Water Resources

Chapter 13
Core Case Study: Water Conflicts in the
Middle East: A Preview of the Future

 Water shortages in the Middle East:

hydrological poverty

 Nile River

 Jordan Basin

 Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

 Peacefully solving the problems

Three Major River Basins in the
Middle East
13-1 Will We Have Enough Usable Water?
 Concept 13-1A We are using available
freshwater unsustainably by wasting it, polluting
it, and charging too little for this irreplaceable
natural resource.

 Concept 13-1B One of every six people does

not have sufficient access to clean water, and
this situation will almost certainly get worse.
Freshwater Is an Irreplaceable Resource
That We Are Managing Poorly (1)

 Why is water so important?

 Earth as a watery world: 71%

 Freshwater availability: 0.024%

 Poorly managed resource

 Hydrologic cycle

 Water pollution
Freshwater Is an Irreplaceable Resource
That We Are Managing Poorly (2)

 Access to water is
• A global health issue
• An economic issue
• A women’s and children’s issue
• A national and global security issue
Girl Carrying Well Water over Dried Out
Earth during a Severe Drought in India
Most of the Earth’s Freshwater Is Not
Available to Us

 Hydrologic cycle
• Movement of water in the seas, land, and air
• Driven by solar energy and gravity

 People divided into

• Water haves
• Water have-nots
We Get Freshwater from Groundwater
and Surface Water (1)

 Ground water

 Zone of saturation

 Water table

 Aquifers
• Natural recharge
• Lateral recharge
We Get Freshwater from Groundwater
and Surface Water (2)

 Surface Water
• Surface runoff
• Watershed (drainage) basin
• Reliable runoff
• 1/3 of total
Natural Capital: Groundwater System:
Unconfined and Confined Aquifer
 Unconfined Aquifer Recharge Area
Precipitation Evaporation and transpiration Evaporation

Confined
Recharge
Area Runoff

Flowing Well
artesian well requiring
a pump Stream
Water
Infiltration Lake
table
Infiltration
Less permeable
material such as
clay

Fig. 13-3, p. 316

We Use a Large and Growing Portion of
the World’s Reliable Runoff

 2/3 of the surface runoff: lost by seasonal floods

 1/3 runoff usable

• Domestic: 10%
• Agriculture: 70%
• Industrial use: 20%

 Fred Pearce, author of When the Rivers Run Dry

Case Study: Freshwater Resources in the
United States

 More than enough renewable freshwater,

unevenly distributed

 Effect of
• Floods
• Pollution
• Drought

 2007: U.S. Geological Survey projection

• Water hotspots
Average Annual Precipitation and Major
Rivers, Water-Deficit Regions in U.S.
Fig. 13-4a, p. 317
Average annual precipitation (centimeters)
Less than 41 81–122
41–81 More than 122

Fig. 13-4a, p. 317

Fig. 13-4b, p. 317
Acute shortage

Shortage

Adequate supply

Metropolitan regions with

population greater than 1 million
Fig. 13-4b, p. 317
Water Hotspots in 17 Western U.S. States
 Washington
North
Montana Dakota
Oregon
Idaho South
Dakota
Wyoming

Nevada Nebraska
Utah
Colorado
Kansas
California
Oklahoma
New
Arizona Mexico

Texas

Highly likely conflict potential

Substantial conflict potential
Moderate conflict potential
Unmet rural water needs
Fig. 13-5, p. 318
Water Shortages Will Grow (1)

 Dry climate

 Drought

 Too many people using a normal supply of water

Water Shortages Will Grow (2)

 Wasteful use of water

 China and urbanization

 Hydrological poverty
Natural Capital Degradation: Stress on
the World’s Major River Basins
 Europe Asia

North
America

Africa

South
America Australia

Stress

High None

Fig. 13-6, p. 319

Long-Term Severe Drought Is Increasing

 Causes
• Extended period of below-normal rainfall
• Diminished groundwater

 Harmful environmental effects

• Dries out soils
• Reduces stream flows
• Decreases tree growth and biomass
• Lowers net primary productivity and crop yields
• Shift in biomes
In Water-Short Areas Farmers and Cities
Compete for Water Resources

