California Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order on May 9th, 2016 in order to build a more drought resilient state. Over the last week we have walked through many of the changes put in place to support ongoing water conservation in the Golden State. Today, in our final coverage, we will be discussing the instrumental need for farmers to integrate drought planning and water efficiency solutions into their daily operations.

PART 3:  A Note to the Ag Industry, the Drought is Real

Although Northern California was luckily hit by El Nino, California’s Central Valley– an area of land using fewer than 1% of U.S. farmland that supplies 8% of U.S. agricultural output (by value) and produces 1/4 of the Nation’s food, including 40% of the Nation’s fruits, nuts, and other table foods- is still in dire need of rainwater to replenish it’s many drained aquifers.

Although the conservation regulations have loosened in neighboring regions, California is steadily heading towards a drier future which will prove to be problematic in the long run, not just for the agricultural industry but also for American’s across the nation who have come to expect fruits and vegetables all year round.

Here are a few reasons why it is so crucial for California to embed a water conservation into our agricultural industry:

1. The drought is not over.  In fact weather patterns are showing that droughts like this will be not only more prominent but also longer lasting.
2.  Our hidden groundwater reservoirs are not replenishing fast enough.

   

   About 20% of the Nation’s groundwater demand is supplied from pumping Central Valley aquifers, making it the second-most-pumped aquifer system in the U.S.  At this rate, it is impossible for geological systems to replenish at a rate in which it is being drained.

3.  The Sierra Nevada Mountian Range is warming at an alarming rate, virtually eliminating water storage through snowpack which is a crucial supplier of water to the central valley.

Given the importance of this region, California Governor Jerry Brown is working to increase pressure on conservation for farmers by:

1. Drought Planning: Updating existing requirements for agricultural water management plans to ensure that they adequately address waste water and prepare for periods of limited water supply. 
2. Improving Agricultural Water Use Efficiency: Permanently requiring farmers with land over 10,000 irrigated acres to prepare water management plans. 
3. Enforcement: The California Public Utilities Commission has been tasked with developing methods to ensure compliance with the provisions of this executive order including technical and financial assistance and, if necessary, enforcement by the water board to address non-compliant water supplies.

2016 might represent a break from the record dry conditions in some parts of the State, but the drought driven damage to California water supply will take years, even decades to replenish to previous amounts. 

To help minimize drought effects and help build a sustainable long term infrastructure, Californians should:

1. Use Water Saving Technology in Residential, Commercial and Agricultural instances.  For more information on how your commercial business can save water visit our website to learn about our revolutionary water saving technologies such as the Hybrid Urinal– available through Sloan Valve Company.
2.  Learn from Others We need to look to Australia who has done an exceptional job culturally shifting towards water conservation efforts.

California Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order on May 9th, 2016 in order to build a more drought resilient state. Last week, we analyzed the first set of conditions regarding the governor’s increased pressure for water conservation in some regions while loosening his grip in others. Today’s blog post is about California’s cultural shift towards recycling waste water.

PART 2:  Waste Water, a Reliable Water Source

California recently reclassified recycled water as a water resource and has improved the process to authorize the use of recycled water for irrigation, allocating $200 million in grants to encourage related projects.

The new order instructs that water boards across the state must:

1. permanently prohibit practices that waste potable water, such as hosing sidewalks, driveways and other landscapes and washing automobiles without shut-off hoses.
2. create actions to minimize water system leaks
3. accelerate urban and agricultural water suppliers to improve their water systems management and data collection.
4. certify innovative conservation and water loss detection and control technologies to increase efficiency.

Using recycled water for landscape irrigation and toilet flushing can save thousands of gallons of water a year. In Los Angeles, the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility and Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility, also known as SMURRF are examples of a treatment plants that restore gray water from pool draining, car washing and hoses to a pristine condition.

From now on, water agencies across California should use reclaimed water as a sustainable long-term solution to withstand future droughts, of course in combination with water efficient technologies – such as Falcon Waterfree Urinals and the hybrid to withstand future droughts.

After 5 years of drought, El Niño has rehydrated Northern California, filling up key reservoirs and restoring suburbia’s green lawns. However, Californians in the south were missed by El Niño and are expecting to go through yet another dry year. In an effort to build a drought resilient state and deal with this climate dichotomy, California Governor Jerry Brown has issued an executive order, Making Water Conservation a California Way of Life. To better explain the new water conservation rules, we’ve decided to walk you through it in a 3-part series pointing out the major changes.

