Op-Ed: Billions of Drops in the Bucket: Just Rethinking How We Use Water Can be as Effective as Huge Infrastructure Projects

After more than a decade of generous rainfall and healthy river flows, the dry years are back. Much of the state, notably Southern California, has been experiencing sever drought. The major reservoirs along the Colorado River are less than half full. Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada last winter was half of normal, and meteorologists say we may be headed into another dry winter despite this weekend’s rain.

Laguna Riparian Enhancement Project

The Laguna Riparian Habitat Enhancement Concept presents a conceptual plan for improving native riparian vegetation and associated habitats within the Laguna Reach along the lower Colorado River (LCR). Various entities including the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) are actively involved in protecting and restoring habitats along the lower Colorado River. This concept is intended to provide a basis for efforts to enhance or restore habitats within the Laguna Division for a variety of valuable fish and bird species and to stimulate discussion on ways to meet these goals.

Integrity of Science: Bottled Water and Energy Factsheet: Getting to 17 Million Barrels

The Pacific Institute finds that it took approximately 17 million barrels of oil equivalent to produce plastic for bottled water consumed by Americans in 2006—enough energy to fuel more than 1 million American cars and light trucks for a year. The widely cited 1.5 million barrel statistic is an error, the result of a miscommunication between a journalist and a researcher in 2003. That researcher and others now stand by this updated assessment.

Hidden Oasis: Water Conservation and Efficiency in Las Vegas

Two of the West’s preeminent water organizations report Las Vegas Valley is sitting on an oasis of water and money savings. In their new report, the Pacific Institute and Western Resource Advocates find up to 40% of water could be saved in some sectors through improvements to indoor and outdoor water efficiency. They also found that through improving indoor water efficiency in particular, Las Vegas residents and businesses can cut water-related energy use and greenhouse gases. These findings are contained in Hidden Oasis: Water Conservation and Efficiency in Las Vegas available for download below.

Bottled Vs. Tap Water: Video

For the Santa Clara Water District, the recent resolution promoting tap water over bottled water was a clear choice–a choice largely bolstered by Pacific Institute research. The District’s recognition of the economic and environmental impacts of bottled water led them to ban the sale of bottled water in district facilities.

Op-Ed: The Best Plan for the Salton Sea is Yet to Come

Right in the middle of one of the driest deserts in North America lies California’s largest lake, the little-known and oft-maligned Salton Sea. The Sea and its environs are one of the most important spots on the map for birds, with more than 400 species of birds – often numbering in the millions of individual birds – visiting the Sea every year. Despite its importance, the Salton Sea is the Rodney Dangerfield of California’s lakes, enduring insult after insult. Within the next 20-30 years, the Sea will be dealt the greatest insult, as the volume of water that sustains this 360-square mile lake will decrease by more than 40 percent, rapidly shrinking the lake and increasing the amount of dust and salt that blows through the Imperial and Coachella valleys.

The Pacific Institute: 20 Years Toward a Sustainable Planet

The Pacific Institute is one of the world’s leading independent non-profits, conducting research and advocacy on the related and pressing issues of environmental degradation, poverty, and political conflict. In 2007, the Pacific Institute celebrates 20 years of groundbreaking work: a generation of addressing local, national, and international problems in the fields of freshwater resources, climate change, environmental justice, and globalization.

At the Crest of a Wave: A Proactive Approach to Corporate Water Strategy

Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and the Pacific Institute are pleased to announce their joint publication of a new trends report that focuses on corporate water strategy. At the Crest of a Wave: A Proactive Approach to Corporate Water Strategy explains the drivers behind water trends, their implications for business and, most importantly, how to prepare for them.

Turning the Delta Ruling into Opportunity

On Aug. 31, a federal judge acknowledged what many people have long known — we have run up against the limits of our water supplies. U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger ruled that state and federal water managers must change how they operate California’s water system to reduce environmental harm.