 2007: National Academy of Science study

• Increased corn production in the U.S. to make
ethanol as an alternative fuel
• Decreasing water supplies
• Aquifer depletion
• Increase in pollution of streams and aquifers
Who Should Own and Manage
Freshwater Resources? (1)

 Most water resources

• Owned by governments
• Managed as publicly owned resources

 Veolia and Suez: French companies

• Buy and manage water resources
• Successful outcomes in many areas
Who Should Own and Manage
Freshwater Resources? (2)

 Bechtel Corporation
• Poor water management in Bolivia

 A subsidiary of Bechtel Corporation

• Poor water management in Ecuador

 Potential problems with full privatization of water

resources
• Financial incentive to sell water; not conserve it
• Poor will still be left out
13-2 Is Extracting Groundwater
the Answer?

 Concept 13-2 Groundwater that is used to

supply cities and grow food is being pumped
from aquifers in some areas faster than it is
renewed by precipitation.
Water Tables Fall When Groundwater Is
Withdrawn Faster Than It Is Replenished

 India, China, and the United States

• Three largest grain producers
• Overpumping aquifers for irrigation of crops

 India and China

• Small farmers drilling tubewells
• Effect on water table

 Saudi Arabia
• Aquifer depletion and irrigation
Trade-Offs: Withdrawing Groundwater,
Advantages and Disadvantages
 TRADE-OFFS

Withdrawing Groundwater
Advantages Disadvantages
Useful for drinking Aquifer depletion
and irrigation from overpumping
Sinking of land
Available year-round (subsidence) from
overpumping
Aquifers polluted for
Exists almost
decades or centuries
everywhere

Renewable if not Saltwater intrusion into

overpumped or drinking water supplies
contaminated near coastal areas

Reduced water flows

No evaporation into surface waters
losses
Increased cost and
Cheaper to extract contamination from
than most surface deeper wells
waters
Fig. 13-7, p. 321
Natural Capital Degradation: Irrigation in
Saudi Arabia Using an Aquifer
Case Study: Aquifer Depletion in the
United States

 Ogallala aquifer: largest known aquifer

• Irrigates the Great Plains
• Water table lowered more than 30m
• Cost of high pumping has eliminated some of the
farmers
• Government subsidies to continue farming
deplete the aquifer further
• Biodiversity threatened in some areas

 California Central Valley: serious water depletion

Natural Capital Degradation: Areas of
Greatest Aquifer Depletion in the U.S.
Groundwater
Overdrafts:

High

Moderate

Minor or none

Fig. 13-9, p. 322

Natural Capital Degradation: The Ogallala
is the World’s Largest Known Aquifer
 SOUTH DAKOTA
WYOMING

NEBRASKA

COLORADO
KANSAS

OKLAHOMA
NEW MEXICO

Miles
TEXAS 0 100

0 160
Kilometers
Saturated thickness Less than 61 meters (200 ft.)
of Ogallala Aquifer 61–183 meters (200–600 ft.)
More than 183 meters (600 ft.)
(as much as 370 meters or 1,200 ft. in places) Fig. 13-10, p. 323
Groundwater Overpumping Has Other
Harmful Effects (1)

 Limits future food production

 Bigger gap between the rich and the poor

 Land subsidence
• Mexico City

 Sinkholes
Groundwater Overpumping Has Other
Harmful Effects (2)

 Groundwater overdrafts near coastal regions

• Contamination of the groundwater with saltwater
• Undrinkable and unusable for irrigation
Solutions: Groundwater Depletion, Using
Water More Sustainably
 SOLUTIONS
Groundwater Depletion

Prevention Control
Waste less water Raise price of water
to discourage waste

Subsidize water Tax water pumped

conservation from wells near
surface waters

Limit number of wells Set and enforce

minimum stream flow
levels

Do not grow water- Divert surface water

intensive crops in in wet years to
dry areas recharge aquifers

Fig. 13-11, p. 324

Science Focus: Are Deep Aquifers
the Answer?

