Water use challenges across the country vary by geography and depend on factors such as population density, climate, industrial activities, agricultural practices, and water availability. 2 Much of the United States is experiencing drought conditions, particularly in areas where the population relies on an agricultural economy, and some regions are known for their high water consumption due to specific demands and resource availability.
Water scarcity is most acute in the arid western United States, due to conflicts between states over agricultural irrigation and urban use in the Colorado River watershed. In the Central Plains states, irrigation is critical for growing crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat, which contribute to the country’s agricultural production and exports. As a result, the Ogallala Aquifer, the nation’s largest aquifer, spanning eight central states, has been under sustained depletion for decades.3 Similarly, water demand for major urban centers and agricultural uses in the Mississippi River basin and southeastern states is high. . . As climate change increases episodic flooding, these stressed water resources are increasingly polluted, threatening the viability of critical water supplies in these watersheds.4
These unique environments create highly localized water challenges and require relevant and focused solutions. But water crosses borders and county lines, and we often manage, protect, and govern our water resources in fragmented ways that conflict with natural water landscapes and the water cycle.
American Water Stories
Our interviews with public and private sector water experts highlight the diverse and complex water issues in diverse ecologies across the United States. These illustrative stories provide a glimpse into the very real economic, cultural, historical, political, and environmental events that shape our relationship with water.
On the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona, a fourth-generation producer looks back on his once-green cropland. Formerly irrigated by water from Lake Mead, his alfalfa fields now lie fallow. 5 The Colorado River, a source of power and water for more than 40 million people, is drying up; And this Arizona farmer, among hundreds of others, is fighting to keep his family’s farm afloat amid a 50% reduction in its agricultural water supply. 6
Further upstream, members of the Navajo Nation are also protesting the dwindling supplies of the Colorado River. His people have been stewards of its tributaries for centuries, and the river is central to their cultural and spiritual identity. In this time of scarcity, he reflects on past injustices and fears for the nation’s water future. Today, nearly a third of his reservation lacks running water, and his family pays 15 times more for water than the nearest city. 7
Meanwhile, a water system manager on the East Coast is struggling to provide clean drinking water to his community. His town regularly floods during heavy rains. And sewage overflows due to failing stormwater infrastructure have only contaminated freshwater resources. 8 Although historically relevant, community water systems have been compromised by adverse reactions between new pollutants and treatment chemicals. 9 Water system managers have limited staff and funding, making it difficult to improve and manage a city’s water and wastewater infrastructure.
Our climate is changing, so why aren’t we?
Climate change is a significant contributor to the challenges facing water systems. However, the lack of adaptation in water ecosystems stems not only from environmental issues but also from social and other constraints. Water use is closely linked to a variety of societal challenges, including food security, human health, and disaster prevention. Managing water requires consideration of multiple interests and dealing with complex factors beyond water use. Public-private partnerships can help address these challenges by bringing together people from diverse backgrounds, interests, and motivations.
Expert Insights on Effective Water Management
Our interviewees agreed that new collaborative approaches are needed to identify and integrate these societal challenges into effective, long-term solutions for our watersheds. The 54 experts we interviewed were spread across the United States and included federal agencies, state departments, water-focused nonprofits, research institutions, and private industry companies such as utilities, environmental commodity traders, water-related technology businesses, and water conservation consulting. . The companies we interviewed sought to uncover ongoing issues in the management of the nation’s water infrastructure and freshwater bodies and the underlying challenges that hinder water management and cross-scale collaboration.
To meet these objectives, we focused our discussions on pain points that hinder program progress, barriers to adopting innovative solutions and processes, and solutions that address programmatic needs. A variety of themes emerged from our conversations, from environmental to social and historical to economic. Interviewees also identified data and technology as crucial for cross-sector collaboration.
Environmental Factors
Water experts identified two leading environmental concerns in the emerging water crisis: the complexity of the natural and built environment and the issue of aging infrastructure. The former affects our ability to understand the precise science that drives diverse landscapes, and the latter affects our ability to develop effective solutions to address unique environmental challenges.
Hydrologists, economists, and policymakers have found that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to address water problems that arise in diverse environments. Solutions developed for one region are not effective interventions for water problems in another. The complex relationships between natural and built landscapes further complicate these water-related issues. Ecological processes depend on factors such as biodiversity and the availability of natural resources across multiple domains and respond to stresses specific to each domain, which affect the benefits provided by the ecosystem.
