What is it about?
Reuse of water has been expanding across the U.S. What has motivated states to allow more water reuse and recycling? Drought? Environmentalism? Agricultural need?
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Why is it important?
From a practical perspective, if we can understand what has led some states to expand reuse of water, other states can learn from their experience. Other studies have examined why states adopt environmental policies such as energy efficiency policies or greenhouse gas emissions limits. Adoption of water policies has not been examined before. With this study we can see if the patterns and drivers of water reuse are the same as for energy and greenhouse gas policies. We found that the drivers are different. Water reuse policy has been driven mostly by internal drivers, specifically drought, population growth, and economic reliance on water. This is different from the pattern for energy and climate policy, which has been driven more by external factors such as the behavior of neighboring states
Perspectives
Water reuse has direct benefit for the reuser of the water. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions also can have direct benefit for the reducer of the emissions, because reducing emissions often saves money. But GHG emissions also have broader societal benefits, and do not always directly save money. So, the motivations for adopting water reuse policy may differ from the drivers of GHG emission reduction policies. Also, policies for water reuse generally involve loosening restrictions, whereas energy efficienc and GHG emissions reductions may involve tightening. This is another reason that water reuse policy adoption may have different motivations than GHG and energy efficiency policies.
Valerie M. Thomas
Georgia Institute of Technology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Internal determinants or external drivers? The case of U.S. water reuse policy adoption, Resources Conservation and Recycling, April 2025, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.108072.
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