California Fights Drought With Data and Psychology, Yielding 5% Usage Reduction

dcblogs writes with an article about hackers using technology to mitigate the effects of drought. From the article: "California is facing its worst drought in more than 100 years, and one with no end in sight. But it is offering Silicon Valley opportunities. In one project, the East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland used customized usage reports .... that [compare] a customer's water use against average use for similar sized households. It uses a form of peer pressure to change behavior. A ... year-long pilot showed a 5% reduction in water usage. The utility said the reporting system could 'go a long way' toward helping the state meet its goal of a reducing water usage by 20% per capita statewide. In other tech related activities, the organizer of a water-tech focused hackathon, Hack the Drought is hoping this effort leads to new water conserving approaches. Overall, water tech supporters are working to bring more investor attention to this market. Imagine H2O, a non-profit, holds annual water tech contests and then helps with access to venture funding. The effort is focused on 'trying to address the market failure in the water sector,' Scott Bryan, the chief operating officer of Imagine H2O."

Comments

I have a better idea

[oic0]

Stop trying to farm and build huge cities in the desert. When you fuss about not being able to find enough water in the desert I just want to sit in my muddy, humid, rainy state... and watch you die of thirst.

Re:Manufactured Crisis

[iggymanz]

I'm against watering a barren blazing desert in the west trying to pretend its "farmland"

Reduce usage - pay more

[careysb]

In Denver we suffered through a drought that lasted a few years. There was a big campaign to get people to reduce their water usage - and it worked! People significantly reduced their water usage - so much that the water board was no longer getting the revenue that it said it needed. So, the rates went up.

Funny how the rates didn't go back down when the drought was over.

Also, not surprisingly, the golf courses got all the water they wanted.

Re:Reduce usage - pay more

[Ex-MislTech]

Yes 85% of water usage in California is Agriculture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W...

Re:Reduce usage - pay more

[mspohr]

Farmers in California grow a lot of rice which requires a lot of water. Most places that grow rice have lots of water. In California, even in "normal" years, there is no rain in the summer (dry season) so they have extensive dams and canals paid for by state and federal taxpayers which provide them lots of cheap water.
This year, there is a drought so the reservoirs are dry and the farmers are whinging seriously about "their" water.
California has lots of water for people... not so much to grow rice in the desert.
(Same argument applies to most California farming which uses an unsustainable amount of water to grow food in a desert.)