America is inching closer to a water crisis reminiscent of Cape Town’s near disaster in 2018. A new study (view below) reveals that global groundwater levels, including those in the U.S., are plummeting at an alarming rate due to climate change, poor water management, and aging infrastructure. Cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Miami are at high risk of facing their own “Day Zero” events, where taps could run dry. With pipes leaking billions of gallons and contamination issues on the rise, experts warn that unless urgent action is taken to upgrade infrastructure and conserve water, some U.S. cities might soon be forced to face the harsh reality of severe water shortages.

The phrase “day zero water” has come to represent the worst-case situation for public water supplies. It describes a situation where authorities turn off the water supply to residents when it is practically gone in a city or area.

In 2018, a crisis nearly came to an end in Cape Town, South Africa, as rationing proved to be insufficient. The city was on the verge of a day-zero disaster.

The prospect of water running out in American cities has since been raised by environmental academics and resource experts, as years of drought have caused groundwater levels in regions like the Southwest and the Great Plains to drop reports Autumn Spredemann from The Epoch Times.

In a recent study that was published in Nature, researchers found that 1,693 aquifer systems and 170,000 monitoring wells worldwide had seen “rapid groundwater-level declines” in the 21st century of more than 0.5 meters (20 inches) per year.

This encompasses American water resources.

The authors of the study also noted that throughout the previous forty years, groundwater decreases have accelerated, emphasizing the “urgent need for more effective measures to address groundwater depletion.”

Regarding national water resources, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States has also voiced concerns.

A 2014 Government Accountability Office analysis, wherein 40 out of 50 state water managers “expected shortages in some portion of their states under average conditions in the next 10 years,” is highlighted by the agency on its website.

A large portion of the groundwater loss is attributed to climate change by organizations like the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Lis Mullin Bernhardt stated in a May statement that “the conditions in the American West, which we’re seeing around the Colorado River basin, have been so dry for more than 20 years that we’re no longer speaking of a drought.”

Ms. Bernhardt, a UNEP ecosystems specialist, referred to it as a “new very dry normal” and “aridification.”

However, according to some experts, outdated pipe infrastructure and inadequate water management are also major contributors to the depletion of groundwater sources.

“Given current consumption patterns and the increasing strain on water resources due to factors like climate change and population growth, a Day Zero water crisis is certainly a possibility for some U.S. cities,” Natalya Holm told The Epoch Times in an email.

Ms. Holm works as a senior project manager in the United States for Antea Group, a global environmental consulting company, as the Climate Risk & Water Stewardship Services Lead.

According to her explanation, the most vulnerable cities are those with dense populations, few water sources, and insufficient infrastructure to handle supply-side issues.

“For instance, cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Miami face significant water stress due to their geographical location, reliance on limited local water sources, and high water demand caused by urbanization,” she said.

The water-from-air startup Watergen, located in Israel, also named Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Phoenix, and El Paso as cities at risk of a Day Zero catastrophe because of saltwater contamination and drought.

“Water supply sustainability and security can present a risk to communities if they are not proactively addressing these risks,” Barbara Martin, the American Water Works Association’s director of engineering and technical services, emailed The Epoch Times.

According to Ms. Martin, if authorities don’t take a proactive approach to asset management, infrastructure planning, and emergency preparedness, communities may be at risk for issues related to water security and sustainability.

Although there is no way to completely exclude the possibility of a Day Zero water catastrophe, she stated that water asset managers can strengthen their resilience planning and make use of public education materials.

Water Wastage

The infrastructure of American water pipes is in dire need of repair.

According to EPA estimates, 2.1 trillion gallons of treated drinking water are lost annually due to America’s deteriorating system of pipelines and water mains.

The organization also projects that the required replacements will cost $500 billion.

The Biden administration unveiled a $3 billion effort in May to replace hazardous lead pipes in US waterworks.

The money comes from a more than $50 billion investment plan that has already been approved to modernize the water infrastructure in the United States.

The program is “the largest investment in clean and safe water in American history,” according to a White House statement.

The amount, however, is far less than what the EPA estimates is required to mitigate water loss from leaks.

“The EPA estimates that 240,000 water main breaks occur in the U.S. each year among the 2.2 million miles of pipe that comprise our drinking water infrastructure,” Ms. Martin said.

She emphasized that in addition to “supporting effective and timely infrastructure renewal and replacement,” utilities must have robust procedures for asset management, capital improvement planning, condition assessment, and water loss control.

Ms. Martin underlined that to solve this issue, ongoing investments in the water infrastructure of the United States are required.

Because there are so many water systems per person, Ms. Holm described the American water pipe network as “unique.” She claims that this poses unique difficulties.

“What that means is, especially in rural areas, there are a lot of very small water systems serving a very small population … it leads to fragmentation and inefficiencies in water management, preventing coordinated efforts for sustainable water use and infrastructure upkeep.”

According to Ms. Holm, this fragmentation makes it more difficult to oversee regulations and provide everyone with fair access to clean, safe water.

According to Ms. Holm, continuous water loss from pipe leaks costs resource management professionals a lot of money.

