A new report by the U.S. Geological Survey says per capita, Americans are using less water now than they were 15 years ago. Researchers say that’s a sign that conservation is working. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports, environmental groups say the report paints an incomplete picture:
Transcript
A new report by the U.S. Geological Survey says per capita, Americans are using less water now
than they were 15 years ago. Researchers say that’s a sign that conservation is working. But as
the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports, environmental groups say the report
paints an incomplete picture:
According to the report, technological advances in irrigation and power generation are allowing
people to do more with less water. And the report says household water use is keeping pace with
population growth.
Reg Gilbert is with Great Lakes United. He says there’s not enough information in the report.
Gilbert says he’d like to see how water use is impacting ground and surface water supplies.
“It’s just basically not enough, because the USGS isn’t really given the charge to get the
information that’s needed, and certainly isn’t given the money to put out the kind of report that
would be fully useful.”
Gilbert also says this is the first USGS report that does not break out water use data for the Great
Lakes region. The report’s author says Great Lakes data wasn’t compiled because there wasn’t
enough money to do it.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Sarah Hulett.