Water in the time of corona(virus): The effect of stay-at-home orders on water demand in the desert

Nicholas B Irwin; Shawn J McCoy; Ian K McDonough

doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102491

Water in the time of corona(virus): The effect of stay-at-home orders on water demand in the desert

J Environ Econ Manage. 2021 Sep:109:102491. doi: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102491. Epub 2021 Jun 18.

Authors

Nicholas B Irwin¹, Shawn J McCoy¹, Ian K McDonough¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Economics at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, USA.

Abstract

In response to COVID-19, many U.S. states implemented stay-at-home orders to mitigate disease spread, causing radical changes across all facets of consumer behavior. In this paper, we explore how a stay-at-home (SAH) order impacted one aspect of behavior: the demand for water. Using a unique panel dataset of property-level water usage in Henderson, Nevada, we analyze changes in water usage from the SAH order, finding an initial and continuous decline in average daily usage for commercial and school users. In contrast, we find an initial increase in consumption by residential users with this effect increasing over time. Aggregated across all users, the SAH order led to an increase in net water usage between 32 and 59 million gallons over the first 30 days.

Keywords: COVID-19; Water demand.