The Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) has prepared this position paper which quantitatively examines the short-term economic growth impacts of water efficiency investments, specifically in terms of job creation, income, GDP, national output, water savings, and other benefits. For example:
- Economic output benefits would range between US$2.5 and US$2.8 billion per billion US dollars of direct investment.
- GDP benefits would range between US$1.3 and US$1.5 billion per billion US dollars of investment.
- Employment potential would range between 12,000 and 26,000 jobs per billion US dollars of direct investment.
Not only do investments in water efficiency generate economic benefits, they have several added advantages when compared to conventional infrastructure investments.
Investing in water efficiency now will, over the longer term, boost US manufacturing, help advance national energy policy, promote sustainable resource use, contribute towards greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and lessen mounting regional conflicts over water resources.