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Water: The Hydrologic Cycle and Human...
Web Explorations
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The article entitled "Water Conservation: How Far Can We Go?" (page 238) discusses the problem of reducing wasteful water use to improve the sustainability of water supplies. Most conservationists would agree that "demand management" strategies that reduce the demand for water are preferable to "supply management" strategies that call for development of new water supplies.
Demand management strategies typically include both technological solutions, such as water conserving toilets and showerheads, and measures that require altered human behavior, like turning off the tap while brushing your teeth. Although mechanical devices are often more expensive, they are usually easy to install and well accepted by consumers. By contrast, measures that require people to change the way they behave are often poorly accepted and may fail entirely, even if they are low in cost and easy to implement.
The problem is that most people just don't like change, especially if they don't understand the reasons for it. So when farmers are asked to change the nature or timing of fertilizer application, or city dwellers are asked to "stoop and scoop" when walking their dogs, it shouldn't surprise us that some people try to avoid the change. Nowhere is this more apparent than in water conservation.
A review of the most successful water conservation programs shows that change will not occur unless the public is ready to accept it. Persuading the public of the need for change usually means a carefully thought-out public education program. In some cities, this has meant media campaigns, for instance to increase public acceptance of reduced lawn watering during drought periods. With repeated exposure to advertising slogans like "When your lawn is brown, you're doing your part for our city!" people gradually begin to change traditional attitudes to their own and others' behavior. Public education is relatively inexpensive (compared, for example, to the development of new water sources), highly effective, and long lasting. Its success lies in its power to develop a broad public consensus that in turn becomes the foundation for successful implementation of change. Click on EPA's Water Efficiency Program to access the U.S. EPA's guidance on the development of water conservation plans. This site is intended primarily for use by municipal authorities, but provides useful insight into the components that EPA believes are central to effective conservation planning.
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