Water Diversion by William Porter

The Issue

Water diversion is the obstruction of the natural route or path of a body of water. This can

be anything from a dam to a man-made ditch. With the growing United States population and the

limited amount of water available in the continental US, getting the water from point of

origination to the consumer is an extremely pressing issue. As the key to life on Earth, water is

an important resource for all ecosystems and humans. How this water is used, stored, and

transported is extremely important.

Importance

Without water, organisms cannot survive. This extremely important resource has many

different uses around the country and is needed by both man and nature. How this resource is

spread throughout the country is vital for sustainable long-term development. Diversion can be

beneficial and have negative impacts on both humans and the surrounding ecosystems depending

on the level of diversion. Without finding a safe balance, this resource is easily mismanaged

causing in some cases an extreme crisis.

Factors to be Considered

Due to water’s extreme level of necessity by all living things, how it is managed is

something that is extremely important to be considered. By diverting it to large urban areas, that

city can continue to grow fostering a great melding of human cultures. This diversion can place a

heavy burden on the natural ecosystem however, hurting the wildlife. Without any water

diversion, many large urban areas would not be able to keep the population levels they currently

hold.

Benefits
 The three largest benefits of water diversion are increase in irrigation capabilities, the

ability of urban development to occur in arid regions, and the ability to create large reservoirs

with the use of dams. According to the US Census Bureau, there are currently 325 million people

living in the United States. This number is growing every day and this large population places a

heavy demand on the farmers of America. To meet this growing population, irrigation around the

country has become necessary. Currently 65.9 trillion gal/d are pulled from the surface waters of

the US (USGS). This makes up 57% of all irrigation withdrawals in the country (USGS). 83% of

all irrigation withdrawals are west of the Mississippi River (USGS). This makes sense due to the

western states being historically more arid than the eastern states. This irrigation allows these

arid states to still be strong agricultural producers.

Currently Phoenix, Arizona has a population of about 1.5 million people

(suburbanstats.org). This large urban area however only receives about 8 inches of annual

rainfall (usclimatedata.com). With this low amount of rainfall, the city relies on heavy water

diversion to meet the population’s water needs. The nearby Salt River often runs dry through

Phoenix due to the level of water pulled to the city (Dungan 2012.). Without this massive water

diversion effort, this urban center would not be possible.

Dams have been placed all over the world to create man-made reservoirs. These often can

produce hydroelectric power and the reservoirs are used heavily for recreation. 24% of all

renewable energy in the United States is generated from hydroelectric dams (USGS). 38% of all

dams are for recreational purposes which can help boost economies in those regions (FEMA).

18% of dams are used for flood control which can help greatly when natural disasters like

hurricanes occur (FEMA). Ultimately diverting water from its natural route has various benefits

that can help humanity.

Negatives

The main negative impacts of diverting water are the destruction of aquatic habitats, an

increase in flooding, and an increase in algal blooms. The large dams and massive diversion

efforts can quickly destroy any aquatic environment. Diversion lowers the water level, often

creates obstructions for the wildlife, and cuts riparian vegetation’s water supply off (niwa.co.nz).

A moving stream or river also behaves much differently from a reservoir with stagnant water.

With these many factors, aquatic ecosystems quickly are harmed when water is diverted.

With a large amount of water diversion urbanized areas can become flooded and cause a

significant amount of damage. In California, a significant flood occurred in February after heavy

rainfall (Aleaziz 2017). Due to the heavy amount of water diversion needed to support this urban

area, the water was rushed straight to the populated center. Naturally made water systems can

slow the water when heavy rains like this occur, thus preventing immense damages. Without

water diversion, this flood could have been prevented.

With heavy amounts of water diversion an increase in algal blooms can be seen. This

water diversion often has an increase in agriculture associated with it. This in turn introduces

more nutrients to the water-way which can directly increase algae populations (MDBA). The

shallower water present in diverted waters also increases sunlight available throughout the water

column, causing an increase in algae (MDBA). When an extreme increase in algal population

occurs, eutrophication can develop in the water body causing toxic conditions for aerobic

organisms.

Conclusion

Ultimately water diversion is a necessary evil. Without removing water and using it for

human needs, the American population cannot continue to grow. Though removing water from
an ecosystem can harm wildlife, there are sustainable ways to divert this water. When extreme

cases occur, and rivers begin to run dry like in Phoenix we run into problems. This can be

remedied by cutting down on overall water use and by humans adapting better to their

environment. To live sustainably we as humans must better work alongside nature and cut down

on our personal water demands.

Sources

Aleaziz, Hamed. “Northern California Storm Causes Flooding, with Worse to Come.” SFGate,

19 Feb. 2017, www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Storm-disrupts-Bay-Area-drivers-and

worse-yet-to-10942737.php.

“Benefits of Dams.” Benefits of Dams | FEMA.gov, www.fema.gov/benefits-dams.

“Blue-Green Algae.” Murray-Darling Basin Authority, 15 Nov. 2015,

www.mdba.gov.au/managing-water/water-quality/blue-green-algae.

Data, US Climate. “Temperature - Precipitation - Sunshine - Snowfall.” Climate Phoenix –

Arizona and Weather Averages Phoenix,

www.usclimatedata.com/climate/phoenix/arizona/united-states/usaz0166.

Dungan, Ron. “Arizona Explained: Origin of Salt River's Name.” Azcentral.com, 17 Dec. 2012,

archive.azcentral.com/travel/articles/20121217arizona-explained-rivers-name-comes

from-salt-banks-near-its-origin.html.

“Irrigation Water Use.” USGS Water Resources of the United States,

water.usgs.gov/watuse/wuir.html.

Perlman, USGS Howard. “Hydroelectric Power Water Use.” Hydroelectric Power and Water.

Basic Information about Hydroelectricity, the USGS Water Science School.,

water.usgs.gov/edu/wuhy.html.

“QuickFacts.” U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: UNITED STATES,

www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045216.

suburbanstats.org. “Current Phoenix, Arizona Population, Demographics and Stats in 2016,

2017.” SuburbanStats.org, suburbanstats.org/population/arizona/how-many-people-live

in-phoenix.
“Water Diversion.” NIWA, 18 May 2016, www.niwa.co.nz/our

science/freshwater/tools/kaitiaki_tools/land-use/water-take-dam-divert2/divert.