Cities should tap reused water as dry spells become more prevalent

Monica Kotwani Channel NewsAsia 22 Mar 14;

CALIFORNIA: Cities should tap reused water as droughts and dry spells become more prevalent, and local water agencies should better engage the public to create an awareness of conservation measures.

These were some ideas shared by academics and experts at a water reuse conference in California on Wednesday.

The panel included Singapore's national water agency PUB.

It shared how NEWater had helped Singapore get through a recent dry spell.

In Northern California's Yolo County, farmers are starting their planting season amid a grim backdrop.

California has entered its third year of drought, and recent storms were not enough to break the spell.

The farmers here depend on surface water to irrigate crops like tomatoes, beans, alfalfa and wheat, most of which are water-intensive.

At this time of the year, canals are usually starting to be filled with water that comes from two lakes about 60 kilometres away.

The local water distribution department facilitates the supply of lake water to farmers.

But this year, the canal is bone dry, and Tony Turkovich's farm of 24 square kilometres (6,000 acres) will be relying entirely on the more costly option of pumped groundwater.

Mr Turkovich, partner of Turkovich and Button Farm, said: "We have also looked at the crops we grow and we have tried to move towards crops that use a little bit less water... Not every piece that we farm has well water available so we will have a couple of fields that we will not grow anything on. If we grow something (on these fields), it may have less yield because it won't have adequate water."

While the drought in Yolo County is not crippling at the moment, experts said the drier regions are seeing groundwater levels depleting rapidly due to mismanagement.

Harry Seah, chief technology officer at PUB, said recycling water has to be the way forward.

He elaborated: "Against this backdrop of water scarcity and climate change, water reuse is increasingly becoming a viable and sustainable option. Currently, only a small percentage of the world's used water is recycled. Water reuse has the potential to make a far greater impact. What's encouraging is we are starting to see more cities adopting water reuse as a viable water solution."

And knowing how water gets to one's tap is also key.

Professor Jay Famiglietti, director of Department of Earth System Science at University of California, Irvine, said: "If people understood where that original source was and how that source is changing, then they would be much more willing to embrace the need for conservation in the future. They need to know that their water is not coming from underneath their house or from a pipe".

Prof Famiglietti added cities and local water agencies can play a bigger role in educating residents on water conservation.

- CNA/gn