Water Use and Management
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Outline:
•
Water Availability and Use
•
Freshwater Shortages
•
Water Management and Conservation
•
Privatization of water
•
Water wars
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
WATER RESOURCES
•
Water, liquid and solid, covers more than
70% of world’s surface.
 More than 370 billion billion gallons.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Hydrologic Cycle
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Sources of water
Surface fresh water:
3% of liquid water,
which is 13% of fresh water,
which is 2.4% of water
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Groundwater

Second largest reservoir of fresh water.
- Infiltration - Process of water percolating
through the soil and into fractures and
permeable rocks.
 Zone of Saturation - Lower soil layers
where all spaces are filled with water.
 Water Table - Top of Zone of Sat.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Groundwater
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Groundwater
•
•
Aquifers - Porous layers of sand, gravel, or
rock lying below the water table.
 Artesian - Pressurized aquifer intersects
the surface. (Water flows without pumping)
Recharge Zone - Area where water infiltrates
into an aquifer.
 Recharge rate is often very slow.
- Presently, groundwater is being removed
faster than it can be replenished in many
areas.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Groundwater Aquifer
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Water diversions from rivers
Yellow River (Huang He)
In northern China
Colorado River Delta
in U.S./Mexico
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Diversion of rivers to the Aral Sea
•
Once the 4th largest inland
body of water in the world
A series of dams was built to
irrigate cotton.
•
Aral Sea reduced to about
25% of its 1960 volume,
quadrupled the salinity of the
lake and wiped out the fishery.
Pollutants became airborne as
dust, causing significant local
health problems.
•
The environmental damage
caused has been estimated at
$1.25 -$2.5 billion a year.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
U.S. Water Policy
•
Through most of US history, water policies
have generally worked against conservation.
 In well-watered eastern states, water policy
was based on riparian use rights.
 In drier western regions where water is
often a limiting resource, water law is
based primarily on prior appropriation
rights.
- Fosters “Use it or Lose it” policies.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Ogallala
Aquifer
Highcapacity
well
withdrawals
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Dried-up reservoir
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Western U.S. water conflicts
Klamath Basin, Oregon
vs.
Farmers.
Ranchers.
“Wise
Users”
Commercial fishers,
Sport fishers,
Tribes,
Environmentalists
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Bulk water transfers
River system diversions
(Canada-to-U.S.)
Water pipelines
(Canada/Great Lakes-to-Southwest)
Supertankers
(North America-to-Asia)
Canadian government
banned bulk transfers in 1999.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Groundwater replenishing
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
WATER AVAILABILITY AND USE
•
Renewable Water Supplies
 Made up of surface runoff and infiltration
into accessible freshwater aquifers.

Readily accessible, renewable
supplies are 400,000 gal /person/year.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Drought Cycles
•
Every continent has regions of scarce rainfall
due to topographic effects or wind currents.
 Water shortages have most severe effect in
semiarid zones where moisture availability
is the critical factor in plant and animal
distributions.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Types of Water Use
•
Withdrawal - Total amount of water taken
from a source.
•
Consumption - Fraction of withdrawn water
not returned to its source.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Types of Water Use
•
Worldwide, humans withdraw about 10% of
total annual renewable supply.

Many societies have always treated water
as an inexhaustible resource.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Quantities of Water Used
•
Human water use has been increasing about
twice as fast as population growth over the
past century.

Average amount of withdrawn worldwide is
about 170,544 gal/person/year.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Global Water Use Growth
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Precipitation Patterns
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Water use
Agriculture
Industry
Household/municipal
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
FRESHWATER SHORTAGES
•
Estimated 1.5 billion people lack access to
an adequate supply of drinking water.
 Nearly 3 billion lack acceptable sanitation.
•
A country where consumption exceeds more
than 20% of available, renewable supply is
considered vulnerable to water stress.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
A Precious Resource
•
45 countries have serious water stress, and
cannot meet the minimum essential water
requirements of their citizens.

More than two-thirds of world’s households
have to retrieve water from outside the
home.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Depleting Groundwater
•
Groundwater is the source of nearly 40% of
fresh water in the US.
 On a local level, withdrawing water faster
than it can be replenished leads to a cone
of depression in the water table,
- On a broader scale, heavy pumping can
deplete an aquifer.

