the sunshine state’s underground freshwater reserves are being drained at an alarming rate, threatening the drinking water of millions, and severely damaging the complex ecosystem of the water cycle.

state and local governments already are working on solutions, but experts are calling for firmer action.

“if we just keep going the way we are going now, we are likely to be in trouble in the not too distant future,” said todd crowl, a professor at florida international university in the department of biology and director of the southeast environmental research center.

“the supply is finite, but the access to it is not finite. it’s limitless,” said robert glennon, regents’ professor and professor of law and public policy at the university of arizona. glennon studies water policy around the world and believes that florida is part of a greater water crisis in the u.s.  

“we americans are spoiled. we wake up in the morning, and we turn on the faucet and out comes as much as we want, for less than we pay for cell phone service or cable television,” glennon said. “most of our fellow citizens, when they think of water, if they think of it at all, they think of it as the air, infinite and inexhaustible, when for all practical purposes it is quite exhaustible, so we take it for granted.”

the associate director of the florida springs institute, heather obara, said, “we have a lot of overpumping of our aquifer, meaning that the demand for water in florida is really high, and we are using more water faster than our aquifer can replenish itself.

“we have a lot of water usage here in florida, such as large scale agricultural usage, as well as urban residential usages that are depleting the aquifer at a rapid rate,” she said.

this depletion of groundwater is a problem throughout the state, with both southern and northern florida experiencing shortages and environmental effects, according to the florida department of environmental protection. many of florida’s biodiverse ecosystems are dependent on freshwater to be clean of pollutants and at a certain water level to function.

the florida dep’s most recent water management assessment states that without new planning efforts, “existing sources of water will not adequately meet the reasonable-beneficial needs for the next 20 years.”

springs are a visible health indicator

in north florida, the natural springs are one of the best indicators of the health of the aquifers, obara said. the freshwater flows up from the underground aquifers into these springs through cracks in the limestone.

the florida springs institute, which studies north florida’s aquifers, has documented a significant drop of freshwater flowing into springs. according to a study they conducted in 2018, average spring flows in florida have declined by an estimated 32% from 1950 to 2010.

another consequence of low flow in springs is that nitrogen is polluting the ecosystem. according to obara, runoff inundated with nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture and septic tanks is entering the water system, which shifts the balance of the whole ecosystem. nitrogen is fuel for plant growth, and when there is an overabundance of nitrogen in the springs, there are massive algae blooms. obara explains that without a strong flow, the springs cannot flush the algae out of the system, which ends up killing food sources for animals and disrupting the food chain.

“we thought we could just use and use that water, and now we’re dealing with the reality,” obara said.

the everglades is just as vital to the water cycle

unfortunately, the water crisis is not limited to north florida. statewide population growth has caused more and more land to be claimed for residential use. and local governments continue to authorize the drilling of new wells — and to expand development into swamps, despite the wetlands acting as a filter for water entering the aquifer.

like the springs in north florida, the everglades — a unesco world heritage site and a designated international biosphere reserve — is an integral part of south florida’s water cycle. the everglades plays a vital role in the delicate equilibrium required to maintain the aquifers by keeping a pressure counterbalance against saltwater pushing its way into the aquifer, said crowl, the florida international university professor. as the water drains out of the aquifer and the everglades, saltwater begins to intrude into freshwater reserves.

“it’s just a simple pressure problem,” crowl said. but the problem is only worsened by rising sea levels, which are increasing the pressure, he said. crowl studies the salinity of underground well water, sampling more than 100 wells throughout south florida.

crowl was not ready to make any predictions without continued monitoring in the future, but he did say “we are getting higher and higher concentrations in more and more of our wells where we measure saltwater intrusion. watching the rate that’s happening is a little bit scary.”

the government has a plan, but…

the florida department of environmental protection is one of the multiple statewide government agencies that are studying the problem and collaborating with local governments to address the crisis.

in a report published in 2017, the dep projected that between 2015 and 2035, the population in florida will grow by 27%, to 25.2 million, and that public demand for water will increase by 23%.

the dep has formulated a plan to address the increasing dependence on the aquifer. in the same 2017 study, they proposed 747 projects around the state to conserve water, costing $3.7 billion. the majority of the projects either use water reclamation or call for treatment of brackish groundwater.

but these projects seem to only treat the crisis, rather than address the underlying problem. obara and crowl both believe the most crucial step to addressing the crisis and eventually reverse it, is to commit to conserving the natural aquifer.

with one hand, florida’s state and local governments seem committed to fixing the problem, but with the other hand, they continue to take actions that seemingly contradict that first commitment. the miami-dade county commission recently approved the construction of american dream miami, a massive megamall, larger than the mall of america in minnesota. american dream will have 2,000 hotel rooms, an indoor ski slope, an ice-climbing wall, and a water park with a “submarine lake.” the project is now working to secure environmental and water permits for the 174-acre site, which is a previously developed area adjacent to the everglades.

