Student: Bee Kelsch
Graduation date: May 2017
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: November 2015
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Summary
Water management in the western U.S. has historically been much more complex than that in the eastern U.S. where water supplies are relatively abundant. My concentration aims to understand the different water supply and quality issues in the western United States, and how these areas are preparing for changing climates. Furthermore, it looks at how water supplies are allocated for drinking water, agriculture, wildlife and hydropower, and the dynamics between these four stakeholders.
The world’s changing climate is an issue which will have diverse impacts on water supplies all over the world (Stocker 2013). As the majority of systems that societies have today for managing water assume an unchanging climate, how climate change will regionally impact different water systems is an important topic of discussion (Bouwer 2000). While most global climate models predict a general warming trend, it is much more difficult to predict how this warming will impact the way that heat and energy is moved through earths systems, and how this will affect rainfall. In terms of water management, the best thing that we can do to prepare for uncertain climate fluctuations is to make our water systems more resilient (National, 1991). A large increase or a large decrease in annual or seasonal precipitation could cause either water supply issues for an area, or water quality issues (World 2007). How the water system is affected will also depend on the technology and management that exists for each individual system.
The western side of the United States, which is much more arid than the eastern side (other certain portions of Washington and Oregon), faces the political issue of allocating water to different stakeholders, and deciding who takes priority: do endangered fish species or agricultural companies have more of a legal water right? (Moore 1996). While water law and state policy will be very important in the coming future, it is also important to look at technology as a solution. The wetter areas of the American west are going to need to weigh the benefits of dams for water storage and hydropower against the detriments for threatened species such as salmon; others like California and Arizona truly need to start looking into other technologies such as grey water reuse and desalinization plants (Fritzmann 2007). In addition to addressing the supply issues it is also going to be necessary to decrease water demand, and this will need to be done through policy changes requiring new technological for households, industry, and agriculture.
In the arid west of the United States, where water sources have always be limited, water law developed as settlers moved to the west with the doctrine of prior appropriation, where those who arrive first and put the water to economic use have rights to the water (DuMars 1989). In other countries such as Brazil, which contains 12% of the world’s surface water resources, laws protecting the water supply and quality have been slow to develop since there has historically been a notion of water abundance (Elabras 2013). Since the passing of the 1977 National Water Resources Policy, Brazil has been making progress in collecting and treating more municipal sewage, which makes water unsafe to drink and swim in, and which also depletes dissolved oxygen levels killing off fish and aquatic life (Elabras 2013). Countries such a Bangladesh, which have tried to avoid water borne disease outbreaks from polluted surface water have turned to groundwater as a clean drinking water source. This has caused new problems as much of the groundwater in Bangladesh is naturally high in arsenic, and approximately 77% of the groundwater wells are predicted to contain toxic levels of arsenic (Chowdhury 2000). Many of the world’s developing countries that are not facing freshwater scarcity issues like the American West, are experiencing scarcity of clean freshwater sources, and are struggling to meet the World Health Organizations guidelines for safe drinking water. (World 2004).
With increasing global population, it is going to be extremely important in the coming years for policy makers to look at future climate predictions and begin making water systems more resilient to changes. More importantly water system managers are going to need to figure out how to allocate water resources to different stakeholders by developing new water policy in the American West that will allow them to do this fairly.
References
Basu, Gautam C., Bhajan K. Biswas, Dipankar Chakraborti, Chitta R. Chanda, Tarit Roy Chowdhury, Uttam K. Chowdhury, Saiful Kabir, et al. 2000. “Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India.” Environmental Health Perspectives 108 (5): 393.
Bouwer, Herman. 2000. “Integrated Water Management: Emerging Issues and Challenges.” Agricultural Water Management 45 (3): 217–28. doi:10.1016/S0378-3774(00)00092-5.
- Fritzmann, J. Löwenberg. 2007. “State-of-the-Art Reverse Osmosis Desalination.” Desalination 216 (1-3): 1–76. doi:10.1016/j.desal.2006.12.009.
Change, Intergovernmental Panel On Climate. 2007. “Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.” Agenda 6 (07): 333.
DuMars, Charles T., and A. Dan Tarlock. 1989. “Symposium Introduction: New Challenges to State Water Allocation Sovereignty.” Nat. Resources J. 29: 331.
Elabras Veiga, Lilian Bechara, and Alessandra Magrini. 2013. “The Brazilian Water Resources Management Policy: Fifteen Years of Success and Challenges.” Water Resources Management 27 (7): 2287–2302. doi:10.1007/s11269-013-0288-1.
Fischbach, Jordan R, Robert J Lempert, Edmundo Molina-Perez, Abdul Ahad Tariq, Melissa L Finucane, and Frauke Hoss. 2015. Managing Water Quality in the Face of Uncertainty: A Robust Decision Making Demonstration for EPA’s National Water Program.
Fram, Miranda S., and Kenneth Belitz. 2011. “Occurrence and Concentrations of Pharmaceutical Compounds in Groundwater Used for Public Drinking-Water Supply in California.” Science of The Total Environment 409 (18): 3409–17. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.05.053.
Moore, Michael R., Aimee Mulville, and Marcia Weinberg. 1996. “Water Allocation in the American West: Endangered Fish versus Irrigated Agriculture.” Nat. Resources J. 36: 319.
Mote, Philip W., and Eric P. Salathé. 2010. “Future Climate in the Pacific Northwest.” Climatic Change 102 (1-2): 29–50. doi:10.1007/s10584-010-9848-z.
Organization, World Health. 2004. Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality: Recommendations. World Health Organization.
Questions
- Descriptive: What are some of the main uses of water in the American west? What sources does water come from, and how have humans changed these water sources in order to better control over water supply? Have any major water systems already changed aspects of their management in order to better prepare for the future?
- Explanatory: How are water supply managers in the American West expecting drought to affect water quality and supply? How are they planning to respond to future issues with water supply? How will interstate water politics shape responses to water supply?
- Evaluative: Who would be affected by the creation of bigger water storage reservoirs? Can we increase our resilience to climate changes and still take into account the needs of fish? Will there be enough water for agricultural uses, household uses, hydropower and aquatic ecosystems? How will water needs be prioritized among these stakeholders?
- Instrumental: How can we use water law to ensure that we meet water demands for agricultural, drinking water, power supply and ecological needs? How can we use policy and technology to decrease agricultural and household water demand in arid regions?
Concentration courses
- GEOL 170 (Climate Science, 5 credits): Fall 2014. Understanding the cycles of climate change throughout past eons and the science behind the major climate changes that are currently taking place.
- GEOL 280 (Fundamentals of Hydrology, 4 credits): Spring 2016. Understanding the movement of water in natural and modified environments that affects water management.
- GEOL 340 (Spatial Problems in Earth Science Systems, 5 credits): Spring 2014. Technical mapping skills that can be used to understand water systems and water distribution.
- ENVS 460 (Environmental Law and Policy, 4 credits): Fall 2015. Understanding the law and policy's in the United States that shape water management.
Arts and humanities courses
- PHIL 215 (Philosophy and the Environment, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- HIST 134 (United States: Revolution to Empire, 4 credits): Spring 2016. Creations of water systems through the rise of industry and urbanization.