ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINTS TO ENERGY DEVELOPMENT; HOW WATER RESOURCE LIMITATIONS CONSTRAIN DECISION MAKING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION

Over 80% of water withdrawals in the U.S. are used to support energy and crop production; and water shortages regularly result in curtailments in energy and food production. Yet, surprisingly little is known about the lifecycle water impacts of energy and crop production, and very few U.S. research programs investigate how water resource limitations constrain our ability to produce energy and sustain our economy, environment, and quality of life. Thus, little is known about whether various plans for improving U.S. energy security while reducing greenhouse gas emissions are practical from a water resource perspective – or whether such plans would impact our capacity to adapt to unavoidable climate change.

This paper begins to assess this issue by (i) evaluating how various water constraints impact energy decision making at both a systems and local/regional level; (ii) providing initial lifecycle water estimates for a selection of representative energy generating technologies; and (iii) demonstrating how these considerations impact energy decision making. We conclude with a discussion of the challenges that must be considered when doing lifecycle water evaluations, and a summary of key issues that lifecycle water calculations must address.