Water Foot Prints

In the article adapted from National Geographic Magazine, the author talked about
how water is being used carelessly and that we should do our best to use water more
effectively.
The author first explains how water demands are going to increase along with the
advancement of society. The statement from the author is too general, stating that cities and
industries will demand more water. The author does not take account that with urbanisation,
water recycling systems will generally be better.
Producing biofuels will place even more pressure on dwindling water supplies has no
valid support to the claim. It is the intention of the author to make it seem that the efforts of
preserving the environment are futile. The author then gives a grim outlook of the future as a
result of the authors previous examples of increasing water usage by stating that there will
not be enough water for producers to grow enough food and sustain a healthy environment.
The author begins paragraph four by stating a reasonable opinion that the only
solution of preventing water shortage is to learn how to live with less water by making much
better use of what we have. The author then makes two contrasting sentences to draw
attention from readers. Following that, the author gives examples of farmers in Nepal, India
and sub-Saharan Africa using new and old techniques of growing crops.
Paragraph five begins with another positive example of farmers having good water
management. However, the author does not give specifics to the authors examples by only
stating that sales of pumps have skyrocketed in Asia. The number of sales and which part of
Asia are not stated. Another example of positive water management is given by the example
of farming communities being organised into associations for better irrigation management.
The author then breaks the positive tone by bringing up that change is not happening fast
enough.

The main idea for paragraph six is despite water being available in nature, many
farmers routinely lack enough water to produce food to feed their families. This paragraph
presents an example of deductive reasoning as the author provides all the instances after
stating his main idea such as farmers are more conservative with water as all the benefits of
water flow to cities and many countries do not invest enough in water to enable poor rural
communities to grow more food.
In paragraph seven, the author danced around positive and negative tones. The author
begins by stating how sub-Saharan Africa has considerably less annual per capita water
storage compared to the US and Australia without giving proper credibility. The author then
gives the readers hope by informing them of the International Water Management Institute
which is helping resource-poor farmers in opportunities for low-cost water investment.
Following that, the authors tone immediately turns bleak as the author explain how we have
ruined natural water systems and implies that we dont really know how things really are.
A sense of frustration is seen in paragraph eight as the author blames institutions that
govern water of not addressing issues of continual increase of water usage. The author then
raises a good question of what will happen to the climate with new water problems. More
investment in obtaining data and knowledge on water resources can help us understand more
in regard to water problems but the author claims there is a lack of it. The author ends the
paragraph by tackling the issue of our habits of wasting food as it indirectly affects waste of
water since water is needed to grow food.
The final paragraph is filled with the authors tone of urgency as the author shares
ways of lessening water foot prints which include establishing policies, investing in better
water management, and investing in the infrastructure and knowledge systems needed to
manage complex water systems. The final sentence urges the readers to consider the water
implications of our lifestyles and the water foot print we are leaving behind in the effort to
reach out to the readers guilt.

In summary, the author first explains the increase of water demands and judging that
in the future, there will be not enough water for producers to grow enough food and sustain a
healthy environment. The author gives his own reasonable opinion that the only solution of
preventing water shortage is to learn how to live with less water by making much better use
of what we have. The author also blames institutions that govern water of not addressing
issues of continual increase of water usage. In the end however, the author shares ways of
lessening water foot prints. The author basically provides all the information with lack of
support. Therefore, the flaws in his reasoning are inevitable.