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The energy–water nexus: are there tradeoffs between residential energy and water consumption in arid cities?

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Abstract

Water scarcity, energy consumption, and air temperature regulation are three critical resource and environmental challenges linked to urban population growth. While appliance efficiency continues to increase, today’s homes are larger and residents are using more energy-consuming devices. Recent research has often described the energy–water nexus as a “tradeoff” between energy and water due to reduced temperatures resulting from irrigated vegetation. Accordingly, some arid cities have implemented landscape-conversion programs that encourage homeowners to convert their yards from grass (mesic) to drought-tolerant (xeric) landscapes to help conserve water resources. We investigated these relationships in Phoenix, Arizona by examining energy and water data for the summer months of June–September 2005 while temperature variability was analyzed from a local heat wave. Results show parallel consumption patterns with energy and water use strongly correlated and newer homes using more of both. The counterintuitive findings show that “drought-resistant” models may not be beneficial for community health, environment, or economics and that this issue is further complicated by socio-economic variables.

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Acknowledgments

This study is based upon research supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant Nos. DEB-0423704 Central Arizona - Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER), SES-0951366 Decision Center for a Desert City II: Urban Climate Adaptation, and GEO-0816168 Urban Vulnerability to Climate Change. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendation expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. In addition to the anonymous reviewers that provided constructive comments to improve this study, the authors would like to thank Arizona State University scientists Elizabeth A. Wentz, PhD, Susanne Grossman-Clarke, PhD, Juan Declet-Barreto, Scott Kelley, and Sally Wittlinger as well as the Salt River Project (SRP) and Arizona Public Service (APS) for providing data on electricity use, and the cities of Mesa, Phoenix, and Tempe for data on water consumption.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Spatial Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, AHF Building B55, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-0374, USA

    Darren M. Ruddell

  2. Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University, PO Box 5448, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA

    P. Grady Dixon

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  1. Darren M. Ruddell
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  2. P. Grady Dixon
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Correspondence to Darren M. Ruddell.

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Ruddell, D.M., Dixon, P.G. The energy–water nexus: are there tradeoffs between residential energy and water consumption in arid cities?. Int J Biometeorol 58, 1421–1431 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-013-0743-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-013-0743-y

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