Houston is #2 on the most likely to dry up list. San Antonio’s #4. Who’s #1?

Two recent reports, an October 2010 report by environmental research and sustainability group Ceres, and a July 2010 report from the National Resources Defense Council, each outlined some of the likely areas where water issues will likely have a major impact on life as its citizens know it.

The investor website, 24/7 Wall Street, then ran analysis of those reports and cross-referenced it the water supply and consumption in America’s 30 largest cities to identify potential conflicts in regions which might have disputed rights over large supplies of water and the battles that could arise from these disputes.

They then created a Top Ten list with the most acute exposure to problems which could cause large imbalances of water supply and demand.

10. Orlando, FL

The area has implemented extreme conservation measures, including aggressive water-rationing policies and lawn-watering bans. As of 2013, Orlando will no longer be able to increase the rate at which it uses water from the Floridan aquifer, the city’s main source of fresh water supply. It is estimated that water usage in the Orlando area will increase from 526 million gallons per day from 1995 to 866 million in 2020. On the city website, the mayor is quoted, saying: “Orlando Utilities Commission water usage trends show Orlando water demand exceeding the supply by approximately 2014 if no action is taken.”

9. Atlanta, GA

The crisis began when the Army Corps of Engineers released more than 20 billion gallons of water from Lake Lanier, the city’s primary source of water. The lake is the site of an ongoing legal conflict between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, all of which rely on the reservoir for fresh water. Last year, a federal judge declared Atlanta’s withdrawals from the lake illegal, and if the ruling stands, the city will lose roughly 40% of its water supply by 2012.

8. Tuscon, AZ

6. Fort Worth, TX

As Fort Worth continues to grow, the amount of water demand has continued to exceed the amount of water available through local supply. The Tarrant Regional Water District is trying to bring in more water from Oklahoma’s Red River. Oklahoma, wishing to preserve its water sources, limits interstate water sales. Fort Worth has countered with a lawsuit, which is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

5. San Francisco, CA

4. San Antonio, TX

The NRDC says that the area is at extremely high risk for water demand exceeding supply by 2050 if no major systematic changes are made. Legal battles over the Edwards Aquifier with surrounding areas, including Austin, TX, are ongoing.

3. Phoenix, AZ

2. Houston, TX

Throughout most of its history, the city of Houston primarily drew water from the Jasper Aquifer, located along the southeastern coast of Texas. Over the last 30 years, the city began to suffer from dramatic rises in sea level of nearly an inch a year. Geologists eventually realized that the cause was Houston’s withdrawal of fresh water from the aquifer located under the city. This discovery forced city officials to use nearby Lake Houston and Lake Conroe for municipal water instead of the aquifer. Since 2000, Houston has been the fifth-fastest-growing city in the country, and its presence in an area with high drought likelihood makes it an immediate risk for serious water shortages.

1. Los Angeles, CA

Great work by 24/7 Wall Street in putting this list together.

If there is any doubt about the severity of this issue, legendary investor T. Boone Pickens has been spending MILLIONS on water rights throughout the Southwest (note the overlap in the above list).

Now, what are we going to do about it?

The city of Houston announced a new initiative called the Green Office Challenge with the goal of getting property owners and managers across the city to reduce their energy consumption, water use and waste, as well as encourage more office tenants to do things like recycle, car pool and use eco-friendly products.

A key component of the initiative includes an energy-efficient loan program that would provide an incentive to those concerned about the costs of going green. Later this fall, the city plans to offer low-cost loans to property owners and tenants, providing the money goes to reducing their energy usage. This will be part of Houston’s answer to some of the issues surrounding PACE financing. (See earlier blog article titled, “Four Texas cities eye PACE program”)

“People like the idea of doing energy-efficiency improvements, but they still get nervous about that upfront capital,” said Laura Spanjian, the mayor’s director of sustainability.

The details of the program are not yet finalized but it sounds as though the city will have about $7 million to make energy-efficiency loans at less than 3%.

Other Houston Greening Facts:
No. 8 in the nation in the number of LEED-certified buildings with 89
No. 6 in the nation in the number of Energy Star-rated buildings with 133

For more Houston green facts, see our notes from the recent Clean Air Through Energy Efficiency where Spanjian spoke.

Here’s a quick run-down of several energy-efficient projects cited in the article.

Projects at Fairmont Waterfront hotel include a heat-recovery system to preheat incoming city water using heat captured from the hotel’s water system. It saves an estimated 305,380 kilowatt-hours (1,100 GJ) per year and $12,000 per year. Estimated payback is in two years.

