Sustainability Solutions Institute Hosts UCSD Water Collaborative Kick-Off

November 4, 2009

By Tiffany Fox

As one of the largest clients of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, UC San Diego consumes 800 million gallons of water annually and spends
a whopping $6 million per year on water and sewage services.

Taking the University of California, San Diego, off
the "water grid" is a daunting proposition. As one
of the largest clients of the Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California, UC San Diego
consumes 800 million gallons of water annually
and spends a whopping $6 million per year on
water and sewage services.

But going "off-grid" is precisely the direction the
university's Sustainability Solutions Institute (SSI)
would like to take the campus. At the kick-off for
SSI's UC San Diego Water Collaborative earlier
this month, Director Paul Linden called the
impending water shortage in California "a local
problem with huge consequence for the globe."
Reducing UCSD's dependence on imported water supplies, Linden said, would not only save the university money in the long run, it would also cement its status as a leader in sustainable solutions.

Hence the establishment of the Water Collaborative, a regional initiative to understand what it will take to achieve water sustainability. SSI, which is based at the UCSD division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), is recruiting members of the campus community to conduct research and experimentation in an effort to stimulate, demonstrate and evaluate water conservation and re-use strategies. The initiative will include a conceptual study evaluating technologies and practices for readiness, cost and potential impact, as well as technical seminars and public outreach for innovators and practitioners to share ideas and engage with the broader community. The collaborative will incorporate a network of partners from water agencies, other universities, non-profit organizations and the business community.

   SSI Director Paul Linden 
   (pictured left) calls the 
   impending water shortage in
   California "a local problem with 
   huge consequence for the globe."

   "We have not only a moral
   commitment but also a financial 
   commitment to see what we can
   do to reduce water consumption,"
   said Gary Matthews, UCSD Vice
   Chancellor of Resource Management
   and Planning and a featured speaker at the kick-off event. "With 13 million square feet of facility space and up to 52,000 people on campus on any given day, UCSD represents a small city.

 "We want to reduce consumption by 20 percent in the next five years," Matthews continued, "and to do that, we feel it's imperative to have common-sense leadership in the sustainability of UCSD's operations."

Mike Dettinger, a research hydrologist and climatologist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, noted in his kick-off presentation that San Diego — and the UCSD campus in particular — will face a number of water-related challenges in the near future. Eighty to 90 percent of California's water supply is already imported, he added, and water demand is expected to rise 30 percent by 2030. Meanwhile, climatologists predict significant declines in regional precipitation and a 20 percent reduction in the Colorado River's stream flow, which is a source of much of San Diego's water.

"By mid-century, San Diego will be contending with increased water demand, limits on local supplies and current Colorado river arrangements, as well as a decline in water imports," Dettinger said. "With these scenarios, there are gaps to be filled."

UCSD Vice Chancellor of Resource Management and Planning Gary Matthews noted that UCSD has already taken a number of steps to reduce water consumption, including reclaiming water for irrigation, planting native vegetation that requires less moisture and installing water efficiency fixtures.

The campus, he suggested, can lead the region in exploring and developing new methods for demand management, re-use and possible desalination, which are "the only 'sources' of water in our hands," he added. "We need to learn how to exploit them to the fullest."

Matthews (pictured right) noted that
UCSD — which includes water
conservation in its master plan —
has already taken a number of steps
to reduce water consumption,
including reclaiming water for
irrigation, planting native vegetation
that requires less moisture and
installing water efficiency fixtures,
including roughly 4,000 efficiency
sprinkler heads that were installed
in the last year (the nozzles use 30
percent less water). In addition, the
campus has limited the use of fountains, restricted vehicle and equipment washing and committed to repairing any water leaks within 24 hours.

UCSD leadership, which predicts $1 billion of new campus construction every five years, is also working toward designing all campus buildings to meet the "silver" standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The campus also has plans in place to become a global demonstration project for sea water cooling, which, according to Matthews, could save $4 million in energy and 100 million gallons of water per year.

"We also want to create viable infrastructure for storm water treatment and increase awareness of watershed connection to the ocean," he noted. "Groundwater runoff is an issue for us, being so close to the coast."

The next steps for the Collaborative will be to encourage faculty to register interest in research areas, to designate team leaders to coordinate initial meetings and to secure funding through seed grants and other sources secured through SSI.

Added Linden: "If we're going to teach or preach about sustainability, we certainly need to practice it. This Water Collaborative presents several research opportunities in technology, behavioral/health modification and economics. I think it's a fascinating challenge to figure out how to do this. If we're going to take this forward, we really need the help of the entire campus community."

The Collaborative hosts a Technical Seminar Series open to members of the UCSD community including UCSD faculty, students and staff in Calit2's Atkinson Hall, Room 4004. Its next technical seminar will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, featuring Michael Motherway of DXV Water Technologies.
     
For more information, contact SSI Project Manager Kim McIntyre, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or (858) 822-1483.

Media Contact: Tiffany Fox, 858-246-0353 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it