Highway I-5 and irrigation canals in California’s Central Valley. Photo by Doc Searls, and used under a Creative Commons license.
Module 7 is simply a week for catching up and reflecting—though I am asking you to do one new thing.
We’re about to head into a unit on water resources—and more specifically how different cultures have built systems that deliver water to cities and farms. I’d like you to leave one each of the following in a comment on this post:
- An observation about water and culture. This might be about its cleanliness, availability, transport, the fairness of its distribution, how it should be allocated, or anything else relevant to how humans collect, transfer, and use water. (These are all engineering issues, of course.)
- Find an article, blog post, report, or other text about water—again any of the topics mentioned in #1 above are fair game. (The article doesn’t have to be related to your observation for #1.) Pull out an interesting quote from the article and share it below. Leave a link to the article so we can find it.
- One question about water related to its engineering—again, any of the topics mentioned in #1 are fine.
That’s three things total: one observation, one question, and one quote.
Then, respond thoughtfully to three other people’s comments; they need not be people in your assigned group. (Also, as we move into the second half of the semester, we’ll be doing more group work outside of our assigned groups, so pay attention to who is saying smart things so that you can invite that person to work with you on a future project.)
I’ll be using your observations, quotes, and questions to shape our reading in modules 8, 9, and 10, so please select topics of interest to you.
I’ll leave a comment as an example.
Observation: Water is part of what Mark Fiege has termed “the ecological commons.” It transports—in rivers, ocean currents, irrigation canals, groundwater, and plumbing systems, for example—all kinds of stuff we never intended it to, including disease (legionella bacteria, for example), seeds of noxious weeds (e.g., Eurasian watermilfoil), invasive animal species (e.g., nutria), chemical pollution (e.g., pharmaceuticals), and plastics (e.g., the Pacific garbage patch). I’m kind of fascinated with how people who live in different parts of the world, or even different parts of the U.S., respond to or ignore this reality. Some people approach it as an engineering challenge, as something to be cleaned up or processed differently. Others point their fingers at large corporations, entire sectors of the economy (e.g., agriculture), or careless individuals. Few people will recognize or accept their own complicity in this degradation of the environment.
Quote: From this article about the current water crisis in Flint, Michigan: “In February, at Walters’ urging, the city sent an employee to test the water coming from her taps. A few days later, she received a voice mail from the water department, warning her to keep her kids away from the water. ‘You know when somebody calls and you can just hear the panic in their voice? It was that,’ Walters recalled. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there’s no safe level of lead in drinking water. The maximum concentration allowed by law is 15 parts per billion. The Walters’ tap water measured nearly 400 ppb.”
Question: Why, in a resourceful and technologically advanced nation like the U.S., do we still have difficulty delivering fresh, clean water to everyone?
Water is a very scarce thing and many do not realize all that getting water entails. If anyone has ever watched a well driller (which I have many times) they would realize how hard it actually is. In order to get water there are huge amounts of machinery and steel casing involved. This is also why they are so pricey. When drilling a well one has to consider the area, the depth, and where the water table sits, contamination factors, and much more. One thing that many people don’t know about well drilling is that you are not always promised to hit good water, you may not hit water. Even if you don’t, you are still charged for the well that was drilled and then will still have to pay for the one that does end up working. That is also why it is so important to know the area you are trying to reach water at. “There are no simple solutions, no detailed maps of ground-water presence, and no guarantees.” This was stated in an informative article about how to prepare to drill a well. Water doesn’t just pop out of the ground and we hook a pipe up to it, it’s a big deal. One question that we may ask ourselves is will we always have access to water? Or will our water tables ever fall and leave us with serious issues?
http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/PIC/pic23.html
I enjoyed reading your post. I never realized all that was involved with drilling a well and that you may not even hit water. It does makes sense if you stop to think about it, but unfortunately not a lot of people do until you are asked to do it as an assignment in class or here about a crisis on the news.
