"90 by 20", A New Benchmark in Residential Water Consumption

Photo courtesy of 90 by 20

As drought has worsened during the last decade, communities around the Colorado River basin who rely on the Colorado River for their water are urged to do their part in water conservation. The 90 by 20 campaign has been launched by a group of advocacy organizations to direct urban communities’ water usage in better, smarter ways.This campaign is asking communities from Colorado to Utah, Nevada and Arizona to take the “90 by 20” pledge and try to achieve the residential water usage rate of 90 gallons per capita per day (GPCD) by 2020. 

The Colorado River’s long term sustainability is threatened by climate change and an increasing water demand. According to the US Bureau of Reclamation, the temperature rise in the 21^st century could adversely affect the Colorado River’s flow by 9 percent decrease over the next 50 years. The river, which stretched from the Rocky Mountains to the Seaof Cortez in Mexico until 1998, now ends in the Sonoran Desert, miles away from its previous destination. From 1971 to 2008, municipal and industrial consumptions in the river basin increased by 23 percent due to the population growth and economic activities.  “The region now takes more water from the basin than what Mother Nature supplies.” Evidence shows the status quo of the Colorado River basin by all means is not sustainable.

Mountain snowpack in the western US in two consecutive years. (photo courtesy of the 90 by 20)

“The challenge of increasing demand and decreasing supply is a Basin-wide problem that demands Basin-wide solutions,” says Drew Beckwith, the water policy manager for Western Resource Advocate, a nonprofit environmental law and policy organization that supports the campaign.

Historical 10-year running average Colorado River Basin supply and use (photo courtesy of  90 by 20) http://90by20.org/report.pdf

The campaign is focused on the cities located in the Colorado basin. Almost 36 million people from Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California and Mexico rely on the Colorado River as their water resource.  The Colorado River basin would save at least one million acre-feet of water if each household in the region used an average of 90 GPCD or less. This is enough water to supply agriculture in Arizona or to provide water needs for three years in Colorado or for two years in Las Vegas.

One important key to achieving the goal of 90 GPDC is a sound partnership with policy leaders and water conservation groups in each region like the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). The campaign efforts to engage individual residents through communities and social media and encourages them to find better ways for saving water and putting the region on a sustainable path.  

According to the 90 by 20 reports, 90 GPDC is a realistic goal for residential units. There is no single set of instructions for all the communities, but the campaign offers the communities to build up their own path to 90 GPDC according to their needs and preferences. Among the communities in the basin, many are close to the goal while others need more effort to reach it e.g. Aurora and Castle Rock in Colorado are already at 90 GPCD, but people in Las Vegas need to cut off about 35GPCD to show their commitment.

Residential GPCD in the Colorado River Basin by water providers. (photo courtesy of 90 by 20)

While the program’s supporters are confident that Southern Nevada residents will reach the goal, some question if the campaign is asking too much of the residents. They argue that the 90 by 20 massage conflicts with the SNWA’s goal of 125 GPCD (for outdoor and indoor residential water usage) given that Southern Nevada doesn’t rely solely on the Colorado River for water and that it recycles 40 percent of the water it uses back into the river.

“It’s a conservation theme, but it’s like two choirs singing different songs. It can clash as far as messaging,” Doug Bennett, SNWA Conservation Manager says. “We think it’s unreasonable for people in different communities to be expected to perform at the same level.”  Some others argue about the California’s allotted water from the Colorado River and think that if California, like other upstream states, participated in conservation programs, there would be more water left for the upstream states.  

Given all these, the program’s main goal for the Southern Nevada residents is to have the phrase “90 by 20” in the back of their minds whenever they use water. The program is in its infancy stage and needs support from the residents and groups such as SNWA to succeed. “Everybody agrees water is the foundation to any community,” Dempsey, the southern Nevada coordinator for the 90 by 20 water conservation campaign says. “You can’t have growth, infrastructure, dining and quality of life without water.”