nrgideas’s posterous

In 2006, California adopted the nation's first comprehensive law to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists have found to be heating the planet. Last year, state officials laid out a detailed plan of how they plan to slash the state's emissions to 1990 levels in the next 11 years. And they began to adopt regulations, such as the nation's first rule to mandate low-carbon fuel.

But California can't control whether Congress will adopt an effective national climate law and it has no control over whether U.S. action could spur China, India and other fast-growing nations to commit to reducing their carbon footprint at the December negotiations in Copenhagen to draft a climate treaty.

So the nation's most populous state has already begun preparing for the worst: heat-waves, a rising sea level, flooding, wildlife die offs and other expected consequences from what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of the world's top scientists, predict will be a dramatic temperature increase by the end of this century.

Its called adaptation.

A new comprehensive plan from California's Natural Resources Agency offers strategies to deal with threats in seven sectors from fire-fighting to public health and water conservation. The public is invited to submit comments to the draft over the next 45 days (email address is adaptation@resources.ca.gov.)  Public hearings will be held in Sacramento on August 13, and in Los Angeles on a later date.

The draft is "a good step in the right direction," said Gina Solomon of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group. "It highlights the importance of local adaptation planning, protecting vulnerable communities and the importance of public education."

But she cautioned: "These are all just words on paper without funding to carry them out. The federal government should help states to prepare for climate change. Spending some money now will save billions later, and these strategies save lives."

David Festa of the Washington-based Environmental Defense Fund, voiced the hope that the report would "add urgency to our state's desperate water supply situation," noting that the Legislature will consider five new water-related bills when it reconvenes on August 17.

ATLANTA (AP) - With drought conditions intensifying across the Southeast, efforts to conserve water are popping up everywhere - even at the aquarium.

In the name of conservation, the Georgia Aquarium, home of the world's largest fish tank, has emptied some of its watery displays. The downtown Atlanta attraction has drained a lake in an atrium, turned off a waterfall and nearly emptied a moat at an exhibit, refilling it with sand.

The aquarium isn't alone: A water salute to retiring pilots at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport also has been put on hold.

The efforts are some of the most unusual as the state contends with one of the worst droughts in its history. Georgia already has banned virtually all outdoor water use and ordered public water utilities to cut back water use by 10 percent.

The aquarium also is installing waterless urinals and low-flow faucets, banning pressure-washing of its building and requiring all employees and volunteers to take a water-conservation course.

None of the drained exhibits contained fish, aquarium spokeswoman Meghann Gibbons said. Exhibits with fish continue to operate normally, she said.

"We've tried to do anything we can internally," said Gibbons. She estimated that changes at the aquarium will save more than 3 million gallons a year.

Along with saving water, the measures have had a financial bonus: Pennies that visitors toss into a pool once brimming with water are now easily accessible. "And they've been turned in to the bank," Gibbons quipped.

On a smaller plumbing scale, operators of a northeast Georgia dental clinic installed two portable toilets in the parking lot last week to cut down water usage by their staff members.

"People are flushing the toilets pretty regular when you have 30 employees and six or seven doctors," said Bob Fogg, who operates Athens Family Dental Center with his wife and sister-in-law.

The dentists' patients still get to use the center's regular toilets.

The airport has banned its "washdown" salute given to retiring commercial airline pilots on their final flight to the airport. For decades, two Atlanta Fire Department trucks would spray an arch of water to salute the pilot.

However, that display used about 500 gallons of water.

"We're trying to mainly use water for essential firefighting operations," said Capt. Bill May, a fire department spokesman. "Maybe if we can get the water supplies back up, we can revisit the process."

The drought has worsened with sweltering temperatures and a drier-than-normal hurricane season. Now drought in almost one-third of the Southeast has been deemed "exceptional" - the most severe drought category.

West Georgia's Paulding County has taken some of the most aggressive steps so far, restricting watering for landscapers and car washes that don't recycle and imposing fines on first offenses for watering violations. The county has also ordered homes and business to cut water use by 10 percent or face stiffer fees.

"I feel like we're staring ugly in the face," said Jerry Shearin, Paulding County's commission chairman. "It's a very critical situation. And we're going to prove to the world we're doing everything we can to conserve."

The City of Corpus Christi Water Department is pleased to report that students, teachers and students' parents at Jones, Oak Park, Prescott, Sanders and Travis Elementary schools have made a significant contribution to the community through their participation in the City's free Learning to be WaterWise educational program. In fact, officials say that during the 2008-2009 school year, the program resulted in an estimated savings of 5,186,537 gallons of water.

Learning to be WaterWise is designed to help educate participants about the importance of water and energy efficiency. As part of the effort, teachers and students in the selected schools received classroom booklets and water saving activity kits containing high efficiency plumbing devices. With the help of their parents, the students installed the items in their homes and conducted a home survey that measured the water, energy and money that was saved as a result of the materials. According to Belinda Ramirez, who is a teacher at Prescott Elementary, the program helped foster "enthusiasm and new awareness for water conservation" among the students who participated in the activities.