According to her, some systems have recorded water losses of more than 60%. We refer to that type of pipe leak loss as “non-revenue water.”

“The utility [company] brought it up from the ground or pulled it from a river, treated it, pumped it out into the system, used the energy to bring it out to the system, and got no revenue back from it.

“Nobody used it, and the water supplier lost out on 60 percent of the revenue, which means less money going into their infrastructure repair, improvement, and expansion funds,” she said.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ most recent infrastructure report card, there is an estimated 6 billion gallons of treated water lost daily as a result of water main breaks that occur in the US every two minutes.

“Addressing this issue requires substantial investment in infrastructure renewal and maintenance,” Ms. Holm said.

“This includes adopting modern technologies for leak detection and repair, prioritizing infrastructure upgrades in vulnerable areas, and enhancing coordination between federal, state, and local agencies to ensure effective management of water distribution networks.”

Still, there’s more to poor pipe infrastructure than just wasted water. Lead pipe contamination has resulted in persistent health issues in communities like Flint, Michigan, and Jackson, Mississippi.

Jackson has experienced problems with its water, including discoloration, low pressure, an oily appearance, and floating particles, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Furthermore, the NRDC noted Flint still hasn’t completed its lead pipe replacement program ten years after the town’s notorious water pollution problem started.

Currently, the replacement project in Flint has caused damage to about 2,000 residential properties, and scores more are currently awaiting a lead test from the city on their water conduits.

The amount of saltwater pollution in American water supplies is also increasing, which deteriorates water pipes and lowers the amount of freshwater available in groundwater supplies.

The Maryland Department of Planning produced a report in 2019 that projected a 15% rise in the salinity of the state’s water by 2025.

There have also been reports of saline water seeping inland in Maine, Georgia, and South Carolina.

The Public Service District of the island has reported that ten drinking water wells in the well-known Hilton Head, South Carolina, resort region have already been closed as a result of ocean water contamination.

Concerns About Usage

Experts in water management assert that use is a significant contributing element to America’s depleting water supplies.

According to research, the US is one of the top water consumers in the world.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, agricultural irrigation accounts for around 42% of the country’s overall freshwater usage.

EPA data show that American families use over 300 gallons of water a day in cities.

According to Ms. Holm, a significant obstacle to water conservation in cities is found there.

“The hardest change that is needed is behavioral changes, especially at the residential level.

“Encouraging water-saving practices such as using efficient fixtures, implementing smart irrigation systems and practices or opting for waterless landscaping, changing domestic habits, and promoting water conservation awareness campaigns can significantly reduce water consumption,” she said.

According to Ms. Holm, conserving water can be as easy as shutting off the faucet while taking a shower and lathering up.

According to an EPA breakdown of total home water usage, twenty percent of the water is used for showering, and the remaining twenty-four percent is used for toilet flushing.

A Colorado real estate broker claims that his city is rapidly approaching a Day Zero event due to a combination of growing residential demand and urban expansion, despite Ms. Holm’s assertion that major commercial water users are attempting to cut back on usage.

“I expect to see a Day Zero in Colorado Springs in the next 30 years at the rate we are currently building,” Andrew Fortune, real estate broker and owner of Great Colorado Homes, told The Epoch Times in an email.

According to Mr. Fortune, the Colorado Springs home-building boom is severely taxing the city’s water supply.

“Water conservation is the No. 1 topic all developers talk about in Colorado Springs. There are a few giant neighborhoods that are building faster than we can find water to service these areas. This is also a problem in Denver,” he said.

According to Mr. Fortune, a contributing factor to the issue is that the public is unaware of the restrictions placed on the area’s groundwater supply.

He believes that those who practice “zero-scaping,” or having a yard with absolutely no plants, should be eligible for tax breaks.

“There is a major difference between the water usage on a yard that is mostly rock and turf and those that require water weekly to keep from drying up in a week.”

He claimed that marijuana farms and golf courses are among the “biggest culprits” of excessive water use in his area, in addition to the surge in residential construction.

“Yes, we get tax incentives off of these businesses, but the environmental cost is not worth it.”

Rainwater collection is strictly regulated for owners of residential properties in Colorado. Only 110 gallons of rainwater from home downspouts may be collected and stored in rain barrels by each household.

According to Ms. Holm, domestic water conservation education is lacking.

“As a water stewardship professional, I do think we have a long way to go on educating the public on water issues, as many struggle to grasp water scarcity when water continues coming out of their tap.”

According to Ms. Holm, preventing a Day Zero incident will include a range of measures, including resource management that will assist protect water resources, urban planning, infrastructure improvements, and stormwater runoff and rainwater collection in specific locations.

Mr. Fortune’s unanswered question is if everything can come together quickly enough to prevent a disastrous water disaster.

“First, cities have to admit that they are not sustainable,” he said.

“Perform a full-scale audit of the water usage for every neighborhood and business. Organize the list from the most consumption on down and then develop a strategy to tackle the issues now, before it’s too late.”

Recently, GreatGameInternational reported that Oxfam unveiled a shocking report accusing Israel of using water as a weapon in Gaza, drastically cutting the region’s water supply by 94% through targeted attacks on facilities.

Read the study below:

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