Ways to Lighten Your Water Footprint
Eat less meat. A study published in Agricultural Water Management shows that if all U.S. residents re- duced their consumption of animal products by half, the nation’s total dietary water requirement in 2025 would drop by 261 billion cubic meters per year, a savings equal to 14 times the annual flow of the Colorado River.
Ditch bottled water. Per the U.S. Government Accountability Office, putting water in plastic bottles and shipping it just 125 miles uses 1,100 times more energy than producing tap water. The Pacific Institute calcu- lates that it takes three liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water.
Create eco-friendly landscapes. Statistics published in Environmental Management confirm that turf grass currently covers some 40.5 million acres in the United States—triple the space taken up by any single U.S. irrigated farm crop. Converting thirsty lawns into native, drought-tolerant landscaping significantly drops household water use.
Be water-wise at home. Visit the United States Environmental Protec- tion Agency’s online WaterSense page at
tinyurl.com/3wqbz2p to learn simple ways to save water, energy and money.
Calculate personal water use at National Geographic’s tinyurl. com/274jo6v or
H2OConserve.org.
management that focuses on ingenuity and ecological intel- ligence instead of big pumps, pipelines, dams and canals. These solutions tend to work with nature, rather than against it, making effective use of the “ecosystem services” provided by healthy watersheds and wetlands. Through better technolo- gies and informed choices, they seek to raise water productivity and make every drop count. Communities are finding that pro-
Water managers in 36 states expect shortages by 2013. Source: The Wall Street Journal
businesses out of harm’s way, revital- izing wetlands and marshlands and constructing levees
and bypass channels in strategic loca- tions. Napa residents will benefit from increased flood protection and reduced flood insurance rates, plus new parks and trails for recreation, higher tourism revenues and improved habitats for fish and wildlife. Communities prone to excessive
tecting watersheds is an effective way to make sure water supplies are clean and reliable; plus, they can do the work of a water treatment plant in filtering out pollutants at a lower cost. New York City is investing $1.5 billion to restore and protect the Catskill-Delaware Watershed, which supplies 90 percent of its drink- ing water, in lieu of constructing a $10 billion filtration plant that would cost an additional $300 million a year to operate. Research published in Natural Resources Forum further shows that a number of other U.S. cit- ies—from tiny Auburn, Maine, to Seattle—have saved hundreds of millions of dollars in capital and operating costs of filtration plants by instead opting for watershed protection.
Communities facing increased flood threats are achieving cost-effective protection by restoring rivers. After enduring 19 floods between 1961 and 1997, Napa, California, opted for this approach over the conventional route of channeling and building levees. In partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a $366 million project is reconnecting the Napa River with its historic floodplain, moving homes and
storm water runoff can turn existing structures into water catchments. Portland, Oregon, is investing in “green roofs” and “green streets” to prevent sewers from overflowing into the Willamette River. Chicago now boasts more than 200 green roofs—including atop City Hall—that collectively cover 2.5 million square feet, more than any other U.S. city. The veg- etated roofs are providing space for urban gardens and helping to catch storm water and cool the urban environment. Parking lots, too, can be harnessed.
Desalination plants produce less than 0.5 percent of the water used in the world.
Source: National Geographic Many com-
munities are revital- izing their rivers by tearing down dams that are no longer safe or serving a useful purpose, thus
opening up habitats for fisheries, restor- ing healthier water flows and improving aquatic quality. In the 10 years since the Edwards Dam was removed from the Kennebec River, near Augusta, Maine, populations of alewives and striped bass have returned in astounding numbers, reviving a recreational fishery that adds $65 million annually to the local economy.
Watershed Moments Conservation remains the least expensive and most environmentally sound way of
24 Rockland & Orange Counties
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