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Implications of Future Water Supply Sources for Energy Demands

The Water–Energy Simulator (WESim) is an easy-to-use analytical tool that can be used to evaluate the energy and greenhouse gas implications of water management decisions.

Community-Based Climate Adaptation Planning: Case Study of Oakland, California

This analysis identifies more than 50 strategies for building community resilience and adapting to climate-change impacts such as extreme heat, flooding, wildfires, poor air quality, and rising food, water, and electricity prices.

The Human Right to Water

The human right to water is the fundamental right to life, health, and livelihood. The imperatives to meet basic human water needs are more than just moral, they are rooted in justice and law and the responsibilities of individuals and governments.

The Impacts of Sea Level Rise on the San Francisco Bay

Rising sea levels from global climate change pose a serious threat to the highly developed coastal communities of the San Francisco Bay. This report assesses the populations, critical infrastructure, and property at risk from projected sea-level rise, if no action is taken to protect the coast.

Key Issues in Seawater Desalination in California: Proposed Seawater Desalination Facilities

In 2006, the Pacific Institute published “Desalination, With a Grain of Salt,” a comprehensive overview of the advantages and disadvantages of seawater desalination to help meet California’s water needs. In 2012, the Institute launched a series of research reports identifying the key outstanding issues for desalination in California: cost and financing; energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions; and marine impacts.

Opinion Editorial: Separating Frack From Fiction

Fracking – a process to improve the production of oil and gas wells – has generated tremendous controversy in recent years. There are daily and confusing media reports from outlets across the United States and other countries, including Canada, South Africa, Australia, France and England.

Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Resources: Separating the Frack from the Fiction

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” has generated growing controversy. The lack of credible and comprehensive data around the possible risks of fracking is a major impediment to a clear assessment of its impacts.

Water as a Casualty of Conflict: Threats to Business and Society in High-Risk Areas

While much research has been produced on how water use and pollution can exacerbate conflict, this report focuses more broadly on the ways conflict and high-risk situations can affect water systems and resources directly, as well as the planning, construction, operation, and management of water systems.

Water Rates: Water Affordability – Issue Brief

Water rates in the United States are not typically understood as a human rights issue, but utility bills can be an exceptional burden for low income households.

Water Rates: Water Demand Forecasting – Issue Brief

Historically, water demand forecasts have been determined by estimating current per-capita water consumption multiplied by expected future population.

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

Over the past 12 months, the Pacific Institute – in partnership with its West Africa partners NewEnergy, World Vision, Rural Aid, Pronet North, and Water and Sanitation for Africa...

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