Every October 17, the US Water Alliance hosts “Imagine a Day Without Water” — a chance to collectively acknowledge the critical role water plays in every aspect of our lives.
Imagine rolling out of bed in the morning, going to brush your teeth, and no water coming out of the tap. You check the dishwasher, which was supposed to run last night, and see the plates and glasses are still dirty. The shower runs dry, the lawn isn’t watered, and the washing machine is idle.
A world without water. It’s a scary proposition.
While this may seem like science fiction, some cities have come extremely close to this terrifying reality. A few years ago, huge water shortages forced residents of Cape Town, South Africa, to shrink their water use to all-time lows. “We are now limited to using 13 gallons of water per person per day,” wrote Time Magazine. “That’s enough for a 90-second shower, a half-gallon of drinking water, a sinkful to hand-wash dishes or laundry, one cooked meal, two hand washings, two teeth brushings and one toilet flush.”
This year Mexico City faced similar catastrophic cuts to keep preserve their dwindling water reserves. “Bernardo Nonato Corona, a resident of the hills surrounding Mexico City, told ABC News he spends 25% of his income on water.”
Cataclysmic water shortages, safety and supply problems aren’t just an international issue. They’re happening right here in California as well. An annual assessment released by the State Water Resources Control Board found that “almost 400 water systems serving nearly a million Californians don’t meet state requirements for safe and reliable drinking water supplies.”
Climate change, poor planning and other factors have caused residents around the world to face a world without water.
Now think about how a similar situation would impact our region. More than 3 million residents across the county and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity would grind to a halt, making the basic activities we take for granted impossible.
Thankfully, the San Diego region has planned to make sure that scenario stays a hypothetical.
On Oct. 1, the San Diego County Water Authority announced that the region had plenty of water to meet demands during the year ahead regardless of the weather. That’s because our region’s work on new supplies, conservation and water storage over the past 30 years were a down payment on sustainable water supplies for future generations.
We know there are challenges ahead to provide our growing region the reliable water supply it needs in a hotter and drier world. We’re working to make sure that a world without water is just a one day thought experiment instead of reality.
