Where Does San Jose California Get Its Water? Essay

Leonardo da Vinci, famous artist, engineer, philosopher, and scientist, once said, “Water is the driving force of all nature.” Water is one of, if not the most valuable resource for all life. Although 71% of the Earth is water, only 2.5% of it is fresh and safe for human consumption. Despite previously being considered a renewable resource, water is becoming scarce, especially in California. As more and more water is disappearing, California is struggling to find a solution to its unprecedented drought. Solutions thus far – imported water, desalination, and ridiculous restrictions on use – have not made a significant enough impact. However, a new, revolutionary resolution has appeared: potable water. Potable, or recycled, water is water

Water is essential to life. It is a vital resource that makes up 70% of the earth’s surface. However, only 3% percent of the earth’s water is freshwater and two-thirds of that freshwater are frozen in glaciers and ice caps, leaving an incomparably small portion available for sustaining earth’s life forms (“How Much Water is in the Ocean?”). Rising surface temperatures, caused by greenhouse gasses that are released when burning fossil fuels, are threatening this water supply by accelerates the rate of water evaporation and limiting precipitation, which leads to droughts and water shortages. Furthermore, earth’s growing population is consuming an increasingly larger fraction of freshwater, which is causing the earth’s natural aquifers to dry up. This global water crisis is especially acute in the western United States where California is experiencing critical drought conditions that are endangering the state’s ability to sustain life. The current California water crisis will ultimately make the state uninhabitable because of several severe, long-term consequences.

Water covers 70% of our planet, and it is easy to think that it will always be plentiful. However, freshwater, what we drink, bathe in, irrigate our farm fields with makes up only 3% of the world’s water, and two-thirds of that is stored in frozen glaciers or unavailable for our use. Many of the water systems that keep ecosystems thriving and feed a growing human population have become stressed. Rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up or becoming too polluted to use. Already, 80 countries suffer from water shortages that threaten health and economies while 40 percent of the world—more than 2 billion people—does not have access to clean water or sanitation

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.

440). The main way for most aquifers to be recharged is through surface runoff. The rainfall sinks into the ground and percolates or accumulates to a common place (usually an aquifer). Yet this process takes lots of time. Scientists believe it may take centuries to refill some of the deeper aquifers. Water travels especially slow underground. It could take water up to 500 years to travel 15 meters. Aquifers are depended on for roughly 40% of California’s water supply. This number can escalate to 60% during droughts such as the one that just occurred.

Water may be a renewable resource, but the world’s supply of drinkable fresh water is being consumed more rapidly than ever before, and most importantly, more rapidly than it can be replenished. Only 2.5% of water on Earth is fresh

Water is all around us. This substance is of high importance to every living thing which is on planet earth. As much as we consider water to be life and the most important substance, still we don’t seem to appreciate it very much, as it is being wasted in such great amounts. Everyone believes that water will always be around but not taking into account that the majority of the water on planet earth are not for human consumption. Human beings can only survive on consuming fresh water. The percentage of

The water users of California have been asked to cut back water use whenever possible. This means shorter showers, drought resistant landscape, and low flow options for faucets and sprinklers. Farmer’s alike have been spotlighted to cut back on water use for it is calculated that they consume 80% of the state’s developed water supply (pacisnt). Although cutting back is a way to help conserve what is available, it is imperative that a new supply of fresh water be found before California overdrafts itself to no supply at all.

Water sustainability is an ever-growing problem because of the increase in population, and over consumption used by agriculture, industry, and domestic which are using more water than we are able to supply. According to CBS News, California’s water shortage has been a big issue since 2011. Climate change has a lot to do with the amount of water we have available to us because the amount we need does not cut out to the amount needed to satisfy the population. Therefore, conservation is key; we must take into consideration the amount we use in a daily basis. Both you and I can easily save water we have, directly and indirectly like what we consume with what we eat, buy and use, which would overall improve water sustainability.

California gets water supply from three sources: groundwater, surface water, and rain and snowfall. Groundwater supplies the most water in California. In the first, according to a report from California Department of Water Resources, 45 percent of statewide annual water supply for a normal season is groundwater, and up to 60 percent in dry days (2015). Groundwater is water underground, but not under the lakes or streams; it is from pores

The Earth is a huge planet this is covered by 70 percent water. Astonishingly, from the 70 percent of the worlds water the human population can only use 1 percent because 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 the fresh water is obtained through 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 but their contribution can vary due to factors such as weather and global warming. Imported surface water composes about 50 percent of San Jose’s water supply, while ground water composes roughly 40 percent, and local mountain surface water composes approximately 10 percent (Santa Jose Water Company, 2016).

Collectively the United States is ranked as the greatest consumers of water worldwide; a startling fact for a country that cannot support its own unrivaled demands (Barlow, 2007). The United States is now crucially dependent on nonrenewable groundwater for a staggering 50% of its daily water usage (Barlow, 2007). In addition to such formidable numbers, citizens of the United States use and waste up 80-100 gallons or 454 liters of water per day (Perlman, 2009). The United States simply doesn’t possess enough fresh water or renewable sources of water to keep up with its gross demands. Nearly 40% of U.S waters are deemed unsafe for recreational activities such as fishing and even swimming

​Water is one of the crucial element our planet provides, however, the supply of freshwater will wane if the consumption of water remains unchecked. The steadily growing need to conserve water usage within the United States has sparked people to change their usage of water to aid their communities during desperate times. Recently California experienced a severe drought which called on a restriction on water usage to a bare minimum. During this drought, rising temperature and lack of rain on cities who rely on rain water to recharge the many water sources pushed California governor to act encouraging people to assist with implement the restrictions. The water restriction allowed people to still go about their daily lives while maintaining a

In North America, water is taken for granted and we seldom concern ourselves with the many aspects of a society and economy that demand on water. Water is the backbone of modern infrastructure from urban planning to agricultural

A surge in the global population in the past century has brought about an immense strain on the commons. It is estimated that 35% of the global population suffers from “severe water stress” (Wada et al., 2010). Only 3% of the world’s supply of water is freshwater, with 68.7% being locked away in the glaciers, 30.1% in ground water, and 0.9% in surface water bodies (Shiklomanov, 1993). This makes groundwater the most abundant fresh water source readily available for human consumption. Estimates for global groundwater withdrawal are between 750 and 800 cubic kilometers per year (Konikow et al., 2005). Severe land subsidence and depletion of the groundwater table is occurring in both developing and developed nations. This has made