APES- Water Diversions Purpose: Conduct research to analyze the effects of water diversions on surrounding ecosystems and human

communities. Compare and contrast the problems and successes of various water diversions and describe possible remediations. Introductions: Humans have been diverting water for irrigation, flood control, and a constant drinking supply for thousands of years. When populations were small, the diversions were small. Over the last 1 ! years, human populations have grown rapidly and our technical abilities have vastly improved. "hese two changes, worldwide, have led to many large#scale pro$ects that have altered the environment of sizable regions. "his investigation focuses on three ma$or water diversions% The Salton Sea, Lake Chad, Aral Sea, Mono Lake, Yangtze River, and The Colorado River. Salton Sea 1: Describe the location of the Salton Sea. What is the climate and geography of the area& Located on the San Andreas fault. The climate is warm, rain doesn't reach too far, about 3 inches. It takes a structural basin called the Salton Trou h. It's surrounded b! mountains. ": #ow did the 'alton 'ea form$ !plain "hat role h#mans pla$ed. A %alifornia De&elo'ment %om'an! du canals from the %olorado (i&e and hea&! flood water broke throu h the canals causin the ri&ers water to the &alle! creatin the Salton Sea. The wa! humans 'la!ed a role is b! creatin the canals which caused this. 3: )hat is the 'resent condition of this bod! of water$ %o" has it changed over the last &' $ears( Wh$( It's maintained with some a ricultural runoff from irri ation in Im'erial and %oachella &alle!. *ow the salinit! has one u'. So water has e&a'orated lea&in the salt behind. +: Describe se&eral wa!s the Salton Sea has altered the ecos!stem of the re ion. ()plain the stability of that ecosystem. How is it changing over time& There is no stable ecos!stem due to the rise of salinit!. S'ecies like fish and birds are d!in . ,ach !ear there is a 1- increase of salinit!. .: /utline ) environmental and ) economic reasons the Salton Sea is im'ortant. ,*0I(/*1,*TAL home to +22 s'ecies of birds home to a number of fish and 'lants ,%/*/1I% used to be used for recreational acti&ities 3: )hat ste's are bein taken to remediate the Salton Sea$ What are the chances of success& ()plain. The construction of 'i'es to brin the ocean water to the sea in order to lower the salinit!. This could work, but the 'roblem is the Salton Sea is &er! 'olluted therefor would take awhile to remediate the whole sea.

4: %om'are the similarities and differences between the Salton Sea and Lake %had in Sub5Saharan Africa. (Make a VENN Diagram

5 8nited States %alifornia Location: San Andreas =ault 5 Increase salinit! 5 >roblems: ecos!stems

5 bodies of water under stress

5 Africa: %had, *i er, *i eria Located: far west of %had borderin on *i eria 5 Shrinkin 5 >roblem: re ardin 'o'ulation

!"e Aral Sea 1: Where is the Aral Sea located$ 6a7akhstan and 87bekistan ": Which rivers mainl! su''l! the Aral Sea$ The Amu Dar!a and S!r Dar!a ri&ers. 3: What government agenc$ is res'onsible for the Aral Sea and its 'li ht$ The )orld 9ank 87bek +: )h! was the water su''l! to the Sea diverted& To hel' the with a riculture like cotton the re ion surroundin the sea was irri ated. .: What resources did the Aral Sea su''l! to the local inhabitants$ Trans'ortation, recreation, water, fish. 3: Describe ) negative environmental effects of the fadin of this sea. waterless : 'o'ulation can't et water, hard to li&e there cro's can't row because of the soil 'lains co&ered with salt and to;ic chemicals de'letion of freshwater 4: Describe ) economic impacts in the re ion because of the water di&ersion. no more fishin businesses : 'eo'le went out of work fishin boats remain untouched : waste in the middle of nowhere there are no fish to catch : food de'letion <: #ow is the situation of the Salton Sea similar to the Aral Sea$ How is it different$

