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Decentralization and relocalization of water supplies will become more important as cities and regions realize they have to make do with their own freshwater bodies and underground aquifers. One Environmental Protection Agency official says as much in this 2003 speech:

"Because our finite sources of freshwater are in greater demand, 21st century engineering will be more about managing demand than expanding supply, more micro than macro, more oriented toward a particular watershed than a multi-state region, more about soils and trees than steel and concrete."

So what will these water systems of the future look like? A discussion about the possibilities took place on Saturday at a Clean Water for North Carolina conference held at UNCG. Below, I summarize two presentations I heard that describe the next era in water provision and management.

Paul Schwartz, national policy coordinator of Clean Water Action, spoke about sustainable water systems as the new paradigm for the next 100 years.

These systems will use, treat, store and reuse water efficiently at a small scale and will blend designs into restorative water hydrologies. They will also feature hybrid infrastructure that blends traditional centralized and new decentralized approaches.

Traditional infrastructure relies on industrial model of specialization and economies of scale. It has worked well over the past several decades but is now the victim of diminishing returns. It is wasteful, environmentally disruptive and not sustainable as populations increase. It uses tremendous amounts of energy and chemicals and moves water from one basin to another, exacerbating water scarcity and drought.

Schwartz said the new paradigm will work with and mimic nature. Sustainable water systems will recycle everything; bank on diversity of approaches and match the diversity of communities; reward cooperation; create beauty and abundance; use only the energy it needs; and rebuild from disturbances.

These new systems will also feature:
* On site and neighborhood treatment and reuse, energy recovery;
* Green infrastructure such as rainwater harvesting and green space;
* Smart growth, interconnecting nature with the built environment;
* Green cities with natural cycles of infiltration and evaporation;
* Watershed restoration; and
* Climate moderation, rehydrating soils and vegetation

Schwartz said the public needs to better partner with government agencies and the business sector to overcome institutional inertia.

"We need to move in solidarity in opposing the capturing of the commons and figure out what the future will look like," he said.

Teagan Ward, a masters student at Duke University, spoke on water efficiency, another component of future water systems. Ward said ongoing drought and rising population dictate that North Carolina better manage its water use through:
* conservation-oriented rates;
* retrofits and rebates for homeowners and businesses;
* irrigation restrictions and separate meters;
* xeriscaping and nature gardens;
* water audits and leak detection;
* education and marketing;
* water reuse and on site stormwater capture (i.e. rain cisterns)

But a legion of barriers exist to promoting water efficiency, Ward said, including:
* inadequate funding for conservation and efficiency projects;
* fear among municipalities of downgraded bond ratings needed for loans;
* fear of revenue losses from reduced sales;
* high up front costs for efficient appliances and insufficient rebate programs;
* lack of incentive among developers to install efficient water use infrastructure (i.e. appliances);
* hassles of dealing with multiple contractors and inspectors;
* aging water infrastructure;
* bias toward big supply expansion projects (i.e. Randleman Dam, Yadkin River; Durham-Cary interconnection at Jordan Lake);
* lack of policy and law regarding droughts (except the recent House Bill 2499);
* outdated building and plumbing codes;
* lack of coordination between local governments within river basin;
* lack of minimum conservation standard;
* inadequate monitoring, reporting and enforcement and insufficient reporting of water use (particularly with private well users); and
* the historical bias toward promoting cheap wages, labor and production costs to draw industries that consume a lot of water (i.e. textile mills).

"We still have this notion that our water resources are abundant," Ward said. "We are charging artificially low prices for our water, but we can't bump up prices overnight."

Ward said North Carolinians continue to have these false perceptions that water should be free, that water supply is increasing and that people's health is at risk if they adopt more sustainable water use practices, such as reusing greywater. Folks also worry about raising rates on low income households, even though they typically use less water than average. Ward suggests addressing the poor's true problem: leaky pipes that tend to jack up their water bills.

On top of that are the conflicts of interest -- municipal contracts with engineering firms, and utilities trying to sell as many gallons as possible to pay off public debt.

So what to do? Ward is researching the concept of a water conservation utility -- separate from the primary water utilities -- whose main goal is to promote and implement water efficiency. Functions would include education and marketing, generating funding for projects, retrofits and rebates, water audits by independent contractors, policy advocacy and so on.

What do you think? I plan to examine Triad water issues as they relate to sustainability in the future and would appreciate your feedback and suggestions.