THE VALUE OF WATER, PART 1--DEFINITIONS

In water utility rate making hearings and meetings,it is common to hear customer grumbling against rate increases because water they drink, like air they breathe, is perceived to be free. Why should I pay for water that is free? customers object.

If water is free, does it have "value"? In recent years, partially in response to such objections, some industry writers have urged water utilities to inform their customers of the "value of water". Some have gone further to claim that rates for water service should be calculated based upon the "value" of water service to customers, not upon the costs of service.

When applied to water, the word and concept of "value" is capable of many different definitions, sums objective, some subjective. In fact, efforts to describe the "value" of water can take on a metaphysical proportions. Without the particular context for use of the word, reference to the "value of water" in reality can itself become meaningless.

What is "value" and how can it be quantified? What are the possible contexts in which water has value? Does the term "value of water" refer to life;; or to economic activity; or to environment; or to history; etc.? How can value rate making for water service work? Does informing customers of the "value of water" provide any benefit?

In following postings, I will attempt to explore some of the possible meanings of the "value of water"; the contexts in which water may have "value"; whether "value of water" can be measured; and whether the term, in fact, is meaningful.

LIFE CAN BE A GAS

It seems that everything on Earth is to be blamed for causing alleged climate change, except for the Earth itself. The latest culprits? Birdbaths, small ponds and cows.

According to a recent report, small ponds are a significant contributor of methane gas and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.* In fact, a study found that small ponds produced a disproportionate greater amount of these emissions than large ponds and lakes. These higher amounts of gases are said to result from the higher amounts of carbon sediment, such as leaves and droppings, in small ponds together with their shallow nature.

Perhaps, this discovery suggests that EPA should regulate all small ponds and even birdbaths to mitigate climate change. After all, birdbaths can accumulate leaf litter, seeds and bird debris of all sorts, surely contributing to global warming gases.

Another report asserts that cows are responsible for 26% of U.S. methane emissions, an amount almost equal to the 29% produced by vehicles and the oil and gas industries.** A mid-sized cow produces about 150 kilograms of methane per year, and the U.S. has about 98 million cows roaming around. Do the math.

The bovine methane machine results from the unique ruminant digestion system, featuring a mult-chambered stomach housing unique microorganism activity, including methanogens which create methane. It appears that cow methane is released primarily by burps, followed in lesser degrees by cow patties (manure) and flatulence. Cow manure produces 10% of U.S. methane emissions.

Scientists are trying to reduce cow emissions by altering cow diet and breeding cleaner cows through genetic engineering and other experiments.

A related development has been to use cow manure to produce electricity by means of anaerobic digesters to capture methane gas. The gas then is burned to generate electricity or is cleaned, pressurized and transported into natural gas pipelines. However, interest by farmers in such manure-to-energy technology has declined for economic reasons.

What is the solution to these methane producers? Fill in all small ponds, prohibit birdbaths and raise cattle only at power plants, so that burps and patties can be fed directly into generators? All of this cries out for more federal grants.

At any rate, puddles have become muddles. And, as Groucho Marx said in "Duck Soup", "I could dance with you till the cows come home. Better still, I'll dance with the cows and you come home."

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*Shelton, "Small Ponds Produce An Outsized Share
Of Greenhouse Gases," Yale News, February 1, 2016

**Beil, "Greener Cows," Science News, November 28,
2015, p. 22

***Kesmodel, "Bull Market Fades For Manure Power,"
Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2016, p. B1