 Locate the deep aquifers; determine if they

contain freshwater or saline water

 Major concerns
• Geological and ecological impact of pumping
water from them
• Flow beneath more than one country
• Who has rights to it?
Active Figure: Threats to aquifers
13-3 Is Building More Dams the Answer?

 Concept 13-3 Building dam and reservoir

systems has greatly increased water supplies in
some areas, but it has disrupted ecosystems
and displaced people.
Large Dams and Reservoirs Have
Advantages and Disadvantages (1)

 Main goals of a dam and reservoir system

• Capture and store runoff

• Release runoff as needed to control:

• Floods
• Generate electricity
• Supply irrigation water
• Recreation (reservoirs)
Large Dams and Reservoirs Have
Advantages and Disadvantages (2)

 Advantages
• Increase the reliable runoff available
• Reduce flooding
• Grow crops in arid regions
Large Dams and Reservoirs Have
Advantages and Disadvantages (3)

 Disadvantages
• Displaces people
• Flooded regions
• Impaired ecological services of rivers
• Loss of plant and animal species
• Fill up with sediment within 50 years
Advantages and Disadvantages of Large
Dams and Reservoirs
The Ataturk Dam Project in
Eastern Turkey
Some Rivers Are Running Dry and Some
Lakes Are Shrinking

 Dams disrupt the hydrologic cycle

 Major rivers running dry part of the year
• Colorado and Rio Grande, U.S.
• Yangtze and Yellow, China
• Indus, India
• Danube, Europe
• Nile River-Lake Victoria, Egypt

 Lake Chad Africa: disappearing

Case Study: The Colorado River Basin—
An Overtapped Resource (1)

 2,300 km through 7 U.S. states

 14 Dams and reservoirs

 Located in a desert area within the rain shadow

of the Rocky Mountains

 Water supplied mostly from snowmelt of the

Rocky Mountains
Case Study: The Colorado River Basin—
An Overtapped Resource (2)

 Supplies water and electricity for more than 25

million people

 Irrigation of crops

 Recreation
Case Study: The Colorado River Basin—
An Overtapped Resource (3)

 Four Major problems

• Colorado River basin has very dry lands
• Modest flow of water for its size
• Legal pacts allocated more water for human use
than it can supply
• Amount of water flowing to the mouth of the river
has dropped
Case Study: The Colorado River Basin—
An Overtapped Resource (4)

 What will happen if some of the reservoirs empty

out?
• Economic and ecological catastrophe
• Political and legal battles over water
The Colorado River Basin
Aerial View of Glen Canyon Dam Across
the Colorado River and Lake Powell
The Flow of the Colorado River Measured
at Its Mouth Has Dropped Sharply
 35

30 Hoover Dam
completed (1935)
25
Flow (billion cubic meters)

20

15
Glen Canyon
Dam completed
(1963)
10

0
1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Year
Fig. 13-16, p. 328
Case Study: China’s Three
Gorges Dam (1)

 World’s largest hydroelectric dam and reservoir

 2 km long across the Yangtze River

 Benefits
• Electricity-producing potential is huge
• Holds back the Yangtze River floodwaters
• Allows cargo-carrying ships
Case Study: China’s Three
Gorges Dam (2)

 Harmful effects
• Displaces about 5.4 million people
• Built over a seismic fault
• Significance?
• Rotting plant and animal matter producing CH4
• Worse than CO2 emissions
• Will the Yangtze River become a sewer?
13-4 Is Transferring Water from One
Place to Another the Answer?

