WATER AND ENERGY

Water—or more specifically, the lack of it—is both a defining quality of the American
West, and a critical element of the region’s economics, politics and culture.

Water and energy are inextricably linked, and not just through hydroelectric plants. It
takes tremendous amounts of water to mine coal and operate coal-fired power plants or
support oil shale production. It also takes a tremendous amount of energy to extract
water, treat it and deliver it to residential customers.

In the already arid West, climate change is expected to lead to more frequent and
stronger droughts at the same time that higher temperatures increase demand for more
energy. This will aggravate existing competition for water between growing cities,
agriculture and power generators.
• In 2000, thermoelectric power generation (coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear
fueled power generators using a steam turbine based on the Rankine
thermodynamic cycle) accounted for 39 % of all freshwater withdrawals in the
U.S. 1

• Thermoelectric power generation in the U.S. withdraws 136 billion gallons of

water per day
• and consumes 3.3 billion gallons per day. 2

• Extracting coal (mining and washing it) consumes an estimated 70 to 260 million
gallons per
• day.3
• A 500-MW coal-fired power plant uses over 12 million gallons per hour of water
for cooling steam turbine exhaust.4
• Providing 25% of U.S. oil demand from oil shale would require 400-1000 million
gallons of water per day.5

• Available surface water supplies have not increased in 20 years, and

groundwater tables and supplies are dropping at an alarming rate. New
ecological water demands and changing climate could reduce available
freshwater supplies even more. At the same time, populations continue to grow
and move to areas with already limited water supplies.6

• Water demands for urban populations, agriculture, and power supply are
expected to increase, and conflicts over water rights are likely to increase. If total
precipitation decreases or becomes more variable, extending the kinds of
drought that have affected much of the interior West in recent years, water
 scarcity will be exacerbated, and increased water withdrawals from wells could
affect aquifer levels and pumping costs.7
• About 4 % of U.S. power generation is used for water supply and treatment.
Electricity represents approximately 75% of the cost of municipal water
processing and distribution.8
• Warming is virtually certain to increase energy demand… could jeopardize the
reliability of service in some regions by exceeding the supply capacity…Higher
temperatures also affect costs of living and business operation by increasing
costs of climate control in buildings. 9
• Reduced hydropower would mean the need for supplemental electricity sources,
resulting in a wide variety of negative ripple effects to the economy and to human
welfare.10
• More than 30 million people in 7 states rely on the Colorado River for their water.
But since the 1970s, the Colorado Basin has warmed more than any other region
in the Lower 48, contributing to a serious reduction in the amount of water in the
river. The Colorado’s two main reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are only
45 and 50% full, respectively. 11

• There is a 10% chance that Lake Mead will be dry by 2014, and a 50% chance
that the lake will be dry by the year 2021, if climate change continues and water
use isn’t curtailed. 12

• Carbon capture and storage could further increase water use at fossil-fuel based
plants. 20 – 30% of a plant’s power output is needed to capture and condense
the CO2. This energy penalty translates directly into additional water use.13
•
1 DOE Report to Congress, “Energy Demands on Water Resources” , 2006
http://www.sandia.gov/energy-water/docs/121-RptToCongress-EWwEIAcomments-FINAL.pdf
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4National Energy Technology Laboratory, “Estimating Freshwater Needs to Meet Future Thermoelectric Generation
Requirements: 2007 Update,”www.netl.doe.gov

5 DOE Report to Congress, “Energy Demands on Water Resources” , 2006

http://www.sandia.gov/energy-water/docs/121-RptToCongress-EWwEIAcomments-FINAL.pdf
6DOE Report to Congress, “Energy Demands on Water Resources” , 2006
http://www.sandia.gov/energy-water/docs/121-RptToCongress-EWwEIAcomments-FINAL.pdf
7EPA: Analysis of the Impacts of Global Climate Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems, 2008 http://
www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap4-6/sap4-6-draft3.pdf

8 DOE Report to Congress, “Energy Demands on Water Resources” , 2006

http://www.sandia.gov/energy-water/docs/121-RptToCongress-EWwEIAcomments-FINAL.pdf
9EPA: Analysis of the Impacts of Global Climate Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems, 2008 http://
www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap4-6/sap4-6-draft3.pdf
10 Ibid.
11Rocky Mountain Climate Organization/ NRDC, Hotter and Drier: The West’s Changed Climate, 2008. http://www.nrdc.org/
globalWarming/west/fwest.pdf

12 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, “When Will Lake Mead Go Dry?’ Timothy P. Barnett and David W.
Pierce, 2008. http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/prrl/2008-06.html

13 Personal Communication, Stacy Tellinghuisen, Western Resource Advocates, August 2008