Legislation incentivizing water conservation introduced
Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-09) and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) introduced the "Water Efficiency, Conservation, and Sustainability Act of 2022," bicameral legislation to incentivize water-efficiency upgrades and to establish programs to identify and repair leaks, especially in areas experiencing severe drought and in low-income communities.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the installation of water-efficient fixtures and appliances can reduce water use by 20%, and new research has shown that leak-reduction in water systems is the most cost-effective urban water management tool, yet federal spending on energy efficiency and renewable energy has outpaced spending on water efficiency and reuse by approximately 80 to 1 since 2000. Meanwhile, U.S. household leaks waste nearly 1 trillion gallons of water annually, and in California, despite intensifying drought conditions and increased calls for conservation, urban water use increased 19% in March — underscoring the need for solutions that will incorporate efficiency and conservation into households and water systems to in order to achieve sustained results.