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Mapping Water Use and Drought at Field to Global Scales
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Comparison of GHRSST SST analysis in the Arctic Ocean and Alaskan coastal waters using saildrones
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Urban outdoor water use and response to drought assessed through mobile energy balance and vegetation greenness measurements
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Superior single- and multi-component siloxane removal from water using a faulted silica DON zeolite adsorbent
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Modeling dissolved organic carbon in inland waters using an unmanned aerial vehicles-borne hyperspectral camera
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California Trees Seasonally Use Augmented Water Sources: Water Isotope Tracking in a Groundwater‐Dependent Ecosystem
Sustainable groundwater management must account for the needs of groundwater dependent ecosystems. To understand the relationship of ecosystems and seasonal water use, we studied the stable isotope composition (δ 18 O and δ 2 H) of water in streamside trees in a semi-arid streamside environment (Livermore, California, USA). We sampled seven trees at two sites every other month from April 2024 through April 2025 for tree xylem stable water isotope signatures. These data were compared to potential source waters: precipitation, imported surface water, soil water and regional groundwaters. Large daily precipitation events were found to be isotopically similar to regional groundwater and were thus treated as one water source. A Bayesian mixing model using stable water isotopes was used to determine the ratios of these three potential source waters (small daily precipitation events, groundwater/large daily precipitation events and imported water) present in tree xylem water. On average, tree water sources include 32% imported water (SD = 9%), 35% small daily precipitation events (SD = 10%) and 33% groundwater (SD = 3%), with significant seasonal variation (t summer-winter = 30.8, p < 0.01), particularly drawing more imported water (more than 55%) in the summer. While small daily precipitation events contribute only 10% of the total precipitation in our dataset, it represents a third of water used by trees. In addition, while these ecosystems are designated as groundwater dependent ecosystems, the trees use approximately one third imported water and even more during dry summer months. This approach provides water managers with a practical tool for quantifying ecosystem water needs, supporting data-driven decisions and regulatory compliance. While California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act emphasizes supporting groundwater dependent ecosystems, it allows flexibility in demonstrating benefits. In conclusion, our methodology provides a way to document that management actions (such as managed aquifer recharge with imported water) deliver measurable co-benefits to GDEs.
The Land Sparing, Water Surface Use Efficiency, and Water Surface Transformation of Floating Photovoltaic Solar Energy Installations
Floating photovoltaic solar energy installations (FPVs) represent a new type of water surface use, potentially sparing land needed for agriculture and conservation. However, standardized metrics for the land sparing and resource use efficiencies of FPVs are absent. These metrics are critical to understanding the environmental and ecological impacts that FPVs may potentially exhibit. Here, we compared techno-hydrological and spatial attributes of four FPVs spanning different climatic regimes. Next, we defined and quantified the land sparing and water surface use efficiency (WSUE) of each FPV. Lastly, we coined and calculated the water surface transformation (WST) using generation data at the world’s first FPV (Far Niente Winery, California). The four FPVs spare 59,555 m2 of land and have a mean land sparing ratio of 2.7:1 m2 compared to ground-mounted PVs. Mean direct and total capacity-based WSUE is 94.5 ± 20.1 SD Wm−2 and 35.2 ± 27.4 SD Wm−2, respectively. Direct and total generation-based WST at Far Niente is 9.3 and 13.4 m2 MWh−1 yr−1, respectively; 2.3 times less area than ground-mounted utility-scale PVs. Our results reveal diverse techno-hydrological and spatial attributes of FPVs, the capacity of FPVs to spare land, and the utility of WSUE and WST metrics.
NRIC Final Water Management Options
The purpose of this paper is to inform advanced reactor developers of the conditions and requirements needed to manage the water used to reject heat from advanced reactor demonstrations at the INL. While there are many advanced reactor concepts, all of them require heat rejection, and some plan to use water for hear rejection. Cooling water for heat rejection is frequently the largest fresh-water load for a nuclear reactor, and therefore the focus of water management. The type of reactor and its purpose, the physical conditions at the INL, and the regulatory structure of the demonstration also influence the optimal method of heat rejection. Choosing the best method of rejecting heat will significantly influence the cost and probability of success for any advanced reactor demonstration. One of the important considerations in the deployment of demonstration plants at the INL site is water use and its implications. Advanced reactor developers need to consider the limitations of the water consumption based on the state and federal regulations. The water consumption may become a limitation when the demonstration reactor capacities reach to conventional nuclear power plants.
Analysis of water–energy nexus and trends in support of the sustainable development goals: A study using longitudinal water–energy use data
Water and energy are two critical natural resources necessary for human activities and socioeconomic development. Water and energy systems are highly interdependent, and water efficiency and energy efficiency are two related indicators for the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. It is critical to improve energy–water use efficiency to sustain socioeconomic development while reducing adverse effects on natural resources, society and the environment. By using longitudinal energy–water use data for China over the past 21 years, this paper develops a temporo-spatial study to address key issues and introduce analytical approaches needed to understand the water–energy nexus and support integrated resource planning and management to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Decomposition analysis indicates that the production effect was the dominating factor contributing the increase in the country's energy–water use, while energy–water efficiency is the major factor slowing the growth of the country's energy–water use. Changes and trends analyses show that the country's energy intensity, water intensity, and water/energy ratio significantly decreased from 1999 to 2019, but the rate of decline has slowed. The disparities of the country's provincial energy intensities, water intensities, and water/energy ratios significantly decreased with economic growth. Results suggest that improving energy–water efficiency is critical for the country to curb increasing energy and water use and achieve resource and environmental protection targets with rapid economic development. Furthermore, the disparities between regional energy-water efficiencies can be reduced along with economic growth, while an overheated economy can widen the disparities and result in unsustainable and inefficient utilization of resources. Government coordination, targets and policy as part of the efficiency governance system are critical for continuous energy–water efficiency improvement and directly influence the implementation and effectiveness of energy–water efficiency policy.
