The U.S. Could Cut Water Use By 33% Using Existing Technology

Water isn’t a national security issue inside the U.S. Indeed, for most Americans, water isn’t an issue at all. Even in California, in the midst of the worst drought in settled history, you turn on the tap and the water flows. The drought hasn’t even caused a spike in water bills. But water folks have been warning for years that the U.S. water system is brittle—dependent on investments from 50 and 100 years ago. And fresh stress is coming: Most of the impact of climate change turns out to show up most dramatically and most immediately in the form of water—too much, too little, the wrong kind in the wrong place. That’s why the White House, in its first attempt to start a national discussion about how the nation uses water, may be getting ready to suggest a bold goal: Cutting the nation’s water use by 33%. That would save not just water, but all the energy used to move and treat water across the economy. On Tuesday, the White House hosted a Roundtable on Water Innovation—the first time any White House has convened such an event—and released a paper making the case that such a dramatic reduction was in reach without the need of any technological breakthroughs...more