The WaterWise program was funded through the City of Corpus Christi Water Department's Public Education and Communications Activity. For more information, please visit www.corpuschristiwater.com.

Stage II water restrictions aren't fun, but they are a necessary tool for drought management.

And if the restrictions have put the region's crucial water supply issue on your radar screen, it is a good time to consider long-term conservation measures.

The San Antonio Water System is a national leader in conservation measures, and the utility's long-term programs, including some that feature rebates, remain under way during this drought-management period.

“Our customers are participating in record numbers in conservation management,” said Karen Guz, SAWS conservation director.

The conservation programs include a landscape rebate of as much as $525 for using new low-water plants and as many as two free water-efficient toilets if you have water-wasting toilets and your house was built prior to 1992.

Others include a $100 rebate for purchasing a water- and energy-efficient washing machine and a $150 rebate for a system that provides hot water on demand and avoids wasting water while waiting for it to get hot.

Full details on eligibility requirements and other specifics of these programs are available online at www.saws.org, or you can call 704-SAVE.

Additionally, Guz said SAWS officials are preparing some drought-recovery programs for the fall that will be unveiled later this month. Those programs likely will include a rebate and free mulch delivery for residents who are reducing the amount of grass in their lawns.

Check the SAWS Web site for details toward the end of the month.

The utility's conservation programs are a winning proposition for ratepayers. Bills will decrease along with the amount of water being used, and reduced pressure on officials to find new water supplies will also help control water costs.

photo: J. Novak

Many western states, like California, recently have had to contend with some severe water issues, so how has Phoenix, which is located smack in the middle of the desert, managed continually to serve the water needs of nearly 3.5 million people? The answer is a lesson in how a comprehensive water strategy can effectively serve an area not blessed with an overabundance of water, and how these ideas can be utilized throughout the country.

Fresh water seemingly should be a point of contention in a city like Phoenix, but some how this city in the midst of a vast desert still manages to serve its residents' water needs, according to a story on Mother Nature Network.

Water Conservation Efforts Make a Difference in Phoenix
Conservation ideas set forth by the city’s Water Resource Plan reduced the city’s water use by 20 percent. The plan, which emphasizes everything from xeriscaping to doing laundry at night and flushing the toilet only when necessary, proves that these techniques truly can make a difference. According to the mayor, that’s why the city is so far ahead of the game.

Mayor Phil Gordon says that Phoenix uses less water today than they did a decade ago, and less per capita than two decades ago, which was well before the city's recent population explosion. First, the city had to find a reliable source of water and get that water to the city's residents. A network of canals in and around Phoenix send precious untreated water from the Salt River Dam, where turbines generate electricity for much of Arizona, to various water treatment facilities around the city. "Using nothing more than gravity, city controllers can open up smaller networks of canals on a regularly scheduled basis for landscaping use," according to the city of Phoenix Water Resource Plan.

The city is also planning for future shortages by banking on aquifers. These basins can hold a great lake's worth of water which can be banked over the years whenever Arizona has excess. The city's Department of Water Resources focuses on reuse and conservation to maximize the amount banked each year. The stored water, which amounts to more than a year's supply for emergency use, is scrubbed clean by minerals, according to Jack Lavelle of the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

With Drought a concern across much of the country, it's smart to practice water conservation. Here's how:

Install a drip irrigation system -- a network of plastic pipes to carry a low flow of water to plants -- around trees, shrubs, flowers and veggie gardens. Drip irrigation systems can use up to 50% less water than sprinklers, and they deliver water more slowly and directly to plant roots.

Design the landscape carefully. Group together plants with the same needs. Put plants that require the most water closest to the house; those that need less water should be on the edge of your property. Also, be sure to select plants that are native and drought resistant.

Use a rain gauge to track how much rain your property gets.

Collect rainwater. It's free and quite easy to do. Rain barrels efficiently collect rain from your home's downspouts.

Water early in the morning or late at night and when the winds are calm to minimize evaporation.

Mulch to retain water and reduce weeds.

Sometimes the best way to get people fired up about a cause—be it environmental, political, or anything else—is to get them angry. But instead of trying to piss citizens off, a Brazilian environmental group is trying to get the country’s residents to, well, urinate in the shower.

The group says that if a single household flushed the toilet just one fewer times a day, it would save a whopping 1,157 gallons of water each year. The organization has even come out with a video touting the idea. Urine is sterile, so peeing in the shower is harmless (except if someone has a disease that can be transmitted through their pee, such as hepatitis).

The AP reports:

The spot features cartoon drawings of people from all walks of life - a trapeze artist, a basketball player, even an alien - urinating in the shower.

Narrated by children’s voices, the ad ends with: “Pee in the shower! Save the Atlantic rainforest!”

Watch it here:

On the way into Sumner via Traffic Avenue, just next to the city sign, sits a small sandwich board with big block letters: “Please Conserve Water.”

It’s just one of the ways city employees are urging residents to cut back on their water use during August, which is typically the year’s driest month.

“We’re looking ahead and we’re not seeing much rain in the forecast,” Sumner Communications Director Carmen Palmer said. “If we’re not careful now, it could be a problem.”