“there really hasn’t been a good emphasis on conservation in florida,” obara said. “we need a shift in the mentality here in florida that we haven’t had before. we have always looked at the environment as a resource rather than something that not only benefits our health for our environment to be healthy, but it also benefits our state’s economy.”

“the point is if we don’t get the everglades restored pretty quickly to have freshwater to push back saltwater, we are going to be in a world of hurt,” crowl said.

so what can be done?

glennon suggests using economics and policy as a possible solution. he believes if the government increases the price of water, the natural economic response will be to conserve the resource. “it is a matter of supply and demand,” he said.

glennon still believes that access to water should be a human right, and suggests that 12-to-15 gallons per person, per day should be subsidized, avoiding penalizing those who cannot afford the price increase. glennon also calls for reform within agriculture, proposing that farms need to change their methods.

“i think the farmers developed their farms at a time when water was plentiful, and they’re doing what they’ve always done, using water the same way,” glennon said.

florida’s water problem is complicated and challenging to fix, but the outlook is still positive. according to crowl, it is possible to reverse saltwater intrusion, the health of the everglades can be restored, and the aquifer can be allowed to refill. for florida, there is still time to reverse the crisis.

“i am optimistic. is there a crisis? you bet there is. but can we do something about it? yes, and what we want to do is act before the crisis turns into a catastrophe,” glennon said. 

while prices are falling for the individual components necessary to construct a plant, desalination processes still face a hard lower limit in terms of cost. no matter how durable and inexpensive membranes and pumps for desalination become or how much energy can be recovered with more efficient processes, there is a bare minimum energy input required by the laws of thermodynamics. no matter what system is employed, the energy input required to desalinate water in an ideal scenario, with maximum efficiency, is dictated by the energy required to break the natural attraction between salt and water molecules. this quantity when summed over the billions of water molecules in a cup of water is not trivial, and that energy input is the obstacle to implementation of desalination solutions for water crises around the globe. for this reason, understanding a scenario in a holistic sense is important when considering such large infrastructure projects like desalination plants and alternatives like water rationing.

sarah fletcher is a 2017-2018 rasikbhai l. meswani fellow for water solutions and was recently recognized for her outstanding research by the american geophysical union (agu). her work primarily focuses on using modeling to identify how to best allocate resources and systems for water supply, using projected climate scenarios that may have a high degree of uncertainty. she recently was featured in a panel at the mit abdul latif jameel world water and food security (mit j-wafs) lab with other graduate students presenting work related to water supply and management in the face of climate variability. 

sarah fletcher: one of the big challenges with desalination is cost. we are talking about these investments that are hundreds of millions and potentially billions of dollars. with droughts, and in general planning for water supply for the future, there are so many uncertainties: we have short term variability, run-off, rainfall, demand growth, and climate change. you face this risk, where if you build it, then you’re going to find out down the road that you don’t actually need it. so, i think that’s perhaps why desalination is seen as extreme, but it does on the other hand provide a very reliable water supply independent from rainfall. this water supply you can turn on and off in a way that is harder to achieve with other options.

gavin winter: i know in the mit j-wafs panel and in one of your recent papers you mentioned a modular approach to building water infrastructure as a method to reduce the risk of overbuilding. in practice, what does this modular approach look like?

a: traditionally, you build large-scale desalination plants, and the advantage of that is that there are economies of scale. you build it big, and it’s cheaper per unit of water output, but you face a risk of overbuilding. on the other hand, you could take a modular approach, where you build a smaller plant up front. then, you can add either modularly within that plant or you could just build a series of small desalination plants. and if you build a series of small desalination plants you could potentially select several different strategic locations. this way, you can have flexibility in the amount of capacity you are bringing online, and you can have flexibility in the location of that capacity you are bringing online.