PART 1 : North Vs. South

The new order recognizes the differing water supply conditions across the state and reduces the targeted conservation percentages for Northern California with little to no changes for the South. It also requests a proposal to achieve mandatory reduction in potable water usage efforts and develop new and permanent water use targets based upon each agency’s specific circumstances. 

Even though the changes are necessary, some experts fear that the state is obscuring the “we’re all in this together” campaign, and the newfound abundance could undo much of the progress of the past years. 

Weather may have loosened the grip on California’s Northern half, but the damage done by the drought to the state’s water supply will take years, even decades of wet weather to replenish. The water crisis is not over. Groundwater storage has been pumped at unsustainable rates. Sierra Nevada’s snowpack, a crucial natural water reservoir, has been suffering an increase of liquid precipitation, which means less snowpack storage and faster uncaptured runoff. Additionally, Lake Mead, one of the two major storage reservoirs on the Colorado River system and the largest water reservoir in the United States, has reached a historic low point this year.

The Golden State must change the way how they relate to water and their declining water supplies, and learn to consume significantly less water even if the drought is over or not. To ensure long-term sustainability to the region, California should continue the use of water conservation technologies such as Falcon’s Waterfree Technologies’ waterless urinals and hybrid and the implementation of policies and programs that can adapt the state to the changing climate.

Lake Mead is one of the two major storage reservoirs on the Colorado River system and the largest water reservoir in the United States. Along with Lake Powell and the Colorado river system, the lake provides drinking water to nearly 40 million people in the western United States and produces millions of megawatt hours of energy. Formed by the Hoover Dam, the lake has reached a historic low point this year since it began filling in 1935.

Three of the major contributing factors for its decline are:

• the drought
• the high demand of water supplies
• and climate change.

Most people are aware that California has faced a severe drought over the last five years, however, the reality is that drought conditions have plagued the western region of the United States for the last 16 years causing a steady decline in reservoir levels over time. Increasing urbanization in the West coupled with the deficit of the available supplies is making this crisis worse. Additionally, climate change is causing an increase of temperature and a shrinkage of the water supply through evaporation. 

Federal officials say that if the level falls enough by 2017, supply cuts will be made to Arizona and Nevada. The Central Arizona Project will lose about 320,000 acre feet, which will threaten the livelihood of farmers dependent on the project. Nevada would face a cut of 13,000 acre feet, a relatively modest amount since the state has the smallest allocation from the river. California — the senior water rights holder — would get none. State officials are working out an interstate deal to keep the reservoir level higher, in order to avoid a voluntary reduction of almost 8% of its 4.4 million acre feet annual allocation from the river. An acre-foot equals about 326,000 gallons, enough water to serve one to two average households.

In an effort to ensure a long-term sustainability of the region, multiple strategies that address our needs are imperative to adapt to the changing climate. These include the use of water conservation technologies — such as Falcon’s high performance water conservation technologies — expanding the use of recycling water, better pricing, rebates  and the development of smart solutions that can address the needs of all species and habitats. 

[CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WATER CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGIES]

Water might be a simple inorganic compound, but all living organisms on Earth depend on it, including the human body, where it comprises 60% of the body’s fluids, cells, and tissues.  Around the world, water has been withdrawn from aquifers faster than nature can replace it. And as world leaders and global intelligence agencies have pointed out, if we continue our unsustainable practices, we would be heading towards a global water crisis.

Water conservation is the responsibility of everyone, including for-profit businesses. With operation costs rising, water savings can cut costs without compromising products or services. For example:

1. Water and sewer rates are steadily increasing, Los Angeles is looking at a 4.7% increase each year for the next 5 years. Saving water and waste-water now will  reduce these costs currently and protect you from future costs.
2. Water conservation will ensure that there is water available for future production and manufacturing of products.
3. To encourage water efficiency, many governments and water utilities provide rebates, grants and tax relief. (Did you know LADWP offers $500 in rebates per waterfree urinal? Learn more about it here)

 

Water Saving Checklist

General

• Increase awareness by educating employees about the importance of water saving. It will ensure that all staff members are monitoring water their own use.
• Potable water is not required for many industrial uses and can be replaced with recycled water.

 

Cooling and Heating

• Check and repair leaks to minimize water consumption. Leaks can account for more than 10,000 of gallons of year.
• Install a recirculating system or consider evaporative cooling.

