1 / 55

Water Sustainability

Water Sustainability. Sidney Innerebner, PhD, PE, CWP. Sustainability Components. Energy Food Water All intertwined Infrastructure development and maintenance Education. H 2 O Embedded in Daily Life. Source: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/.

ata
Download Presentation

Water Sustainability

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Water Sustainability Sidney Innerebner, PhD, PE, CWP

  2. Sustainability Components • Energy • Food • Water • All intertwined • Infrastructure development and maintenance • Education

  3. H2O Embedded in Daily Life Source: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/ *Source: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy04osti/33905.pdf

  4. Perspective • How many kilowatt hours do you use every day? • The average household in America consumes about 14,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. • All from Coal = 2100 gal/yr or 5.8 gpd • All from Oil = 14,140 gal/yr or 38.7 gpd

  5. H2O Embedded in Daily Life Source: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/

  6. Perspective • In 2000, total meat consumption (red meat, poultry, and fish) reached 195 pounds (boneless, trimmed-weight equivalent) per person, 57 pounds above average annual consumption in the 1950s • You can’t eat everything on the hoof!

  7. United States Water Use in 2005 – 410 Bgal/day

  8. World wide, agriculture consumes 70% of fresh water.

  9. Public Water Supply • Winter water use about 100 gpd • Summer water use increases to 150 gpcd • Colorado water use is lower • Conservation efforts • Low water use fixtures • Newer construction • System Losses account for 5-10%

  10. Aquifer Depletion is a Serious Problem for Agriculture • The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.4 million acres (174,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. • USGS began monitoring water levels in more than 7,000 wells in 1998 • Ground-water withdrawals from the High Plains aquifer for irrigation increased from 4 to 19 million acre-feet from 1949 to 1974. • Ground-water withdrawals for irrigation in 1980, 1985, 1990, and 1995 were from 4 to 18 percent less than withdrawals for irrigation in 1974. http://geology.com/usgs/high-plains-aquifer.shtml

  11. The aquifer is the largest in the United States and sees a depletion rate of some 12 billion cubic meters a year, a quantity equivalent to 18 times the annual flow of the Colorado River.

  12. Surface Water Supplies are also Stressed • Lake Mead is running an annual deficit of approximately 2.7 million acre feet this year. • There are 8.2 million acre feet coming in and 10.9 million acre feet going out. • from 1939 to 2003 Lake Mead averaged 1173 foot elevation, the high water or maximum point for Lake Mead is 1229. • In 2010, Lake Mead stood at about 1092 • Down 75 feet since 2002 • Back up to 1132 in 2012

  13. Consequences! • At the 1088 level, lose water supply to Boulder City and 40% of Las Vegas’s supply • At the 1050 level, Hoover Dam stops generating power • At the 1000 level, Las Vegas loses 100% of its water supply • Today Lake Mead stands at about 1132 ft Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5429902/is_las_vegas_running_out_of_water_southern_pg2.html?cat=54

  14. How worried is Las Vegas? About $800 million worth of worried.

  15. Denver averages 15.4 inches of rain/snow a year. • Only got 7.5 inches in 2002

  16. Percentage change in population 2000-2010 (Decennial Census). Growth in blue, decline in red.

  17. People want to live where the weather is nice.

  18. A Global Problem

  19. 2.8 billion people—or 44% of the world's population—live in areas of high water stress, according to a March report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) Source: http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/may2008/pi20080520_622344.htm

  20. Two Components: Technical and Political • Conservation • Low water use fixtures • Low water crops • Less meat production • Develop new sources: desalinate • Reuse • COST! • Setting Rates • Public Resistance • Green Lawns • I like my steak! • The “Ick” Factor • Regulation • Title 22 • Regulation 84 • Western Water Law and Water Rights

  21. Social Hour

  22. Desalination • About 15,000 plants world wide • World’s largest is Jebel Ari in the United Arab Emerites: 300 million m3 per year (165 mgd) • Largest in U.S. is Tampa Bay, FL: 34.7 million m3 per year (19.2 mgd) • Traditionally done by Vacuum Distillation • Other technologies includes ion exchange, membranes, and solar

  23. Desalination Costs • Israel producing at $0.53/m3 in 2005 • Singapore producing at $0.49/m3 in 2006 • On average, tap water costs are slightly more than $2 per 1000 gallons($0.39/m3) • 1 m3 = 264 gallons http://www.historyofwaterfilters.com/price-comparison.html

  24. More Perspective • Desalinating ,000 US gallons (3,800 l; 830 imp gal) of water can cost as much as $3 • The same amount of bottled water costs $7,945 • Bottled water not regulated as tightly.