q: could a flexibility-in-design approach also encompass diversification of water sources?

a: certainly, having a diverse portfolio of options has an advantage. rather, than deciding to invest upfront in wastewater reuse or whichever technology, there is a distinct advantage in making sure that you have all these different options lined up and ready. then, you can pursue each of them as one deems fit down the road.

q: in the panel, you touched on a robust approach to providing water supply, which involves building large scale infrastructure projects that generate a lot of public hype. are there any contexts in which you can justify a robust approach over the more flexible approach that you just mentioned?

a: absolutely. i think one of the challenges with the flexible approach is that it’s prone to reliability outages. let’s say you took a smart flexible approach, you built a smaller amount of water supply capacity, and then the drought gets much more severe and you were not able to get the rest of the capacity online before you need it. water supply systems are impacted by natural variability and stochasticity in the environment, and that’s more difficult to manage. so, in cases dominated by natural variability, a robust approach might be better-suited. of course, it also comes down to a matter of preferences and how a society values each method. as a case study, a desalination plant in london was designed with the intention that it would be large and infrequently used. there was a full public awareness campaign before it was built. it is really just to protect against drought, and it is there if they need it. maybe they only use it once every five years, but they’re still happy to have it there.

q: do you see the possibility that external circumstances drive the prices up for water from more traditional sources like rainfall reservoirs, which in turn would make desalination more economical?

a: i could see it happening. however, it would have to be in a very specific set of circumstances. it would be much more expensive to do it cities that are not coastal cities. that is one major constraint. you can sort of think of desalination as putting an upper bound on the cost of water supply. so, if there are other cheaper options, like pipelines and reservoirs or wastewater treatment, then you often would expect them to be developed first. but you can imagine in some places not having access to resources like those, especially with the onset of climate change, the question comes down to whether you are willing to pay the premium in order to meet the water needs.

q: often, water is too cheap to justify a large capital expense for higher technology method ways to get water, at least until a crisis is imminent? i read that this is particularly the case in china, where there is not much incentive to invest until a crisis is happening and action is reactive rather than proactive. are you able to offer some insight on how to change this mindset with more informed policy?

a: that is a very challenging question to answer. you can certainly make an argument that it is easier to get projects done in the wake of some extreme events. then, perhaps there is some value to taking advantage of these big droughts to build desalination capacity. even if you aren’t expecting it, then you will at least have the will to continue to build out capacity. in terms of changing the mindset, that’s an enormous challenge: i think that public awareness campaigns and education can go a long way. climate change is an issue that more and more people are relating to, and they are understanding that these types of challenges are going to be encountered more and more often. i think that’s one strategy, but it is definitely going to be a long haul.

q: in your paper, you mentioned framing these types of investments more as drought insurance. do you think that would be an effective way at least in drought-prone areas to increase the incentive to get funding in off-periods for the projects?

a: yes. that is exactly what happened in the case of london’s desalination plant. i think that is a good example of a governmental organization having convinced the public successfully. the challenge is, of course, that it is much more feasible and practical to take this approach in wealthy countries like the u.s. or those in europe. however, not everyone has those resources, in which case it is a much more challenging question.

as an area of the country critical to the agricultural sector of the u.s., the drought has become an increasingly important issue to californians — and the country as a whole. water use and availability is also a huge issue in arid regions of the world, as well as in areas that don’t have widely available water infrastructure.

in response to the crisis, i explored some of the innovative ways people are finding clean, potable water. here’s what i found:

water catchment

perhaps the easiest way to get access to water is to harvest whatever forms of condensation and precipitation are available in the surrounding environment — without, of course, pumping from underground resources. typically this means local rainwater catchment in the form of drains, canals, stormwater collection ponds, and reservoirs. some savvy homeowners even collect condensate from their air conditioning units using nothing more than a bucket and reuse that water in the garden.

one really cool innovation in the realm of water catchment is warka water, an invention by italian industrial designers arturo vittori and andreas vogler. these 30-foot-tall, vase-shaped towers named after a fig tree native to ethiopia integrate biomimicry through its design to extract gallons of water pulled literally out of the air.

water reuse/recycling

another way to increase access to water is to simply recycle water. and yes, the thought of bathing in — much less drinking — what used to be in someone’s toilet might ick you out at first, but we already have incredible technology that can be used to treat water of any quality. for example, singapore has a water management strategy that involves high-grade reclaimed water, produced from treated used water, which is then purified further using advanced membrane technologies and ultraviolet disinfection. this means that singapore’s reverse osmosis reclaimed newater is ultra clean and safe to drink.