I to looked at the future of our water resource but started to read articles about other places that they have been finding water such as below the ocean floor and possibly in the earths crust/core,that could be used if the aquifers get depleted. It will be interesting to see how they extract and deliver the water if it does come to this . Also, it will be interesting to see the backlash that will happen when we are forced to limit our water consumption.
That’s an interesting topic that you chose! I never knew about how much work it took to actually manufacture water. My family lives out in the country so we have our own well which is kind of nice! Water source has never been an issue but I know how pricey they can be!
Your post was very informative about drilling for wells. We have a well at home, and I had no idea about the process, cost, or uncertainty. I appreciate our good well water, and now appreciate it even more. I have done a lot of research on the different sanitation methods for city supplied water, and it is much cheaper on a large scale than water is. It would be very difficult to supply very many people on strictly well water.
Observation: Water is an essential element to survival and is something that most people from developed countries take for granted. Unfortunately, it seems that we are using water at a faster pace than it can be replenished. This is true of the entire world’s water resources and it doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, water is something that people just assume will always be there because it seems that we have so much of it. As we start to deplete our aquifers, we will have to look at other options such as below the ocean surface or possibly exploring in the earths crust. With the exploration of finding more water reserves will come more destruction and unknown consequences to the earth. Also, what kind of engineering will need to be developed to transport the water if they are able to find it in the earths crust or how will they extract it from below the ocean floor. It will be very interesting to see how water is transported and the availability of it in the future.
Quote: from this article about the world largest aquifers being drained at unsustainable rates” Twenty-one of the world’s 37 largest aquifers — in locations from India and China to the United States and France — have passed their sustainability tipping points, meaning more water was removed than replaced during the decade-long study period, researchers announced…. Thirteen aquifers declined at rates that put them into the most troubled category. The researchers said this indicated a long-term problem that’s likely to worsen as reliance on aquifers grows.”
Question: Why do we not try and conserve water availability now to correspond with the amount replenished, instead of waiting until it becomes a crisis?
http://www.naturalnews.com/050422_aquifers_worldwide_drought_NASA_data.html
I agree with you that we should be trying to find alternative water sources before it becomes a crisis. It is hard for us to think about what would happen if the Earth ran out of water, because it would be so detrimental. The fact that our developed country takes so much water for granted is causing many negative consequences that our country should be much more concerned about. I think we tend to take it for granted because none of us have really seen what it’s like to be short on water, while other people have had to deal with that hardship.
Very good point on how we should try to find new ways to retrieve more water supply. I know I myself am guilty of taking water for granted most times. Its eye opening to really see what the effect it does to our economy and world, its honestly saddening. I think we could all try more to preserve water by small daily things like showers, and doing dishes. What would we do if there was no more water. I think it would eventually lead to dooms day
I think your question is a great one. I was saying what is it going to take for the crisis to happen? It is something so simple yet it is taken for granted and there might be a time when we will not have much water.
I don’t think people really care too much. Its the study was a decade long and i personally didn’t know we were draining our aquifers so quickly. Conservation and closer monitoring of the aquifers and having the government put limits on their water use like California.
Great post! I think all to often water is taken for granted and we do not respect the resource as much as we should. Without water we would be nothing, literally nothing. Its amazing at all the different things that water has to offer us.
Having to find more water sources will be a win-lose situation. The human beings will need this water to survive, however it’s ruining the earth we live on if we have to go to extreme measures to find it. And at the rate we are going in it appears that we might have to do just that.
Observation: In the past, it has been difficult for scientists to observe the global water cycle. But, in recent years there has been major advancements in the Earth observation satellite systems. These satellites are the tools we need to learn more about the water cycle and its parameters. I think these recent advancements are due to the times we live in. We currently are facing the issue of global climate change and being able to observe the whole Earth’s water cycle will help with water resources management.