  25. Biggest Technical Issue • Desalination doesn’t work well for poorer countries or at elevation • Land locked? What to do with the brine?

  26. Reuse of Treated Effluent • Ick factor • Must meet reuse regulations • Water rights issues

  27. BREAK TIME

  28. Colorado Regulation 84 • Three categories or classes of water.

  29. Interesting Colorado Projects • Reuter-Hess Reservoir • Erie parallel non-pot planned • Brighton to Aurora reuse pipeline • Centennial and aquifer storage and recharge

  30. Water Rights in Colorado • Doctrine of Prior Appropriation • First in Time, First in Right • Senior versus Junior Appropriations • Domestic>Agriculture>Industry • Types of Water Rights • Domestic versus Agricultural • Single Use versus Use to Extinction • Direct Flow versus Storage • What is a “share”? http://www.westernwaterlaw.com/articles/SummaryCoWaterLaw_2.pdf

  31. Insert DNAPLs

  32. Fracking

  33. What is “Fracking”? • “Fracing” or “Fracking” is short for Hydraulic Fracturing. • Fracing was first used in the United States in 1947; “shooting” wells date back to 1860s. • Fracing is basically pumping fluids at high pressures into producing formations to create fissures to allow more natural gas to escape. • Typically fracing takes place in horizontal wells, which extend hundreds or a few thousand feet horizontally at thousands of feet of depth. Source: Freeing Up Energy, Hydraulic Fracturing: Unlocking America’s Natural Gas Resources, API, July 19, 2010. (API, Freeing Up Energy).

  34. Fracing Lifecycle Source: Draft Plan to Study the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources, EPA/600/D-11/001, February 2011 (EPA Frac Study Plan)

  35. Shale Natural Gas Reserves and Production • U.S. Proven Reserves & Production: • Reserves • 2007: 23,304 (Billion Cubic Feet) • 2008: 34,428 • 2009: 60,644 • Production • 2007: 1,293 (Billion Cubic Feet) • 2008: 2,116 • 2009: 3,110 Sources: EIA, http://www.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/ng_prod_shalegas_s1_a.htm and EIA, http://www.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/ng_enr_shalegas_dcu_NUS_a.htm.

  36. U.S. Shale Plays Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), http://www.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/about_shale_gas.cfm.

  37. Shale Natural Gas Reserves Source: EIA, http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/data_publications/crude_oil_natural_gas_reserves/cr.html.

  38. Federal Regulation • Fracing, except for fracing with diesel fuel, was excluded from Safe Drinking Water Act definition of “underground injection” by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. (42 U.S.C. 300h(d)(1)(B)(ii)). • Bills introduced March 15, 2011 to remove exemption (HR 1084). • Similar bills introduced in Senate (S 587) and in past (2009 – HR 2766). • April 12, 2011: EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe testified before Congress that using diesel in fracing requires an SDWA permit or is a violation.

  39. Source: American Petroleum Institute

  40. Safe Drinking Water MCLs

  41. Other Recent Studies • April 2011: • Congressional report prepared by Waxman, Markey, and DeGette outlining chemicals used in fracing, including benzene, lead, and methanol. • Alleged use of 29 chemicals that are known or possible carcinogens. • Prepublication of report by Cornell Professors that CO2 emissions from shale fracing are greater than coal. Sources: U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Chemical Used in Hydraulic Fracturing (April 2011) and Robert Howard, et al, Methane and the Greenhouse-Gas Footprint of Natural Gas from Shale Formations (2011).

  42. Average Water Demands of Well Fracing • Barnett • Water Use (gallons/well): 2,300,000 • Haynesville • Water Use: 2,700,000 • Marcellus (PA) • Water Use: 3,800,000 Source: EPA Frac Study Plan

  43. Prevalence of Fracing Wells • US: 35,000 wells fractured per year. • US: Estimated annual water use of 70 to 140 billion gallons. • Equivalent water use of 40-80 cities with population of 50,000 or 1 to 2 cities of 2.5 million. Sources: EPA Frac Study Plan

  44. Prevalence of Fracing Wells • Barnett Shale: Estimated annual water use of 2.6 to 5.3 billion gallons, estimated to peak at 9.5 billion gallons in 2010 or 1.7 % of all freshwater demand in Barnett Shale area. Sources: EPA Frac Study Plan

  45. Well Construction

More Related