Urban Evolution : The Planning & Science Behind The Idea

The average Californian awakes to fresh warm running water while showering daily in our modern bathrooms. Upon showering we never stop to realize just how much infrastructure has gone into getting that water we are enjoying and expect at any time of the day. Growth and demands put upon our limited resource of water is a critical issue today as record growth and expansion has dominated the landscape. Beaumont, California faces an expected growth within city limits of an additional 26,557 additional water connections upon an existing system in place. Record drought has also has been taken into account for the need in recharging of ground water aquifers.

It is only the actions within the last decade that recharging and successful utilization of detention ponds and retention basins that has put ground water quality and conservation on the front page of our mindsets as planners. Planning as well as the science of recharging of ground water has become an urban infrastructure component that many could only imagine about 20 years ago. The rapid growth of population within California and the need of quality ground water recharging facilities have put planning hand in hand with science that will produce change and positive outcomes into the future.

Growth & Demand

Beaumont’s need for water is critical as developers have fueled growth within the area during the last housing boom. Tract upon new tract and commercial zones need more potable water than ever before. While the area enjoyed a healthly farm lifestyle till the 1950s, the needs today are for more residential as the land cost within Beaumont is far lower than in the Los Angeles Region. While the city itself needs an additional 26,000 additional connects this does not take into account neighboring areas within unincorporated county limits. With adding nearly an additional 50% more usage upon the Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District, the implementation of a gray water system and of quality ground water recharging facilities is essential to future development within the Pass Region1.

Almost 19 million people call Southern California home. A population largely supported by imported water is no way to sustain life within one of the most popular regions within the United States. Coming up with a system that helps to retain water and recharge ground water will only help support growth into the future. As in many infrastructure projects, the scale of quantities can be a difficult objective number to get a good understanding of. Bringing that number down to a human scale is something more tangible for us to understand. The average bath tub size is 50 gallons within our homes. Per person we use 235 gallons per day or roughly 4.7 bath tubs of water per day in California’s urban residential areas2. Here in California we’re experiencing a wide range of water challenges. The changing rain patterns and drought, low snowpack, decreases in river flows, severe declines in populations of important fish species such as salmon and the Delta smelt, and rising sea levels in the San Francisco Bay that will likely to lead to saltwater mixing with fresh water resources. Even though we see how these numbers relate to us, we need to also bring into account the national issues also impacting water levels.

National Perspective

Almost every state in the U.S. is facing water challenges. In 2003 the General Accounting Office released a study that found that 36 states anticipate serious water shortages in the future – and that number doesn’t even include the states that didn’t respond – California, Nevada, New Mexico and Michigan – some of the states that face the most significant challenges. When we think about water scarcity we normally think about the southwest – but issues have arisen in unanticipated areas. In the south water has typically been abundant – but now Florida, Fulton County in Georgia and North Carolina are all scrambling to find ways to increase conservation and improve efficiency. The northeast is struggling with widespread water contamination issues. Water levels in the Great Lakes are falling. At the same time bordering states are struggling with invasive species such as the Zebra Mussel that clog pipes and damage water intake and treatment infrastructure. Farmers on the Great Plains, who rely on water from the vast Ogallala Aquifer, are beginning to see their wells dry up.3

Today many aquifers are in a state where more water than is being used then can be naturally replaced by normal ground water absorption. This is often times referred as in a state of overdraft4. This constant lack of replenishment can have very negative consequences for future generation as water will become more and more difficult to obtain as lake and river levels are dropping.

Planning Science

It is important to note that aside from actually recharging the ground with new water or treated water, some of our everyday current land uses at times already can pollute water quality. Land uses such as contaminant plumes, dry cleaners, underground storage tanks, septic systems, gas stations, historic waste dumps / landfills, and sewer collection are all land uses that can and do contaminate ground water5. This is not to say that all of these land uses are negative to the environment, yet we need to be aware that some of our needed land uses do already have an impact upon ground water quality.

In many cases, recharge facilities take up many acres and cost a lot of capital improvement that cities or water districts do not have. Often times these facilities are funded by new development as in Beaumont and Orange County Water Authority. Basins and recharge facilities can run from as small as about 20 acres to as large as a city or water district wants within their given projects areas. The cost of development however is the most important and difficult portion to overcome. The Coachella Valley Water District has numerous projects in process that range from estimated cost to construct from $40 to $63 million6. At the end of the day this is a cost but a cost that will be less then imported water in the future as along as ground water aquifers stay within normal levels.

The Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District recharge and retention basins only collect runoff water and bring in new imported water for recharge and reuse. Their runoff that is collected is utilized for non-potable and only a portion of this is recycled water is recharged and is filtered. Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District does however utilize fresh imported water from the Colorado River as part of its recharging process which is then used as part of their potable water supply. The Orange County Water Authority does utilize a portion of imported water however, majority of their recharge water was been transformed from raw sewer water to potable water within one day of reaching their facilities7. Beaumont’s water for recharge has never been in a state where it is in raw sewer form.

When land uses can potentially hurt water quality this is something to always note. “Hydrus numerical model was used to determine the increased in water table elevation, and it assess the potential for treated wastewater ponding and groundwater mounding in treated wastewater…8” Often times using modeling is the only way that water districts will see potential impacts upon water tables as well as water sheds within their given areas. Modern computer modeling has only helped with better site locations and studying ground water contamination. Beaumont has been faced with water quality issues with Cherry Valley’s septic systems that are over 100 years old getting into and impacting ground water wells. Computer modeling has helped with systemically shutting down old wells as predicted by computer modeling with regard to ground well contamination. Regionally water is a difficult thing to put boundaries around as water is liquid and does move and is not a fixed commodity such as land.