In addition, aging infrastructure poses a serious threat to water quality. Many pipes in use in the United States were laid in the early to mid-20th century and have exceeded their useful lives, making them prone to bursting and leaking. Such structural failures will inevitably lead to the loss of our access to water.
Social and Historical Factors
Water has long been considered an unlimited resource from individual, community, regional, and national perspectives. As water availability declines in all regions of the country, sustainable management practices are resisted by those who undervalue water. This resistance to change affects the ability of scientists, legislators, and water experts to formulate policies, enforce regulations, adopt technologies, and create public and private institutions dedicated to effectively managing water resources.
Humans rely on limited natural resources, and their activities are predicted to be a major driver of future water scarcity globally. 10 One expert noted that easy access to water has created a disconnect between people’s perceptions and the actual cost of running a water system. . .
Policy and Regulatory Factors
In our conversation, experts emphasized the difference between politics and regulations. While they expressed concern about the politicization of water issues, they also discussed the impact of regulatory frameworks, laws, and other policies that influence and govern the actions of people, communities, institutions, markets, and systems as barriers to progress on water issues. . .
A range of laws and regulations govern U.S. water management, including the Clean Water Act, which sets standards for water quality and management. In many cases, changes to water management require complex reviews to move forward.
With the complexity of existing laws and enforcement requirements, multiple groups have found themselves implementing innovations or working on challenging market opportunities. Innovators often enter the market to create solutions to emerging water problems without an adequate understanding of policy and regulatory barriers, and later, some find that their solutions conflict with existing laws and regulations. According to one expert, government engagement at the intersection of technology, engineering, and politics is critical from the outset to advance water crisis mitigation projects.
Economic factors
The experts identified several economic pain points, including budget constraints, lack of funding opportunities, and functional incentive programs.
Recent legislation, including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, provides significant new funding for specific drinking water, wastewater, drought mitigation, and other climate resilience projects. Funding to effectively manage and monitor their water resources and operations. 13 The lack of funding also limits agencies’ ability to access and promote new, innovative technologies in the water space.
To address economic pain points, a State Department natural resources expert emphasized the importance of the agency’s engagement with legislative bodies so that the department can set a strategy for how the department can lead on water resources management. Collaborating with legal experts to access funding mechanisms (e.g., grants) and implementing institutional incentive systems to find solutions to water crises can benefit all parties involved.
Institutional Factors
Political boundaries can make it difficult for local, regional, and national institutions to manage free-flowing water. This challenge, as described by water experts, affects both government institutions and private actors. While states and state agencies are responsible for allocating and managing water rights, water issues are multi-sectoral and cross-boundary, involving numerous communities, private and public sector interests, and levels of government. The flow of information and funding from one level of government to another hinders progress in addressing water crisis issues.
Our interviewees indicated that private sector players, across industries, from agriculture to natural resource management to wastewater and utilities, are generally concerned about water as it relates to their specific businesses. Different industries use and value water differently, so there are often conflicting views when it comes to water management across industries and sectors.
As a result of geographical fragmentation and diverse functional areas, collaboration between numerous players in the public and private sectors can be challenging. Experts suggested that water solutions require both public and private actors to break down silos, approach water solutions with an interdisciplinary lens, and increase engagement across all players. Strategies that encourage coordination – whether embedded in program requirements, emerging from established partnerships, or brought about through other modes of engagement – can foster an “all hands-on-deck” mindset to address current and future water crises.
Data and Technology
Data allows agencies and companies to understand their water use and quality, creates workplace efficiencies, and provides opportunities to better predict water conditions. However, the volume and types of water data are often complex and are collected by a variety of actors, including state agencies, federal and local government agencies, utilities, and nongovernmental organizations.14
It is not easy to understand how or why the data was collected and how to best manage and use it. We often hear that water data is abundant, but users are not sure how best to analyze it, especially when it comes to predicting water use and availability. New technologies for collecting water information are also evolving rapidly (see Figure 2). However, their adoption can be slowed by a lack of funding and training to identify the best technology to do the job. Skills gaps in collecting, processing, and analyzing data further delay adoption.
While technologies such as remote sensing, satellite imagery, the Internet of Things, sensors, AI, machine learning, and blockchain are generating more data than ever before, there is a need for:
- Additional computing power
- Better approaches to analyzing data
- Adequate training for analysts and users
- Better interoperability between data structures and technologies
Coordination between the public and private sectors, as well as direct pathways between research and its implementation, are essential to bring together the resources and knowledge needed to make the most effective use of water data.
1 Comments
landscapes, and the latter affects our ability to develop effective solutions to address unique environmental challenges ???
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