(source: newater visitor centre)

most cities, however, don’t have extensive wastewater recycling facilities. what the typical homeowner can do, however, is install a gray water system that takes used water from sinks, showers and washing machines and puts it to use for toilet flushing or irrigation. since the water would become dirty and be flushed away anyway, it makes sense to reuse old water instead of using perfectly clean water for these purposes.

energy-efficient desalination

a view across a reverse osmosis desalination plant. (source: james grellier)

many cities across the west coast and eastern seaboard have turned to desalination — getting the salt out of water taken from the ocean — as a source of water. the current process of treating seawater is reverse osmosis, which uses polymer membranes to filter saltwater. however, this process requires a lot of water pressure, which therefore uses a lot of energy. to address this issue, some scientists have started working on graphene membrane technology, which are thinner and more porous versions of today’s reverse-osmosis filters. as mit news writes, the key to energy efficient membrane filtering is having very precise control over the size of the holes in the graphene sheet in order to hit the “sweet spot” where salt molecules are blocked but water molecules can pass through. the pressure needed to push water molecules through these membranes is much lower, meaning energy requirements are lower, too.

reducing water use/increasing efficiency

finally, it’s important to make the distinction between the goal of increasing water availability and conserving water through use reductions. while the former is absolutely crucial, especially in arid regions of the world, conservation-focused strategies are the easiest — and perhaps most cost-effective — ways for individuals to get involved in drought solutions. some common fixes are to switch out old fixtures with low-flow showerheads, high efficiency toilets and aerators on faucets. for california readers, dropcountr is an app that connects people and their utilities by presenting information on their current water consumption, showing them if their usage is above average, and helping them set a reasonable water budget.

dropcountr from dropcountr, inc. on vimeo.

another area where water conservation can happen is in your front and backyard. did you know that 30 percent of water used for lawns and outdoor landscaping is lost to evaporation? that means it makes a big impact when decorative grass is replaced with drought-resistant native plants. another low-tech shortcut to water-efficient gardening is to use a terra cotta olla irrigation pot. these pots are buried beneath the ground, with just the opening at the ground’s surface. it’s then filled with water, which gradually seeps through the pot’s micropores into the soil. the speed at which water seeps through to the soil is regulated by soil moisture tension created by nearby plants. this means that without any timers or sensors, the soil is kept moist and not over-watered. these pots are also efficient because not only do they collect rain, but little to no water is lost to evaporation.

an olla pot is used by burying it in the ground near plants to offer moisture as needed directly to the roots. (source: moccasinlanding)

some really cool upcoming apps, which came out of la futurethon, also might make conservation fun and easy: for example, terracotta and garden gnomy are future apps for sustainable landscaping and gardening that analyze your yard layout, keep a plant inventory and make it easy to reduce irrigation use. dewgood is an upcoming atmospheric water condenser and irrigation device that will pair with an app connecting users to resources and assisting them in removing turf from their yards, and add or take care of drought-tolerant native plants.

to recap, there are a lot of simple and interesting technological solutions to the drought crisis ranging from water catchment, water reuse/recycling, desalination and water conservation. to solve the problem, we’re going to need to make use of all these ideas, as well as encourage innovators to build upon these as well as implement new ones.

(photo at top: a dry and cracked riverbed in california. / source: national oceanic and atmospheric administration)

about once a year i drive through part of this 450-mile stretch from my home in san diego to yosemite national park to go camping. i fell in love with the wilderness at a young age. i feed off the challenge of climbing mountains, and i thrive off the view from the top. neither words nor pictures capture the awe those lands bring a person. mountains and lakes stretch across the landscape, inspiring a natural appreciation that is often suppressed in an urban lifestyle.

as i gaze over these lands, however, i cannot ignore the haunting idea that this sort of beauty is not permanent. yosemite is a protected land, but it does not have a monopoly on natural beauty. many of california’s similar sights are at risk of ruin, with fresh bodies of water suffering enormously as california plunges further and further into drought. water levels in lakes and rivers drop daily to quench the population’s constant thirst for more. the natural beauty of our state, food and water security for our people, and job security for our farmers, are subsiding as quickly as the water line.