Mining non-renewable resource.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Depleting Groundwater
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Depleting Groundwater
•
Withdrawing large amounts of groundwater
in a small area causes porous formations to
collapse, resulting in subsidence.

Sinkholes form when an underground
channel or cavern collapses.

Saltwater intrusion can occur along
coastlines
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Saltwater Intrusion
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Domestic Conservation
•
Estimates suggest many societies could
save as much as half of current domestic
water usage without great sacrifice or serious
change in lifestyle.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Typical US Household Water Use
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
WATER WARS
Majority
Minority
12% of population uses 85% of water
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
By
majority
By
minority
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Price Mechanisms
•
Charging a higher
proportion of real
costs to users of
public water projects
has helped encourage
conservation.

Yet discriminates
against poor.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Global water Industry
Over $140 Billion a year
The World Water and Wastewater Utilities Market is
estimated at $142 billion US in 2000…
(2000, $US)
Rest of the
World
63%
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
USA
37%
Water multinationals
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Public/private water in EU countries
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
99
98
96
95
90
90
82
80
70
63
60
50
Public
40
Private
30
25
20
12
10
0
Be
lgi
um
De
nm
ark
Ge
rm
an
y
Sp
ain
Fr
an
ce
Gr
ee
ce
Irel
an
d
Ital
y
Lu
xe
mb
ou
rg
Ne
the
rla
nd
s
Au
str
ia
Po
rtu
gal
Fin
lan
d
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Sw
ed
en
UK
Public and private prices in France
average annual price (FF) for yearly consumption of 120m3, water & sanitation
Source: DGCCRF
2,500
1,993
2,000
2,050
1,908
1,803
1,784
2,100
1,848
2,100
1,841
1,716
1,621
1,500
1,489
1,000
500
0
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Municipal/RЋgies
Delegated/Private
“Water War” in Bolivia
Cochabamba residents protesting
Bechtel privatization of
municipal water system, 1999
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Private and public: subsidies to and from water
Private
Loss
leaders
Public
Water
Subsidies from
taxation
services
Financing
other MNC
operations
Financing other
public services
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Alternative: Porto Alegre, Brazil
-

Autonomous department
Efficiency and public accountability
‘Participatory budgeting’
- Decentralised democratic prioritising
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Alternative: Debrecen, Hungary
•
Preferred public to private
•
Cheaper
•
Financial comparison
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Safety of municipal
water supplies
Australia, 1998
(privatized system)
Wisconsin, 1993
Ontario, 2000
(gov’t had dropped
e-coli testing)
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Bottled water costs more than oil
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Bottled water quality in question
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Bottled water growth
8
7
6
5
4
Billions of gallons
3
2
1
0
1970
1980
2000
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Water
Privatization
Woodstock
Riot 1999
Fewer
bubblers in
public
buildings?
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Perrier/Nestle in the U.S.
Texas
Florida
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Perrier/Nestle in the Midwest
Wisconsin
Mecan Springs
(Waushara Co.)
1999-2000;
Big Spring
(Adams Co.),
2000-2002
Michigan
Protection of
rural supplies
from highcapacity wells
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
‘New Geography of Conflict’
“Possible flashpoint for resource conflict”
Water systems & aquifers
•
Jordan
•
Nile
•
Tigris – Euphrates
•
Amu Darya
•
Indus
•
Mountain Aquifer (West Bank/Israel)”
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Middle East
Water Conflicts
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
IsraeliPalestinian
Water
Conflict
Israel uses 82%
Of West Bank
groundwater;
charges Arabs 3x
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Israel’s
boundary
with Egypt
and Gaza
(Palestine)
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Dead Sea
Shrinkage
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Turkey
Iraq
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
International cooperation on water use
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Websites
Water resources
http://www.worldwater.org/
http://www.groundwater.com/
Privatization of water
www.canadians.org/blueplanet
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/
Bottled water
www.saveamericaswater.com
www.savemiwater.org
www.waterissweet.org
www.saveourspringsinc.org
Water Wars (books)
www.southendpress.org/books/waterwars.shtml
www.mapcruzin.com/rev_resource_wars.htm
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.