The Impending U.S. Water Shortage – Focus on the American Coasts

My son’s name lit up my phone as it buzzed the familiar text alert tone.  The message: “No water”

Confused, I quickly typed back: “What?”

Moments later, another buzz.  “No water on campus.  I’ll be fine.”

By that evening, he’d driven the two hours home.  Life without running, drinkable water wasn’t as easy as he’d anticipated.  Campus cafeterias were limited. Showers were discouraged. Bottled water was being shipped to dorms for those students too far from home to leave for the weekend. Classes were cancelled and most of the campus was closed. My son was one of the lucky ones who could get home -- where we have clean water to drink, cook with, and bathe in. 

That was Feb 4 of this year.  And my son isn’t enrolled at a foreign college located in a developing part of the world.  He attends The University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, N.C. where residents found themselves without drinkable water for 48 hours due to a broken water main and problems at a local water treatment plant.  And though this situation was short-lived and life was able to move forward relatively easily once the problem was fixed, for a few days a thriving American college town learned what life is like without access to clean water. 

Global water scarcity is a known problem with one in 9 people worldwide, or over 780 million people, unable to access clean water today.  And though many individuals living in developed parts of the world see water scarcity as conceptually and geographically distant, recent reports find that global water consumption is “40 percent above current sustainable water supplies.”  Meaning we, as a planet of people, are running out of water.  

Many experts see the United States as standing on the brink of its own water crisis.  In fact, forty out of fifty states have at least one region that is expected to face some kind of water shortage in the next ten years.  Whether this is drought-stricken California, tainted ground water supplies in Florida, or the depleting water sources in North Carolina, the fact that water is an endangered commodity for many American communities is compelling. 

And though we often think of arid, desert areas as the epicenters of water scarcity, many of the threatened areas in the U.S. are coastal communities facing issues of salt-water encroachment, drought, unreliable water sources, and population growth.  

SALT WATER ENCROACHMENT

In coastal areas of states such as North Carolina and Florida, seawater from the Atlantic Ocean is encroaching upon existing fresh water sources making drinking water too salty for human consumption and agricultural needs.  This intrusion impacts large cities like Miami as well as smaller communities, such as towns in the Florida Keys that have been facing impending water issues for years. 

DROUGHT.  Widespread drought has strained water resources in South Carolina, California, Washington, and Oregon.  California’s drought conditions have put the state in the news for decades as increasing populations and depleting water sources have forced local leaders and residents to search for alternative water sources.  States in the northeast have been impacted by lack of rainfall as well.  In 2016, Greenwich, Connecticut reservoirs were reported as being “lower than [residents had] ever seen them” and drought warnings were issued in New Jersey for the first time in fifteen years.   Additionally, Massachusetts faced state-wide water shortage concerns, and drought conditions in Hawaii  exacerbated already existing water scarcity issues. Coupled with environmental concerns from the impact of relying on water bottles, residents of the island state are searching for more sustainable, eco-friendly water solutions. [photo c/o latimes.com]

UNRELIABLE, DECAYING WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS 

In addition to encroachment and drought concerns, many coastal communities in the U.S. depend on water systems that are unreliable and difficult to maintain.  For example, in 2016 the town of Wrangell, Alaska was forced to declare a state of emergency when the water filtration system they depend on every day was declared defective. Additionally, the southern Maine town of York faced a water scarcity situation requiring them to pipe in water from neighboring towns.  Residents of Stebbins, Alaska, consistently rely on trucking in water from a local lake as they face an ongoing “water crisis” with no end in sight.  All of these situations were due to aging or defective water systems needing to be updated or replaced.  The recent crisis in Flint Michigan demonstrates the massive problems that can emerge from relying on substandard infrastructure.

DEPLETING WATER SOURCES DUE TO POPULATION GROWTH 

Growing populations along coastal areas intensify water demands.  Urban development and water use policies have aggravated water scarcity in California and neighboring states that share water sources.  In fact, the entire Western United States’ ground water sources are being depleted as water is supplied to millions of citizens.  Couple the decline of available water with the dependence on “obsolete water systems, some of which were built in the 1800s” and the question becomes:  Once our water sources are emptied, what will we use?

THE NEED FOR ECO-FRIENDLY SOLUTIONS 

Engineers and scientists are continually exploring solutions for these growing water concerns.  Alternative water sources, such as bottled water, are expensive and a threat to the environment. Sustainable, environmentally-friendly options are highly valuable to communities looking to reduce waste and reliance on fossil fuels.  Desalination is of particular interest as it actually expands the water source by using seawater to create drinking water. Traditional desalination plants are expensive to build and maintain, and require massive amounts of electricity and/or fossil fuels to operate.  One example of a project that combines clean energy with desalination is SAROS [Swell Actuated Reverse Osmosis System].  SAROS uses the power of ocean waves to run a small-scale reverse-osmosis desalination unit able to provide drinkable water to coastal communities.  SAROS uses only wave energy eliminating the need for electricity or fossil fuels, and leaving virtually no carbon footprint.

It will take innovative, sustainable advances like SAROS to create viable water sourcing options as the U.S. population continues to increase, existing water sources empty, and aged water systems wear out.  And hopefully we find and implement viable solutions soon so that we never have to experience a long-term scenario similar to the residents of Chapel Hill and the students of UNC. [photo c/o sarosdesalination.com]

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Taxonomy

• Water
• Public Health
• Technology
• Environment
• Desalination
• Water Supply
• Infrastructure