?: #ow would !ou describe this re ion toda!, other than as a *sea+& 12: ,;'lain fi#e "ealt" effects on 'eo'le related to the &anishin Aral Sea. 'ollution of drinkin water : diseases colla'se of health care s!stem due to economic colla'se maternal and infant mortalit! rates increased other re'roducti&e 'atholo ies ha&e increased brain dama e and malfunction in li&es and other ma@or or ans increased due to hi h rate of 'esticides in drinkin water. 11: $o% can the Aral Sea be realistically rehabilitated$ im'ro&in irri ation canals installin desalination 'lants use of fewer chemicals installin dams 1": &ompare the situation in ,ono -ake, California with that of the .ral 'ea #ow did the 1ono Lake 'roblem arise$ 9ecause of the 'o'ulations needs Los An eles be an di&ertin water from 1ono Lake. Describe / ways the problems of 1ono Lake are similar to those of the Aral Sea 'rimaril! the di&ersion of the water loss of fish life effects on re'roduction Outline three ways the 'roblems of 1ono Lake differ climate area of mono lake is better de&elo'ed there is still ho'e for mono lake, not much for the Aral Sea 13: Summari7e the proposal and actions to remediate 1ono Lake /ne is the %alifornia =ish and Aame Ser&ice which attem'ted to restock the lake with s'ecies, but it didn't work. There is also a committee that is workin to 'rotect the lake from destruction. The! tr! to educate the 'ublic about the natural en&ironment and how to use water wisel!. &olorado 'i#er (asin 1: %om'are water di&ersion influences on the %olorado (i&er with those on the Salton Sea and the Aral Sea. Descri*e three "a$s the$ are di++erent. The %olorado (i&er doesn't flow into an inland sea so it has much smaller im'acts as it is used for irri ation 'ur'oses. The Aral Sea thou h has caused retreat substantiall! due to the ri&er di&ersion awa! from the sea.

": )ook at t"e map5 Where is the source of the Colorado 0iver& The Aulf of %alifornia What are some of the main tributaries and their source& What is the most important origin of the water in the Colorado 0iver& 1ost of the ri&er water is su''lied b! runoff from hi h mountain s!stems the s!stems then act as a source for tributaries which run into the %olorado (i&er. 3: Politics: )ho decides where the water in the ri&er s!stem oes$ How is the resource divided between the various states in the watershed and beyond& Se&en States of the %olorado (i&er 9asin decide where it oes. The di&ision of the ri&er is between u''er and lower basin. +: #ow do the indi&idual states use the water$ Who are the top five consumers of the water& The! use it 'rimaril! as munici'al water su''l!. The to' fi&e are: %alifornia, %olorado, Ari7ona, 8tah, and *ew 1e;ico. .: Describe some of the conflicts that arise o&er water use. How are they usually resolved& issue of drou ht, climate chan e, and an increasin 'o'ulations (esol&ed b! holdin a conference in which the! discussed the most effecti&e wa! to remed! the issue. 3: #ow are conflicts between public and private use managed& The %olorado (i&er Salinit! %ontrol >ro ram hel's control the use of 'ublic water in colorado. It is a federall! funded mana ement 'lan. 4: Serious differences with 1e;ico e;ist concernin the amount of water the 1e;icans recei&e from the ri&er. !plain "h$ this pro*lem e!ists and "hat can *e done to "ork o#t this disp#te *et"een the co#ntries. The amount of water in the %olorado (i&er has dro''ed so those who et their su''l! from it like *ew 1e;ico recei&e less water. The 'roblem e;ists because humans are bittin off more than the! can chew. )hat can be done about this thou h is the 'eo'le let the %olorado (i&er remediate and then lessen the use of water. <: The Ti ris and ,u'hrates (i&ers cross international boundaries in their 'ath to the >ersian Aulf. Wh$ is this pro*lem potentiall$ greater than the one that e!ists on the Colorado River( The countries throu h the Ti ris and ,u'hrates flow are more arid than the western 8.S and because of the im'ortance of water it leads to international conflict. S!ria and IraB ha&e dis'utes o&er ,u'hrates water. ?: %om'are the 'roblem of water di&ersions on the Yangtze River in China with those of the %olorado (i&er. Can t7e (i&er : hi her dischar e rate 9oth ri&ers di&ersion are because of the rowin 'o'ulation in the areas 12: The !"ree *orges Dam on the Can t7e (i&er is &er! contro&ersial. Why is this dam being built& To hold back flood water and to for electrical 'ower. 11: Descri+e "o% t"is dam differs from dams on the %olorado (i&er, such as the Alen %an!on Dam or #oo&er Dam, with res'ect to:

