Sustainable Water Supply
This is an old and continuing problem. The city of Reno, NV is expected to have shortage of water by 2020. The city of LA has a large watershed to redirect to the city; this water is also needed for agriculture and for fish habitats. There are some things that can be done to reduce the demand for water.
Water allocation for agriculture tends to be a set allotment that would be shrunken the following year if the full allotment is not used. A change would be to encourage the agriculture business to use less water without the threat of losing the full allotment or allow them to sell the unused water.
Households use drinking water for everything from washing clothers/dishes, watering the lawns and a small portion for cooking and drinking. One way would be to collect rain water for use to flush toilets and for washing.
The more that water can be reused the longer we can put off shortages in the future. The West has a history of droughts that have forced populations to move; the Anasazi were not able to survive in the conditions in the arid west and disappeared after living in the area for centuries.
