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Notes from the Field: Gofal Sahi Gets Excited with Community Choices for Water

 “When you arrived from Wa at our community, we thought you were another group coming to deceive us,” said Ms. Barakisu Yusuf. Though Gofal Sahi community has received several promises of a borehole, the government officials have never returned to fulfill the promises. She added, “We never knew we could ever get clean water in our community.”

Notes from the Field: Household Water Treatment Could Improve or Maintain Access to Water Coverage

I heard the good news from the Director of Water and Sanitation for Africa, Mr. Idrissa Doucoure, at a sustainability framework workshop in Acrra, Ghana, on April 3, 2012: Ghana had achieved its Millennium Development Goal for water supply.

mWASH: Mobile Phone Applications for the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Sector

Billions of the world’s poor still lack access to basic water and sanitation services, but mobile devices are common even in areas without these services.

CE2 Model: Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Urban Water Conservation and Efficiency Measures

The Pacific Institute has developed the Cost Effectiveness of Water Conservation and Efficiency (CE2) Model to help evaluate the economic desirability of water conservation and efficiency measures and explore how costs and benefits can be shared among customers, water utilities, and other entities. Designed primarily for water utility staff, the model quickly and easily calculates financial metrics that are meaningful and readily understood by planners and managers and provides a common platform through which to discuss the costs and benefits of water conservation and efficiency.

Cadiz Groundwater Plan

Imagine a lake half as large as Lake Tahoe, containing 17 million to 34 million acre-feet of water. That is what lies under the Cadiz and Bristol valleys in the Eastern Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County. Cadiz Inc., a privately held company, owns 34,000 acres that overlie this vast groundwater basin. The company plans to extract 2.5 million acre-feet of the water, a public good, over the next 50 years and sell it back to the public at a profit.

Notes from the Field: Pilot Testing the Community Choices for Water in Ghana and Burkina Faso

After 12 months of conducting learning sessions in Ghana and Burkina Faso to develop the Community Choices for Water (CCW) tool, an alpha version of the tool has been tested in Cheshei community.

Water-Energy Simulator (WESim)

This easy-to-use analytical tool can be used to evaluate the energy and greenhouse gas implications of water management decisions. The Excel-based model allows the user to explore a range of possible scenarios, such as increased demand for water resources, the development of alternative water and energy sources, and needed water treatment improvements resulting from emerging contaminants and stricter water-quality guidelines.

Urban Water Demand to 2100 Model

The free Urban Water Demand to 2100 model from the Pacific Institute helps water managers to forecast urban water demand with four global climate change models and compare different possible futures to the year 2100 by altering greenhouse gas emissions, population projections, conservation and efficiency measures, and more. This flexible modeling tool allows users to run their own scenarios, comparing how a range of factors in a range of climate change scenarios is likely to affect future patterns of water use in their specific areas. Click to download this tool.

Multiple-Use Water Services (MUS): Recommendations for a Robust and Sustainable Approach

Creating sustainable water systems will continue to be one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Multiple-Use Water Services (MUS) has emerged as a water-provision and management approach that addresses the poverty alleviation potential of water projects. MUS is rooted in the multiple ways in which people have interacted with their local water sources over time, and seeks to overcome the fragmented way in which water is currently managed. This report analyzes the gaps in the MUS approach and evaluates previous efforts at integration in the water sector to identify lessons learned and recommendations for making MUS implementation more robust and sustainable.

Notes from the Field: Alpha Version of Community Choices for Water Decision-Support System to be Piloted in Ghana

Over the last year, the Pacific Institute has been conducting learning sessions in Ghana and Burkina Faso in the development and dissemination of a decision-support system to empower communities and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)...

The Water – Energy Nexus in the American West: The Energy Implications of Desalination

Despite some major barriers to desalination, interest has recently mushroomed as technology has improved, demands for water have grown, and prices have declined.

Climate Change and Urbanisation: Building Resilience in the Urban Water Sector– A Case Study of Indore, India

Thousands of cities in the developing world face rising pressures on water resources due to population growth and urbanization, which are intensified by the effects of climate change. In developed countries cities, the government or formal sector often exclusively manage water supply services, while in developing countries informal water managers may predominate.

Notes from the Field: Multiple Use of Water Allows Disabled Man to Live Comfortably

Abdulai Ibrahim lost his leg during an accident several years ago. Like many disabled persons in Ghana, Mr. Ibrahim could have been forced to beg on the street or depend on his extended family members for support.

California Farm Water Success Stories: Vegetated Waterways and Riparian Restoration

California Farm Water Success Stories: State and Federal Funding Accelerates Efficiency

California Farm Water Success Stories: Volumetric Pricing and Conjunctive Use

Testimony of Peter Gleick: Recommendations to Congress for Fundamental Changes in National Water Policy

This testimony of Dr. Peter H. Gleick before the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for the Hearing on Opportunities and Challenges was given on December 8, 2011 to address domestic and global water supply issues.

Notes from the Field: Waterways

Indonesia is a beautiful place full of people with ready smiles. It is a democratic country with a rich cultural history. Given it is identified as one of the rising Southeast Asian economies, I was excited to see the state of water here.

Water-use Efficiency and Productivity: Rethinking the Basin Approach

The Pacific Institute provides thoughtful new analysis to help move beyond the theoretical quagmire that has characterized the debate over water use efficiency for decades.

Notes from the Field: Sustainability of Supply: The Story of Community Water Associations (HIPPAMs) in Malang

Imagine if the water you were being supplied with regularly to your home suddenly began drying up?

Notes from the Field: Sanitation Task Force Should be Introduced in Burkina Faso Says Womens Group

Imagine if the water you were being supplied with regularly to your home suddenly began drying up?

At a Crossroads in Our Region’s Health: Freight Transport and the Future of Community Health in the San Francisco Bay Area

Priority Development Areas in the San Francisco Bay region overlap with communities with the highest health risk from toxic air contaminants, including diesel pollution from freight transport, designated as CARE zones by the Air District.

Notes from the Field: Multiple Uses of Water

The Amprong River in the city of Malang in Indonesia provides a truly rich example of the power and the challenges of multiple use water systems.

Notes from the Field: How Can We Promote Sustainable WASH Facilities at the Community Level? Naba Kuliga in Burkina Faso Joins the Discussion.

I took a recent trip to Burkina Faso to conduct a learning session on the WASH decision-making tool (www.washchoices.org) currently being developed by Pacific Institute. 

Water for Energy: Future Water Needs for Electricity in the Intermountain West

The production of electricity, from fuel extraction to electricity generation, has growing impacts on both water availability and quality.