 

Maintenance

• Use automatic shut-off valves for equipment that is not in operation.
• Instead of hosing, sweep! If hosing is necessary, get a high-pressure nozzle.

 

Food

• Wash full loads of dishes, and scrape instead of rinsing them.
• Install dishwashers with automatic valves.
• Recycle and reuse water.
• Provide water only when requested.

 

Landscape

• Use recycled water for irrigation.
• Install timers and moisture sensors.
• Use native plants, especially in dry areas.
• Check for leaks in the irrigation system.
• Use drip irrigation.
• During early morning or even hours, water the plants.

 

Restrooms

• Retrofit and replace older fixtures.
• Install sensor faucets.
• Install high-efficiency toilets and waterless urinals or hybrid. 

For additional information about our products, visit our website.

After a relatively wet winter, California, suspended the statewide 25 reductions in urban water use last week with a sharp change in policy. El Niño storms fell short in Southern California; however, it partly filled the reservoirs and snowpacks in the northern part of the state. The removal of regulations might give us a false sense of security, but the water crisis is far from over. In the western United States, nonrenewable groundwater has been pumped at unsustainable rates, emptying our hidden reservoirs.

Around the world, groundwater supplies half of our needs. These underground reservoirs are only visible when they flow from springs and wells. California’s five-year long drought depleted snow packs, rivers, and lakes. According to a report from Stanford University, the state relied on groundwater to meet 60 percent of the state’s water needs to compensate for the shrinking water supplies.

Some shallow aquifers recharge from surface water, but during the drought, the depth at which water is found drops below the surface, and water cannot easily recharge with rainfall and streamflow. In fact, some of these deeper aquifers contain water sealed up by geological changes millions of years ago. Once these “fossil” aquifers are gone, they are gone forever. And as they are depleted, potential environmental changes, including the sinking of the land, begin to scale up.

California’s well-drilling records, unlike other western states, are kept secret from the public, and there is no statewide policy limiting groundwater use. Property owners can consume as much water as they want from the underground they own. Even if Legislators regulate and limit groundwater use, the compliance plans wouldn’t be required until 2020 and the full restrictions wouldn’t come through until 2040.

It is a fact that Californians need to change their relationship with their declining water supplies, including managing and conserving groundwater reservoirs. Confidence might be restored with the new regulations, but there is still an imminent need to adapt to more arid times.

The implementation of policies and water efficient technologies— such as Falcon’s waterfree urinals and hybrid are crucial to support our sustainability efforts.

[CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WATER CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGIES]

Since the last major drought of the late 1980’s to the early 1990’s, most urban areas in California have invested in resources to boost water resilience and have adapted to cope with the dry weather. But in some rural areas, drinking water wells have gone dry, forcing environmental water managers to allocate fish, birds and other wildlife away from scarce water flows.

California has many options for meeting current and future demands. For example:

• the cost effective option for expansion of non-traditional sources —such as recycled wastewater and captured stormwater
• the use of water efficient technologies — waterfree urinals and the hybrid
• the sale or leasing of water, also known as water marketing
• increase the efficiency to transfer water to growing urban areas, and from lower-to higher revenue crops.

To improve supply reliability, in 2014 California enacted historic legislation to improve groundwater management, giving local agencies authority to implement sustainable practices and address contamination problems. Typically, groundwater supplies a third of all water; however, during dry years, this rate increases to compensate for the lack of rain. Without limits on pumping in normal and wet years, many basins use this resource unsustainably, ultimately preventing groundwater recovery.

An important indicator of overall ecosystem health is the populations of native fish. Because of costly water supply restrictions, wastewater and flood protection projects, their decline and protection have conflicted with other management goals. However, the state should create a more comprehensive and coordinated environmental approach to support California’s aquatic ecosystems and the life systems that depend on them.

The diversification of water supplies in some small communities has improved the ability to weather drought conditions, demonstrating that new plumbing codes, water conservation technologies — such as Falcon’s high performance water conservation technologies — rebates and better pricing incentives have all caused urban water efficiency to rise.

There is no doubt that California’s future is a dry one. As a result, Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order on May 9th, in an effort to ensure a drought resilient state for decades to come.  Traditional water infrastructure —dams, aqueducts and groundwater wells — still provides great benefits to cities and industrial agriculture, but their escalating limitations are evident, in the form of ecological devastation and higher costs to consumers. Our growing population needs to rethink and imagine solutions that can sustainably address the needs of both human and natural ecosystems together.