Water Advances on Global Climate Agenda at COP27
Pacific Institute featured at COP for water resilience thought leadership, innovative tools
Advancing Innovative Water Efficiency Solutions at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference 2022
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.
Saving Water Makes Cents
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. 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.
Advancing Affordability through Water Efficiency
This paper examines the relationship between water conservation and efficiency and affordability. Specifically, it examines the near-term effect of water conservation and efficiency on utility bills, i.e., water, wastewater, and energy bills, for conserving households and the longer term effect on water and wastewater costs for the larger community.
The Future of California’s Water-Energy-Climate Nexus
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 percent clean energy, water will play an integral role.
Stacked Incentives: Co-Funding Water Customer Incentive Programs
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.
Financing Water Supply and Sanitation in a Changing Climate
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.
Op-Ed: The Future Has Arrived. These Explosive Fires Are Our Climate Change Wakeup Call
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.
The Impact of Using Low-Saline Oilfield Produced Water for Irrigation on Water and Soil Quality in California
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.
Moving Toward a Multi-Benefit Approach for Water Management
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.