(Image: California Department of Water Resources)

The Crisis: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently declared a state of emergency around California’s current drought. His declaration asks all urban residents to curtail water use by 20%, increases conservation efforts and allows the state to seek more federal funding for water projects and the transfer of water to areas facing shortages. According to California’s farm bureau, about 43% of water taken from lakes and reservoirs is used for farming. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said on February 20 it must cut its water allocation to farmers in California’s Central Valley for the first time in 15 years because of low reservoirs.

Slow to React: According to a recent report from Ceres (PDF, 1.1 MB), not enough businesses and investors are considering the potential for economic upheaval if water resources become as scarce as predicted. Decreasing availability, declining water quality and growing water demand are straining resources and profits. Manufacturing and agriculture sectors can expect decreased water allotments, shifts towards full-cost water pricing and increasingly severe water quality regulations, according to Ceres. Climate change and a world population predicted to grow by 50 million people annually will aggravate the problem.

Solutions

• Smart irrigation technology
• Wastewater recycling
• Indoor water-saving devices
• Conservation
• Recycled water

The Savings: According to a report we highlighted in May of 2008, using recycled water could save enough energy to power 150,000 California homes and slash carbon emissions by a half-million metric tons annually if it made full use of secondary and tertiary recycled water supplies. For residents, that may mean installing a greywater system like the one we reported on in June of last year.

How many more reasons do we need to save water?

• Find out how bad California’s drought really is
• See tips on 100 ways to conserve water for indoor and outdoor
• Become a WaterSense partner