Op-Ed: Salton Sea – A Time for Action

The Salton Sea lies 470 miles southeast of San Francisco, a vast, cursed salt lake far from the minds of most in the Bay Area. Part of the Salton Sea’s curse is that it is so distant, so different from most people’s experiences. Today, temperatures at the sea are likely more than 40 degrees hotter than San Francisco. Irrigated fields stretch for miles to the north and south of the sea. To the east and west, mesquite and creosote bush dot the landscape, before the Chocolate and Santa Rosa mountains rise sharply from the desert floor. The total population of Imperial County, locus of most of the sea, is about a tenth that of Alameda County, despite having almost six times the land area. If the Salton Sea – roughly the size of San Francisco Bay – were next to San Francisco or to Sacramento, its problems would have been addressed long ago.

Saving Water Makes Cents for Valley Businesses

Contrary to popular belief, growth in California’s population, economy and water use is no longer linked. From 1975 to 2001, our population increased by 60 percent and gross state product increased by 250 percent. Yet during that same period, total water use decreased statewide. Improved efficiency technology, forward-thinking lawmakers and changes in our industries have helped make this possible.

A Review of the SFPUC’s Retail and Wholesale Customer Water Demand Projections

In an effort to satisfy the future water needs of its wholesale customers, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) commissioned a series of comprehensive assessments on the area’s future water demand, conservation potential, and recycled water potential. Based on these studies, the SFPUC projects that by 2030, the total water demand of its wholesale and retail customers will increase by 14%, or 33 million gallons per day (mgd).

The CEO Water Mandate: A Call to Action and Strategic Framework

As leaders of business organizations we recognize that the private sector has an important stake in helping to address the water challenge faced by the world today. It is increasingly clear that lack of access to clean water and sanitation in many parts of the world causes great suffering in humanitarian, social, environmental and economic terms, and seriously undermines development goals.

The Fish and the Whales

The Terminator may soon become Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s official title, not just his humorous nickname. Earlier this month, media and public attention was riveted on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta as two wayward whales made their way back to the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, and of far less apparent public interest, another crisis below the surface of the delta has reached a boiling point. New scientific surveys revealed that a tiny fish — the delta smelt — appears to be heading for rapid extinction.

Hummer versus Prius: “Dust to Dust” Report Misleads the Media and Public with Bad Science

The CNW Marketing Research, Inc.’s 2007 “Dust to Dust: The Energy Cost of New Vehicles From Concept to Disposal” caught the interest of the media and the public with its claim that a Hummer H3 SUV has a lower life-cycle energy cost than a Toyota Prius hybrid. Closer inspection suggests that the report’s conclusions rely on faulty methods of analysis, untenable assumptions, selective use and presentation of data, and a complete lack of peer review. Even the most cursory look reveals serious biases and flaws: the average Hummer H1 is assumed to travel 379,000 miles and last for 35 years, while the average Prius is assumed to last only 109,000 miles over less than 12 years. These selective and unsupported assumptions distort the final results. A quick re-analysis with peer-reviewed data leads to completely opposite conclusions: the life-cycle energy requirements of hybrids and smaller cars are far lower than Hummers and other large SUVs. CNW should either release its full report, including methods, assumptions, and data, or the public should ignore its conclusions. Unfortunately, “Dust to Dust” has already distorted the public debate.

The Human Right to Water

More than a billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Two and a half billion people live without access to adequate sanitation systems necessary to reduce exposure to water-related diseases. The failure of the international aid community, nations, and local organizations to satisfy these basic human needs has led to substantial, unnecessary, and preventable human suffering. Tens of thousand of people, mostly young children and the elderly, die every day from water-related diseases.

Corporate Reporting on Water: A Review of Eleven Global Industries

This report evaluates how global companies recognize, address, and report their water-related risks and practices. Using a framework of ten activities for managing water-related business risks, the authors analyze corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility reports from 139 of the largest companies in 11 water-intensive industry sectors. This analysis reveals several patterns and gaps in corporate water reporting:

Comments on Restoration of the Salton Sea Summary Report

We submit these comments on Reclamation’s Restoration of the Salton Sea Summary Report on behalf of the Pacific Institute and the Sierra Club. Our groups have been working actively to identify and implement a feasible Salton Sea restoration plan for nearly a decade. We welcome the federal and state efforts to improve the ecological health of the Salton Sea ecosystem, and offer these comments in the hopes that they might benefit Reclamation’s planning efforts and the Salton Sea ecosystem.

Bottled Water and Energy Fact Sheet

The growing consumption of bottled water raises questions about the product’s economic and environmental costs. Among the most significant concerns are the resources required to produce the plastic bottles and to deliver filled bottles to consumers, including both energy and water.