 Concept 13-4 Transferring water from one

place to another has greatly increased water
supplies in some areas, but it has also disrupted
ecosystems.
CA, U.S., Transfers Water from Water-
Rich Areas to Water-Poor Areas

 Water transferred by
• Tunnels
• Aqueducts
• Underground pipes

 May cause environmental problems

 California Water Project

The California Water Project and the
Central Arizona Project
 CALIFORNIA
Shasta Lake NEVADA
UTAH
Sacramento Oroville Dam and
River Reservoir
Feather
North Bay Lake Tahoe
River
Aqueduct
Sacramento
San Francisco
Hoover Dam
South Bay
and Reservoir
Aqueduct
Fresno (Lake Mead)
San Luis Dam
and Reservoir Colorado
Los Angeles River
Aqueduct
California Aqueduct ARIZONA
Colorado River
Santa Barbara Aqueduct Central Arizona
Los Angeles Project

Phoenix
Salton Sea
San Diego

Tucson

MEXICO
Fig. 13-17, p. 330
Case Study: The Aral Sea Disaster (1)

 Large-scale water transfers in dry central Asia

 Salinity

 Wetland destruction and wildlife

 Fish extinctions and fishing

Case Study: The Aral Sea Disaster (2)

 Wind-blown salt

 Water pollution

 Climatic changes

 Restoration efforts
Natural Capital Degradation: The Aral
Sea, Shrinking Freshwater Lake
1976 2006

Stepped Art
Fig. 13-18a, p. 331
Ship Stranded in Desert Formed by
Shrinkage of the Aral Sea
China Plans a Massive Transfer of Water

 South-North Water Transfer Project

 Water from three rivers to supply 0.5 billion
people
 Completion in about 2050
 Impact
• Economic
• Health
• Environmental
13-5 Is Converting Salty Seawater to
Freshwater the Answer?

 Concept 13-5 We can convert salty ocean

water to freshwater, but the cost is high, and the
resulting salty brine must be disposed of without
harming aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems.
Removing Salt from Seawater Seems
Promising but Is Costly (1)

 Desalination
• Distillation
• Reverse osmosis, microfiltration

 15,000 plants in 125 countries

• Saudi Arabia: highest number
Removing Salt from Seawater Seems
Promising but Is Costly (2)

 Problems
• High cost and energy footprint
• Keeps down algal growth and kills many marine
organisms
• Large quantity of brine wastes

 Future economics
Science Focus: The Search for Improved
Desalination Technology

 Desalination on offshore ships

• Solar or wind energy

 Better membranes

 Better disposal options for the brine waste

 Reduce water needs, conserve water

13-6 How Can We Use Water More
Sustainably?

 Concept 13-6 We can use water more

sustainably by cutting water waste, raising water
prices, slowing population growth, and
protecting aquifers, forests, and other
ecosystems that store and release water.
Reducing Water Waste Has Many
Benefits (1)

 Water conservation
• Improves irrigation efficiency
• Improves collection efficiency
• Uses less in homes and businesses
Reducing Water Waste Has Many
Benefits (2)

 Worldwide: 65–70% loss

• Evaporation, leaks, etc.

 Water prices: low cost to user

 Government subsidies: more needed?

We Can Cut Water Waste in Irrigation

 Flood irrigation
• Wasteful

 Center pivot, low pressure sprinkler

 Low-energy, precision application sprinklers

 Drip or trickle irrigation, microirrigation

• Costly; less water waste
Major Irrigation Systems
 Center pivot
(efficiency 80% with low-pressure
Drip irrigation sprinkler and 90–95% with LEPA
(efficiency 90–95%) sprinkler)

Gravity flow Above- or below-ground Water usually pumped from

(efficiency 60% and 80% with surge valves) pipes or tubes deliver water underground and sprayed
to individual plant roots. from mobile boom with
Water usually comes from an sprinklers.
aqueduct system or a nearby river.
Fig. 13-20, p. 335
 Center pivot
(efficiency 80% with low-pressure
Drip irrigation sprinkler and 90–95% with LEPA
(efficiency 90–95%) sprinkler)

Gravity flow Above- or below-ground Water usually pumped from

(efficiency 60% and 80% with surge valves) pipes or tubes deliver water underground and sprayed
to individual plant roots. from mobile boom with
Water usually comes from an sprinklers. Stepped Art
aqueduct system or a nearby river.
Fig. 13-20, p. 335
Solutions: Reducing Irrigation
Water Waste
Developing Countries Use Low-Tech
Methods for Irrigation

 Human-powered treadle pumps

 Harvest and store rainwater

 Create a canopy over crops: reduces

evaporation

 Fog-catcher nets
We Can Cut Water Waste in Industry
and Homes

 Recycle water in industry

 Fix leaks in the plumbing systems

 Use water-thrifty landscaping: xeriscaping

 Use gray water

 Pay-as-you-go water use

Solutions: Reducing Water Waste
We Can Use Less Water to
Remove Wastes

 Can we mimic how nature deals with waste?

