Akats>>>>>>>>>California has a population of about 32 million, and uses about 35 million acre-feet of water (as the Teeming Thousands will know, an acre-foot is the amount of water that will cover an area of one acre to a depth of one foot, or about 1,233 m3). That total usage, then, is about 4.3x1010 m3. (I hate these conversions between metric and customary units, but that’s another thread).
_____________________________________________You might want to change the battery in that calculator, Akats.
"When The Well Runs Dry Population pressures threaten global water supply will face similar shortages, affecting more than 2.8 billion people, 35% of the world’s population.
While our fresh water supply accounts for less than 3% of the water on the earth’s surface, experts contend that the water crisis does not result from an actual decrease in water supply. Surprisingly, in fact, the earth has virtually the same amount of fresh water as it did when dinosaurs roamed the planet. According to Joel E. Cohen of the Rockefeller University Laboratory of Populations, “Our planet has more than enough fresh water for every living person, it is often just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
As with most natural resources, water supply distribution is uneven. Approximately two-thirds of the world’s population live in areas that receive only 25% of the planet’s rainfall, while much of the world’s fresh water is inaccessible because, for example, it is trapped in polar ice caps. Additionally, most countries do not have the capital to invest in necessary technology, such as desalinization plants, which would make ocean water potable. As one Swedish water engineer observed, “There may be more than enough fresh water for every thirsty person, but for many people it is hard to get.”
What’s the role of population growth in all this? Distribution problems are aggravated by global population growth and excessive water consumption by affluent nations. As population grows, the average amount of renewable freshwater available to each person declines. When certain ratios of human numbers to renewable fresh water supplies are exceeded, water scarcity becomes inevitable. In recent decades these ratios have been exceeded in more than two dozen countries.
Middle Eastern countries live with the dangerous ramifications of water scarcity. Serious international tensions between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq have surfaced as a result of disagreements over water rights to the Euphrates River. The Euphrates River is seen as a lifeline in this arid region and is a primary source of water for millions of people. The river supplies the water for irrigation, hydropower generation, and individual and other domestic needs. Although conflict between the three nations with regard to the river continues, these tensions have been exacerbated recently, in part due to Turkey’s rapidly growing population and the proposed dam project of the Turkish government. In an attempt to ensure access to this valued resource, Iraq and Syria have threatened military action.
Nearly two and a half centuries ago, America’s wells were overflowing with safe, clean water. Today, however, America’s water supply is being exploited by both poorly planned consumption and contamination. Agrarian practices and industrial waste have been the primary sources of pollution of our waterways and groundwater, rendering many sources useless. A paramount example of such pollution was the pollution of the Mississippi River, often called the mightiest of the waterways. Though the Mississippi no longer receives raw sewage, Robert H. Meade, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey reports that the river has advanced into a greater state of contamination. Meade attributes much of the contamination to herbicides and insecticides used in farming.
In addition to water contamination, the United States has also seen its share of conflict over water supply. Many states, from California to Maryland, are seeing lawsuits filed to ensure access to a safe, clean water supply. Baltimore, MD, recently threatened to take legal action to gain unfettered access to the Susquehanna River for the region’s drinking needs.
********Diminishing water supplies have forced many cities and farmers in the arid southwestern region of the United States to siphon water from the Colorado River. The river seldom reaches the Gulf of California—as it did prior to this siphoning. **********
Over a century ago Benjamin Franklin wrote, “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” Those words have been prophetic. With world population slated to reach the 6 billion mark this year and with current water consumption rates rising twice as fast as the world’s population, the global water supply faces some dangerous challenges. Personal responsibility and commitment to reducing consumption of water, coupled with effective policy initiatives (such as the U. S. Safe Drinking Water Act and Israel’s agricultural, drip-irrigation procedures) may be the only way out of the downward spiral that our current water crisis presents.
Sources
Parfit, Michael, “Sharing the Wealth of Water.” National Geographic Special Edition, Vol. 184, National Geographic Society: 1993.
Engleman, Robert and Pamela LeRoy, “Sustainable Water: Population and the Future of Renewable Water Supplies.” Population Action International:1993.
Hinrichsen, D., “Solutions for a Water-Short World.” Population Reports, Series M, No. 14, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Population Information Program: 1998.
Wheeler, Timothy, “Planet’s Thirsty, Not Drowning” Baltimore Sun, September 11, 1998.
Reid, T.R., “Feeding the Planet.” National Geographic Magazine, October 1998.
“All rising to a great place is by a winding stair.” F.Bacon
Brille