Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7 th Ed. Water Use and Management.

Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.

Water Use and Management


Outline:

• Water Availability and Use

• Freshwater Shortages

• Water Management and Conservation

• Privatization of water

• Water wars


WATER RESOURCES

• Water, liquid and solid, covers more than 70% of world’s surface. More than 370 billion billion gallons.


Hydrologic Cycle


Sources of waterSources of water

Surface fresh water: 3% of liquid water,

which is 13% of fresh water,which is 2.4% of water


Groundwater

Second largest reservoir of fresh water.- Infiltration - Process of water percolating

through the soil and into fractures and permeable rocks.

Zone of Saturation - Lower soil layers where all spaces are filled with water.

Water Table - Top of Zone of Sat.


Groundwater


Groundwater

• Aquifers - Porous layers of sand, gravel, or rock lying below the water table. Artesian - Pressurized aquifer intersects

the surface. (Water flows without pumping)• Recharge Zone - Area where water infiltrates

into an aquifer. Recharge rate is often very slow.

- Presently, groundwater is being removed faster than it can be replenished in many areas.


Groundwater Aquifer


Water diversions from riversWater diversions from rivers

Yellow River (Huang He)In northern China

Colorado River Deltain U.S./Mexico


Diversion of rivers to the Aral Sea

• Once the 4th largest inland body of water in the world

A series of dams was built to irrigate cotton.

• Aral Sea reduced to about 25% of its 1960 volume, quadrupled the salinity of the lake and wiped out the fishery. Pollutants became airborne as dust, causing significant local health problems.

• The environmental damage caused has been estimated at $1.25 -$2.5 billion a year.


U.S. Water Policy

• Through most of US history, water policies have generally worked against conservation. In well-watered eastern states, water

policy was based on riparian use rights. In drier western regions where water is

often a limiting resource, water law is based primarily on prior appropriation rights.

- Fosters “Use it or Lose it” policies.


Ogallala Aquifer

High-capacitywellwithdrawals


Dried-up reservoirDried-up reservoir


Western U.S. water conflictsWestern U.S. water conflicts

Klamath Basin, OregonKlamath Basin, Oregon

vs.vs.Farmers.Farmers.

Ranchers.Ranchers.““Wise Wise Users”Users”

Commercial fishers,Commercial fishers,Sport fishers,Sport fishers,Tribes,Tribes,EnvironmentalistsEnvironmentalists


Bulk water transfers

River system diversions(Canada-to-U.S.)

Water pipelines(Canada/Great Lakes-to-Southwest)

Supertankers(North America-to-Asia)

Canadian government banned bulk transfers in 1999.



Groundwater replenishingGroundwater replenishing


WATER AVAILABILITY AND USE

• Renewable Water Supplies Made up of surface runoff and infiltration

into accessible freshwater aquifers.

Readily accessible, renewable supplies are 400,000 gal /person/year.


Drought Cycles

• Every continent has regions of scarce rainfall due to topographic effects or wind currents. Water shortages have most severe effect in

semiarid zones where moisture availability is the critical factor in plant and animal distributions.


Types of Water Use

• Withdrawal - Total amount of water taken from a source.

• Consumption - Fraction of withdrawn water not returned to its source.


Types of Water Use

• Worldwide, humans withdraw about 10% of total annual renewable supply.

Many societies have always treated water as an inexhaustible resource.


Quantities of Water Used

• Human water use has been increasing about twice as fast as population growth over the past century.

Average amount of withdrawn worldwide is about 170,544 gal/person/year.


Global Water Use Growth


Precipitation Patterns


Water use

Agriculture

Industry

Household/municipal


FRESHWATER SHORTAGES

• Estimated 1.5 billion people lack access to an adequate supply of drinking water. Nearly 3 billion lack acceptable sanitation.

• A country where consumption exceeds more than 20% of available, renewable supply is considered vulnerable to water stress.


A Precious Resource

• 45 countries have serious water stress, and cannot meet the minimum essential water requirements of their citizens.

More than two-thirds of world’s households have to retrieve water from outside the home.


Depleting Groundwater

• Groundwater is the source of nearly 40% of fresh water in the US. On a local level, withdrawing water faster

than it can be replenished leads to a cone of depression in the water table,

- On a broader scale, heavy pumping can deplete an aquifer.

Mining non-renewable resource.





• Withdrawing large amounts of groundwater in a small area causes porous formations to collapse, resulting in subsidence.

