Introduction
Water scarcity has become a global concern because access to clean and safe drinking water is a major challenge. Many people who can access it take it for granted, waste it, and sometimes even pay too much to get it from small plastic bottles. It is high time that this limited essential resource for every creature on earth is managed wisely. It is paramount that water should be managed with care during this period when the world faces climate change, which leads to an increase in demand from growing populations in several areas.
In the United States, the problem is threatening future survival since powerful rivers, including Colorado, are beginning to run dry. Lake Mead in Arizona might be obsolete due to the dramatic changes present. However, government bodies are resolving the challenge to improve water flexibility and hence reducing demands experienced by the biggest water users. Advance financial incentives and tools that include irrigation and water transfer are also being implemented to ensure water security for the entire environment. Water consumption is hard to regulate because the ever-growing population survives with water more than food.
Problem
Causes and Effects
Harsh climatic conditions today impact the water supply in various regions. America is reaching a dangerous dead pool due to the weather crisis and overconsumption. The hydroelectric power stations can no longer be energized by the flow downstream since Lake Powell and Mead, both in Arizona, are at their lowest levels (Hayibo et al., 2020). Natural disasters, including floods, droughts, and other water-related events, have contributed to the water shortage over the last 20 years. The frequent droughts have resulted in water supply shortages, further leading to increased dependence on groundwater due to resilience and buffer measurements to unpredictable weather. Rises in water demand due to population growth and irrigation for farming have also been intensified by the impacts of climate change, for instance, temperature escalations and precipitation reduction. Rainfall decrease and heat rise result in increased surface water evaporation, thus decreasing soil moisture.
Climate change and global warming have led to havoc on the earth’s natural system interconnection. Drought impacts land degradation, affecting the world’s population and touching drylands, wetlands, croplands, forests, and grasslands. Some United Nations bodies are working to restore the ecosystems around the world that aim to ensure that they counteract weather variation and stop biodiversity failure.
Water shortage has brought several adverse effects, including failure to meet current needs due to a lack of necessary resources (Hayibo et al., 2020). Accessing freshwater, essential for basic hygiene practices at home, healthcare facilities, and schools, has become challenging. It can further lead to sewage systems disaster, thus threatening the contraction of diseases involving cholera. When water is scarce, it becomes more expensive to access it, thus exposing those who cannot afford it to the risks of drinking unclean water due to contamination or even starvation. Most people have been unable to shower appropriately, clean their homes, and wash their clothes.
History of What Has Been Done and Its Effectiveness
Increased demand and decreased water supply have created a perfect storm in the United States of America. River Colorado has engraved its way from the Rockies to the California Gulf for many years, and the stream no longer reaches the sea (Maliva, 2019). Arizona has been living under permanent drought since 2018, with some regions, including South Florida’s freshwater aquifers, becoming more prone to salt water due to over-extraction.
Traditional responses to environmental impacts and effectiveness, involving mining more aquifers and expansion of water reservoirs, have been negatively affected by the potential looming disaster. The process has involved anthropogenic aquifer recharge (APR) and geochemical and hydrogeological factors in facilitating its success (Maliva, 2019). The country has built purification plants that produce more fresh water daily.
For instance, California has 11 desalination firms, and more are being planned (Maliva, 2019). It is a challenge since distilled water is about twice as expensive as stream extracted. There is also an effort to transfer water from wet to dry regions, for example, from the Colorado River to California, which is in operation despite the high cost incurred (Maliva, 2019). More proposals have been made to pipe water from Alaska and Canada, despite the complexity and costs that have prevented further development.
Potential Solutions
Agricultural Irrigation
Irrigation in agriculture accounts for the most significant percentage of water consumption in some regions of the U.S. There are about 7 million acres of land under irrigation in the Platte River valley, for instance (The Nature Conservancy, 2020). The Nature Conservancy discovered an opportunity to save water at a large scale by reaching out to landowners interested in adopting water-saving watering technologies.
The efforts have yielded a collaboration with other organizations to improve it and save the nation’s food. Eight thousand acres of landowners have been connected to the plan to help install soil moisture probes, weather stations, and pivot telemetry for water use reduction (The Nature Conservancy, 2020). The farmers have then been provided support to enable them to micromanage watering and pump water from the aquifer. The project site included historical records of quality water use that enabled scientists to measure transformation.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Farmers have been able to save money because they work as a team to facilitate the effectiveness of the effort. Less groundwater pumping secures the pliability of the underlying aquifer. Time is saved due to the technology used since the farmers do not have to travel to the field to inspect the work. The only disadvantage involved in this solution is the need for more cooperation among the agriculturists, which may result in disagreements and poor planning, thus, low productivity that threatens the food security of the entire nation.
Waterwise Solutions for People and Nature-Price River Utah
The Nature Conservancy has partnered with other bodies to enhance water consumption beneficial to agricultural operations to improve Price River’s flow in Utah. Farmers have been assisted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in testing water-saving methods to address drought eventuality strategies in River Colorado since 2016 (The Nature Conservancy, 2020). The is exploring temporary measures, including water banking, to reduce the water shortage risk to everyone.
