Water, Water
Everywhere
But Not a Drop to
Drink
LET’S START WITH THE
BASICS:
WHAT ARE OUR
SOURCES
OF FRESH WATER?
=
Global Distribution of Fresh Water
WATER SOURCE
Oceans, Seas and Bays
Ice Caps, Glaciers and Permanent
Snows
*Groundwater
Fresh
Saline
Soil Moisture
Ground Ice and Permafrost
Lakes
Fresh
Saline
Atmosphere
Swamp Water
Rivers
Biological Water
% OF FRESH
WATER
0%
68.7 %
-- %
30.1 %
-.05 %
.86 %
-.26 %
-.04 %
.03 %
.0006 %
.0003
OCEAN STORAGE: 96.5 %
FRESH WATER: 3.5 %
THE WATER CYCLE QUIZ
E – P = Net Balance
WHAT ARE OUR PRIMARY USES?
 AGRICULTURE
(36%)
 Industrial (5%)
 Public supply
(11%)
 Domestic (1%)
US citizens spend $100B a
year on bottled water while
$30B would create clean water
systems worldwide.
“Technological Hubris”: We
DON’T need to develop huge
water collection sites to
deliver water.
Why do the world’s
greatest rivers no
longer reach the sea?

650 gallons for every # of rice

130 gallons for every # of wheat

65 gallons for every # of potatoes

3,000 gallons for every # of hamburger

500-1,000 gallons for every quart of milk

50 cups of water for every t. of sugar
A typical meat-eating,
beer-swilling, milk
guzzling Westerner
consumes a hundred
times his/her own weight
in water daily. A
vegetarian, half that.
Thus, what kind of
food we eat is
just as important
as the kind of
car we drive.
And clothing – oh!
Cotton is a HUGE guzzler.
It takes 25 bathtubs of
water to create ONE
cotton t-shirt!
THE ARAL SEA
THE CHANGING PROFILE
OF THE ARAL SEA
1960
1989
1971
2009
(earl
ySep
t.)
1976
2025?
Aral Sea Level: 1950-2010
55
Separation of Large
and Small Aral
meters above sea level
50
Small
Aral
45
Aral Sea
40
35
30
Large Aral
25
20
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
years



Salt/dust storms
from exposed
bottom affects
wide area
Loss of
commercial
fishing
Climate change in
area around sea



*Substantial
drops in
groundwater
levels
Poor quality
drinking water
(saline)
High morbidity/
mortality given
contamination
PRIMARY ENVIRONMENTAL AND
HUMAN PROBLEMS OF ARAL SEA
Primary Diseases
DISEASE
CAUSE
•Respiratory Problems
Blowing salt and dust
•Viral Hepatitis
Contaminated water and poor
hygiene
•Typhus/paratyphus
Contaminated water and poor
hygiene
•Liver and esophageal cancer
(?) Blowing salt and dust
•Intestinal disorders
Contaminated water, poor hygiene
and (?) blowing salt and dust
•Kidney problems
Highly mineralized water
•Congenital abnormalities
Toxic contaminants
•Plague
Explosion of rodent population on
lake bottom
SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD NEAR MUYNAK,
KARAKALPAKSTAN SEPT. 1989
(photo by P. Micklin)
ABANDONED SHIPS ON THE DRIED BOTTOM OF THE
GULF OF SARYSHAGANAK (SMALL ARAL SEA)
SEPTEMBER 2005
(photo by P. Micklin)
THE PROBLEMS DON’T
EXIST ONLY IN OTHER
COUNTRIES
THE OGALLALA AQUIFER
*If spread across the U.S., the aquifer would
cover all 50 states with 1.5 feet of water
*If drained, it would take more than 6,000
years to refill naturally
*More than 90 percent of the water pumped
is used to irrigate crops
*$20 billion a year in food and fiber depend
on the aquifer
CALIFORNIA’S SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY AQUIFER
•America’s largest farming region
•Single-largest zone of groundwater
pumping
•Aquifer levels have dropped nearly 400
feet since 1960s
•Groundwater usage is almost completely
unregulated in CA
•After 1900, with advent of large-scale
farming, water tables dropped
significantly
“The data
is telling us
that this rate
of pumping
is not
sustainable.”
“All that
water is
gone … it’s
left the
building”
heading north
Water scarcity is
experienced by humans
as famine.
MAXIMUM
SUPPLY OF
WATER
WORLDWIDE:
WESTERN
ANNUAL USAGE:
1400 CUBIC
YARDS/PERSON
/YEAR
2000 CUBIC
YARDS/PERSON
/YEAR
THE SIXTH GREAT MASS
EXTINCTION
We can continue on the path to our
own extinction, or, preferably, we
modify our behavior toward the
global ecosystem of which we are
still very much a part. The latter
must happen before the Sixth
Extinction can be declared over,
and life can once again rebound.
India’s water crisis
You can live without oil, but
you cannot live without water.
The demand for feed, fiber and
fuel from agriculture will
double by 2050: “Must meet
that need without one drop
more of water, one hectare
more of food”
(World Wildlife Fund)
SO, WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?




Invest in *Play
Pumps
Rethink dams
(drought impact/
huge
displacement)
Check out 350.org
(as in parts/million
CO2)
Build Water
Cooperatives



Repair
infrastructure
Grow crops
appropriate to
rainfall
Move from
flooding whole
fields to “drip”
systems (thus
limiting
evaporation)
WE NEED A REVOLUTION IN
HOW WE USE WATER




Harvesting rain
with rain barrels
Investing in lowflow shower
heads and toilets
Growing lawns
appropriate to
regional rainfall
Limiting use of
lawn fertilizers




Choosing local
foods
Living with less
Using
environmentallyfriendly cleaning
products
Drinking local,
unbottled water
vs. bottled
products
WE NEED A REVOLUTION IN
HOW WE USE WATER

Nestle battles
Michigan
residents over
water rights:
“rule of capture”

Coca-Cola and
Pepsico battle
local Indians for
water rights:
Getting large
amounts of
water for free
WHO OWNS THE WATER?
 Everything
is connected
 Everything is changing
 We’re all in this
together
WE NEED A REVOLUTION IN
HOW WE USE WATER:
THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES
You can live without oil, but
you cannot live without water.
Jill Stiemsma gratefully acknowledges the University of
Chicago’s Summer Teacher Institute, June 28-30, 2010, for
scheduling the following presenters whose ideas are adapted
throughout these slides:
Josh Ellis, Associate, Metropolitan Planning Council,
Chicago
Reuben Keller, Lecturer, Environmental Studies, U of C
Pamela Martin, Ass’t Prof., Geophysical Sciences, U of C
Mary Matlock, Prof. of Ecological Engineering, U of AK
Philip Micklin, Dept. of Geography, W. MI U: Kalamazoo
Fred Pearce, Freelance Author and Journalist, London
Mandy Poole, Engineering Consultant, Baxter &
Woodman
Jim Schulz, Exec. Dir., Democracy Center, Cochabamba,
Bolivia