Water supply in the USA - Research Paper Example

? US Water Supply Table of Contents Impacts of Climate Change on Water Supplies in the US Southeast and Southwest 3 Works Cited 11 Impacts of ClimateChange on Water Supplies in the US Southeast and Southwest This paper explores the problem of climate change impacting the water supply in the southwestern as well as the southeastern parts of the United States. The paper explores the nature of the problem; its context and background; the various impacts of the problem at the present time, in various dimensions; current actions to address the problem; the solutions that are being utilized relating to sustainability; the way the problem ties to the water crisis spanning the globe, as well as the governance paradigm that has been newly wrought; how the problem impacts the framework for water and sustainability (US EPA; Rice; US EPA (b); Ferner). The observation is that climate change further worsens existing pressures on water supplies in all of the United States, relating to the way Americans routinely use water not just for consumption, but also for a host of economic activities, including agriculture, manufacturing, and the generation of power, among many uses. The general problem relates to the overall impact of climate change relating to elevating the demand for water in all areas of the United States, while at the same time exerting a downward pressure on available supplies. This in turn leads to a further imbalance tilting towards water scarcity and the issues tied to that, including the degradation of water quality, and issues relating to prioritizing access (US EPA (c); Climate.gov). In many areas of the United States where water supplies are already thin and the water cycles and the ecosystems that they support are already delicate and in precarious states, climate change is seen as further putting those water systems and ecosystems at risk for systemic collapse (Frederick and Gleick), leading to potential conflicts (US Global Change Research Program). The problem relates to determining the impacts of climate change on the water supplies in the southern portion of the United States, detailing the impacts in the southeast and the southwest and undertaking a comparison and contrast and a general analysis of those impacts between the two halves. Related to this discussion are the kinds of interventions that are being undertaken, and how those interventions tie back to issues relating to sustainability of the interventions and the water supplies in the long run. That latter discussion with regard to the interventions, meanwhile, is done in the context of the academic literature on past interventions and how those interventions have fared, both within and outside of the United States. The problem itself of the impact of climate change on water supplies in the southern US is situated in the context of the water problem in the rest of the world, and the framework for sustainability that has been proposed to manage global and national water supplies (Postel and Richter; Pielou; Gerlak and Wilder; Bakker; US EPA). Turning to the problem contexts and background, climate change in general has been having a profound impact on the environment and on the key resources that sustain the populations of countries around the world.,The US is not an exception to this. The change in the ecosystems are breeding changes to the availability, quality, and access to vital resources, such as water. The effect is that where there are existing pressures on those resources in terms of availability and viability, those pressures are increasing. Moreover, the pressures are translating to new threats to the sustainability of the resource and of the human populations that depend on them. Situating the problem within a global context, one can see that since climate change impacts water quality and water availability for instance, different countries already on the brink of water crises are most vulnerable at present (Gerlak and Wilder; US EPA; US EPA (c)). Focusing on the United States, climate change is seen as impacting water supplies in various contexts. Those contexts include that the combined effects of large sustained growths in the population as well as climate change are stressing water supplies to the point of scarcity. The literature notes that at least eleven cities are presently in danger of completely depleting their water supplies. The literature further notes that about 10 percent of all watersheds in the United States are at a level of use that can be classified as stressed, with climate change exacerbating the stresses. The prognosis is that by the middle of this century, moreover, water supplies in many areas of the US will be at levels that can be considered as unreliable (Ferner). Taking a step back, climate change is impacting water supply in the contexts of the rhythms of the flows of water in major water bodies in the US, and those changes in the rhythms have effects on the rhythms of the ecosystems that depend on the water supplies in turn. Larger amounts of rain brought about by climate change, more rain in place of snow, and larger numbers of storms are changing the water flow patterns in many parts of the US. Meanwhile, as the earth warms up, plants, animals and humans are in need of larger and larger amounts of water for hydration, elevating demand, even as the warming of the earth itself causes water supplies to dwindle. Also, as demand goes up, the jockeying for precious water resources can heat up, leading to conflicts