Fossil fuel-driven power plants will free up billions of gallons of fresh water as they retire, according to new research being reported at AGU's Fall Meeting on Tuesday, 13 December. Credit: Greg Goebel/flickr
Water rights sometimes stay with the site, so net water availability depends on what replaces the fossil fuel-based power plant. When a power plant shuts down - either from policy changes or degradation - the water right isn't necessarily released back to rivers, surface storage or groundwater. If a more water-intensive use like a nuclear power plant replaces a coal plant, for example, no water may be freed up. But if it's replaced with something less water-intensive, the benefits can ripple downstream - literally. In many river basins, the models estimate that streamflow could increase by more than 50% by 2050.
"When that power plant goes offline, that water can be made available to downstream folks," Marston said. "We show that some of these water availability benefits can propagate hundreds of miles downstream, where they can help not only with environmental flows, but also with [human] water needs."
This effect is especially poignant in the western U.S., which faces worsening droughts. Some urban areas, especially like those in southern Colorado where water availability is a concern, have already been buying up water rights as power plants are decommissioned.
