Water Resources and Water Pollution While reading this assignment pollution is a major problem in our water supply. However, I believe there are some solutions out there that could cut down on the number of waste that enters our water source. Having our waters being polluted is no small matter, but I think a bigger problem is the consumption of water and the staggering amount of water we waste. Let’s start out with pollution in our water source. This could lead to undrinkable water due to deadly toxins that may be residing in the water. I will focus on the Mississippi river, since it is a major river that runs through the central part of our country. There are numerous amounts of bacteria that severely hinder the quality of water that we …show more content…
Well for one is to stop polluting seems simple right? However, there is more to it than that; the Clean Water Act was released in 1972 to reduce as much pollution in the Mississippi as possible. It is the cornerstone for water quality and the standards that the Mississippi needs to be held too. The Clean Water Act is used to reduce direct pollutant discards, finance water treatment, and protect the wetlands. Therefore, the overall goal of the Clean Water Act is to be able to utilize the water source without any hesitation of water quality. How can we tie this into a solution for packaging? By cutting down on improper discard of material and recycling materials. This would help significantly cut down on the pollution that end up in our …show more content…
So I wanted to see how bad it is. The state of California is currently experiencing a drought and currently passed having a restriction on their water usage for the first time ever. The Colorado River Basin has experienced a drought for over decade and there is an enormous increase on the water usage from citizens in the state or Arizona, Nevada, California, and Colorado. The river basin relies on snowfall and over the year the amount of snow received yearly is not enough to suffice the usage of growing cities and the usage from everyone who resides there. If we keep walking down this path there will be a major water issues all throughout the West coast and the
Water Pollution: Clean drinking water is becoming a rare commodity. Water is becoming an economic and political issue as the human population fights for this resource. One of the options suggested is using the process of desalinization. Industrial development is filling our rivers seas and oceans with toxic pollutants which are a major threat to human health.
Thomas Fuller once said “we never know the worth of water till the well is dry” (Fuller). As a species we need water to cook, clean, and most importantly live. With water being a natural resource overuse and misuses of it can cause its supply to rapidly dwindle down, and that’s exactly what’s happening in California right now. California's water comes a married of places such as aquifers, groundwater, surface water, rivers, reservoirs, dams and irrigation systems where 80% of that water goes towards agriculture and 20% to urban/residential use. California’s water supply is so substandard that the state can’t even say their predicament is a drought, but it can be classified as a crisis. And to add insult to injury the states infrastructure has
California has been in a drought for about five years. Every year we seem to lose more and more water and it's becoming a big issue to California. Residents spend gallons of water in a day and instead of wasting more water they should be saving it. One of the main issue is that residents waste so much water on their lawn. They’ll water their lawn for hours or just water one specific area of the grass for a long time. Many water their lawn when their grass is already dead or don’t even have grass, so basically watering dirt. Another issue is that many will water their lawn and then turn on their sprinklers or have sprinklers on while it's raining. Many don’t care about wasting water, but soon it's going to be a big issue and we won’t have enough water to even water our lawn. People also waste a bunch of water when they turn on the shower. They wait about 10 to 15 minutes sometimes before they actually get in and then spend about 30 mins in the shower. Many residents will also leave their faucets running and won’t fully turn them off. Residents will throw away their water when it's still half way full, when they can just pour that water into a bush, instead of throwing that water in the trash. Another big cause of
The Illinois River is a very interesting tourist stop, with everything from being a part of the setting in the novel, Where the Red Fern Grows, to the current use of the river for entertainment. The Illinois River has many uses, some important and some for fun. The many attractions draw people in to explore the river. The location of the Illinois River is something not a lot of people know, because the name indicates it would be in Illinois. The river is actually located in Oklahoma and runs through Arkansas.
While rain does help replenish and dilute polluted fresh water, it also can contaminate it just as fast. Sewage waste and runoff fills the waters with pathogenic microorganisms and chemicals that reduce the dissolved oxygen levels. A loss in oxygen kills off fish and leaves their habitat murky and dark. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus from runoff cause growth of algae and other harmful aquatic life. In an article on water pollution, it is stated that “many fish species require a minimum of 4–5 mg of dissolved oxygen per liter of water” (Scholz, Nathaniel). Scholz is saying that fish in the areas that become over polluted die off or are forced to leave their natural environment due to a lack of oxygen. The article continues to explain that the fish living in these poor conditions are consumed as food and the levels of toxins can multiply as it goes up the food chain, potentially leading to illnesses for humans. As more water is demanded, more water filtration plants are put into place to get consumable water to all in need. One gallon of contamination can make one thousand gallons of water undrinkable. In 1993, Michigan received heavy amounts of rainfall which affected Lake Michigan and the drinking water. The study of this incident is included in John Gary’s book, Can We Cope?, and is stated that:
River, land and natural resources are important parts for people’s daily lives, and its configurations represent how people affected the environment over 150 years. With the improvement of technology, people are able to utilize these technologies to remold the river levee; however, the impacts that came from people also brought some significant changes to the area.