When the need to assist with water reclamation and possible reuse of water “…groundwater recharge basins [helps] enable …to fully recycle Class A reclaimed water throughout the year.9” Class A would be defined as tertiary effluent conditioned water. This helps to recharge depleted water tables and replenished a valued resource. Unlike cutting down a forest for use of lumber, water is recharged and can then be used at a later date or shortly thereafter for consumption.

“…as of the year 2000, the Southern Nevada Water Authority entities have recharged over 246,000,000 m[sup 3] (200,000 acre-ft) of water, which is in storage in the valley’s aquifer system. Benefits from artificial recharge accrue to all valley residents, but in particular to municipal-industrial, domestic, public supply, and commercial well owners. The benefits are lower energy costs for pumping, decreased need to deepen wells, lower maintenance for wells that could potentially be damaged by subsidence, and additional water for the aquifer system.10”

While the United States has experienced only recharging within the last decade, Australia has faced recharging for the last three decades. The largest thing that has negatively faced the country with ground water recharging has been the replacement of deep-rooted native vegetation with now pasture and annual crops11. The water available within the country has changed so much that water is more available than ever before. As the further development of recharging occurs it is important to note that “In environments with shallow ground water elevation, small changes in the water table can cause significant variations in recharge and evapotranspiration fluxes. Particularly, where ground water is close to the soil surface, both recharge and evapotranspiration are regulated by a thin unsaturated zone and, for accuracy, must be represented using nonconstant and often nonlinear relationships.12” This is where modeling and proper environment control falls upon our scientific community. As planners we don’t have the technical knowhow to ensure that proper infrastructure is placed in appropriate locations.

Smaller scale recharge and reuse would be “A project planned for the west of Malibu Creek [which] will include a whole foods market, restaurant, and 2 retail stores, for which a reclamation plant has been designed to handle wastewater generated on the site, graywater will be sent to a series of 3 settling tanks before being dispersed via a subsurface drip irrigation system or a pressure dosed leach field.13” While large scale capital improvement projects maybe an important regional issue, on a project level planners can work to ensure projects are not only designed well but also have a positive impact upon the environmental water conservation. Change in planning departments with better utilization of bio-swells and detentions basins as muli-use facilities is the wave of the future. In this case this project helps to cut back in runoff and also help with irrigation as though the project is off of the water grid as reused water can take care of all landscape needs. Potable water would only need to be used inside of the retail spaces.

Some areas within the United States have taken a more systemic approach to helping with their water problems. Traditionally gray water was not saved rather it would be discharged into lakes, rivers and or the ocean. Districts such as these today like LOTT in the Northwest have taken their demands of growth and put their run off back into the ground. This is more similar to Beaumont then to the Orange County facility. While this task may seem easy to complete, land purchasing and locations need to occur in addition to determining soil conditions, funding, and overall needed capacities need to be explored over time. LOTT’s approach has been to take things one step at a time. Through their lobbying efforts, they have been able to change laws and ultimately creating a reclamation and recharge water district. Their efforts have put water supply back into good levels with new expected growth demands for their given district areas.

Expected Outcome & Change

While planners and the scientific community have made advances for water recharging, this has been done to meet the demands of our water hunger. However, regulation of consumption has also helped with curbing water demands. California State Assembly passed AB2175 – a water conservation bill that aims to reduce California’s per person water use by 20%.

Require a 20% reduction in statewide urban water use per capita by 2020 and establish specific savings targets for each urban water agency. Reduce the target for those agencies that have already implemented specific water conservation best management practices or that already have low per capita water use. Require the Department of Water Resources to set a target for agricultural water efficiency. Require agricultural water suppliers to identify their cost-effective water conservation potential and adopt 5 and 10 year numeric water savings targets. Make compliance with these requirements a condition for receiving state water management grants or loans.14

While growth has continued, many water districts are using this to their advantage. Districts charge for developers each time a new water connection is needed. These funds are then utilized to ensure that the system will be strong and can combat issues in the future. Planning new recharge facilities is a trend that will carry fringe cities into development well into the future. It is important to note that fringe cities also need to be sure “Water you can bank on” is addressed when districts save water on wet years as at that time we can fill ground water aquifers instead of letting that water go towards the ocean. We bank the wet times for time times that are dry so that our ground water can support water needs in times of drought and low recharge capabilities.

Saving and creating water for the future is important. The urban evolution is a mixed process with planning and science mixed to form new technologies. Ground water recharging facilities will be put in place to ensure that communities facing growth can take on new populations. While importation of water has been a model in place in Southern California for years, it is time for local water reserves to do their part in cutting down dependence from Northern California and other sources.

While modeling of water tables and potential water sources is important, we need to also understand that putting back into our water resource is important. The replenishment with water back into aquifers is like re planting of forests that were once cut down. However, the cost associated with this can be great yet at the end of the day water is a basic needed component to sustain life.

Thomas Fuller in 1732 once said “We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” Today our wells may look and function a little different, yet the principles of water needs to life still exist. Water is something that is needed by all and the recharging of ground water only helps sustain life into the future. In combination with laws that help to regulate conservation, out future today is brighter by every gallon put back into the ground below us. The rapid growth of population within California and the need of quality ground water recharging facilities have put planning hand in hand with science that will produce change and positive outcomes into the future.

Advertisement