How much do you pay for water?

Actually, the question should be do you pay for it at all?  The answer is “no” in almost all cases.

Yes, most of us open the checkbook to pay for monthly water bills, but did you  realize that what you’re really paying for is the cost of the water treatment plant, the energy required to operate it, the systems storage and transmission system, the salary and benefits of the workers that treat and bring the water to your home or business?

The water itself, with very few exceptions, free.

And that must change for communities across the United States to head off an approaching crisis over the availability of fresh water, said Robert Glennon at the University of Arizona. Glennon, professor of Law and Public Policy in the Rogers College of Law, served as moderator of The Intelligent use of Water Summit III, sponsored by Rain Bird. The Aug. 31event at the university featured five speakers focusing on using water more efficiently.

But while the presentations were fascinating, each offering a brief look at a different aspect of the water issue (from reducing water use in golf courses to an ambitious program to enlighten grade school children), it was Glennon who spoke most forcibly and convincingly of the need for all of us to get water smart.

“The United States is moving toward a water crisis,” said Glennon, referencing a Government Accountability Office survey of water managers that showed that 36 states anticipate local, regional or statewide water shortages by 2013.

The usual methods of providing more fresh water to meet increasing demand — building more dams, diverting rivers, drilling more wells —are pretty much tapped out, he said. With an estimated 113 more people in the United States by mid century, demand will far exceed supply if current use patterns persist. And this doesn’t take into effect factors such as global warming (resulting in a smaller snow pack in the Rockies, the source of most of the water for the U.S. Southwest), increasing pollution, plummeting ground water tables and a national water capture/delivery infrastructure that a 2002 GAO report said needed at least $224 billion in improvements and additions just to keep up with demand.

Part of the answer to this growing dilemma, he stressed, is to use the water we have more efficiently. This can be accomplished either through government action, such as watering bans and restrictions, or by market forces.

Glennon favors the market route putting a monetary value on water in addition to the related costs of treating and delivering it. He also believes prices should be tied to usage. In other words, the more water you use, the more you pay.

Glennon is the author of many books and articles. His best-known work is “Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America’s Fresh Waters,” Island Press, 2002.