Drought Could Impact Jan/San Industry

Cleanlink News October 15 2010

A once unthinkable day of reckoning is looming on the Colorado River, which provides water for 28 million people in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, neighboring communities, as well as farming locations throughout the Southwest.
The Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. agency directly involved with water distribution in the country, estimates that for the first time Lake Mead-the heart of the lower Colorado River basin's water system-could drop below 1,075 feet, a crucial demarcation line. This is the result of an 11-year drought, according to Terry Fulp, who is the Bureau's director of the Lower Colorado Region."This is the lowest 11-year average in the 100-year-plus history of flows on the basin," Fulp says.The water shortage could impact all water customers, home and industry, as well as cleaning professional who use water for a variety of cleaning tasks from cleaning carpets to mopping floors.An emergency option the plan allows is to draw more water from Lake Powell in Utah, the river's other key reservoir. At this time, Lake Powell has actually risen 60 feet over its 2004 low, mainly because certain states, such as Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, have not been accessing their full allocation.Adding to the concerns, scientists predict that prolonged droughts will likely be even more frequent in decades to come."Really the only answer is conservation," says Klaus Reichardt, president and founder of Waterless No-Flush Urinals. "In the last ten years, the average per-capita household use of water in Phoenix and Las Vegas has dropped more than 20 percent, but it looks like even more will be necessary." Reichardt attributes this reduction mainly to:• Less water being used for landscaping• The introduction of more advanced low-flow/no-water restroom fixtures• More responsible use of water in manufacturing facilities."Technology is on our side, we are developing more ways to reduce water use," Reichardt adds. "I just hope Mother Nature will give us a little more time to get these systems up and running."