Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

As competition for water increases in California in the coming years, potential resolution of the water imbalance will be focused not only on technical "fixes" but also on changes in lifestyles which affect the patterns of consumption and development of water. Different patterns of water use are evident in California's culture and tradition. Through the evaluation of water-intensive and water-conserving modes of behavior, lifestyles can be assessed for their adaptability to future change. In examining the relationship between lifestyles and water, a typology was constructed on the basis of two variables: (1) consumption of water versus activities in or on the water which allow multiple uses, and (2) direct use of water versus indirect (embodied) use of water. This typology resulted in four different categories: (1) direct residential consumption of water for gardening, bathing, cooking, and drinking; (2) indirect consumption of water embodied in food and manufactured goods; (3) direct "experience" of water as in sports and recreation; and (4) indirect "experience" of water as part of tourist sites and ecological settings. Examination of these categories reveals that certain lifestyles use or depend on large quantities of water, and that some of these lifestyles are associated with demographic features (e.g., income and education) which are projected to increase in California in the next twenty years. Nevertheless, in contrast to a likely increase in water-intensive lifestyles, waterconserving lifestyles are expected to increase also. In an era of increasing energy prices, water costs, sewage treatment and septic tank overloads, capita! constraints, and environmental degradation, supply options appear to be less favorable than conservation as remedies to the water problem. Demographic trends, positively correlated with income and education, also favor water conservation. The drought experience in California during the mid-1970s demonstrated that water conservation by individuals and municipalities was an effective and practical approach for meeting regional water needs. If opposition to large-scale construction of water projects continues, as expected by many observers of California water politics, encouragement of water-conserving lifestyles may be one of the few legitimate policies government will be able to pursue without resorting to overt force. Future scenarios for California suggest that cot\flict between water-intensive and water-conserving lifestyles will continue to exist; however, cooperative arrangements will be developed more easily if water conservation is an acknowledged policy.