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impact of climate change on water resources essay
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One of the largest geographic physical structures in the United States is the Colorado River. Human activity and its interaction with this great river have an interesting history. The resources provided by the river have been used by humans, and caused conflict for human populations as well. One of these conflicts is water distribution, and the effects drought conditions have played in this distribution throughout the southwestern region. Major cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other communities in the southwest depend on the river. It provides water for over 20 million people, irrigation for 2 million acres of land, four thousand megawatts of hydroelectric energy, and over twenty million annual visitors for recreation purposes. Also, once in Mexico, the river provides water to irrigate half a million acres of farmland, and municipal and industrial water for 2 million people living in this delta region. The river distributes its flow from lakes and canals along its journey as well. Due to climate change, human demand, natural forces like evaporation and human-induced climate change this water supply is in conflict. Also, a recent change that began in March of 2014 will bring a temporary water surge to the delta of the Colorado River for the first time in many years to help restore this region, and it’s possible it could reach the Sea of Cortez once again.
The Colorado River is a very large river that encompasses a 246,000 square mile river basin region in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico (Shannon, 2014). It runs for a total of 1,450 miles and travels through many land boundaries starting with Colorado where it originates. This origin is located in Rocky Mountain National Park a...
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The one feature common to the Hoover Dam, The Mississippi river and the three gorges dam is that they all tried to control nature’s swings, specifically in the form of flooding. Before the Hoover dam was built, the Colorado river “used to flood spectacularly…but after 1900 the Colorado provoked a vehement response” (Pg 177). The response was simple, but large. The U.S. built several large dams, including the Hoover dam, on the Colorado to decrease its flooding and increase power and irrigation. Unfortunately, just as human control of the Colorado’s flooding increased, its organisms and habitats were detrimentally influenced, and the water became more and more salinated.
Conflict between residents in northern Nevada and SNWA has risen (Brean, 2015). In 2012 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced its support of SNWA wanting to build a pipeline from rural Nevada to Las Vegas, rural Nevada being primarily in the northern portion of the state (Larsen et al., 2015). Residents including farmers who depend on water for their crops argue that redirecting water supplies would harm the environment and wildlife that inhabit northern Nevada (Brean, 2015). There is also an issue of oversubscription, this is due to the Colorado River not only supplying water to Nevada but neighboring states which include “Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah” (Wockner, 2014). Both Arizona and California are expecting water shortages in the future as they too depend on the Colorado River (Wockner, 2014).
Water has long been a controversy in countless places worldwide and Colorado is no exception. The water rights in Colorado involve different stages within the Prior Appropriation Law; the senior and junior water rights. Senior water rights are privileges that were the first to be issued on unappropriated streams in Colorado and are to be filled before the junior water right holders. Junior water rights are similar to senior water rights, but are filled after the senior water holders take their allotted amount (Wolfe Prior Appropriation Law). The water in Colorado is just that; Colorado’s water, owned by the people and restricted by the state. However, Colorado is required by law to send over 30 million acre – feet of water to seven western states (“Missouri River”). An acre – foot is “The quantity of water required to fill one acre with one foot of water and is equivalent to 43,560 cubic feet or 325,850 gallons” (“Missouri River”). The State enforces all water laws in Colorado even though they are not straightforward and are riddled with loopholes. These water laws came into effect “As early as 1879” (Hundley, Jr. 53). In the laws, there are even more constraints and idiosyncrasies including; owning ground water, owning surface water, senior rights and junior rights, and the use and reuse of rainwater or graywater. Water users in Colorado need to familiarize themselves with the laws and regulations involving water in order to receive the allotted water and the reasoning behind that number.
Texas, with its abundances of natural resources, is facing a new demon, one that doesn’t even seem possible, a shortage of water. Water, without it nothing can survive. Texas is the second largest state for landmass in the nation and ninth for water square miles. Within the borders of Texas are more than 100 lakes, 14 major rivers, and 23 aquifers, so why has water become such an important issue for the state? Politicians and conservationists all agree that without a new working water plan, the state could be facing one of the most damaging environmental disasters they have ever seen. The issues that shape the states positions are population growth, current drought conditions, and who actually owns the water.
Cities in Texas are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Depending on where they are located, cities vary in their vulnerability and most major cities face a decline in water resources. Coastal cities, such as from Houston to the Rio Grande, are exposed to a rise in sea level. The decline of fresh water reservoirs and the rising sea level ...
The Colorado River is the principal water source in the US Southwest. Spanning 246,000 square miles and providing water to over 30 million people, it is clear to see the importance of maintaining and preserving the Colorado River’s water. In 1923, the Colorado River Compact was signed by six of the seven basin states. The Upper Basin states include portions of Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and northern Arizona. The Lower Basin covers parts of Nevada, Arizona, California, southwestern Utah, and western New Mexico. The Colorado River also supplies water to parts of the states of Baja California and Sonora in northwestern Mexico. The Colorado River is considered an exotic stream because it flows mainly through arid lands despite its headwaters being located in a region of water surpluses.