In 2014, Governor Brown issued an affirmation declaring a California drought state of emergency actively calling “all Californians to conserve water in every way possible (“Governor Brown Declares Drought State of Emergency”).” In addition, California state water officials said that “California rivers and reservoirs are below their record lows”. This problem not only pertains to the past but carries as an ongoing issue in California. California remains the top state in water consumption, taking up 11% of the United State’s water supply (Koroma). As a consequence, an estimated population of 24,838,128 people are inhabiting drought-stricken areas. Educating users on water consumption, taxing agricultural products which consume high levels of
The economy, agriculture, and natural life of the state will be in turmoil if there are not more actions and orders put in place to prevent the over consumption of water. This needs to start with preserving current water resources, especially aquifers and groundwater wells, in order to allow the rebuilding process of reservoirs to occur. The distribution of water in the state needs to be altered to accommodate the drought, as the snowpacks and aquifers aren’t up to maximum height, meaning less efficiency. The water acquired through runoff isn’t enough to fuel the entire state of California’s needs as important urban developments and agricultural goods are not being watered (USGS). The winter months usually provide for the entire state as a whole, yet since the beginning of the 2011 drought, many have been forced to change their lifestyles due to the unforeseen circumstances brought on by the arid climate and drought. All in all, the current distribution of water and the usage of the water in the entire state is wasteful and damaging to the environment and future. Support for low-use shower and faucet heads, as well as toilets that use less gallons of water will ultimately be the best start for the state’s solution to the drought. Coupled with executive action by the Governor and a drastic redesign of the distribution of water in the state,the devastating effects of the
The Mississippi Delta progrades into the Gulf of Mexico through lobes. The first lobe, the Sale Cypremort, formed at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and prograded southward in the western part of the mouth area. The following lobe, the Cocodrie, formed in the eastern part of the mouth. The next three lobes, the Teche, St. Bernard, and Lafourche, formed in succession. Located between these lobes was a depression, where later the Plaquemine lobe and Balize Delta formed. Figure 3 shows the location of these lobes and delta. Each of the lobes life spans were approximately 1700-2500 years. The lobes all went through phases of regression and transgression. Each phase lasted around 1000 years.
The citizens are still living like they have the same amount of water as they did years ago. They continue to water their lawns for long periods of times and still have pools filled with drinkable water, something about that whole concept just seems wrong. Many of the pool owners are wealthy and educated so they have no excuse to waste water. Then there is also the group of citizens who just isn’t being educated enough to know how this can affect them in the long term. Or should we blame this drought on the farmers who decide to grow crops that consume so much of a resource. Referring back to the example about almonds, it takes about one gallon to grow one almond. That sort of resource consumption is ridiculous, and these farms really should be held more accountable for decisions such as this just for their own personal gain. The farmers aren’t the only problem, so are the corporations who keep consuming much of the water such as bottling companies. There is no strict regulation in place for water on private property and they do whatever they like with the resource. Something definitely needs to be done about this, considering water is because scarce and shouldn’t be used as a commodity for them to profit off of. The whole system itself seems to be in a mess, we are growing too many crops in this state when there is plenty of available land in the US that can also
Mississippi was first explored from Spain by Herndon De Soto who also discovered the Mississippi river in 1540. In present day the United states army corps is trying to cut off the last connection between the Mississippi river and its natural backwater habitant in the state of Missouri by building a new 1500 foot levee across the opening at the bottom of the new Madrid floodway it will stop water from reaching its highest 75000 acres of floodplain. The Mississippi river then as it is now is still being used as a big factor when it comes to shipping goods up and down the river it is also home to many entertainment attractions such as riverboat rides for tourist and also natives of the state one of the rivers most greatest forms of entertainment is the river casinos. The delta which was
Community leaders, California is experiencing the most severe drought in decades, perhaps the worst in the past century. Our current drought has led to fierce wildfires, water shortages and restrictions, and potential loss in the agriculture business. While it has only been four years since the drought began, we have already seen a substantial loss in the body of water California water reservoirs contain. And while hopes for strong precipitation are high, the reality is that we are too deep in our drought to recover with a year or two of strong precipitation. The sad truth is that California uses a vast amount of water each year, varying from public supply and industrial to thermoelectric generators and irrigation systems, all without replenishing
Fresno, California is listed as number 10 for the highest city in the U.S. running short on water. Over 75 percent of the land is classified as “D4”, which since the beginning of 2014 the land is in an “exceptional drought” in reference to an article by Wall Street, and the city overall is in the second highest category for an intense drought. Fresno is known for our leading agricultural regions in the nation, so having water restrictions puts a burden on the town and has affected Fresno by no longer being California’s dominant agricultural producer. We all know California is going through a water crisis and it has not improved over the past 4 years, but some of us may not realize how much worse it can get. According to CA.Gov’s article, California
As a resident of the United States, imagine the nation 's future without water. Land terribly dry and brown with hardly any plants growing. Laws being put in place that would fine you for using too much water and people fighting over what remains of this extremely important resource. Each group trying to persuade the other that their need for water is greater. Well, if you are a resident of California, this is already happening. Farmers, people, and environmentalists all want the water to be used for different things, the only problem is, there isn’t enough. The current drought has continued for about five years now, with extremely high temperatures and a lack of precipitation. While personal hygiene, common comforts and the fish
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in the United States, as well as all of North America, at more than 2,300 miles long. It is the fourth longest river and the tenth most powerful river in the world. Originating at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, it flows slowly southwards until it ends about 95 miles below New Orleans, Louisiana where it begins to flow to the Gulf of Mexico. Along with its major tributary, the Missouri River, the river drains all or parts of 31 U.S. states stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the Canadian border on the north, and includes most of the Great