Quote: A site created by the National Resources Defense Council says “Clean and plentiful water provides the foundation for prosperous communities. We rely on clean water to survive, yet right now we are heading towards a water crisis. Changing climate patterns are threatening lakes and rivers, and key sources that we tap for drinking water are being overdrawn or tainted with pollution.” this quotes resonates with my observation about rising alarm with water availability and quality, due to pollution, climate change and other factors.
Question: What are some things that I could do as an average person every day to conserve water, that makes a significant difference?
I think it is beyond amazing what we can now observe with the satellite systems and am glad that they are able to learn more about the global water cycle. The web site you quote is very interesting and I wonder if the technology to give use the information to show we are already in a water crisis will be the wake up call for everyone to jump on board and start conserving water.
For me as an individual, I try and do what I can to conserve water but I do have a half acre with a big front yard, back yard and garden area along with a family of four that all take shower and like to use the double rinse cycle when washing clothes. I think if we all become a little more aware of this then more people would try and take small steps to do what they can until forced to take drastic measures.
I definitely agree with the little steps on conserving water. Sometimes it is easy to take water for granted with showers and letting water continuously run when brushing our teeth or washing our hands. It is crazy to me how far our world has come with technological advancements that actually allow us to predict the future to an extent, or show cause and effect scenarios.
The satellite tools that are used are beyond me. I think that is something that is amazing to see what technology can do. At the same time there needs to be more done by us to not waste water which leads me into your question. I thought it hit a good point to think about little steps that we can do to conserve water.
I also agree with learning steps on conserving water. I didnt realize how much we depend on water until i deployed to Iraq in 2005. While there we were under a water conservation protocol. This entailed taking “combat” showers which is wet the body, turn off water, wash the body, then rinse off. It was stressed to us that if we ran out of water, we would be forced to take baby wipe showers. I learned how little water you could actually use. On a side note the water we were provided with was non-potable, meaning you shouldnt drink it, so brushing teeth was done with bottled water. Learning to conserve water is hard to “teach” people, until they are put in a situation where it is required.
I think a big way to conserve water would be to not leave the sink running when brushing your teeth or washing your face. I know that sounds silly but it’s amazing how much water really runs! I know I’m guilty of this especially when I’m shaving my face and stuff like that. It’s easy to overlook how lucky we are to be a state that has plenty of water.
Observation: Water is essential for life on earth. It covers approximately 71% of the planet’s surface and makes up about 60% of the human body. Water is recycled in the ecosystem through runoff, sublimation, transpiration, condensation, evaporation, and precipitation in a process known as the hydrological cycle. By introducing contaminants and physically altering the properties of this cycle, humans can have drastic effects on the environment. Some of these effects include acid rain, groundwater contamination, droughts, and floods – to name a few. The water cycle is also affected by human impact on other natural processes, such as the carbon cycle. This can be seen in the current phenomenon of global warming, which is occurring due to the mass amounts of greenhouse gasses being released into the environment.
Quote: From an article about the effects of diverting water from Mono Lake to Los Angeles, “In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began diverting Mono Lake’s tributary streams 350 miles south to meet the growing water demands of Los Angeles.
In 1962, Mono Lake had already dropped almost 25 vertical feet. Deprived of its freshwater sources, the volume of Mono Lake halved, while its salinity doubled. Unable to adapt to these changing conditions within such a short period of time, the ecosystem began to collapse.”
http://www.monolake.org/about/story
Question: Where do we draw the line between supplying populations with clean drinking water and the effects that diverting the water has on the environment? What other methods could be used to supply drinking water to drought-stricken areas like L.A. besides transporting the water from a large distance away?
