Water and Power

8/17/2019 Water and Power

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What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source?

In 2014, the United States generated about 4,093 billion kiloatthours o!

electricity.1 "bout #$% o! the electricity generated as !ro& !ossil !uels 'coal,

natural gas, and (etroleu&).

*a+or energy sources and (ercent share o! total U.S. electricity generation in 2014

-oal 39%

/atural gas 2$%

/uclear 19%

ydro(oer #%

ther reneables $%

io&ass 1.$%

eother&al 0.4%

Solar 0.4%

Wind 4.4%

etroleu& 1%

ther gases 5 1%

6eneable energy in the United States accounted !or 13.2 (ercent o! the

do&estically (roduced electricity in 2014, and 11.2 (ercent o! total energy

generation. "s o! 2014, &ore than 143,000 (eo(le ork in the solar industry and 43

states de(loy net &etering, here energy utilities buy back e7cess (oer generated

by solar arrays.

ydroelectricity

ydroelectric (oer is currently the largest (roducer o! reneable (oer in the U.S.

It (roduced around #.2% o! the nation8s total electricity in 2010 hich as #0.2% o!

the total reneable (oer in the U.S. he United States is the !ourth largest

(roducer o! hydroelectricity in the orld a!ter -hina, -anada and ra:il. he rand

-oulee ;a& is the


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si7 U.S. hydro (lants are a&ong the er ;a&, rand -oulee ;a&, and the ennessee alley "uthority ha>e beco&e

iconic large construction (ro+ects.

Wind (oer

U.S. ind (oer installed ca(acity no e7ceeds #0,00$ *W. his ca(acity is

e7ceeded only by -hina. he 1,320*W "lta Wind @nergy -enter is the largest ind

!ar& in the orld. She(herds Alat Wind Aar& in regon is the second largest ind

!ar& in the orld, co&(leted in 2012, ith the na&e(late ca(acity o! B4< *W.

he U.S. ind industry generates tens o! thousands o! +obs and billions o! dollars o!

econo&ic acti>ity. Wind (ro+ects boost local ta7 bases, and re>itali:e the econo&y

o! rural co&&unities by (ro>iding a steady inco&e strea& to !ar&ers ith ind

turbines on their land. @ @nergy is the largest do&estic ind turbine &anu!acturer.In 2013 ind (oer recei>ed Cest&ent, concerns about the a=ordability o!

ater !or the (oorest, and a ra(idly retiring ork!orce. Increased >ariability and


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intensity o! rain!all as a result o! cli&ate change is e7(ected to (roduce both &ore

se>ere droughts and Dooding, ith (otentially serious conseEuences !or ater

su((ly and !or (ollution !ro& co&bined seer o>erDos. ;roughts are likely to

(articularly a=ect the ## (ercent o! "&ericans hose co&&unities de(end on

sur!ace ater. "s !or drinking ater Euality, there are concerns about disin!ection

byF(roducts, lead, (erchlorates and (har&aceutical substances, but generallydrinking ater Euality in the U.S. is good.

Water sources

he Wachusett 6eser>oir is a source o! drinking ater

su((ly !or oston

he Wachusett 6eser>oir is a source o! drinking ater su((ly !or oston

"bout 90% o! (ublic ater syste&s in the U.S. obtain their ater !ro& groundater.

oe>er, since syste&s ser>ed by groundater tend to be &uch s&aller than

syste&s ser>ed by sur!ace ater, only 34% o! "&ericans '101 &illion) are su((lied

ith treated groundater, hile ##% '19< &illion) are su((lied ith sur!ace ater.

Aor a sur!ace ater syste& to o(erate ithout Gltration it has to !ulGll certaincriteria set by the @" under its Sur!ace Water reat&ent 6ule, including the

i&(le&entation o! a atershed control (rogra&. he ater syste& o! /e Hork -ity

has re(eatedly !ulGlled these criteria.

-ities su((lied (ri&arily by sur!ace ater ithout ater treat&ent

oston, /e Hork -ity, San Arancisco, ;en>er, and ortland, regon are a&ong the

large cities in the U.S. that do not need to treat their sur!ace ater sources beyond

disin!ection, because their ater sources are located in the u((er reaches o!