Federal Water Management Planning Manual
This Federal Water Management Resource Guide provides direction to Federal agencies on how optimize water use at Federal facilities, use water balance analysis methods, identify design elements and procurement best practices, and expand use of alternative water. It provides best practices for managing water to be considered when developing or improving an effective facility water management program. PNNL developed this guide for the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). FEMP was directed by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to develop a Federal Water Management Resource Guide per the Implementing Instructions for Executive Order (E.O.) 13834, Efficient Federal Operations. This document serves to satisfy this requirement in order to provide best water management practices within the Federal Government.
Federal Water Management Planning Manual
This Federal Water Management Resource Guide provides direction to Federal agencies on how optimize water use at Federal facilities, use water balance analysis methods, identify design elements and procurement best practices, and expand use of alternative water. It provides best practices for managing water to be considered when developing or improving an effective facility water management program. PNNL developed this guide for the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). FEMP was directed by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to develop a Federal Water Management Resource Guide per the Implementing Instructions for Executive Order (E.O.) 13834, Efficient Federal Operations. This document serves to satisfy this requirement in order to provide best water management practices within the Federal Government.
Federal Water Management Planning Manual
FEMP developed this Federal Water Management Planning Manual to provide a resource for designing a comprehensive water management program. The manual describes strategies to optimize water use at federal facilities, use water balance analysis methods, identify design elements and procurement best practices, and expand use of alternative water.
A statistical and spatial analysis of water poverty using a modified Water Poverty Index
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Techno-Economic Analysis of Lithium Extraction from Geothermal Brines
The United States has a large, domestic source of lithium in geothermal fluids, especially at the Salton Sea region of southern California, where estimates of lithium pass-through at geothermal plants exceed 24,000 metric tons per year, based on 2019 geothermal plant operations. Lithium extraction from geothermal brines offers the potential to provide the United States with a secure, domestic supply of lithium to meet the increasing demands of electric vehicles, grid energy storage, portable electronics, and other end-use applications. Additionally, the use of direct extraction technologies allows for a more sustainable lithium supply relative to current evaporative brine and hardrock mining operations in terms of land use, water use, time to market with lithium products, and carbon intensity of operations. This report is part of an effort to assess geothermal brines as a source of commercial lithium supply for the United States. In this study, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) reviews and summarizes public technoeconomic analyses of lithium extraction technologies. The work was coordinated with the Critical Minerals Institute at the Colorado School of Mines who focused on supply chain analysis of lithium.
2023 Water Brief for Energy Applications [Slides]
The 2023 Water Brief for Energy Applications provides 27 maps related to energy applications water use, water availability and water stress.
Fluid Inclusions in Extraterrestrial Samples: Failures, Successes, Possibilities, and A Note of Caution
Over the past half century the search for life in the solar system and beyond has become a major research focus, with much effort devoted to finding evidence for liquid H2O and reduced carbon-bearing (organic) species in extraterrestrial samples. The most direct and convincing evidence for the presence of water and organic molecules is provided by fluid inclusions (FI)trapped in minerals that formed on the parent bodies. Beginning in the 1970s, reports of FI in extraterrestrial samples generated much enthusiasm within the planetary sciences community. However, many of the reported FI were determined to be artifacts of sample preparation, or incomplete characterization of features that appear to be FI, or were inconsistent with the inferred PT history of the meteorite sample. An early report of aqueous (and hydrocarbon-bearing) FI in stony meteorites and the subsequent follow-up study that showed that most or all of the “FI” contained water used during cutting and polishing of the samples led to a general unwillingness to believe later reports of FI in meteorites. One of the first confirmed occurrences of extraterrestrial aqueous (liquid) fluid inclusions in a meteorite was reported by Zolensky et al. (1999; Science), who described aqueous inclusions in halite in the Monahans and later the Zag meteorites. These meteorite falls were collected shortly after landing on earth and were prepared without using water or other fluids that could introduce artifacts. The oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition of water in FI in these same samples was later measured, showing that the fluids represent various degrees of water-rock interaction on the parent body .In more recent years, careful studies of FI trapped in extraterrestrial samples combining synchrotron X-ray computed tomography to locate FI in samples followed by cryo-TOF-SIMS analysis of the FI have identified the presence of molecular fragments suggesting the presence of H2O and various organic molecules in the fluids. Challenges associated with studying FI in extraterrestrial samples include the limited abundance of potential host phases for FI, such as carbonates and phosphates, the often poor optical quality of the host phases, and the small size of the FI, with few as large as 5 microns and most less than 1-2 microns in maximum dimension
Addressing global water stress using desalination and atmospheric water harvesting: a thermodynamic and technoeconomic perspective
A thermodynamic and technoeconomic analysis reveals that desalination can produce freshwater at a lower energy footprint and levelized cost compared to atmospheric water harvesting.