You have a very good point about how the humans have effected the water system. With all the new technological advancements in the society, you would think there would be a new way to filter water that isnt harmful to anything. Global wamring, acid rain, and groundwater contamination are easily seen in my opinion on how humans can effect it, but I never thought about floods and droughts. It was very insightful to read your post.
i don’t know the answer myself but i think it is very important. To be able to solve that would hugely beneficial no only to Califorina and other parts of the states but also other parts of the world. Transportation of water is hard, neighboring states don’t want thousands of miles of pipes going through there area, draining a resources for their land for something that they wont immideatly benefit from.I suppose that you could look at where the water has gone. is it a matter of contamination/dirty water than needs cleaning? is it being horded by bottled water companies like california? or is it simply not there anymore?
The human effects on water are frightening; I believe that most people are uninformed when its comes to keeping our environment and water healthy. Your questions were very thought-provoking for me. Humans NEED water to live, but the cost and damage to the environment in order to obtain water is incredible. We are used to a seemingly unlimited supply of water for whatever we wish to use it, and this has led to wastefulness and a lack of concern for conserving it.
My opinion of water is obviously that it is essential to life. People use it for many reasons and the most important reason is to hydrate our bodies. Water comes in forms of water bottles, filtered water sinks, and rivers. People take water for granted here in the United States. They waste water bottles, leave water running while brushing your teeth, or taking longer showers for no reason. The US is very fortunate to have the privileges that we do including fresh drinkable water. Water is offered for even the “poor”, at a mcdonalds, or shelters. Almost everybody has access to it in the United States. Some people of course take it for granted more so than anyone else though.
Question: If you lived in a different country, would you still use water so freely?
Quotes: “Users do not value water—and so waste
it. To a large extent the subsidies do not end up with the
poor but are captured by the rich.”http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/fileadmin/wwc/Library/WWVision/Chapter2.pdf
If I lived in a country where water was scarce or I didn’t have clean water I would like to think I would have a totally different view towards the subject. Its scary to think that there are countries out there that don’t have clean water to drink.
I think you would care more about your water if you lived in a third world country like many in Africa and south east Asia. If you lived in Europe i’m sure you wouldn’t have any problem with accessible water!
I think it is also important to realize that they are currently places in the U.S. that are suffering from a lack of water, or water that is unfit to drink – such as Flint, Michigan and places in California. This being said, I agree that the majority of Americans take water for granted and wouldn’t use it so wastefully if they lived in a country where it wasn’t readily available.
I really enjoyed your post and all of the elements that you were able to tie together to show how one change effects many other things. Also, showing how vital water is to the plant but our bodies as well.
I think you would use water as your society teaches you. Most places where water is scarce teach the children from a very young age not to waste the little bit they do get or else they will have none and if this happens there is a high possibility you will die.
I completely agree with your observation. Being from Idaho I admit to leaving water running and taking a longer shower than needed, throwing away a water bottle with some water left. When I am in places that I know are a drought I’m a little more conscious of how much I use water. But I agree that if my life depending on if I was getting water or not than I would be much more careful with my waste of water.
If I lived in another country (depending on what one) I’m sure I probably wouldn’t abuse water usage like I do. I think my actions would be similar to when I’m camping. When camping you conserve as much water as possible because you have a limited supply for the time your gone. Some countries aren’t as fortunate as us when it comes to that sort of thing so it’s important to look at them and see how lucky we are here in America.
1. Water is something that I believe everyone takes for granted here in the U.S. We usually don’t think twice about how much water we waste whether it is brushing our teeth or doing the dishes. Along with that having clean drinking water is vital and is a luxury that this country has. I have a couple buddies that are affiliated with a company called Vivid Roots. Many of you may have heard of it but long story short they are on a mission to bring clean water to countries that do not have that luxury. These guys are local here in Boise and they are making a movement to push for clean water all around the world.
2. “3.4 MILLION people around the world die each year from water related disease. Children are in the most danger because their immune systems cannot fight off the diseases carried in the dirty water they are drinking.”
http://vividroots.com/pages/why-water
3. What will it take for us to change the way we use water? In other words what has to happen for people to stop taking water for granted?