(rotected atersheds and thus are naturally >ery (ure. oston recei>es &ost o! itsater !ro& the uabbin and Wachusett 6eser>oirs and the Ware 6i>er in central and

estern *assachusetts. /e Hork -ity8s ater su((ly is !ed by a 2,000FsEuareF&ile

'er, to su((le&ent the i&(orted ater su((ly, and

to hel( &aintain deli>ery o! drinking ater in the e>ent o! a &a+or earthEuake,


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drought or decline in the sno(ack, San Arancisco considers the use o! alternati>e

locally (roduced, sustainable ater sources such as reclai&ed ater !or irrigation,

local groundater and desalination during drought (eriods, all as (art o! its Water

Su((ly ;i>ersiGcation rogra&. he largest source o! ater su((ly !or ortland,

regon, is the ull 6un Watershed. ;en>er recei>es its ater al&ost entirely !ro&

&ountain sno&elt in a nu&ber o! highly (rotected atersheds in &ore than 9counties. Its ater is stored in 14 reser>oirs, the largest o! hich is the ;illon

6eser>oir on the lue 6i>er in the -olorado 6i>er. Water is di>erted !ro& there

through the arold ;. 6oberts unnel under the -ontinental ;i>ide into the South

latte 6i>er asin.

-ities su((lied (ri&arily by sur!ace ater ith ater treat&ent

Jake a>asu on the -olorado 6i>er is the secondary source o! drinking ater !or

hoeni7, "ri:ona, su((lying about 40% o! hoeni78s ater su((ly. ers, according to the oKcial ebsite o! the

-ity o! hoeni7 Water Ser>ices ;e(art&ent. Jos "ngeles also obtains a signiGcant

(ercentage o! its ater su((ly !ro& Jake a>asu.

-ities that rely on &ore or less (olluted sur!ace ater !ro& the loer reaches o!

ri>ers ha>e to rely on e7tensi>e and costly ater (uriGcation (lants. he Jas egas

alley obtains 90% o! its ater !ro& Jake *ead on the -olorado 6i>er, hich has

been a=ected by drought. o su((ly a (ortion o! the !uture ater su((ly, Jas egas

(lans to buy ater rights in the Snake alley in White ine -ounty, 2


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-ities su((lied (ri&arily by groundater

*ia&i and its &etro(olitan area obtain drinking ater (ri&arily !ro& the iscayne

"Eui!er. i>en increasing ater de&and, *ia&iF;ade -ounty is considering the use

o! reclai&ed ater to hel( (reser>e the iscayne "Eui!er. *e&(his recei>es itsater !ro& artesian aEui!ers. San "ntonio dras the bulk o! its ater !ro& the

@dards "Eui!erM it did not use any sur!ace ater until 200#.

-ities su((lied by a &i7 o! groundater and sur!ace ater

Se>entyFone (ercent o! ouston8s su((ly Dos !ro& the rinity 6i>er into Jake

Ji>ingston, and !ro& the San Nacinto 6i>er into Jake -onroe and Jake ouston. ;ee(

underground ells drilled into the @>angeline and -hicot aEui!ers (ro>ide the other

29 (ercent o! the city8s ater su((ly.

Water use

oilets account !or 31% o! indoor ater use in the U.S.

;o&estic ater use 'also called ho&e or residential ater use) in the United States

as esti&ated by the United States eological Sur>ey at 29.4 billion US gallons

'111,000,000 &3) (er day in 200ided through

(ublic netorks. 13% or 3.B billion US gallons '14,000,000 &3) o! ater is sel!F

su((lied. he a>erage do&estic ater use (er (erson in the U.S. is 9BFUSFgallon

'3$0 J) (er day. his is about 2.< ti&es as high as in @ngland '1


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2% ;ishashers

1B% Aaucets

3% ther ;o&estic Uses

nly a >ery s&all share o! (ublic ater su((ly is used !or drinking. "ccording to one

2002 sur>ey o! 1,000 households, an esti&ated

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