Salton Sea Early Start Habitat

As members of the Salton Sea Advisory Committee and as representatives of AudubonCalifornia, California Outdoor Heritage Alliance, Defenders of Wildlife, Pacific Institute, and Sierra Club, organizations with nearly 400,000 members in California, we write to urge you to expedite the development and implementation of ‘Early Start Habitat’ (ESH) at the Salton Sea. We believe that ESH can provide multiple benefits, including high-quality bird habitat, air quality management, data on the relative benefits of various ecological and engineering designs, and, more broadly, a mechanism for generating additional revenues for the Salton Sea Ecosystem Restoration Program.

Colorado River Plan

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Drop 2 Storage Reservoir Project Draft Environmental Assessment. These comments are submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Living Rivers, National Wildlife Federation, Pacific Institute, Sierra Club, and Yuma Audubon Society.

Results of Survey on the Current and Future CSR Landscape

The proliferation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards and initiatives suggests a growing recognition – by civil society groups and businesses alike – that corporations can and should play an active role in advancing sustainability by improving their social and environmental performance. There also is a growing consensus that better and greater coordination is needed among these initiatives in order to strengthen their effectiveness and credibility.

U.S. Dumps State Plan For Saving Water

For six years the Bush administration has refused to take any serious actions nationwide to improve energy and water efficiency. Now it is actively thwarting the efforts of Californians to take such actions on our own. Our state, the federal government would have us know, does not have a compelling interest in conserving water or energy.

Port of Oakland Maritime Air Quality Improvement Plan (MAQIP)

In the fall of 2006, the Port of Oakland announced plans to develop a Maritime Air Quality Improvement Plan (MAQIP) that would serve as its roadmap and master planning document for air quality improvement measures. Working in close collaboration with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project and the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative, the Pacific Institute put together a proposal for a community co-chaired task force comprised of a wide range of stakeholders from community, industry, labor, environment, and health backgrounds to help craft the MAQIP. Following the creation of this stakeholder task force, the Pacific Institute helped form detailed recommendations for meeting community health and environmental justice goals for the MAQIP and coordinated the creation of sign-on letters from a broad range of stakeholders.

Paying With Our Health: The Real Cost of Freight Transport in California

“Paying With Our Health: The Real Cost of Freight Transport in California” characterizes the costs of freight transport (AKA goods movement) by detailing the health costs of asthma and other illnesses, revenues generated by goods movement activities, and the level of economic opportunity provided to affected communities. It compiles existing exposure studies that characterize the health and local impacts resulting from the system of freight transport.

Assessing the Long-Term Outlook for Current Business Models in the Construction and Provision of Water Infrastructure and Services

The water sector faces serious challenges. The failure to meet basic human needs for water; difficulties in meeting the financial requirements for maintaining, extending, and upgrading both new and aging water systems; new regulatory requirements for water quality; increasing water scarcity; competition for limited capital, and global climate change will continue to affect the development of the water sector. In addition, the water objectives of the Millennium Development Goals add impetus to efforts in developing countries and the Big 5 economies (BRICS)1 to halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation. As existing water infrastructure hits the century-old mark, the developed OECD countries are also facing immediate needs to replace and upgrade infrastructure, respond to new water quality regulations, and ensure the security of water supplies in response to climate change, pollution, and growing populations. For all water systems, the main focus is on the best ways to finance and implement improvements in operation and maintenance of systems.

Bottled Water: An Update

The 2004 volume of The World’s Water discussed the growing phenomenon of bottled use around the world, particularly in regions where high-quality tap water is available, as in most of North America and Western Europe (Gleick 2004). This “In Brief” updates recent events and provides new data on bottled water use.

The World’s Water, Volume 5

In The World’s Water 2006-2007, Pacific Institute President and series editor Peter Gleick convened Pacific Institute staff and others in presenting the fifth edition, covering some of the most significant current worldwide water issues: * water and terrorism, * preserving and restoring instream water allocations, * an update of seawater desalination, * the growing risks of floods and droughts, * environmental justice for water, * water risks facing industry, and * updated information on bottled water, international disputes over water, and the discovery of water on Mars.

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