I think that the only way people are going to stop taking it for granted is when they need it most. As soon as people cant easily assess water by turning on a faucet is when they will start to care and think about how they use water
i think if you look at California and how cities literally have no water right now and how for so long scientist have told California they were losing water, you can see it takes something huge to shake people up. Even now you don’t hear about it as often because the people that matter still have water there and everyone else? they don’t matter. The probably is slowly but surely we have become desensitized to the cost of resources. we pay for $3 bottles of water, we pay high water bills during the summer, we are willing to spend hundreds of dollars getting passes for water parks. it’s all happened so slow that now we willingly do a lot of these things for resources. to make a change it would have to be completely gone. not just a little remaining or a drought,
I agree with Logan, it will take an extreme event for the public to come to a realization. It took me being on an island during a typhoon to realize how good we had it. After the typhoon power and water went out for almost a week. Its surprising how much you depend on the “simple” things.
Observation: California is currently encompassed by a massive drought which covers all but 2% of California. Since I have lived in Idaho my whole life, I haven’t really had any problems with access to water. We usually have a wet enough winter to fill our reservoirs to use for the next summer especially with all our farming and livestock which consumes far more water than we do. California on the other hand has gone almost 3 years without sufficient winters to fill their reservoirs which accounts for 1/3rd of the water that California uses annually. Their state government just finished signing off on even higher restrictions of urban water use. I don’t know why California isn’t just using there 3,500 miles of coast line and purifying salt water.
Quote: “Dry years have left millions of acre-feet of empty space in reservoirs across California. That space cannot be filled by several typical winter storms or even a particularly powerful storm. Groundwater basins also are stressed, with many areas relying heavily on water in underground aquifers to make up for the lack of surface water supplies in 2013, 2014 & 2015.”
Question: Why doesn’t the California state government invest in water purification plants to purify ocean water in order to combat their severe drought?
http://saveourwater.com/what-you-should-know/dry-year-facts/
The main issue with distillation plants is you will be working against yourself. For example when the salt is removed the place in which they put the salt is back into the sea. Thus making the process to remove salt even harder as salt becomes more concentrated. Now do that at a large rate you will be stuck pulling more and more salt out for every gallon you of water you clean.
I agree that desalination plants could and should be used to help with the water shortages in California. I think the main problem with these plants right now is that they are rather inefficient. Money should be invested to make the reverse osmosis systems more efficient so that seawater can be used as a cost-effective means of supplying Californians with clean drinking water.
Observation: Not many can say they have seen ,first hand, unique ways in which water has been reused. I am a lucky one who can, most point of views, even mine, commonly go to bleak outlooks on water and its future. I want to talk about the brighter side of that coin. I know that water is being used at an alarming rate, according to Boise WaterShed about 20 to 30 million gallons of waste water goes through their plant a day, that otherwise would be dumped in the nearest river site. Knowing this that is just the Boise area not even higher populated cities throughout the united states.
Quote: Let me preface this quote with this has been and is being done, “Cleaned-up sewage is nobody’s first choice for drinking water.” According to the article and a few videos a company in Texas has been taking waste water such as water from sinks, showers, and yes even toilets, cleaning it and pumping back down into the ground in the aquifers. The next step is to skip the pumping and bottle it after it has been cleaned.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/business/global/26iht-green26.html?_r=0
How long will it take before water is a more profitable business than oil?
While recycling drinking water from our waste water might not initially sound like an appetizing idea to the average American, it is actually a really smart idea that I think needs to be more implemented into society. Your question about water becoming more profitable than oil is very thought provoking. I think how fast it becomes more profitable depends on the rate at which we transfer from oil to alternative energy sources, as well as our ability to come up with innovative ways to produce more drinking water and limit our water usage.
Bottled water is already more profitable than oil. especially with the low prices of oil at this time. In 2014 the average cost of bottled water was $1.20 that multiplied by 42 gallons (which is the standard for a barrel of oil) =$50.40, which is considerably higher than a barrel of oil which at this time is roughly $32 a barrel.
