In the World, the liquid medium that we know as water is the main component that keeps humans, animals and their respective ecosystems alive. Everything from trees down to the smallest leaf requires it, and it is required for any lifeform to continue to grow. Though as humanity expands and continues on an upward slope, humans as a lifeforce continue to need more. Water is a defining aspect of a community, and with the ever-rising population and human-crafted climate change coming to an all-time high, one of the most important water origins of the southeast region is coming to a very dangerous low.
The Colorado River Delta is a vast stream of water that begins in the Rocky Mountains and flows to the Gulf of California. It is the primary source of water for the western part of the United States, making the golden nectar available to Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Mexico. Because of miscellaneous international treaties and over 40 dams built along the river’s path (Ficklin 1), it is slowly becoming the most controlled of all watersheds. With the populations of these towns becoming greater, the amount of pull on the river from the society has increased as a rapid rate. Normally that would not be a problem but given the context, water sources are not as dynamic--fluid, if you will, as the world would often appreciate.
Lee’s Ferry, a place that not many people know of is very special to many scientists. It is the most accessible part of the river, and it was named after a boat that used to reside there. During the 1920’s Lee’s Ferry became the place where the Colorado River stream measurements were taken, and those numbers were later used as a basis of dividing up the water between the Eastern states and Mexico thou...
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...acts from the US Census Bureau. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.
Engelhard, Michael. "TROUBLED WATERS: The Fate Of The Southwestern Willow Flycatcher Is Intimately Linked To The Health Of The Grand Canyon." National Parks 84.2 (2010): 1-4. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
Ficklin, Darren L., Iris T. Stewart, and Edwin P. Maurer. "Climate Change Impacts On Streamflow And Subbasin-Scale Hydrology In The Upper Colorado River Basin." Plos ONE 8.8 (2013): 1-17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
Fros, Douglas. "The Water Demand Revolution." Planning 79.7 (2013): 12-17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
Vano, Julie A., Tapash Das, and Dennis P. Lettenmaier. "Hydrologic Sensitivities Of Colorado River Runoff To Changes In Precipitation And Temperature*." Journal Of Hydrometeorology 13.3 (2012): 932-949. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
Hydrosphere of the Mississippi River A Case Study of * River management * People interfering in the hydrosphere * A flood management scheme River Basin / Catchment area The source of the river is the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains to the north. There are many hundreds of tributaries including the Red River, Missouri river and the river Ohio. The mountains form the river's watershed. From Minneapolis the river flows South-East into Iowa where it flows south as far as Davenport. At Davenport it is joined by more small tributaries.
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.
Many people know ‘Lake’ Powell as a fact of life. Since its creation in 1963, the reservoir, known as Lake Powell, is just there. Few people that are alive today have had the opportunity to see the true beauty of Glen Canyon, which rivals the Grand Canyon. Glen Canyon, equivalent to one hundred eighty river miles with dozens of side canyons, was flooded for the purpose of power and water resources. ‘Lake’ Powell also generates an enormous cash flow due to the tourism it receives. Although the ‘lake’ has a few reasons to remain in existence, there are many more reasons to drain it.
Glaciers are an integral part of the world’s climate. In fact, as Richard Armstrong of the University of Colorado says, “Glaciers are key indicators in monitoring and detecting climate change” (Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, 2003, p. 1). Not only are they an important part of monitoring current climate, they can hold many keys to the past. Glaciers are in fact, “a source of paleoclimate data…” (Meier and Dyurgerov, 1980, p. 37). This paleoclimate data can give geologists information on the conditions that were present at the time of the glaciers birth, as well as the approximate age. This has an important role in the geologic time scale of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. These Glaciers played a role in the carving of the present day Rocky Mountains in Colorado, which will be the primary focus of this paper. In addition, glacial formations will be discussed to give the reader background information and the future of the Glaciers in Colorado will close this paper.
Colorado River Hydrosphere A case study of * River management * People interfering in the hydrosphere * Balancing water from one area to another The Colorado river - basic facts It flows through southwest United States and northwestern Mexico. It is 2334 km (1450 miles long), the longest river west of the Rocky Mountains. Its source is west of the Rocky Mountains which is the watershed in northern Colorado, and, for the first 1600km (1000miles) of its course, passes through a series of deep gorges and canyons that were created by the eroding force of its current. The river flows in a generally southwestern direction across Colorado into south eastern Utah, where it is joined by its chief tributary, The Green River. After crossing the northern portion of Arizona, the Colorado flows west for 436 km (271 miles) through the majestic Grand Canyon.