 Waterless composting toilets

We Need to Use Water More Sustainably

 “The frog does not drink up the pond in which it

lives”

 Blue revolution
Solutions: Sustainable Water Use
SOLUTIONS
Sustainable Water Use

Waste less water and subsidize

water conservation

Do not deplete aquifers

Preserve water quality

Protect forests, wetlands,

mountain glaciers, watersheds,
and other natural systems that
store and release water

Get agreements among regions

and countries sharing surface
water resources
Raise water prices
Slow population growth

Fig. 13-23, p. 337

What Can You Do? Water Use and Waste
13-7 How Can We Reduce the Threat
of Flooding?

 Concept 13-7 We can lessen the threat of

flooding by protecting more wetlands and natural
vegetation in watersheds and by not building in
areas subject to frequent flooding.
Some Areas Get Too Much Water from
Flooding (1)

 Flood plains
• Highly productive wetlands
• Provide natural flood and erosion control
• Maintain high water quality
• Recharge groundwater

 Benefits of floodplains
• Fertile soils
• Nearby rivers for use and recreation
• Flatlands for urbanization and farming
Some Areas Get Too Much Water from
Flooding (2)

 Dangers of floodplains and floods

• Deadly and destructive
• Human activities worsen floods
• Failing dams and water diversion
• Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Coast
• Removal of coastal wetlands
Natural Capital Degradation: Hillside
Before and After Deforestation
 Oxygen
released by
vegetation

Diverse
ecological Evapotranspiration
habitat
Trees reduce soil
erosion from heavy
rain and wind
Agricultural
land

Tree roots stabilize soil

Vegetation releases water

slowly and reduces flooding
Forested Hillside
Fig. 13-25a, p. 339
 Tree plantation

Roads Evapotranspiration decreases

destabilize
hillsides Overgrazing accelerates soil
erosion by water and wind
Winds remove
fragile topsoil
Agricultural
land is flooded
and silted up
Gullies and
landslides
Heavy rain erodes topsoil

Silt from erosion fills rivers and reservoirs Rapid runoff

causes flooding
After Deforestation
Fig. 13-25b, p. 339
Oxygen
released by
vegetation
Tree plantation
Diverse
ecological
Evapotranspiration Roads Evapotranspiration decreases
habitat
Trees reduce soil destabilize Overgrazing accelerates soil
erosion from heavy hillsides erosion by water and wind
rain and wind Winds remove
Agricultural fragile topsoil
land Agricultural
land is flooded
and silted up
Gullies and
Tree roots
landslides
stabilize soil
Heavy rain erodes topsoil
Vegetation releases water Silt from erosion fills Rapid runoff
slowly and reduces flooding rivers and reservoirs causes flooding

Forested Hillside After Deforestation

Stepped Art
Fig. 13-25a, p. 339
Case Study: Living Dangerously on
Floodplains in Bangladesh

 Dense population

 Located on coastal floodplain

 Moderate floods maintain fertile soil

 Increased frequency of large floods

 Effects of development in the Himalayan foothills

 Destruction of coastal wetlands

We Can Reduce Flood Risks

 Rely more on nature’s systems

• Wetlands
• Natural vegetation in watersheds

 Rely less on engineering devices

• Dams
• Levees
Solutions: Reducing Flood Damage
 SOLUTIONS
Reducing Flood Damage

Prevention Control
Preserve forests on Straighten and
watersheds deepen streams
(channelization)
Preserve and restore
wetlands in floodplains

Build levees or
Tax development on
floodwalls along
floodplains
streams

Use floodplains primarily

for recharging aquifers,
sustainable agriculture
Build dams
and forestry
Fig. 13-26, p. 340
Active Figure: Effects of deforestation