that further cripple access to the water supplies (US EPA (c); Gerlak and Wilder; Rice; US EPA (b)). With regard to the current impacts of climate change on water supplies in the US Southeast and Southwest, the two halves present similar pictures. Present and future impacts of climate change on water supplies in the Southeast include the greater occurrence of droughts. This is owing to higher levels of water evaporation due to hotter temperatures. This is coupled by longer and more intense droughts as well, worsening the problems relating to water availability in the southeastern states, and including key cities such as Miami, New Orleans, Charlotte and Houston. In these Southeastern cities the populations are large and can be severely impacted by the droughts. In Louisiana and in Florida, meanwhile, shallow water aquifers are threatened by saltwater contamination as coastal surface runoff of water as well as the recharge of the groundwater cause saltwater to enter those aquifers and mix in with the fresh water supplies. A vicious cycle meanwhile is threatening to arise where the reduced water supplies forces populations to pump up water from the aquifers, further depressing increasingly low water levels in those reservoirs. Meanwhile, as demand grows owing to population growth, the negative impacts of climate change on stressed water reservoirs will only get worse over time (US EPA; US EPA (b); Frederick and Gleick). In the Southwest, on the other hand, climate change is also further enhancing the current stresses that are already bearing on the water supplies. This is occurring in a region that is already having problems being able to address burgeoning water demands. Water tables are increasingly depleted owing to the need to pump water out of the reservoirs underground, in order to meet increasing demand from a growing population. Power generation and agricultural activities, meanwhile, are poised to keep demand at elevated levels, and all these amplify the negative effects of climate change on the water supplies situation in the southwest (US EPA (d)). Digging further, where climate change has had the impact of lowering levels of rainfall during the spring, this has the effect in turn of stressing water supplies during the summertime, the time of the year when water demand is at its peak in the southwest. Groundwater recharging is projected to slow down, and is already being impacted by climate change. Droughts will become even more severe and intense in a region where droughts are already a mainstay of the terrain. Climate change will bring more droughts. The overall impacts of reduced flows of water from the river, the reduced amount of rainfall, challenged water levels at the reservoirs, and the spike in populations meanwhile, are expected to intensify competition and jockeying for water supplies in different parts of the southwest. This latter state of affairs will be further stoked by the worsening effects of climate change on the region's water supplies (US EPA (d)). One can see that on closer inspection, the impacts of climate change on the two halves of the southern US are similar, with the droughts in the southwest expected to go from bad to worse in terms of duration and intensity, while in the southeast droughts will be longer, more common and more intense. Both halves are already seeing the start of a sustained vicious cycle of lowered water supplies leading to increased pumping of challenged water aquifers, leading to further depletion of the precious water tables. Competition for water will be more pronounced in both the southeast and the southwest. On the other hand, owing to the larger population in the southeast as compared to the southwest, the absolute water needs of the southeast are expected to be larger, and the impact of climate change on water supplies is expected to be worse in the southeast in terms of the states in the southeast being able to satisfy a larger absolute demand for water in those states (US EPA (b); US EPA (d); Frederick and Gleick). Turning to interventions, the literature details them in many ways. One is in terms of either privatizing water resources management and the management of the water utilities, or else putting them in the hands of government. Here trends and historical outcomes for both options indicate mixed success at being able to potentially make use of either to mitigate the effects of climate change on water supplies (Bakker 78-107). Other interventions relate to preserving the quality of the water flow and the water itself in major bodies of water such as rivers. These sets of interventions are seen as forming part of a strategy to preserve those bodies of water, and to ensure that uses for those bodies of water are considered in the context of the sustainability of those uses. Related to the sustainable preservation of water bodies is the notion of coming up with preservation strategies aimed at keeping the natural flow of the water bodies at their optimum levels (Postel and Richter 1-21; Pielou 109-118). Other interventions culled from the literature include rethinking governance in terms of the social and cultural uses of the water supplies, and making use of new technologies to improve water quality and water use sustainability for precious water resources (Gerlak and Wilder). In the short term it is clear that interventions are not taking into account changes wrought by climate change as well as future changes that are dependent on conditions at present. Those conditions include stressors that are compromising