Droughts in Wyoming’s future are unpredictable and uncertain; however, Richard Guldin of the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station in Fort Collins, Colorado, has made some predictions for the water situati...
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.
The history of the Chicago River is an interesting part of Chicago. The Chicago River was shallow and stagnant, but it had much potential because of its location and what it provided to the city. The Chicago River altered the human population as Chicago developed into a big city. Because of the river factories and stock yards moved in and caused major problems for the city. The rise of Chicago's Stock Yards was a significant benefactor to the city's pollution problem. In the late1840s Chicago large stockyards moved into the city along the river and dumped all of the meat packing waste into the river. Because of this problems such as, sewage, factory waste, and other wastes over flowed the river, and badly polluted the river. Unfortunately the river was connected to Lake Michigan, the source of water for Chicago residents, drinking wate...
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 ...
Water is the foundational basis of life on Earth. Ecosystems, society and humans are completely dependent on it, and as the world population continues to grow, there will be more mouths to feed, and those people will need water to continue their daily lives. However, shortages and poor management leads to the destruction of natural habitats and human suffering. Desertification of land in China is ever-increasing, turning green, lush land into desert. However, this is due mainly in part, because of human activity, and global warming (Wang, Yang, Dong, & Zhang, 2009). The United States could experience a crisis similarly to China’s, but for now they have averted such a catastrophe, because of heavy regulation of water. Though there are water shortages in many parts of the world, it is unwise to export water from the Great Lakes to those regions. Two major reasons why diverting the Great Lakes is a terrible idea, one: it allows for waters wars to start on the basis of who is allowed to access it and for commodification purposes. Two, diverting water on such large scales could have cataclysmic effects on the local residents as well as the environment.
The rise in temperature is having a significant impact on levels of rainfall, which in turn effects water run-off. Satellite observations since 1987 have shown that, as global temperatures have increased, global mean precipitation has increased in parallel at a rate of 7.4 ± 2.6% per ◦C ...
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.
The state’s common pool resource was and still continues to be water. This delicate resource in the American west is in danger of disappearing, and for the millions of people living in large cities are desperate to continue to use it. But the issue of common pool resources is not one that is recent but is one that has been plaguing California since its founding. When California’s population started to grow around the turn of the twentieth century, the town official within the state started to run into some common pool resource issues, water. Cities, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, used whatever power they had to own and control what little water the California environment produced. The cities are large and successful municipalities today because of what they had to do to control the water all those years ago. The city used tactics, such as buying out the land, petitioning the government, and, sometimes, illegal actions, to win the waters of California and their success back then highly shows in their success
The problem of water scarcity has increasingly spread throughout the world as of yet, The UN reports that within the next half- century up to 7 billion people in 60 countries which is more than the whole present population will face water scarcity (Sawin “Water Scarcity could Overwhelm the Next Generation”). As well the demand for freshwater has tripled over the past 50 years, and is continuing to rise as a result of population growth and economic development. 70% of this demand derives from agriculture which shows the influence of water on food supply globally as well not just drinking water (Sawin “Water Scarcity could overwhelm the Next Generation”). But increasing water use is not just a matter of the greater number of people needing it to drink and eat; it also comes from pollution and misuse of water supplies, by either dumping or runoff of bacteria or chemicals into water. This also “causes other pollutions as well such as soil and air pollution, accelerating wetland damage and human caused global warming” (Smith and Thomassey 25). According to UN report, recent estimates suggest that climate change will account for about 20 percent of the increase in global water scarcity in coming decades.
Freshwater in the world makes up only a small portion of the water on the planet. While the percentage of water in the world is nearly 70%, only 2.5% is consumable. Even further, only 1% is easily accessible to basic human needs. According to National Geographic, “by 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of the world's population living in water-stressed regions as a result of use, growth, and climate change.” With this current trend, water will become more immersed in environmental, economic, political, and social changes.