Drought Fact Sheet #6

How Do Municipalities Affect Drought Planning?

Municipalities Have Significant Impact on Water Resources
Why is Municipal Involvement Critical to Successful Drought Planning? No other segment of water use comes as close to the daily lives of so many people as the Municipal water supply. While Municipalities use only an estimated 5 - 7% of the annual total water budget in the United States (compared to Agriculture at 75%), water use by Municipalities has increased by 18% between 1980 and 1995 (Sandra Postel 1998). Steps taken by Municipalities to alleviate the effects of a drought can impact the daily lives of every urban resident. Water rationing in the form of restrictions on lawn watering can impact the appearance of our communities. Adjustments in water pricing designed to reduce consumption can meet with angry reactions from urban residents. The political impact that this segment of water users can have is unquestioned. How Do Municipalities Impact Water Supplies? While Municipalities consume only a small part of the water supply, they can have a significant impact on water resources. Cities are high-population centers, and therefore urban residents contribute a great deal to decision and policy-making. Estimates indicate that groundwater provides 35% of the urban water use in America with the balance coming largely from surface water sources (USGS, 1986). Cities can significantly alter groundwater recharge and surface water quality simply because of the significant portion of the ground that is covered by impervious surfaces. Even residential, municipal and recreational green spaces can impact our water resources. The hard, impervious surfaces in cities and towns, such as roofs, parking lots, sidewalks and streets, interrupts natural hydrologic cycle, diverting rainfall and snowfall to storm drains rather than allowing infiltration into the ground. This reduces the storage capacity associated with groundwater, lowers groundwater levels, and decreases the volume of

Municipal water use increased 18% between 1980-1995

water discharging from the ground to streams that support streamside riparian areas. For more information on the importance of groundwater to streams, see fact Sheet #8. Storm water runoff generated by impervious surfaces often flows directly through our storm drains and empties directly into surface waterways without treatment. When it is dry, almost everything that falls on the impervious surfaces remains there until it rains or snows. During rainfall events the flow of water across these impervious surfaces can transport hydrocarbons, dirt and a wide variety of residues directly into community waterways. This can significantly reduce water quality. Lawns and other green spaces, predominantly associated with city lawns, golf courses and parks cover three times the acreage that is planted to corn

annually in the United States (Irrigation Assn. Enewsletter, January 2006). These green spaces are sometimes well managed, sometimes not. Their concentration and varied management can result in impacts to our water resource from fertilizers, pesticides and other operational practices. Water Regulations that Impact Municipalities Municipalities are among the most heavily regulated of all water users. There are requirements for permitting a water source and quality control measures for the drinking water provided to the community. The regulatory requirements under the 1972 Clean Water Act include measures that affect both storm water and wastewater. Municipalities are required to secure water rights and to comply with other restrictions on water extraction. Municipal water systems also test for water quality frequently and must comply with strict notification requirements if the water does not meet minimum standards. Many cities also maintain wellhead protection programs if they rely on groundwater for their drinking water supply. These programs restrict the activities that can occur upgradient from a drinking water source. The vast majority of cities have a wastewater treatment system. These systems accept residential, commercial, and in some cases industrial wastewater. Following treatment the water is discharged to nearby surface water or can be reused in specially designed and permitted irrigation programs. Cities must also comply with storm water regulations that are part of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued under the Clean Water Act (See Fact Sheet # 3 for more detail). The Importance of Municipal Involvement Municipalities are important participants in drought planning for two primary reasons. First, they represent and can manage issues relating to peoples daily lives. Secondly, they have proven to be very effective at reducing both long-term and short-term water consumption. Although Municipalities are

not one of the largest national water users, they are the one with the closest contact with daily lives of many water users. Today, the vast majority of people live within the limits of some kind of municipal government. These people almost always receive their water from a community water system. If a Drought Plan is to gain enough popular support to be effective, municipal governments must be involved. This is particularly important when voluntary conservation is a significant element in a Drought Plan. Municipalities that operate large public water systems have the capability of encouraging this change through incentives and water pricing. The purveyors of municipal water systems can also manage short-term changes. They have an existing structure that lends itself well to water conservation. These organizations have proven very effective at instituting water rationing through scheduled lawn watering events, car washing bans and other short-term steps to stretch the existing supply over a drought period. They are a very important component of any community-based drought preparedness plan. The NARC&DC would like to thank the USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service for their assistance in the development of this fact sheet.

Water rationing affects the appearance of communities.

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March, 2006