California to face water shortage warns new study
mongabay.com
July 27, 2005
At current rates, California's demand for water will increase by 40 percent over the next 25 years, warns a new study from the Public Policy Institute of California. The nonprofit group projects that California will add fourteen million more people by 2030, each of whom will be using 232 gallons a day. Much of the water will be used for landscaping, especially in the drier interior areas where much of the state's population growth is occuring. About half of all the water used by inland homeowners goes to irrigating yards, compared to one third or less on the cooler coast.
The institute says that population growth will necessitate conservation, water planning and recycling well beyond the progress that has already been made in California with indoor consumption using more stringent plumbing codes and requiring water-efficient appliances. Water shortages have long plagued western states like California
MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