Situated in the south central part of the United States, Texas is the second largest state in the U.S. It is also the third fastest growing state and holds a number of the most populous cities in the nation [US Census,2013] and number one in the nation in producing greenhouse gasses [EPA, 2013]. Stress in water resources can be seen in rapidly populated and over populated areas, where the water demand is high and availability is limited. This is particularly magnified in Texas due to climate change. It is important to identify different factors that shape Texas’ climate before characterizing its implication on water supply in the future.
Caused by climate change and urbanization, water shortages are a major concern of the Mexican government at both the local and federal level. Mexico City, the third largest city in the world with more than twenty million inhabitants, struggles with water scarcity because of the potential risk it poses to the wellbeing of its citizens. Similar to the situation in other megacities, such as Jakarta and Bangkok, Mexico City’s water supplies are being depleted because of a growing urban population. (CBC News , 2009 ) Unable to sufficiently supply the increasing population size of the city, the water in the Mexico Valley aquifer is being drawn out faster than the aquifer’s recharge rate. Exacerbated by the fragmented nature of Mexico’s political culture, the exploitation of Mexico City’s water resources due to a growing urban population is detrimentally degrading the environment and creating a self-perpetuating problem that places the city and its inhabitants at risk.
Americans today tend to believe that the Colorado River drought has been a recent occurrence, although drought relief strategies have been implemented since early 1997. To summarize, in the book The Colorado River Basin Drought Planning and Organizations, Colorado is named as the original state to acquire a drought relief plan. For instance, various assume water levels are diminutive in the Colorado and blame is due to the previous ten years of drought throughout the United States. Although it is true that water levels are at a record low, initial plans in the early 1920’s to introduce manufactured structures into the water basin is the original reason Colorado’s water system began to be compromised. It follows, then the supplementary natural
Ramírez-Hernández, Jorge, Osvel Hinojosa-Huerta, Mauricio Peregrina-Llanes, Alejandra Calvo-Fonseca, and Edgar Carrera-Villa. 2013. “Groundwater Responses to Controlled Water Releases in the Limitrophe Region of the Colorado River: Implications for Management and Restoration.” Colorado Delta Wetlands 59 (0): 93–103.
The Ogallala Aquifer is the largest known aquifer through Great Plains. If spread across the US the Ogallala 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. The Ogallala is challenged with how to manage human demands on the layer of water that sprawls underneath parts of either states from South Dakota to Texas. Landowners face a tug-of-war between economic growth and declining natural resources while they strive to conserve what’s left.
The mountains of Colorado receive nearly half of their annual precipitation in the form of snow. The state relies on regular, consistent snowfall to power its ski season and fill cool mountain springs with water for farms and residents alike.Unfortunately, most projections for Colorado’s spring snowpack show declines for the mid-twenty first century due to the projected warming, leading to a ripple effect on the water supply.The timing of snowmelt and peak runoff has already shifted earlier in the spring by one to four weeks as compared to the long-term average across Colorado’s river basins over the past 30 years. And since 2000, snowpack has generally been below average in all of Colorado’s river
and that requires owning water rights in order to do so. In Colorado, water is a separate property right that can be sold separately from the land. In 1879, Colorado established Water Commissioners to distribute water rights based upon the principle of “First in Time…First in Right,” meaning that those who put water to use first get their water first during a water shortage. 2 Historically, 86 percent of water delivery went towards agriculture. Snowmaking uses a large amount of water, but returns about 80 percent of its usage back to the ground making it a fairly sustainable practice. However, if the population increase continues and climate change continues to lessen rainfall and snowfall then Colorado will face an increasing demand for water with a decreasing supply. Water supplies have been augmented by selling, transferring, or leasing water rights. In the past, most of the water diversions have been done with the intention to divert large supplies of water to agricultural users for
Residents of Southern or Coastal California may not realize the extensive issues that dry climate has caused on one of the state’s most profitable industries. Agriculture is not just a way of life in California’s Central Valley, it is the way of life for most, in some shape or form. For instance, the Central Valley accounts for just under two percent of the country’s cropland. However, money wise it produces nearly half of the nation’s fruit and nuts (Nijhuis 1). As a result of the drought, water given to farmers to water crops has been reduced. On the contrary, the water being taken from farmers is not going to city use but for environmental use. Water being directed for environmental use can be defined as water that is used to sustain certain ecosystems, national parks, forests, and wetlands. Up to 4.4 million acre-feet of water goes to environmental use annually, meanwhile farmers are being forced to sell dried up fields and find a new way of living. Another issue is that both the people and farms are receiving less water than the state has contracted that they would receive. The state has been truthful to environmentalists however, by providing them with the full amount of water contracted. While conditions have worsened for the agricultural aspect of California, farmers are finding relief in pumping groundwater
I had the pleasure of kayaking about fifteen miles of the Arkansas river, in Colorado, this summer. Flowing from its headwaters near Buena Vista, the Arkansas is a virgin river. Only a trickle during the winter, "The Ark," is reborn every spring with the life bearing waters of fresh mountain snow melt. The greening of river valleys throughout Colorado occurs during the month of June, and traveling from the east I realized how vital the snowmelt waters are to life in the western United States. Without water, something which we take for granted even in brutal summers, life in the west is a struggle.