The Great Uncoupling Between Water and Growth

“Vegas Lights” by Premshree Pillai, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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My research group published a new paper last week in the international Water journal that presents some very good news for water-stressed areas: cities are succeeding in decoupling their growth from their water needs.

Our research – focused on 20 cities in the Western US – revealed some surprising findings:

• Even while their populations grew by an average 21% during 2000-2015, these cities were able to reduce their total water use by 19%.
• The key to managing their water use was their ability to get their residents to use a lot less water per person each day – an average of 33% less.

We were also able to document the specific conservation strategies being deployed by cities to reduce their water use. Two strategies explained the majority of their success: (1) getting rid of old, water-guzzling toilets and other plumbing  fixtures in homes and businesses; and (2) converting water-intensive residential lawns and commercial landscapes with drought-tolerant native herbs, shrubs, flowers, and trees.

As water supplies become increasingly strained in many areas around the world, these breakthroughs in capping or reducing water needs while cities grow have become essential to urban sustainability.

The paper includes a list of the 20 cities we surveyed. We hope their success inspires you and gives you hope for a more secure water future.