The Importance of Water Resiliency
Water is cheap, and we typically don’t treat it as a premium resource. But as Benjamin Franklin once said, when the well is dry, we know the worth of water. Extended cycles of drought, shorter periods of rainfall, the threat of seawater incursion and a diminishing Sierra snowpack have jeopardized the reliability of our region’s water supplies. Yet Silicon Valley’s prosperity depends on secure and adequate water supplies.
What would it take for Silicon Valley to stop importing fifty percent of our water and design for water self-sufficiency?
Catalyzing Action
To catalyze action towards long-term resiliency in water supply and management in Silicon Valley, SSV organized the Silicon Valley Water Summit in December 2009. As a follow-up to the forum, SSV established a water usage reduction initiative modeled after our successful CO2 emissions reduction efforts. Beginning in 2010, SSV Partners can track and reduce their organization’s water usage, much as they do CO2 emissions. In addition to helping facilitate reduced water use, the SSV water initiative is also coordinating pilot projects to test advanced solutions for site-based, distributed water treatment and reuse.
EcoCloud™
Sustainable Silicon Valley has a new venture. EcoCloud™ is a virtual space where business leaders and facility managers can work with technology innovators, researchers, and government agencies to make enterprises more sustainable and profitable. Sustainable water use is one of four EcoCloud™ focus areas. The EcoCloud™ website provides tools to help you with your business decisions. One of the initially available tools, showcased at SSV's 2010 WEST Summit, is an ROI calculator. EcoCloud™ draws on the latest social networking tools so that participants can collaborate, learn, plan and make valuable connections.
Learn More
Water For more Resources on SSV’s Water Initiative