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.

A Review of Water Conservation Planning for the Atlanta, Georgia Region

At the request of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Pacific Institute analyzed historical water conservation and efficiency programs and water demand forecasts for the region around Atlanta, Georgia. This effort aimed to improve understanding of the potential for reducing water waste in the region and maintaining critical water flows for downstream ecosystems in Georgia and Florida. The analysis was submitted to the DEP in August 2006.

Water and Terrorism

The importance of freshwater and water infrastructure to human and ecosystem health and to the smooth functioning of a commercial and industrial economy makes water and water systems targets for terrorism. The chance that terrorists will strike at water systems is real; indeed, there is a long history of such attacks. Water infrastructure can be targeted directly or water can be contaminated through the introduction of poison or diseasecausing agents. The damage is done by hurting people, rendering water unusable, or destroying purification and supply infrastructure. More uncertain, however, is how significant such threats are today, compared with other targets that may be subject to terrorist attack, or how effective such attacks would actually be. Analysis and historical evidence suggest that massive casualties from attacking water systems are difficult to produce, although there may be some significant exceptions. At the same time, the risk of societal disruptions, disarray, and even overreaction on the part of governments and the public from any attack, may be high. This paper reviews the history of past attacks on water systems and the most pressing vulnerabilities and risks facing modern water systems. Suggestions of ways to reduce those risks are also presented.

Desalination, With a Grain of Salt: A California Perspective

In Desalination, With a Grain of Salt – A California Perspective, the Pacific Institute provides a comprehensive overview of the history, benefits, and risks of ocean desalination, and the barriers that hinder more widespread use of this technology, especially in the context of recent proposals for a massive increase in desalination development in California.Long considered the Holy Grail of water supply, desalination offers the potential of an unlimited source of fresh water purified from the vast oceans of salt water that surround us. The public, politicians, and water managers continue to hope that cost-effective and environmentally safe ocean desalination will come to the rescue of water-short regions. While seawater desalination plants are already vital for economic development in many arid and water-short areas of the world, many plants are overly expensive, inaccurately promoted, poorly designed, inappropriately sited, and ultimately useless. To avoid new, expensive errors, policymakers and the public need to take a careful look at the advantages and disadvantages of desalination and develop clear guidance on how to evaluate and judge proposals for new facilities.

Testimony of Dr. Peter H. Gleick to the United States Congress Committee on Government Reform

Over the last few decades, there has been growing concern over the international security implications of large-scale environmental problems, including those associated with the production and use of energy resources. Recently, this attention has focused on the possibility of major climatic changes caused by growing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other trace gases that result, primarily from our combustion of fossil fuels. Given the extent and severity of the likely climatic changes, it is increasingly urgent that we begin to ask how climate changes will affect international relationships, economics, access to resources, and national security.

Hazard: The Future of the Salton Sea with No Restoration Project

The Salton Sea is shrinking, and without a restoration project it will transform from California’s largest lake into an economic, health, and environmental hazard. The Sea’s 75-year crash-course is detailed in a report by the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, an independent, nonpartisan think-tank.

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