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Water Management Challenges

• Water managers today face many challenges, including aging infrastructure, water quality concerns, depleting groundwater aquifers, climate change effects on water availability, uncertain water supply, and public demands for low-cost water.
• The traditional way of solving water problems — by increasing access to surface water and groundwater supplies — is often no longer viable, because such water sources are mostly allocated or over-allocated.

Water Management, Partnership, and Market Trends

• Today, communities and water management agencies seek to conserve and manage existing water resources more effectively.
• Water managers are now using more nontraditional sources, including reclaimed water, stormwater runoff, and some desalinated water. Wastewater is becoming a valuable asset.
• Collaborations and partnerships for water planning and sharing of supply and infrastructure play an important role in regional, state, and local water planning and management and are likely to increase.
• Many water market experiments are being used to reallocate existing supplies to meet growing demands, but they are in their infancy.

Implications and Opportunities for Army Installations

• Water markets will provide future opportunities for Army installations.
• Water rights are becoming more important. Some installations are at risk of losing some water rights; water rights need to be actively managed and considered for all water sources, including surface water, groundwater, effluent, and stormwater runoff.
• State and local governments play a key role in planning and managing water sources and rights, and are a partnership opportunity for Army installations.
• Traditional installation water partnerships, such as Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs), can be useful tools.