California Water Wars Research Paper

With the rapid population growth during the year of 1902, Los Angeles had a larger demand of water than what they could provide and searching for a way to bring water was a must. William Mulholland, superintendent of the Los Angeles City Water Company, began to search for a new supply. He started looking on nearby local areas but it generated to nothing. In his search for a new source, he began by surveying all the rivers and groundwater basins south of the city. He found groundwater regulated and being used by agriculture. Additional groundwater use would limit the expansion of the neighboring country, which was the main basis of wealth of the area. Mulholland concluded Los Angeles would have to look elsewhere.

Thesis: Georgia should be able to continue their withdrawals from Lake Lanier and the water basins because of their water supply needs for irrigating its crops in the south, flood control, and sustaining its rapidly growing population in the metro Atlanta area.

For many years, Palo Verde Irrigation District has been a key player in the state’s water debate.

Yet, humans have limited control on natural events, so this only reinforces the importance of managing water wisely. Recently California’s government has begun to focus more on sustaining and restoring the water supply. Dale Kasler (2016) articulates in his article some of the steps they have decided to make to solve this serious issue. The government has made the following investments: “$415 million for watershed restoration and other environmental aid for Lake Tahoe; up to $335 million for two proposed reservoirs in California, including the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento; $880 million for flood-control projects on the American and Sacramento rivers in Sacramento; and $780 million for flood-control projects in West Sacramento” (para. 10). This could be the first step to restoring the water to California. But these

Next, according to the article “Iowa’s Nasty Water War”, (2016) claims that innocent people are at risk for major health problems. A specific example is shown with the Raccoon river that runs right through Iowa. Farmers are spraying their fields with fertilizers to help the crops grow with few problems which sounds like a great idea until a study had shown that there was a large amount of runoff from three rural counties near by. When nitrates are ran into a water supply and a infant consumes it such as in the child’s formula the nitrates constrict the oxygen in the baby's blood thus turning the child a light blue. Others that are vulnerable are pregnant women and the elderly because they have such weak immune systems and are susceptible to

Owens Lake was a very big lake full of water in the Owens Valley on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada.Before all of this happened Owens Lake used to be a very beautiful lake full with water as shown in the picture above.Now that all the unfortunate water events happened all the water is gone.One of the unfortunate events was the water wars,in the water wars various people were breaking each others ways of getting water while all the water from it just went to waste. The water wars was over William Mullholland taking the water from Owens Lake and also, Mullholland tricking the people of Owens Valley to take their water rights telling them that it was going to benefit them , but it really benefited Los Angeles.

Since the population of Los Angeles was increasing, the city needed more water. The city population was over the city’s water supply capacity that if it was kept going, the city would start depopulated. William Mulholland was the one who solved this problem and became a hero of the city. He just did not start being a hero. He moved from Britain to California, and entered the water business after 1877. Throughout his career as a hydraulic engineer, he voiced the belief that L.A. faced a perpetual water shortage, so he was asked for more efficient sources of water (Nicolaides 238). Basically to maintain his power and to solve the city’s problem, he decided to bring Owen’s river water through water pipes. Since the water would come from a different

Organic ranchers and dairy farmers in California also feel the effects of the drought. They rely on green pasture to feed their animals a healthy diet. Due to the lack of rain, the pasture are drying up and the ranchers have to purchase supplemental organic hay from other states. In an attempt to fund the purchasing of this out of state hay, the organic farmers are selling herds to businesses for hamburger meat and the small

Currently California is facing a water shortage. The issue has been addressed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in February. He called for all state agencies to find the way to help in the statewide water shortage. This is California’s third consecutive year of drought and last spring and summer was the worst of the season because it had the lowest amount of water recorded and California’s reservoirs were at their lowest point as well which did not help in the water shortage. Many agencies have been acquired to find possible solutions to the water shortage, the Department of Water Resources has been directed to find solutions to the problem as well as asking people to conserve water.

Water is a precious resource. It is the lifeblood of every living thing on Earth. California is in the midst of a water crisis. Combined with a three (plus) year drought and many people moving into the state there is not enough water to support the crops the farmers need to grow. There is also a tiny little fish that is causing a mess in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The Delta water pumps were turned off to prevent the extinction of the tiny little fish. Some farmers have to let their fields sit idle for the fall and spring planting season. This is causing a lot of problems in California. The pumps need to be turned back on. The needs of the people should come before that of a fish.

The 2008 documentary “Blue Gold: World Water Wars” introduced the world to one of the most significant environmental concerns of the modern era. Directed by Sam Bozzo, this film brings to life the compelling story told by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke in their 2002 international bestseller Blue Gold: The Battle against Corporate Theft of the World’s Water. It was first screened at the 2008 Vancouver International Film Festival where it won the audience award for Best Environmental Film. This film’s main message is that water is no longer a fundamental human right, but a privilege awarded only to those with the means to access it. Through its cinematic elements, “Blue Gold: World Water Wars” succeeds in conveying its main argument, which is that if nothing is done about water scarcity now, the wars of the future will be fought not over oil, but water.

Water is our past. Water is our future. Without it, we cannot survive, and there are no alternatives. Many people have likened the issue of water scarcity to our current economic struggle over petroleum. Without petroleum, we cannot drive our cars, and we may have to walk to school or work. This is not the case for water, as we are not interested in the issue of sustaining life itself. Unfortunately, water scarcity is in the household of our near future. This means that, similarly, petroleum leads to war now, water will lead to war in the near future. There are three main reasons why water scarcity will become one of our most serious problems in the near future.

Access to clean water is essential to overall human health and economic growth. Recent technologies have made water access more universal, however there is still a large percentage of the world population that lives without clean water. Nanotechnology is a promising field that may offer sustainable solutions to the water crisis and allow the world to move toward universal access to clean water.

The best example for a water conflict based on quantity is the Bolivia Water Wars. In 2000, when a local private water corporation administered by the San Francisco Company Bechtel began increasing water prices, rising frustration by indigenous people and labor unions came to a clash in the central city of Cochabamba. Residents began protesting and uprising against the high prices, which then forced Bechtel out of Bolivia and marked the beginning of the 21 century Water Wars and a grassroots movement to nationalize the nation's natural resources (Chan, Kahn, Scott, and Vetere 5). Bolivia after their continue protest for the nationalization of their resources

Barlow, Maude February 25, 2008 *The* Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water Foreign Policy in Focus, www.fpif.org