Water Withdrawals in the Delaware River Basin: Past Trends and Future Planning 2014 AWRA Annual Water Resources Conference Tyson’s Corner, VA Kenneth F. Najjar, Ph.D., P.E. Branch Manager, Delaware River Basin Commission November 6, 2014 Today’s Talk … …is about: • Where we have come from regarding water use in the DRB • What are the current trends • Where might we may be heading “A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure” ‐US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Fast Facts: Delaware River Main stem river is 330 miles long Drains 13,539 square miles of watershed. 15+ million people (about 5% of the U.S. population) rely on the waters of the Delaware River Basin Water withdrawal in the Basin = 8.3 billion gallons a day Contributes over $21B in economic value to the Region. Delaware River Basin Commission Founded by Compact in 1961 Five Equal Members: Delaware New Jersey Pennsylvania New York Federal Government Note: New York City and Philadelphia are “advisors” and not members U. S. ESTIMATES 1950 - 2005 530 U.S. POPULATION TRENDS AND GROWTH IN TOTAL WATER DEMAND 5 USGS report: Estimated use of water in the United States in 2005 TRENDS IN DEPLETIVE USE IN THE DELAWARE RIVER BASIN The Delaware Basin total DWU shown in the above figure: ‐ corresponds to the whole basin and includes DWU from surface water and groundwater sources 6 ‐ does not include out‐of‐basin diversions to NYC (via Rondout reservoir) and NJ (via the Delaware & Raritan Canal) DRB – Total Withdrawals 8,279 Million Gallons / Day Hydroelectric 394 All Other 10 NYC 494 NJ (D&R Canal) 90 Agriculture 61 Self‐supplied Domestic 114 Industrial 680 Mining 57 Non‐agricultural Irrigation 2 Public Water Supply 863 Thermoelectric 5,514 DRB – Total Consumptive Withdrawals 886 Million Gallons / Day NJ (D&R Canal) 90 NYC 494 Agriculture 55 Self‐supplied Domestic 11 Industrial 34 Mining 11 Non‐agricultural Irrigation 2 All Other 5 Public Water Supply 86 Thermoelectric 97 Daily Water Withdrawals, Exports and Consumptive Use in the Delaware River Basin 394 Total Water Withdrawals (ground and surface) from the Delaware River Basin: 8,361 mgd 10 575 90 Agriculture 61 Self-supplied Domestic 114 Industrial 681 Mining Non-agricultural Irrigation 57 Public Water Supply 2 Thermoelectric Hydroelectric 863 All Other 5,514 NYC NJ (D&R Canal) Major Exports from the Delaware River Basin: 665 mgd Consumptive Use in the Delaware River Basin: 302 mgd 5 90 55 11 34 97 11 2 575 Pie chart values in9mgd (million gallons per day) 86 Public Water Supply Drinking water fountain in Portland, Oregon. Photo from Creative Commons by Zervas/flickr. Aggregate Withdrawals of 40 Public Water Supply Systems in the DRB (Million Gallons/Day) 1,100 1,000 DRB Population 9.0 8.0 7.0 800 700 6.0 600 5.0 500 4.0 400 3.0 300 200 2.0 100 1.0 0 0.0 Millions Million Gallons / Day 900 Withdrawals Example of Urban vs Suburban Trends Allentown Water Auth (D‐1984‐016 CP, ENT #102) 1400 Million Gallons / Month 1200 Allocation: 1170MG/30d 1000 800 600 400 200 0 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Lehigh County Auth (D‐2001‐020 CP‐5) 300 Million Gallons / Month 250 Allocation: 256.25MG/30d 200 150 100 50 0 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Power Generation Exelon’s Cromby Station; courtesy of Exelon Corp. Total Withdrawals for 37 Thermoelectric Facilities in the DRB Million Gallons / Day 8,000 Withdrawal 12 per. Mov. Avg. (Withdrawal) 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 Total Consumptive Use for 37 Thermoelectric Facilities in the DRB 160 Million Gallons / Day Consumptive Water Use 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 12 per. Mov. Avg. (Consumptive Water Use) Thermoelectric: Cooling systems Exelon ‐ Limerick, PA (Evaporative Cooling) 2,295 MW 40 MG/d withdrawal; 32 MG/d consumptive use Limerick Generating Station, Unit 1; credit www.nrc.gov PSEG – Salem, NJ (Once Through Cooling) 2,380 MW 3,100 MG/d withdrawal; 21 MG/d consumptive use PSEG Nuclear; credit www.pseg.com Lehigh Watershed Thermoelectric Monthly Water Withdrawals in Million Gallons per Day 7 Million Gallons per Day 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Industry Delaware City Refinery ; Credit PFB Energy website 40,000 All DRB Industrial Facilities Bethlehem Steel Closes 35,000 30,000 Million Gallons / Month 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Delaware City Refinery Offline Consumptive Use Trends 1994 ‐ 2012 300 Bold lines indicate 12 month moving average of consumptive use 250 Million Gallons per Day 200 Combined 150 Thermoelectric 100 Public Water 50 Industrial Water 0 What does it all mean? ∗ Big picture: Relatively flat demand w/localized demand pressures (geographically and by sector) ∗ PWS: ∗ Conservation efforts have helped to offset population growth ∗ Power: ∗ Trend away from Once Through Cooling to Evaporative Cooling ∗ Evaporative Cooling – potentially allows consumptive use to move upstream/tributaries (compared to Once‐Through) ∗ Industry: ∗ Decreased water use over time, sensitive to loss of large facilities ∗ Refineries in the Basin have gone through a period of great uncertainty, appear to be stabilizing for the moment Future Water Use Planning Mega‐Trends • Demographics: Certain watersheds experience higher demands while others drop; inter‐watershed transfers increase • Climate Change: Droughts require flexible conservation schemes and additional short‐term storage strategies • Water Efficiency: Additional conservation measures may provide public water use reductions • Ecological Flows: Determination of actual aquatic needs may alter water withdrawals and reservoir operations Future Water Use Planning Energy/Water Nexus • Energy Demand may continue to climb resulting in higher consumptive use from cooling towers • Possible Shale Gas Development: May threaten base flows in small streams in the Upper Delaware • Natural Gas power plants and new customer markets: Will require pipelines cutting across natural landscapes to deliver natural gas • Energy Exports from estuary ports: Ditto plus increased navigation use Thank You 2014 AWRA Annual Water Resources Conference Water Withdrawals in the Delaware River Basin: Past Trends and Future Planning Kenneth F. Najjar, Ph.D., P.E. Branch Manager, DRBC November 6, 2014
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