What rivers and reservoirs are telling us: Plan ahead
Great ideas — from using treated waste water for irrigation to designing buildings so they capture rain for watering the surrounding landscape — are generally ignored as cities and counties build their own buildings
The ways to solve water problems in the short term run the gamut from inconvenient to draconian, depending on how bad the problem is allowed to get. Start with restricting use voluntarily. If that's not sufficient, go to mandatory restrictions. Impose fines on those who don't fall in line and make them more and more painful as necessary to win compliance. The next step is rationing — it's extreme, but one communities out West are familiar with.
In the long run, of course, we can plan ahead to make sure our water needs are met. That requires a combination of making sure there's adequate supply and taking steps to rein in demand.
We're surrounded with reminders of why we need to plan long term, as communities take short-term measures to try to bring demand in line with diminished supply. Up in the Richmond area, low water levels in the James River have prompted water restrictions. In one county, residents can't use a sprinkler on an established lawn. James City County is looking at restricting boating and fishing at the Little Creek Reservoir, as it did last winter, because the water level has fallen so far. That's in part because the Waterworks is having to draw more from it, since the flow in the Chickahominy River — the area's main water source — is so low you'd have to go back to the World War II era to see it so bad. The Waller Mill reservoir is low, too.
Ask officials why, and they point to the weather, to longer and drier summers. If that pattern prevails, it'll have a significant impact on our water situation and ratchet up the importance of long-term solutions.
But they take time and money, lots of time and money. Newport News has already invested two decades and millions of dollars on preparing for the King William Reservoir, which will provide a secure long-term water source for the region — and we're nowhere near ready to turn the tap.
It's fair to say that the region hasn't been nearly as on the ball when it comes to managing the other side of the equation: consumption. Great ideas — from using treated waste water for irrigation to designing buildings so they capture rain for watering the surrounding landscape — are generally ignored as cities and counties build their own buildings, and decide what they'll require, or encourage, of private builders. James City displays the right spirit with a nice program of incentives to encourage residents to make choices that cut water use, from drought-tolerant plants to water-efficient dishwashers. That protects the aquifer and sends a message people need to hear more often about how to tamp down demand. But the county doesn't have much company, and a lot of potential for water savings is left unexplored in this region.
When it comes to the supply side, there aren't a lot of options. It's easy for opponents to take pot shots at the King William Reservoir, and their doing so is one reason it's been so long in coming, but there aren't many alternatives for meeting our long-term needs. Desalination doesn't seem to be feasible on the scale we need. Ground water is a source under pressure, and James City is worrying about whether the state will allow future withdrawals at the level its growth will demand. Those longer, hotter summers sure won't help.
The ultimate solution, if supply and demand don't line up, is refusing new connections to the water system — new homes and new businesses. That is not a healthy place for a community to be, but it's a place some communities across the nation are finding themselves as they see water levels fall in their rivers, lakes and aquifers.
No one's talking about that around here. But if we don't secure our long-term supply and rein in unnecessary consumption, we might be.
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