Major American Cities Facing 'Day Zero Water' Crisis, Say Experts

Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The term “day zero water” has become synonymous with a worst-case scenario for public water resources. It refers to a moment in which a city or region’s water supply is almost depleted and officials cut tap supply to communities.

This crisis was narrowly averted in 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa, which approached the threshold of a day zero event after rationing was almost not enough.

Subsequently, environmental researchers and resource insiders have voiced concern over the possibility of water running out in U.S. cities after years of drought have reduced groundwater in places such as the Great Plains and the Southwest.

In a recent study published in Nature, researchers noted “rapid groundwater-level declines” globally in the 21st century of more than 0.5 meters (20 inches) per year across 170,000 monitoring wells and 1,693 aquifer systems.

This includes water resources in the United States.

The study authors further observed groundwater declines have accelerated over the past four decades, highlighting an “urgent need for more effective measures to address groundwater depletion.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also expressed concerns over national water assets.

The agency highlights on its website a Government Accountability Office report from 2014 that stated that 40 out of 50 state water managers “expected shortages in some portion of their states under average conditions in the next 10 years.”

Groups such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) attribute much of the groundwater loss to climate change.

“The conditions in the American West, which we’re seeing around the Colorado River basin, have been so dry for more than 20 years that we’re no longer speaking of a drought,” Lis Mullin Bernhardt said in a statement in May.

Ms. Bernhardt, an ecosystems expert at the UNEP, called it “aridification” and a “new very dry normal.”

However, some experts say poor water management and aging pipe infrastructure also play a significant role in depleting groundwater reserves.

“Given current consumption patterns and the increasing strain on water resources due to factors like climate change and population growth, a Day Zero water crisis is certainly a possibility for some U.S. cities,” Natalya Holm told The Epoch Times in an email.

Ms. Holm is a U.S. senior project manager for the Climate Risk & Water Stewardship Services Lead at Antea Group, an international environmental consulting firm.

She explained the cities most at risk include a combination of high population density, limited water sources, and inadequate infrastructure to manage supply challenges.

“For instance, cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Miami face significant water stress due to their geographical location, reliance on limited local water sources, and high water demand caused by urbanization,” she said.

The Israel-based company Watergen, which makes water from the air, also identified Los Angeles and Miami—along with Atlanta, Phoenix, and El Paso—as urban centers at risk of a Day Zero event due to drought and saltwater contamination.

“Water supply sustainability and security can present a risk to communities if they are not proactively addressing these risks,” Barbara Martin, director of engineering and technical services at the American Water Works Association, told The Epoch Times via email.

Ms. Martin said that communities face risks over water sustainability and security if officials aren’t proactive with infrastructure planning, asset management, and emergency preparedness.

She said that while nothing can eliminate the risk of a Day Zero water crisis, public educational resources will help, as well as water asset managers bolstering their resilience planning.

Down the Drain

Water pipe infrastructure in the United States is in desperate need of repair.

Moreover, the agency expects necessary replacements to cost $500 billion.

In a May press release, the Biden administration announced a $3 billion initiative to replace toxic lead pipes in U.S. waterworks.

The funding is part of a more than $50 billion spending package already approved to upgrade American water infrastructure.

The White House statement called the initiative “the largest investment in clean and safe water in American history.”

However, the number falls drastically short of the EPA’s estimated need for shoring up water loss due to leakage.

“Among the 2.2 million miles of pipe that comprise our drinking water infrastructure ... the EPA estimates that 240,000 water main breaks occur in the U.S. each year,” Ms. Martin pointed out.

She stressed that it’s critical to ensure utilities have strong programs for asset management, capital improvement planning, condition assessment, and water loss control in addition to “supporting effective and timely infrastructure renewal and replacement.”

Ms. Martin emphasized that continued investment in U.S. water infrastructure is needed to address this challenge.

Ms. Holm called the U.S. water pipe network “unique” in its high number of water systems per capita. She says this creates distinctive challenges.

“What that means is, especially in rural areas, there are a lot of very small water systems serving a very small population ... it leads to fragmentation and inefficiencies in water management, preventing coordinated efforts for sustainable water use and infrastructure upkeep.”

This fragmentation complicates regulatory oversight and equitable access to safe and reliable water, according to Ms. Holm.

Ongoing water loss through pipe leakage is also a money hemorrhage for those working in resource management, according to Ms. Holm.

She said that some systems have reported water losses exceeding 60 percent. That kind of loss to pipe leakage is referred to as “non-revenue water.”

“The utility [company] brought it up from the ground or pulled it from a river, treated it, pumped it out into the system, used the energy to bring it out to the system, and got no revenue back from it.

“Nobody used it, and the water supplier lost out on 60 percent of the revenue, which means less money going into their infrastructure repair, improvement, and expansion funds,” she said.
In its latest infrastructure report card, the American Society of Civil Engineers observed a water main break in the United States every two minutes, resulting in an estimated loss of 6 billion gallons of treated water every day.

“Addressing this issue requires substantial investment in infrastructure renewal and maintenance,” Ms. Holm said.

“This includes adopting modern technologies for leak detection and repair, prioritizing infrastructure upgrades in vulnerable areas, and enhancing coordination between federal, state, and local agencies to ensure effective management of water distribution networks.”

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