as i drive north, much of the landscape feels familiar and comfortable. however, a new air of panic permeates the peaceful valley.  “water = jobs,” and “help! solve the water crisis,” read signs jutting out of private farmland along the two-lane freeway. these signs, while somewhat present in years past, are far more abundant now.

farmers have raised justified concern for years, and now all they can do is try to be louder. while drought is not a new threat, many were slow to recognize it as a problem that demands immediate action. nasa released a report earlier this year affirming there’s only one year’s worth of fresh water left in state resource stores. this surprised many california residents who, unfortunately, take water for granted despite years of drought warnings. but now the mass public recognizes that this drought will affect them personally, that california is going to have to drastically change or otherwise be uninhabitable.

water demands remain high for the large population and enormous agricultural industry, so scientists and policymakers desperately seek a solution that goes beyond what conservation alone can do. some find an answer in desalination.

desalination plants have popped up all along the california coast in recent years. the newest one, to be finished later this year, sits on the carlsbad coast in san diego county. as the largest desalination plant in the western hemisphere, the facility will produce 50 million gallons of water a day, the equivalent of one olympic-size swimming pool every 18 minutes. the plant takes in ocean water via pipeline and purifies it to a potable state using reverse osmosis, which pushes salt water through a membrane with holes small enough for only water molecules to penetrate. this is a safe and well-studied process, yielding positive results for water quality.

desalination has proven useful in other dry areas, such as saudi arabia and israel. whether it is the best solution for california, however, raises debate. at first glance, desalination appears a good option in the face of drought. enormous stores of ocean water can be utilized for drinking and growing food without disturbing bodies of fresh water that we’ve damaged enough. with the largest population and one of the largest economies in the united states, desalination could help respond to the large water demands upon which everything and everyone depends.

however, the project has met a significant amount of opposition. even before purification begins, the process of water collection necessitates a large pipe projecting into the ocean that could disturb the sea life that dwells there. once the water enters the desalination plant, it must undergo an energy-intensive treatment process. and when desalination is complete and ready for distribution, the purified water will cost more than natural fresh water, putting increased pressure on farmers who require large quantities.

despite the relatively large output capabilities of the new carlsbad plant, water demands remain greater. those 50 million gallons per day equate to only 7% of san diego’s water needs. but, while this is not enough to answer all water demands, it may still be useful in supplementing them. bob yamada, the water resources planning manager of the san diego county water authority, notes that desalination is “not a silver bullet. it’s part of a diverse mix of supplies that we have and will continue to stitch together to achieve that reliability objective.”

the decision to build a desalination plant was not an easy one and comes only as a last resort in the face of extreme drought conditions. the project is opposed on many reasonable grounds, yet something must be done to remedy california’s chronically dry conditions. conservation is always the first step, and yamada claims it “has always been and continues to be a focus of the conservancy,” but california is getting desperate, forcing policymakers to seek other options.

we’re placing demands on the land that it simply can’t handle. in an ideal world, we could solve the drought by conservation, but in reality we may not be able to avoid desalination-based solutions. the pros and cons of desalination, as well as new changes in technology, leave the debate with a lot of gray area.

what is certain is that californians take great pride in our state. every year, as i gaze down the yosemite valley, i’m filled with pure gratitude for where i grew up. whether we find a sustainable solution in desalination or not, i’d hope that californians continue to fight to preserve our state.

(photo: the construction site of the carlsbad, calif., desalination plant. / georgia lawson)

negotiate with the government of mexico. reach an accommodation regarding the digging of an underground access tunnel from nogales, arizona to the mar de cortés. that distance is approximately 125 miles. the mar de cortés is the body of water that lies between the baja peninsula and the mainland of mexico.

in addition, build a grand-scale seawater desalination plant near nogales, arizona. the plant would be solar powered with conventional power back-up to allow the plant to be in continuous operation.

the us southwest has been water-starved throughout history. hundreds of thousands of square miles of desert and marginal land in the region lie barren and unproductive due to a lack of water.

with seawater access and a seawater desal facility arizona could serve as a freshwater hub for the entire us southwest. pipelines, trucks and or trains could deliver the water to cities, farms and households in the region.