A Research Study On Mining Water

In 2014, “groundwater makes up 60 percent of California’s water use” (Governor Brown Changes, 2014).

Undoubtedly, Groundwater plays a significant role in California water supply. During a normal year, 30% of the state 's water supply comes from groundwater. In times of extreme drought, groundwater consumption can rise to 60% or more. Even though groundwater is more evenly distributed, over half of the groundwater is unable to be extracted due to the high pumping cost. The largest groundwater reservoirs are found in the Central Valley, with the majority of the supply existing as runoff that seeps into the aquifer.

The Earth is a huge planet this is covered by 70 percent water. Astonishingly from this 70 percent the human population can only use 1 percent of the world’s water the rest of it is salt water, frozen, or in some way unattainable (Santa Clara Valley Water District, 2016). Humans have found many different ways to obtain this 1 percent of fresh water they need, but the techniques vary depending on location. In San Jose, California we obtain our water from 3 major sources: groundwater, imported surface water, and local mountain surface water. These 3 sources contribute different amounts of water to the San Jose community. Imported surface water composes about 50 percent of our water supply, while ground water composes roughly 40 percent, and local mountain surface water composes approximately 10 percent (Santa Jose Water Company, 2016). However, these percentages can change due to factors such as weather and global warming.

As Texas continues to increase in urbanization, the amount of water needed for municipal and industrial uses will increase significantly. More than half the water in Texas comes from underground. Aquifers in some areas of the state are being consumed faster than they can be filled again. Having a sustainable and efficient groundwater management policy is important to ensure that the future water demands will be satisfied.

Minerals can affect society in many ways for example; Surface mining destroys vegetation across large areas, increasing erosion. Open-pit mining uses huge quantities of water. Acid mine drainage is pollution caused when dissolved toxic materials wash from mines into nearby lakes and streams. Minerals is approximately 80 percent of mined ore consists of impurities that become wastes after processing. These wastes, called tailings, are usually left in giant piles on the ground or in ponds near the processing plants (Figure 12.9). The tailings contain toxic materials such as cyanide, mercury, and sulfuric acid. Left

“Farmers too, are starting to worry. In Merced County, farm leaders are trying to stop two private landowners from selling as much as 7 billion gallons of good water to farmers in another country. They call it “groundwater mining” (Source 3).If we start fixing the problem now there will be no problem later in the future. “At this point in time, we don’t want to keep going on at this pace. It’s more of a temporary fix” (Source

Open pit mining creates a hole where groundwater will collect instead of flowing naturally into the watersheds. What water will flow into those watersheds will be contaminated by mercury--from the processing of the ore into taconite pellets and sulfuric acid, causing incredible damage to the ecosystem of the rivers and Lake

California can meet their water needs by using this precious resource much more efficiently than they are presently doing. California has been raising sustainable awareness by adding bulb-lit freeway signs every 10 miles along California Interstate 5 that say “Serious drought, help save water”, they have also printed placards that are posted in sparsely blooming almond and cherry groves, asparagus fields, and mile upon mile of empty dry cracked or tilled earth that warn people to use less water. As California continues to grow, this puts more pressure on their limited water supplies. California needs to figure out a way to manage their groundwater basins to secure the future of agriculture life.

Once the US government took over the state, a series of changes began that were ignited by the gold rush, and one of the changes were to the state’s water supply. When there’s an opportunity to make a lot of money people tend to uproot and move to where the success is happening and the gold rush proved to be no different. California’s population boomed because of the gold rush, and the increase in population caused an increase in gold mining which then caused an increase in polluted water. According to the Water Education Foundations article California Gold Rush and Today’s Water “mercury was an essential commodity of gold mining…. [and] once gathered …. [the miners would use pressure washers from water cannons], to separate gold from other minerals, [by doing that they] also flushed toxins into the water supply” (Foundation). The increased polluted water led to multiple court rulings that were in favor of the development of the state’s agricultural and commercial ambitions, those court rulings also made it so that states money maker (mining) was restricted. Even though it’s been more than a century and the miners have long since left the golden state the mercury from their time there still

Blue Gold Water Wars, is an award-winning film directed by Sam Bozzo. The documentary sends some very important messages; water is a necessary component of all human beings, and its supply is running out faster than we are able to replenish the source. We are mining almost 15 times more groundwater than the amount is being replenished. We are polluting our natural source, destroying habitats (e.g. wetlands), and obstructing rivers that fertile lands.

One of the biggest consumers of groundwater in our state are farmers. During a drought the farmers have to use wells to water their crops. The water from these wells use garoundwater from Aquifers. Water in Aquifers provide 60% of California's groundwater in drought years. Because California has been in a drought for the last 5 years, farmers have used and over used groundwater from wells. Over-pumping can compress soil and rocks making them compact

From the groundwater basins it is estimated that 16,500 TAF of groundwater are extracted annually, which accounts for 38% of the water supply in the state (California Department of Water Resources California's Groundwater Update 2013: A Compilation of Enhanced Content for California Water Plan Update 2013). Despite the number of basins in the state, each basin is somewhat unique but, have been classified into the Central Valley aquifer system, the coastal aquifers, the Northern California basin-fill aquifers, and the eastern Sierra Nevada and the California Desert aquifers (California Department of Water Resources California's Groundwater Update 2013: A Compilation of Enhanced Content for California Water Plan Update 2013). In Figure 1, the location of the major groundwater basins and subbasins in California have been identified as the areas shaded in

Think about how much water is used by farmers to grow their produce. When water is not naturally provided through rain, or resouvers that are fed by rivers/streams, and ditch water, it has to come from somewhere else.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country located in the heart of Africa. It has an ample amount of water due to the rivers and fresh water abundance but has been in a water shortage crisis for nearly three decades now. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has several social, economic and environmental issues associated with its water shortage. The country is prone to seasonal droughts in the southern regions and seasonal flooding of the Congo river. They have plenty of water but most of it is considered undrinkable because of the pollution and diseases carried in the rivers. Additionally, the increase in the mining of minerals, like diamonds and gold, has spiked a peak in environmental threats. Even worse, the Democratic Republic

The mining industry has seen an explosive growth from the past few decades. It has played an important role in economic growth, infrastructure development and a raise in the living standard of the whole world. According to the Australian National Accounting System, the mining sector has made contributions of 9.8% GDP growth to the Australian economy between 2008 to 2009 (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2012). However, the mining industry has caused many environmental issues such as adverse effect to air, land and water quality and continues to affect global environment as a whole. According to the World Health Organization, it evaluated that 25% of worldwide death are directly associated with environmental pollution (Blacksmith Institute, n.d). This essay will outline the environmental issue raised by the mining industry with pinpoint focus on the effects to air, water and land. It will also provide strategies for mining companies to improve the environmental conditions.