrophic impacts from occurring.

The good news is that we know how to do both things. Adaptation options include changing zoning laws, forest management, construction practices and building materials, insurance policies, and public health strategies. And the amazingly fast growth in renewable energy options and the dramatic plunge in their costs means that it makes economic as well as well as environmental sense to get rid of fossil fuels.

The links between human-caused climate change and extreme events are real, dangerous, and worsening. But now that we’re beginning to accept and acknowledge those links, now that the public is increasingly aware of the problem, now that at least one political party has embraced the need to act, we have a chance to break these links. There is no time to waste.

This op-ed originally appeared in The Guardian.

The Impact of Using Low-Saline Oilfield Produced Water for Irrigation on Water and Soil Quality in California

Author: ()
Geography:
Level of Detail:

Availability:

Water Management Strategies:

Specific Benefits or Trade-offs:

Overview

In California, drought and a reduction in natural water availability in recent decades have led to a search for alternative water sources for agriculture. One controversial potential source is oilfield-produced water, a byproduct of oil extraction.

This study, produced by researchers at Duke University, RTI International, California State University-Bakersfield, and the Pacific Institute, examines the potential environmental, soil quality, and crop health risks of blending oilfield-produced water with surface water for irrigation in the Cawelo Water District in Kern County, California. The study finds that salt and boron soil accumulation can pose long-term risks to soil sodification, groundwater salinization, and plant health, and suggest that oilfield-produced water in California be blended with freshwater and used to irrigate boron-tolerant crops.

The study scope was limited to inorganic constituents such as sodium, boron, and naturally occurring radioactive materials.

Article: Is Food Irrigated with Oilﬁeld-Produced Water in the California Central Valley Safe to Eat? A Probabilistic Human Health Risk Assessment Evaluating Trace Metals Exposure

Moving Toward a Multi-Benefit Approach for Water Management

Author: ()
Geography:
Level of Detail:

Availability:

Water Management Strategies:

Specific Benefits or Trade-offs:

Overview

There is broad recognition that adapting to climate change, coupled with the need to address aging infrastructure, population growth, and degraded ecosystems, will require rethinking programs and policies and investing in our natural and built water systems. Many of the strategies for addressing water challenges can also provide other benefits, including reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, providing wildlife habitat, and enhancing community livability. However, identifying and quantifying these benefits for water management strategies can be challenging.

This report proposes a framework for systematically identifying and incorporating the multiple benefits and trade-offs of water management strategies into decision-making processes. The framework can help users broaden support for a policy or project; identify opportunities to share costs among project beneficiaries; minimize adverse and unintended consequences; optimize the investment of time, money, and other resources; and increase transparency associated with water management decisions.

Resources

Webpage: A Multi-Benefit Approach to Water Management

Resource Library: Multi-Benefit Resource Library

Water Advances on Global Climate Agenda at COP27

Advancing Innovative Water Efficiency Solutions at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference 2022

Key takeaways

Harnessing the Power of Water to Meet Energy and Climate Goals

The Untapped Potential of California’s Urban Water Supply: Water Efficiency, Water Reuse, and Stormwater Capture

Advancing Water Efficiency in Low-Income Housing: Southern California Case Study

Saving Water Makes Cents

Water Efficiency Efforts Have Potential to Save Hundreds for Households and Millions for Communities, But Equity and Access Issues Must be Addressed

Key takeaways

Water efficiency supports affordability for households and the larger community

Water affordability for conserving households

Water affordability for the larger community

Making water conservation and efficiency programs accessible to everyone

Recommendations

Advancing Affordability through Water Efficiency

Overview

The Future of California’s Water-Energy-Climate Nexus

Overview

Key Findings

Resources

Stacked Incentives: Co-Funding Water Customer Incentive Programs

Overview

Key Findings

Resources

Financing Water Supply and Sanitation in a Changing Climate

Overview

Op-Ed: The Future Has Arrived. These Explosive Fires Are Our Climate Change Wakeup Call

Op-Ed

What we’re seeing now is just the beginning of the climate changes to come.

The Impact of Using Low-Saline Oilfield Produced Water for Irrigation on Water and Soil Quality in California

Overview

Moving Toward a Multi-Benefit Approach for Water Management

Overview

Resources

Harnessing the Power of Water to Meet
Energy and Climate Goals