the long-term viability of the water supplies. In short current interventions are about meeting demand by increasing reliance on water tables and existing sources, which is unsustainable. Proposed interventions on the other hand for the southern part of the US flows from national recommendations to rethink strategies and model assumptions. The rethinking involves seeing that that the future state of the water supplies are compromised by present activities. This is opposed to model thinking for strategizing where the state of the water tables and the water bodies are fixed through the planning horizons and are not affected or depleted in any way. Factoring in depletion and decay on the other hand makes or better planning and a more complete picture of the situation(Frederick and Gleick; US EPA (b); US EPA (d)). Turning to the proposed interventions and the issue of sustainability, sustainability recommendations and proposed solutions look at widening the planning horizon beyond meeting short term needs. The alternatives relate to factoring in sustainability considerations for the water tables and other bodies of water that are heavily in use in the southern part of the US. Moreover, sustainability-related solutions can lie in the direction of aping the successes and examples provided by global best practices cases. These best practices make use of innovative governance practices and technologies. In the US that translates to better managing water allocation among competing parties and the use of new technologies to shore up water resources and prevent depletion (Gerlak and Wilder, US EPA (b); US EPA (d); Frederick and Gleick). Relating the discussion to the global crisis in water, climate change, as discussed above, has wide-reaching effects on many aspects of human activities and of the lives of nations. Central to these are activities tied to water use and water availability on the global scale. Climate change worsens problems relating to water supply, water quality, and water use sustainability. In this context, the problems of water supply management and water supply adequacy and sustainability in the southern US are a reflection of the problems facing the rest of the world. In terms of the appropriateness of a sustainability paradigm too, the current problems facing the southern US are a match with best practices thinking. Here the ideal governance paradigm focuses on sustainable water use practices and recognizes their primary relevance. This paradigm looks at how sustainable practices for managing water supplies are difficult to bring to life, but takes the view that a sustainability focus is superior to stop-gap, short term measures that only look at meeting present needs, while jeopardizing the prospects of sustainable use in the long term (Climate.gov; Frederick and Gleick; US Global Change Research Program; US EPA (b); US EPA (d)). To conclude, the effects of climate change on water supplies in the southern US exemplify the observed impacts of climate change elsewhere. The gist of it is that those impacts intensify or aggravate the problems tied to managing the water supplies for sustainability. Where short-term thinking dominates official thinking, there are problems with long-term sustainability. In the southern US, management is an aspect of meeting immediate needs, while seeming to have no view towards securing the viability of the aquifers and the water bodies for long-term use. Factoring in sustainability into the discussion changes the time horizon from the immediate to the long-term. The research further provides ammunition to proponents of a sustainable framework for water use not only in the US but in other countries as well. This is in the context of the worsening impacts of climate change on water supplies in that part of the country (Climate.gov; Frederick and Gleick; US Global Change Research Program; US EPA (b); US EPA (d)). Works Cited Bakker, Karen. Privatizing Water: Governance Failure and the World's Urban Water Crisis. 2010. Cornell University Press. Climate.gov. “Climate change to increase water stress in many parts of US”. Climate.gov. 14 November 2013. Web. 16 December 2013. Ferner, Matt. “These 11 Cities May Completely Run Out of Water Sooner Than You Think”. HuffPost Green. 4 December 2013. Web. 16 December 2013. Frederick, Kenneth and Peter Gleick. “Water and Global Climate Change: Potential Impacts on US Water Resources”. Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. 27 September 1999. Web. 16 December 2013. Gerlak, Andrea and Margaret Wilder. “Exploring the Textured Landscape of Water Insecurity and the Human Right to Water”. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 54 (2). 2012. Routledge. Postel, Sandra and Richter, Brian. Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature. 2003. Island Press. Pielou, EC. Fresh Water. 1998. University of Chicago Press. Rice, Doyle. “How climate change will affect the Southeast USA”. USA Today. 12 November 2013. Web. 16 December 2013. US EPA. “Southeast Climate Change and Water” EPA. 11 June 2012. Web. 16 December 2013. US EPA (b). “Climate Impacts in the Southeast”. EPA. 9 September 2013. Web. 16 December 2013. US EPA (c). “Climate Impacts on Water Resources”. EPA. 9 September 2013. Web. 16 December 2013. US EPA (d). “Climate Impacts in the Southwest”. EPA. 9 September 2013. Web. 16 December 2013. US Global Change Research Program. “Potential Water Supply Conflicts by 2025”. Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. 2009. Web. 16 December 2013. Read More