Adding on to what Nicky said, maybe a good question to look at would be WHEN did water become more profitable than oil. Sure people have killed for oil but water is a resources. and just like oil it is finite if consumed incorrectly and without care. We already know thanks to bottled water companies in california several cities are without water right now. which allows them to drive their prices higher because people need water to survive. It’s really interesting to me in a sad way the estimated figures Nicky put down and how that monetary divide with probably increase.
I like the question that you asked. I think that one way water will become more profitable that oil is when it is scarce, like everything. If there is not a large supply people pay more money to have it and it usually costs more to get the source.
1. water use:
Humans seem to never able to properly judge their consumption of water. They have a poor understanding of what is enough and what is excessive. Growing up Idaho water is not an unfamiliar topic to me. I remember fish and game experts coming in to teach us about keeping the rivers clean by not littering. I remember summers of the news giving helpful hints to keep your water bill down. water at night or in the morning when it will evaporate less quickly. The green belt, a predominate water feature runs through Boise state, i see it every day as do thousands of other students and civilians. Yet we use water as freely as we please without serious consideration.
2. Find a article, quote and question
” If you plugged agriculture into the per capita water use, Maupin says, each Idahoan would come out using more than 10,000 gallons a day. Despite Idaho’s small population, agriculture makes it one of the biggest total water users in the country. ” This quote is pulled from an article called ‘why Idahohans use more water at home than anyone else in the country’ by Adam Cotterell. Now why Idaho was rate #1 state in the u.s. for water consumption baffles me but this quote really drives home the excessive of it all. 10,000 gallons. per day. per person.
Question: if agriculture accounts for most of our water use, and already we are taking steps to more efficient water use, in what what way can we improve ourselves by lowering our total consumption without sacrificing our income/ability to feed ourselves?
http://boisestatepublicradio.org/post/why-idahoans-use-more-water-home-anyone-else-country
I really enjoyed reading your information. One thing that really gets to me is people taking advantage of water. By that I mean using it when they dont need it, letting it run etc. This rubs me wrong because I come from a family of farmers and I see farmers and ranchers struggle all the time with water and land rights. Perhaps if water wasnt wasted as often it would be more avaiable in these situations.
Hi Indea,
I really enjoyed reading your observation, and how you brought in a personal example with what you were taught as your grew up. After living here for 4 years, I have definitely noticed that Idaho puts a lot of importance on keeping their water supply clean from trash and other pollutants. I liked your quote as well, and how it explained how much water is used by each Idaho individual.
Growing up, we always had to fight for water. With a large amount of pasture and cattle, water was vital for how my family made a living. They way that we had to fight to keep our water rights were with payments. Yet I can remember that there was multiple times where the price of water jumped substantially, and the price was high to begin with. This really hurt our way of life.
So when asked to observe whether the distribution of water is fair I take it a little differently than most. To me water isn’t gained by just turning the nozzle on a hose bib, you have to pay arm and leg for it. I believe that there is a much better way of handling this.
Observation:
Bottled water is a $80+ billion dollar industry. This industry has led to some of the highest consumption rates of water, which is not necessarily a bad thing. People drinking more water than other calorie containing drinks is healthier. But due to this higher consumption it has put a bigger strain on our water supplies. “According to some estimates, it takes up to three liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water.” So with a higher consumption under the belief that bottled water is “healthier”, has led to effectively tripling the consumption rate. Bottled water is not any safer than tap water. Using tap water as your primary source could potentially lower the strain on the aquifers.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/03/100310/why-tap-water-is-better/
Why has bottled water become so prevalent in our lives?
Observation: Water cleanliness is a huge issue world-wide, but something we take for granted in the United States; we rarely (if ever) have to worry about having access to clean drinking water. Water quality relates to ecosystem health, safety of human contact, and human consumption. Different uses have different standards of quality; usually, a reasonable estimate of ideal conditions is set, and quality control revolves around keeping the water around this standard. Water pollution is a huge issue in water quality due to human activities such as construction, farming, and transportation. In the United States, water quality is monitored at the state level, and reports are required every other year.