Sinkholes form when an underground channel or cavern collapses.

Saltwater intrusion can occur along coastlines


Saltwater Intrusion


Domestic Conservation

• Estimates suggest many societies could save as much as half of current domestic water usage without great sacrifice or serious change in lifestyle.


Typical US Household Water Use


12% of population uses 85% of water12% of population uses 85% of water

MajorityMinority

BymajorityByminority

WATER WARSWATER WARS



Price Mechanisms

• Charging a higher proportion of real costs to users of public water projects has helped encourage conservation.

Yet discriminates against poor.


Global water Industry Over $140 Billion a year

The World Water and Wastewater Utilities Market is estimated at $142 billion US in 2000…

(2000, $US)


Water multinationals


Public/private water in EU countries

95

100

82

63

25

100 100

96

100 100 100 99

90

98

12

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Belgium

Denmark Ge

rmany

Spain

France

Greece

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

Netherland

s

Austria

Portugal

Finland

Sweden

UK

Public

Private


1,489

1,6211,716

1,8031,848 1,841

1,784

1,9081,993

2,0502,100 2,100

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

average annual price (FF) for yearly consumption of 120m3, water & sanitationSource: DGCCRF

Municipal/RégiesDelegated/Private

Public and private prices in France


““Water War” in BoliviaWater War” in Bolivia

Cochabamba residents protestingBechtel privatization of

municipal water system, 1999


Private and public: subsidies to and from water

Private

Loss leaders

Subsidies from taxation

Public

Financing other MNC operations

Financing other public services

Water

services


Alternative: Porto Alegre, Brazil

- Autonomous department- Efficiency and public accountability

‘Participatory budgeting’- Decentralised democratic prioritising


Alternative: Debrecen, Hungary

• Preferred public to private

• Cheaper

• Financial comparison


Safety of municipal Safety of municipal water supplieswater supplies

Wisconsin, 1993Wisconsin, 1993

Australia, 1998Australia, 1998

(privatized system)(privatized system)

Ontario, 2000Ontario, 2000(gov’t had dropped(gov’t had dropped

e-coli testing)e-coli testing)


Bottled water costs more than oilBottled water costs more than oil


Bottled water quality in questionBottled water quality in question


Bottled water growthBottled water growth

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1970 1980 2000

Billions of gallons


WaterWaterPrivatizationPrivatization

WoodstockRiot 1999Fewer

bubblers inpublic

buildings?


Perrier/Nestle in the U.S.Perrier/Nestle in the U.S.

TexasTexas FloridaFlorida


Perrier/Nestle in the MidwestPerrier/Nestle in the Midwest

WisconsinWisconsin MichiganMichigan

Mecan SpringsMecan Springs(Waushara Co.)(Waushara Co.)

1999-2000;1999-2000;Big SpringBig Spring

(Adams Co.),(Adams Co.),2000-20022000-2002

Protection ofProtection ofrural suppliesrural supplies

from high-from high-capacity wellscapacity wells



‘New Geography of Conflict’

“Possible flashpoint for resource conflict”Water systems & aquifers• Jordan• Nile• Tigris – Euphrates• Amu Darya• Indus• Mountain Aquifer (West Bank/Israel)”


Middle East Water Conflicts


Israeli-Palestinian Water Conflict

Israel uses 82%Of West Bankgroundwater;charges Arabs 3x


Israel’sboundarywith Egypt and Gaza(Palestine)


Dead SeaShrinkage


Tigris and Euphrates riversTigris and Euphrates rivers

TurkeyTurkey

IraqIraq


International cooperation on water useInternational cooperation on water use


WebsitesWebsitesWater resourceshttp://www.worldwater.org/http://www.groundwater.com/Privatization of waterwww.canadians.org/blueplanethttp://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/Bottled waterwww.saveamericaswater.comwww.savemiwater.orgwww.waterissweet.orgwww.saveourspringsinc.orgWater Wars (books)www.southendpress.org/books/waterwars.shtmlwww.mapcruzin.com/rev_resource_wars.htm

http://www.worldwater.org/

http://www.groundwater.com/

http://www.canadians.org/blueplanet

http://www.canadians.org/blueplanet

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/

http://www.saveamericaswater.com/



http://www.waterissweet.org/

http://www.saveourspringsinc.org/

http://www.southendpress.org/books/waterwars.shtml




http://www.mapcruzin.com/rev_resource_wars.htm

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Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7 th Ed. Water Use and Management.

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