Advantages and Disadvantages
The Nature Conservancy has offered an opportunity to help people improve their agricultural operations. It has also given a chance to wildlife habitats that most individuals care much about. The infrastructure moving the irrigation water from the Colorado River, flowing through canals, watering ditches, and other structures, must be updated, leaky, and, therefore, inefficient (Harrison, 2021). The TNC collaborates with water consumers to address this challenge by improving the timing and delivery of irrigation water through modernized piping and canal lining (The Nature Conservancy, 2020). The agreement updates of the system have reduced food prices and water security for farming.
Recommended Solution
Advantages and Disadvantages
It is recommended that a nation work to advance water infrastructure as a priority, as this improves efficiency and water conservation. The use of technology in water pumping help in saving time and costs in the agricultural sector, thus improving food security in the entire farming sector. Consumption of less water should be an initiative of every citizen to save the entire region from further suffering (Las Vegas Valley Water District, n.d.). Reclaimed water and recycling wastewater is an approach that reduces scarcity and eases the pressure on natural water bodies, including groundwater. It is advisable to control pollution and manage sewage, preventing diseases due to unsafe water consumption.
The health ministry should address trash disposed into the waters and monitor water quality to prevent contamination. Better management of the sewage systems in particular regions can help avert the water crisis from worsening. Education and awareness are vital in resolving the water shortage since it helps the generation cope with future scarceness (Las Vegas Valley Water District, n.d.). The major challenge that may hinder an adequate measure of the recommendations is the cost accompanying each strategy. It is expensive to maintain quality controls and ensure that every individual is well informed to take personal responsibility in water reservation.
Costs and Benefits
It is essential to save water as it saves on money bills. Clean water prevents several sicknesses, including cholera, among others. The abundance of water resources addresses the problem of basic sanitation needs. Several tasks in people’s daily life involve the need for water to drink, cook, showering, and generally result in hygienic conditions for them disease prevention. Water availability assures society of mental wellness free from anxiety and depression. Issues including migration waves, habitat destruction, and biodiversity loss are prevented, and elimination of extinction of some animal threats.
Clean water is needed to sustain the human body and revive nature generally (Joshi et al., 2020). The existence of an ecosystem is maintained through water availability that supports the cycle naturally. Water supports forestation, which in turn helps to deal with the issue of global warming and climate change though it can be a challenge due to the cost involved and lack of cooperation from other parties. Water resources drive both economic and social benefits to every individual on earth.
Implementation Steps and Expected Outcomes
People are encouraged to switch off taps if not in use to save more water. It is advisable to use an amount of water that is needed resourcefully. Individuals should obey water restrictions enforced by water management bodies. Practices of sustainable home living needs involve taking shorter showers to avoid wastage. Increased water tariffs would also make consumers more budget conscious, thus deterring them from using excess water. Training is required on water recycling and the importance of using enough water without wasting it (Joshi et al., 2020). More education from the ground through to the high levels is critical to raise awareness of the dreadful costs of abusing scarce resources.
Conclusion
The simplest solution to the water crisis is less consumption which is almost impossible because the population is growing. The usage is still the same across the world due to the replication of daily activities in human lives. Installation of water meters and keen pricing discourage waste and ensure low consumption. Fixing aging infrastructure would also keep more water in the system and avoid breakage of pipes, thus, more waste.
The agricultural sector should also reduce irrigation to avert shortages in the affected regions. For instance, farmers can save water through soil moisture sensors, drip irrigation, and investing in drought-resistant crops plantation. Every individual should take responsibility for saving water in several ways, including not rinsing dishes under a running outlet or taking shorter showers. If each citizen takes small actions, it could save much water because every drop is needed.
References
Harrison, S. C. (2021). All the water the law allows: Las Vegas and Colorado River politics. University of Oklahoma Press.
Hayibo, K.S., Mayville, P., Kailey, R.K., & Pearce, J.M. (2020). Water conservation potential of self-funded foam-based flexible surface-mounted floatovoltaics. Energies, 13(23), pp. 1-24. Web.
Joshi, N., Tamaddun, K., Parajuli, R., Kalra, A., Maheshwari, P., Mastino, L., & Velotta, M. (2020). Future changes in water supply and demand for Las Vegas Valley: A system dynamic approach based on CMIP3 and CMIP5 climate projections. Hydrology, 7(1), pp. 1-28. Web.
Las Vegas Valley Water District. (n.d.). Drought and conservation measures. Las Vegas Valley Water District. Web.
Maliva, R. G. (2019). Anthropogenic aquifer recharge: WSP methods in water resources evaluation series. Springer. Web.
The Nature Conservancy. (2020). Solutions to address water scarcity in the U.S. explained. Nature. Web.