Quote: “Another general perception of water quality is that of a simple property that tells whether water is polluted or not.” This quote shows that the quality of water is a complex issue. It is more than just pollution and run-off; environmental factors have a big effect on water, and there are “chemical, physical, biological, and radiological characteristics of water.” Keeping water drinkable and usable for humans is a large and complex task.
Question: If water is so difficult to maintain, why isn’t there more educating being done on the issue? In what ways can we help daily to maintain water quality?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_quality
Hi Madison,
I like how you talked about water cleanliness and filtration in your post. I think it is a very important observation to make about our different cities within the United States filtrate their water supply. For within certain cities, their filtration is not as extensive as others, leaving certain pollutants still in the drinkable water. Great post!
Nice post! I am very interested in water cleanliness, because I am an active fly-fisherman and I could not imagine trying to fish in polluted water. I especially enjoyed your perspective on how we take water cleanliness for granted and how living in the United States has hindered the value of clean water.
Observation: Irrigation and its advancements have always interested me. My family and I have a couple acres, and in order to water our pasture we have to irrigate. I think that it’s interesting how the water is allotted, and that groups of people are put onto committees in areas in order to organize who gets what, when, how, and who maintains the ditch. I know first hand that if you don’t maintain all the ditch, and something happens, everyone is liable. It is also interesting how much control the city has over your ditch if they want to.
Quote: “The first known effort at irrigated farming in Idaho was by Henry Spalding in 1838 as he atempted to keep the first potato plants grown in Idaho alive (he and some Nez Perce Indians tried growing potatoes and other crops at the Spalding Mission in northern Idaho). Later, in 1855, Mormon missionaries introduced the Shoshone Indians to irrigated farming in southern Idaho. The early ditches built then are still in use today in the Lemhi Valley.” I think it’s really interesting to know when irrigation in Idaho came about, since we are a naturally a desert, we wouldn’t be able to farm as we currently do without it.
Question: What are currently the problems of irrigation in Idaho? Is there anything we could do to improve conditions?
That’s really interesting. I knew a lot of planning went into building the irrigation ditches themselves but I never thought about how they would need committees to maintain the ditches. Do you know if the committees are volunteer based?
Daniel, I really enjoyed your post. Your quote interested me a lot, I had no idea the first attempt at irrigation was for farming potatoes. Do you know where at in Idaho Henry Spalding attempted this?
Observation: Water is actually now a bigger problem occurring in the United States. If you may have noticed, California is having a drought crisis and is low supply of water. It’s effecting the economy and ecological life. The problem we thought could be avoided because of technological engineering is now at our doorstep.
Quote: “Most of California is experiencing “extreme to exceptional drought,” and the crisis has now entered its fourth year. This month, signaling how serious the current situation is, state officials announced the first cutback to farmers’ water rights since 1977, and ordered cities and towns to cut water use by as much as 36 percent. Those who don’t comply with the cuts will face fines, but some farmers are already ignoring the new rules, or challenging them in court.”
Question: What could other states that aren’t effected by the California drought help?
https://www.propublica.org/article/california-drought-colorado-river-water-crisis-explained
Observation: Water is essential to life. Depending on what parts of the world people live in people are willing to travel miles on miles to get to clean water. If people are not careful and something pollutes a water source people and animals in many places will suffer from that. Not only needing water itself but having access to water can also be a big part of power, shipping things across the world often use large bodies of water and cities with large ports are crucial to getting supplies from place to place.
Quote: “Navigation issues have long had a place in water resources planning. Building and maintaining harbors, ports, and waterways is necessary to the economic health of nearby communities and the nation as a whole.”
http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Po-Re/Ports-and-Harbors.html#ixzz41UI3Qg7v
Question: What waterborne illnesses effect the most people in the world? And how are people finding solutions to fix this?
