Water Footprints Are Getting Bigger
Water scarcity world wide is well known, and is a growing problem. But how about here? Water wars in the western United States have been common for many decades. Over that period of time, the allocation of scarce water resources has developed through court cases and legislative mandates to create a complex and expensive allocation scheme.
Until recently, however, states located east of Nebraska seemed to have plenty of water for all necessary uses. That may be changing. New products and new methods created over the past 20 years, combined with hotter weather, are causing a concern in many states. Of the 2000 gallons of water that we use per person per day in the U. S., 95% of that is found in the water costs to create energy, manufacture products and grow, harvest and market our food. For example, to put one cup of coffee on the table, growing the coffee bean crop, cleaning the beans, manufacturing and transpoting the coffee and marketing the product, results in the use of 37 gallons of water -- its water footprint. Recognizing that differing methods of calculation can result in differing results, consider, the following:
• A single serving of almonds requires 12 gallons of water to produce;
• A single serving of watermelon requires 100 gallons;
• A single egg requires 120 gallons;
• A loaf of bread requires 150 gallons;
• One car requires 39,000 gallons;
• One latte requires 53 gallons;
•A 20 pound bag of dog food requires 4,000 gallons;
• One dollar’s worth of grain requires 14,000 gallons;
• One dollar’s worth of cotton requires 13,000 gallons;
• One dollar’s worth of electricity requires 450 gallons;
• One dollar’s worth of paint requires 140 gallons;
• One pound of beef requires 1,799 gallons;
• One pound of sheep requires 731 gallons;
• One pound of pork requires 576 gallons;
• One pound of chicken requires 468 gallons;
• One gallon of milk requires 880 gallons;
• One gallon of wine requires 1,008 gallons;
• One gallon of beer requires 689 gallons;
• One gallon of coffee requires 880 gallons;
• One pound of corn requires 108 gallons;
• One kilowatt hour of natural gas consumes .1 gallons;
• One kilowatt hour of coal consumes .15 gallons;
• One kilowatt hour of oil consumes 1.01 gallons;
• One kilowatt hour of solar power consumes .26 gallons;
• One kilowatt hour of hydropower consumes 20.92 gallons;
• One kilowatt hour of biomass energy consumes 66.57 gallons;
• One t-shirt requires 400 gallons;
• 500 sheets of paper requires 1,321 gallons;
• One pound of chocolate requires 3,170 gallons;
• One pair of jeans requires 1,800 gallons; and finally
• One liter of bottled water requires 3 liters.
Is there really a reason for concern about water availability east of the Missouri
River? I would note that between 1995 and 2004, of all of the wells in Iowa, 43% showed decreases in water levels with only 7% showing increases. The remaining 50% showed no change. In Wisconsin, there have been pockets of local water shortages with litigation between communities over how much water is available. Due to their degraded condition, President Obama has proposed $475 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. In 2004, Ohio had its own water "war zone." North and South Carolina have fought over the Catawba River. The Georgia legislature is looking into moving its northerrn border 1.5 miles into Tennessee to take in part of the Tennessee River, while the city of Orme, Tennessee has had periods when water was available for only three hours each day. And Atlanta has been threatened with simply running out of municipal water.
My point to this is that if there are water concerns in Iowa, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Ohio, you can be sure that many states are going to be looking at something that had been previously taken for granted – water availability. If there is even the perception that the availability of water is at risk (and I think there is), you can expect to see legislative and/or regulatory responses. And with those legal changes will come changes in the commercial and industrial make-up of the states. It's something worth watching.