 im'act on the en&ironment disru'tion of human life The dam forces millions to relocate and lessens the biodi&ersit! in the area. =ish s'ecies can not mo&e u' the Can t7e while + s'ecies can in the #o&er Dam. All three or es destro!ed beaut! and cultural artifacts.

Water Diversion, -R. ,: "he Colorado 0iver runs 1,1 ! from the headwaters of the 0ocky ,ountains to the 2ulf of California. "he primary source of Colorado 0iver water is melting 0ocky ,ountain snowpack. Once the river descends from the 0ockies, it flows through a landscape that is dominated by desert. Colorado 0iver water carries a high load of sediment. "he river has many dams, a3ueducts and canals that divert the water in order to supply for electricity, irrigation, recreation, and domestic use. ############################################################################################################################ a% 4escribe and discuss t"o environmental iss#es associated with water diversion pro$ects. /denti+$ t"o *ene+its other than agriculture and recreation that people derive from that system of dams. b% 5f there is a shortage of water, decisions will have to be made as to whether the water should be diverted to urban areas, agricultural areas, or natural ecosystems. Make an arg#ment +or diverting "ater +or #r*an cons#mption, and an arg#ment +or permitting the "ater to +lo" to nat#ral areas. c% 5dentify another e)ample 6other than the Colorado 0iver7 of a large#scale water diversion pro$ect. Disc#ss t"o environmental pro*lems that have res#lted or might res#lt +rom this pro0ect. d8 5dentify t"o possi*le environmental conse1#ences o+ climate change on the hydrology of the Colorado 0iver system. e% 5n addition to impacts on the Colorado 0iver system, climate change is impacting the hydrology of coastal ecosystems. /denti+$ and descri*e TW2 possi*le conse1#ences o+ climate change on coastal ecos$stems. ############################################################################################################################ a. Two en&ironmental issues are the decrease in biodi&ersit! which can ha''en with an increase in salinit! lea&in onl! the or anisms that can tolerate salt! waters to li&e. Another issue is the water dr!in u' because of e&a'oration lea&in onl! the salt. 9enefits are dams can create h!droelectric 'ower and 're&ent floods. b. )ith water flowin to urban areas the 'eo'le will ha&e enou h water in order to sur&i&e. The bottom line is that we need water to sur&i&e. )ith water flowin to natural areas habitats will be filled with biodi&ersit! and there will be an

increase in wild life 'o'ulation, es'eciall! for fish. c. The Aral Sea was a lar e5scale di&ision 'rocess for a ricultural use. Its water was used mainl! for cotton rowin which soaks u' loads of water. The en&ironmental 'roblems that associated with it include fishin 'o'ulations d!in as well as an increase in to;icit!. The fish 'o'ulations died because of an increase in salinit!. The to;icit! 'roblem is due to when the Sea dried u' it was used as wea'on testin area and 'esticides and fertili7er runoff ha''ened. d. A decrease of biodi&ersit! due to warmer waters as well as a decrease of dissol&ed o;! en DD/E because of the warmer water since it doesn't take in o;! en &er! well. e. %onseBuences include chan e of s'ecies and rise of sea le&els. The chan e of s'ecies would ha''en when the tem'eratures of waters rise, those who can not tolerate it will die off lea&in the sur&i&es ali&e and to re'roduce. The rise of sea le&el will ha''en from the meltin of ice in the Arctics.