Day 8 (April 4) - The 5 R's of Water

A One Water paradigm means understanding that, as the US Water Alliance says: Water, in all its forms, is valuable, and our collective future depends on water. Working in drainage, and especially in wastewater, we often think of waste as waste. Our work is typically centered on safely conveying a public health and environmental nuisance. 

As we begin to imagine what One Water means for SPU, I was inspired by our peers from Vancouver to take a page out of Solid Waste’s playbook. In order to change our relationship to garbage, solid waste managers had to get people thinking of their waste as a resource. The framing for that shift was the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Subsequently other Rs have been added or proposed, but essentially, the Rs are about thinking about the natural resources that we depend on in a circular way – and, about rethinking waste…What if we took the “waste” out of wastewater?

The Water Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover and Restore paradigm (adapted from a google search on the 3-Rs):

1. Wherever possible, waste WATER reduction is the preferable option.

(Key water concepts: Conservation, Infiltration, Evapotranspiration)

2. If waste WATER is produced, every effort should be made to reuse it if practicable.

(Key concepts: Rainwater Harvesting and other forms of Building-Scale Non-Potable Reuse)

3. Recycling is the third option in the waste WATER management hierarchy. Although recycling does help to conserve resources and reduce wastes, it is important to remember that there are economic and environmental costs associated with waste WATER collection and recycling. For this reason, recycling should only be considered for waste WATER which cannot be reduced or reused.

(Key concepts: District Scale Non-Potable Reuse)

4. Recover materials or energy from waste WATER which cannot be reduced, reused or recycled.

(Key concepts: Wastewater Resource Recovery such as Sewer Mining)

5. Restore the ecosystems that healthy water systems depend on. 

(Key concepts: pollution prevention, watershed management)

 

 

 Rotterdam

 

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 Regionalism - A Sixth R

Water knows no borders only the boundaries of sheds.

 

Human systems of pipes, pumps and politics confuse that.


Climate change which is happening at bioregion and global level supersedes that.

 

The Dutch and Danish have been clear that managing our water systems and climate issues takes collaboration and working together at micro levels (within departments, between departments, with private/community partners) and macro levels (between regional agencies, governments, nations).

 

There has been considerable talk the past week about how having a bigger plan(s) that every entity can see themselves in and align to around water was crucial. Plans that offer big vision and integrate missions across silos and over long time horizons versus one-off projects and initiatives in specific locations were best practice.

 

This all felt comfortable and logical. So, why the panic when talk turned to needing “new eras of governance” and mindfulness in our management of water. Why both a flutter and then a lump in the throat when they discussed moving beyond government silo to the broader question of “public value management”.

 

Always present was a familiar theme of needing to pilot, practice and learn from failure but different in our face to face discussions with peers was the emergence of words like flexible budgeting, integrated budgeting, and district budgeting.

 

Was your initial reaction to reach for and protect your wallet too?

 

Let me be clear, the emphasis here was that working together also meant sharing budgets. To be sure, the thought is both simultaneously transformative and threatening.

 

Somewhere in here is a truth especially when we think about water’s true nature. Who does have rights? Who does it belong to except to all of us?

 

It would seem that planning and partnering regionally (micro and macro) is an important part of the equation.

 

We need to understand better our future role in that context. Is it the same as it has been or does it need to adapt too?