In a separate article, Fairmont set a corporate commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20 percent from its 2006 levels by 2013.

The conference was opened by Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, C. Donald Babers, Regional Administrator for Region VI, U.S. HUD and Texas Public Utility Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman.

Smitherman provided some interesting Texas/ERCOT stats:

+ 1.7 million smart meters are installed as of July 31
+ 6 million will be installed by 2013
+ 9300 megawatts from wind in ERCOT footprint (900 MW more in Texas but out of ERCOT footprint)
+ 18,500 megawatts from wind in ERCOT planned by 2013 (that would be 20-25% of load)
+ There is a proposed rule for NON-WIND renewable target of 500 MW (most likely, solar)

From Dub Taylor of the State Energy Conservation Office, he provided this data of the fuel mix in Electricity in Texas for 2009:
+ Natural Gas 51%
+ Coal 34%
+ Nuclear 10%
+ Renewables (basically wind) 4%

One of the highlights of the conference, of which there were many, was the presentation by the new City of Houston Sustainablity Director, Laura Spanjian (we touched on Spanjian earlier this month on this blog here), summarizing the Houston’s achievements in sustainable growth. In March of this year the City of Houston was recognized for being ranked sixth on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 list of cities with the most energy efficient buildings.

Ms. Spanjian woke the crowd up after lunch with an inspired delivery of City of Houston accomplishments.

Solar and Wind initiatives include: A 100KW solar system at George R. Brown Convention Center funded jointly by the Houston Endowment ($850k), BP ($100k) and CenterPoint ($50k) and the purchase of 2 billion kwh (50 MW of power) from Texas Wind Farms over the next 5 years. The EPA ranks the City of Houston as the #1 in terms of renewable energy purchased by a municipality.

Other energy efficiency initiatives include the LED traffic lights at 2,000 intersections which have a cost savings of $3.6M per year, the LED Streetlight Pilot Project which are up to 50% more energy efficient and 755 hybrid vehicles (the 3rd largest municipal fleet in the country). It should also be noted METRO is purchasing is purchasing 100 hybrid buses a year and will have 449 in total by 2011.

Houston is “LEED”ing the way for all new construction, as mandated in 2004, and the Looscan Library was the City’s first LEED Certified building with a LEED Gold on Central Permitting Center and Fire Station 90 not far behind. Add to all of this the Residential Program for kWh reductions, the Weatherization Program, improving air quality using MAAM and DIAL technologies and Houston is well on its way to leading the nation in energy strategies.

We applaud the new Mayor Parker and her selection of Laura Spanjian as Sustainability Director.

It was a great presentation!

By the way, the event was held at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center on UT’s campus. The facility is LEED Gold.

That is Green Squared’s tagline if you didn’t know.

In a new healthcare study reported by FMLink, nearly four out of five (79%) hospitals surveyed cited cost savings as the top reason their facilities are committed to environmentally sustainable operations.

Also, very interestingly, at least to me, nearly 70% of the respondents say they measure their energy savings and half (50%) conduct energy audits. 41% say their facilities measure water savings.

Why?

Well, we only recommend retrofit projects that payback in a short time frame in operating savings. Those operating savings result in increased Net Operating Income (NOI) for commercial building owners. That increased NOI results in increased property value.

How?

The income approach is one of three primary approaches to appraising commercial properties. In the income approach to appraisal, the value is determined on the stream of NOI that an investor will receive as a result of owning the property. As such, the retrofit that lowers operating costs, increases NOI, and increases appraised value.

There are multiple studies supporting this benefit in the real world.

Plus, several cities including Houston and Colorado Springs, are in the process of raising water rates as much as 50%, so those paybacks will likely shorten even further.

GreenerBuildings.com ran a great article on water last month that is worth the read.

To highlight some great points:

1. Fix all leaks and install water-saving flow restrictor aerators in faucets and showers.
2. Retrofit existing toilets with flushkits for greater efficiency or for dual-flush capability.
3. Upgrade irrigation controls.
4. Retrofit irrigation system with controls that incorporate smart technology on a plug-and-play basis.
5. Replace toilets with higher efficiency fixtures. Consider dual-flush models.
6. Install low-flow or waterless urinals.
7. Install low-flow, sensor-activated faucets in restrooms.
8. Outdoors, change the way you water with a drip irrigation system
9. Change what you water.

Great stuff.