During the period of hot weather — the high temperatures have been more than 20 degrees warmer than average in the past several weeks — the city is having difficulties maintaining much-needed water in city reservoirs. The situation isn’t dire, Palmer said, and there are still about 2.3 million gallons of water in just one of the reservoirs. Still, with limited rainfall in July and similar predictions for August, the resevoirs aren’t filling back up at night like they do in winter. It could be a cause for concern, especially if there is a fire in the area that would need much of the city’s water to extinguish.

“Sumner has lots of water (for now), but if we’re in this for the long term, we may not,” she said. “We’re asking people to develop slightly more conservative habits.”

What the city wants to stress, Palmer said, is that conservation is totally voluntary for residents. To set good examples, city employees themselves have been choosing to use water wisely, both on the job and in their personal lives.

Maintenance workers are cutting back on watering at city parks and the Sumner City Cemetery.

“Those are (the city’s) big uses of water,” Palmer said.

She has tried to cut back on water use at home, too.

“I was washing lettuce for dinner and instead of just draining out the sinkful of water, I used it to water my plants with a cup,” Palmer said. “We’re really not asking citizens to do anything we’re not doing.”

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Ways to Not Waste Water Some water-conservation tips from the city of Sumner: Water gardens every other day. A simple trick that Sumner Communications Director Carmen Palmer suggests: Houses with even-number addresses water on even-number days and those with odd-number addresses water on odd-numbered days.

Water gardens in the early morning or late at night — the cooler air means less of the water evaporates into the air and more gets right to the plants.

Avoid non-critical uses of water, like car washing. “We’re asking people to hold off washing things, like cars, that aren’t totally necessary,” Palmer said.

Put pitchers of water in the fridge for cold drinking water, instead of letting the faucet run until cooler water appears.

Find ways to double the uses of water, like watering plants with sinkwater after rising vegetables.

Shorten shower times. Shorter showers use less water than baths.

Fix any pipe leaks immediately. If it’s necessary to shut off water at the meter, call the city at 253-299-5740 instead of trying to do it yourself, which often causes breakage and “gushes.”

More water conservation tips can be found online at www.wateruseitwisely.com and www.awwa.org.

Urban water use in San Diego County has decreased by 9 percent during the past six months, according to a recent report by the San Diego County Water Authority.

SDCWA attributes the drop to cooler weather during that period and conservation by residents and businesses.

Water use between January 2009 and June 2009 was down 9 percent when compared to the same six-month period in 2008.

Preliminary data also showed accelerated conservation in June. During that month, consumption fell by 24 percent compared with the previous year. SDCWA contributes the drop to unseasonably cool weather and aggressive public education campaigns encouraging conservation.

“The community is pulling together and making a big difference in saving water, but our true tests still lie ahead,” said Claude “Bud” Lewis, chair of the water authority board. “For example, we need to continue to save as much water as we can through the summer months when water demand is highest.”

The decline is an encouraging sign to county water agencies, having occurred one month before SDCWA declared a Level 2 “Drought Alert,” imposing mandatory reductions in water consumption.

In March, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California cut water deliveries to the San Diego region by 13 percent. The cut was ordered in response to a supply shortage generated by regulatory restrictions on water deliveries from the Bay Delta region and prolonged drought conditions.

SDCWA’s drought restrictions have enabled its member agencies to restrict outdoor watering to three days per week.

SDCWA will continue to closely monitor water use and deliveries to its member agencies to keep the region on track to meet its conservation goal.

Lewis hopes conservation will become not just a short-term change, but a permanent way of life for area residents.

“We need to make saving water part of our lifestyle to help us cope with multi-year supply challenges posed by regulatory restrictions on water deliveries and the potential for lingering drought conditions,” Lewis said.

New guidelines for implementing water restrictions were approved by the Rockport City Council at its regular meeting July 28. The action amends the City Water Conservation Plan to mirror that of the City of Corpus Christi’s Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan which was updated in April.

Under previous plans, restrictions were ratcheted up as the combined water levels of the Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir System dropped below 50 percent, 40 percent, 30 percent, 20 percent, and 10 percent.

Under the new plan, increasingly harsher restrictions are implemented at the 50, 40 and 30 percent levels. The restrictions included in the 20 and 10 percent levels in the old plan are now included in the 30 percent level.

Restrictions

When the reservoir storage capacity goes below 50 percent, the City of Corpus Christi will issue public notice informing water users of voluntary conservation measures, and drought management measures which will be taken at 40 percent and 30 percent of capacity.

When  reservoir capacity goes below 40 percent, vegetation may not be watered between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., with certain exceptions.

When reservoir storage capacity goes below 30 percent, in addition to the restrictions at the 40 percent level, lawns may not be watered more often than every five days, with certain exceptions.

Other changes were cosmetic in nature.

City Manager Tom Blazek noted the city ultimately receives its water from Corpus Christi and must therefore abide by its rules, at a minimum. He said the reservoir system fell below the 30 percent level in 2001, and below 20 percent in 1995.