by Ugne Ulozeviciute
Daily Lobo
Four UNM economics professors say that raising the price of water is one way to promote conservation and could make excessive water use a thing of the past.
One of the professors, Janie Chermak says, "Prices give us an idea of how valuable a good is. Would another gold rush occur if gold was only $5 instead of $500?"
According to Albuquerque's water conservation Web site, water costs only 1.19 cents per unit. Water prices are determined by the cost of transporting water to a location, not water availability.
Chermak, along with fellow professors David Brookshire, Stuart Burness and Kate Krause, believes that Albuquerque's low water prices don't motivate people to conserve the resource because it is so cheap.
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Raising the price of water, the professors say, would decrease the demand for excess water for activities such as watering lawns and long showers.
"People respond to higher prices," Brookshire said. "If the base water price was higher, people would be more motivated to cut back on water excess and use water primarily for necessities such as cooking and drinking."
According to the Albuquerque Public Works Web site, residential water use accounts for 71 percent of all water use in Albuquerque.
The department's research shows that, on average, a resident uses more than 2,000 gallons of water each month and that the average family of three consumes a staggering 8,300 gallons of the non-renewable resource a month.
In May 2001, the city passed a 2.5 percent price increase, but a more substantial hike is necessary for long-term conservation, the professors say.
The city of Albuquerque offers rebates ranging from $100 to $500 on water-saving alternatives such as using refrigerated coolers instead of swamp coolers, using dishwashers that use seven gallons of water per load or less and installing a gray water recycling system that complies with new state regulations.
Under the current water conservation program, water usage per person has dropped from 250 gallons a week in 1995 to 197 gallons in 2002.
But Albuquerque can do better, the professors say.
"While the city of Albuquerque has initiated several beneficial, worthwhile programs, there is still more that can be done to prevent the region from facing the reality of a depleted water supply," Chermak said.
According to the Department of Interior's "Water 2025: Preventing Crises and Conflicts in the West" fact sheet, the West is experiencing a population explosion, frequent water shortages and aging water facilities.
The professors stress that raising the base water price is only one key to securing Albuquerque's future water resources.
In addition, extra research on implementing a price increase and its consequences, such as the price effect on low-income families, is still being conducted by state offices and universities including UNM.
"We are in this predicament together," Brookshire said. "Years of abusing this resource has left us with our backs against the wall when it comes to reversing the damage we've done to our water table. We need to act fast and implement as many new programs as possible to control the use of the precious key to life that is water."
