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Sustainable Water Solutions at the Global, State and Company Level

Zach Owens : Wednesday May 4, 11:29AM

The theme of CORE’s Sustainability Breakfast yesterday was Sustainable Water Solutions at the Global, State, and Company Level. Here are some things I learned at the breakfast:

In a virtual presentation, Will Sarni of Deliotte Consulting LLC discussed the fact that half the world will face a water shortage by 2030, and that this global issue will require local solutions. He also highlighted the importance of water accounting: creating standards and awareness on how much water is used in industry, agriculture, and other areas. Take a look at how many gallons of water are required to make these products:

• 1 Cup of Coffee: 37 gallons
• 1 Beer: 20 gallons
• 1 Glass of Wine: 32 gallons
• 1 Apple: 19 gallons
• 1 Hamburger: 634 gallons
• 1 Steak: 1189 gallons

Since we use so much water for the foods and products we enjoy, and since the Denver Basin Aquifer is running dry, the remaining presentations were focused on local approaches to address water supply and quality.

Gary Bostrom, the Chief Water Services Officer for Colorado Springs Utilities, highlighted the importance of stakeholder and partner collaboration to address regional water issues. In particular, the Southern Delivery System, which will pump water from Pueblo Reservoir to Colorado Springs, with waste water returned into Fountain Creek, required collaboration and negotiations between numerous agencies including Colorado Springs Utilities, the City of Fountain, Pueblo West Metropolitan District, plus many others.

Bill Carter, the Project Manager for Aurora Prairie Waters Project, discussed Aurora’s approach to water needs. Colorado water law allows the owner of water that has been pumped from the Western Slope to use that water “to extinction.”  Under the Prairie Waters Project, Aurora will now take their own waste water from the South Platte River near Brighton and pump it back to near the Aurora Reservoir.  During this process, an elaborate filtration system using high pressure membranes, reverse osmosis, bacteria, and UV radiation cleans the water to drinking standards.

Stacy Smith of Denver Water discussed the use of Buffalo grass instead of Kentucky blue grass to help with water conservation, promoted free conservation audits that can help larger scale users conserve more, and the discussed the development and expansion of a purple pipeline with recycled water for Denver Water users.

If you’re concerned about international water issues, all of the panelists promoted Water for People as an organization to support. Water for People is a Denver-based nonprofit focused on development of locally sustainable drinking water in developing countries around the world.

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Author Bio:

Zach expands the statewide sustainability network by developing Regional Sustainability Councils and organizing regional and statewide Sustainability Roundtable Meetings. He is passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to community, regional, and statewide sustainability initiatives. Zach graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry from Regis University in 2009. While at Regis, he served as the first Director of Sustainability in student government, where he helped establish bus pass, recycling, and community garden programs on campus. Zach also spent three years working with the Greenpeace Student Network and served as a Days of Action Coordinator on the first Greenpeace Student Board. As a board member, he assisted students at universities across the country with organizing environmental awareness campaigns and events on their campuses.