Hi Kayla,
Very good observation! I think water is one of the resources most people do not think of as essential to our life. I like how you pointed out how there are people all around the world that do not have access to clean water, and they have to travel miles away from their home just to be able to have this resource. To people like us, we can just go to our faucet and get clean enough water to drink due to our cities filtration systems.
Observation:
– Out of all of the resources people use in the world, water is obviously the most important for it is what keeps all of us alive. And over the past couple of years, multiple states within the United States of America have seen some issues involving the amount of water delivered to their communities. For the state of California, this drought issue is actually one of the biggest problems the state is trying to overcome. Due to the lack of rain and snow the state is receiving, the lakes contain the supply of water for the state, are reaching record low in water levels. Most of the cities within the state have put drought restrictions in how much water a household can consume. Some households do not water their lawns, letting their green grass go dead. Personally, I have seen come families collect any run off when it does rain to water plants, collect the water that normally drains into the drain while warming up their shower, and also some do not even flush the toilet as often to prevent water usage.
Quote:
– From the CBS News, they had this quote to show the seriousness of the drought in California. “The average daily water usage per person in Palm Springs is 201 gallons, more than double California average. Communities where residential customers use more than 165 gallons of water per person per day would have to cut back by 35 percent.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/californias-drought/
Question:
– What are some other techniques California and other states use to combat the issue of the drought they are and could experience in the coming future?
Observation: Back in the year 2014, one of our states declared emergency on one of the largest droughts in history. California has been suffering from a significant loss of water since then. Due to the current climate change the status of the drought is exacerbating due to the lack of snowfall in the mountains. Another cause of the drought was due to California being a heavy agriculture state. The groundwater usage increased significantly when surface water allocations were reduced which forced farmers to pump wells from underground. California being one of America’s biggest states obviously has a large population of people. With this comes more food supply. Because of the drought, there has been a severe shortage in the amount of crops able to grow from the lack of irrigation. This has greatly impacted the citizens of California due to the simple fact that they can’t landscape, use running water frequently and so on. I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to not be able to water my land because of the drought. My parents have a pasture so not being able to water the pasture so our cows could feed would be seriously detrimental. Hopefully in the years to come the drought will get better and in the mean time Idaho is doing all we can to help the situation.
Quote: A U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday showed 81% of California in the category of extreme drought or worse, up from 78%. Three months ago, it was 68%.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-california-drought-worsen-20140718-story.html
Question: How do you think a water drought this severe would impact you? What would you have to change in your daily routine to help get your state back on track?
http://read.hipporeads.com/5-key-facts-about-the-california-drought-and-5-ways-were-responding-to-it/
Great post! I especially liked your quote and I am astonished by the percentage of California in extreme drought. My grandparents also own pasture land and I couldn’t imagine how they would fair without water.
You mentioned that the drought in California has a lot to do with the large amounts of agriculture there, but it made me think about the population of California using water as well. Ag use of water combined with every day human needs for that many people makes it understandable that there is such a drought, and it makes me wonder what other methods of water they could try? Are there options other than relying on mountain run off?
Observation: Many of us are aware of the scarcity of water and how we have depleted aquifers in multiple parts of the world, but one aspect I feel that is not talked about enough is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch residing in the Pacific Ocean. This patch is heavily concentrated with plastic, chemical sludge, and other debris that is littered into the ocean. The Great Pacific Gyre is a large system of rotating currents created by large wind movements. The current allows all of this plastic and chemicals to constantly swirl in the middle of the ocean. This leads to catastrophic problems with marine life and the consumption of plastic by sea turtles and other animals. This garbage patch is a severe problem and needs to be addressed quickly.
Quote: “Oceanographers and ecologists recently discovered that about 70% of marine debris actually sinks to the bottom of the ocean.”
http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/
Question: What can we as a society do to help keep our waters clean?
http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/