Drought and Water Shortages

Abstract

This year has been particularly dry in many areas, and regional droughts are forcing communities to consider how they will respond to current or potential water shortages. To be clear, a drought does not mean that a water shortage is imminent, a fact I learned in 2014 when I worked on an AWWA survey that collected water shortage tracking and response information from almost 500 utilities across North America. During the development of the survey language, the subject matter experts made sure a water shortage was clearly defined as when a water supply is reduced to a level that cannot support existing demands. Natural forces like a drought, system component failure or interruption, or regulatory actions may cause water shortages lasting from a month to several years. Meanwhile, a drought can be defined in several ways, the simplest being as a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period, usually a season or more. AWWA conducted the 2014 survey after significant droughts in the southwestern United States resulted in drastic restrictions—some communities even turned to emergency potable reuse to make up their water deficits. While drought was all too common, water shortages were rare—but that seemed to be changing. The next year, Cape Town, South Africa, experienced a multiyear drought, leading to the projection of a “Day Zero,” a date when water professionals estimated they would run out of water. Many utilities that regularly face drought have demand-reduction strategies in place, and water suppliers have playbooks to follow when declaring a water shortage emergency. Even so, things feel much more precarious this year, mainly because of changing climate. Exceptional droughts are becoming commonplace, and the US Bureau of Reclamation even recently declared the first-ever water shortage on the Colorado River. Further cutbacks are expected without significant precipitation in the area. As described in AWWA's Manual M60, Drought Preparedness and Response, providing a reliable supply of water requires being prepared for water shortages of varying degree and duration. There are complex relationships among water resources, customer demands, political interests, and policies/regulations that help mitigate problems during times of shortage. Effectively addressing water shortages requires collaboration and innovation from all stakeholders, including municipal water systems, ranchers/farmers, power providers, and environmentalists. As we confront these challenges, AWWA will continue to serve as a bridge organization, uniting the worlds of science and research, policy, and best practice. This month's Journal AWWA includes articles on system consolidation, data management, phytoplankton in Detroit, and distribution system modeling. If you are interested in submitting an article, please contact me at journaleditor@awwa.org.