Document Details

The water footprint of water conservation using shade balls in California

Erfan Haghighi, Kaveh Madani, Arjen Y. Hoekstra | July 16th, 2018


The interest in quick technologic fixes to complex water problems increases during extreme hydroclimatic events. However, past evidence shows that such fixes might be associated with unintended consequences. We revisit the idea of using shade balls in the Los Angeles reservoir to reduce evaporation during the recent drought in California, and question its sustainability by revealing the water footprint of this technologic water conservation solution.

Keywords

storage, urban water conservation