California is one of the most diverse and beautiful states in America with 223 different animal species and an estimated 6,300 native plants. Right now California is facing one of the most severe droughts ever to be recorded which is threatening not only all of us living in the Golden State but the plant and animals inhabiting it as well. Many say dams and reservoirs might be the answer to our problems. Being almost 35 years since the last dam was built in California, supporters are pushing for a new dam-building era. But, before moving ahead it's important to look to the past to see why California stopped building dams in the first place. Experts say there were four major reasons why dams were put on pause back in the late 1970’s. One being that all the prime and logical sites already had dams in them. Why build a dam where its not going to be useful? Another reason was the environmental laws restricting large …show more content…
But, there are already over 1,400 dams in California and is there a possibility of new problems arising with more dams? In nature dams cause multiple wildlife problems and tend to ruin the lives of many species. In 2002 low water flow below the dam of Klamath killed thousands of salmon, dams also block fish migrations, transform scenic rivers into artificial habitats, and the misplace sediments that are meant to replenish entire ecosystems. Taking a look at dams worldwide one can clearly see that dams are changing the the face of the earth. Some of their major damages include breaking up two thirds of the world’s largest rivers and flooding a land mass the size of Spain. Between 1970 and 2008 the building of dams and pre-existing dams caused the worlds freshwater species to decline by an astonishing 37%. If there is so much global destruction due to dams, would building more in California be a
The primary purpose of Friend dam is to help regulate the flow of San Joaquin into available uses of its environmental, wildlife, and farmer’s impacts. The dam controls the flow of water delivery where it needs authorization first before the schedule can release any delivery waters into canals, steam, and wild life habitats. There will be agreements and many protocols to do with it first to avoid unnecessary spilling. There are 5 release schedules which include quantity of water available, time water, flood control requirements, release schedules from storage reservoir above Millerton Lake, and water user requirements. These benefits of flood control, storage management, modification into Madera and Friant-Kern Canals, to stop salty water from abolishing thousands of lands in Sacramento and throughout San Joaquin Delta, as well as deliver masses of water into agricultural lands in 5other counties in the San Joaquin Valley.
Hoover, Glen Canyon, and the Three Gorges. What do these three things have in common? They are all man-made dams. Throughout the world, man-made dams affect the three pillars of sustainability. A legend of controversy surrounding these dams has created a unique background story, as well as shown the positives and negatives of these man-made wonders.
The one feature common to the Hoover Dam, the Mississippi River and the Three Gorges Dam is that they all try 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.
The negative aspects of Glen Canyon Dam greatly exceed the positive aspects. The dam’s hydroelectric power supply is only three percent of the total power used by the six states that are served by the facility. There is a surplus of power on the Colorado Plateau and with more and more power-plants being created in the western hemisphere, Glen Canyon Dam’s power is not needed (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss). Although the ‘lake’ contains twenty seven million acre feet of water, one and a half million acre feet of water are lost yearly due to evaporation and seepage into the sandstone banks surrounding the ‘lake’ (Living Rivers: What about the water supply?). The loss of that much “water represents millions, even billions of dollars” (Farmer 183). If the government were to employ more water efficient irrigation practices, as much as five million acre feet of water per year could be saved.
The California water drought has been declared a crisis by the governor of California. 2013 was the driest year on record, and California could be running out of water. Californians should be water wise, and their use, or no use, of water will have an enormous impact on this drought. They can use the techniques published in a recent Time article called, 5 Ways to Bust California’s Drought, to reduce their water use. Landscape techniques, alternate water sources, and the personal conservation of water can reduce the use of water, and can have a positive change on this water crisis.
Over the years Glen Canyon Dam has been the spark for hundreds of debates, rallies, and protests. These debates have been going on for almost forty years now. The fact is that the dam created a huge lake when it was built, this is what bothers environmentalists. This lake is called Lake Powell and thousands of people depend on its tourists for income. The lake also filled up a canyon called Glen Canyon, some people say it was the most beautiful place on earth. The anti-dam side of the debate has its basis in the fact that Lake Powell is currently covering Glen Canyon. It was very remote so few people got to witness its splendor. This is probably the reason the dam was built in the first place, ignorance.
Dams made from dirt are very weak and the South Fork dam was built entirely with dirt. From an engineering standpoint dams made with dirt needed to be built ...
On the heart (center) of California is a flat area with miles and miles of farms and up to 230 different crops. The central valley agriculture is essential to the United States; it not only delivers almost half of the produce but also helps the economy by also giving more job opportunities (California Department of food and agriculture, 2014). Many families depend on the central valley agriculture to survive economically in the United States. It is a well-known fact that rain and snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are a very important element in the central valley. No rain in the central valley can cause many devastating issues to occur quickly. Recently in the year of 2013 California received less rainfall than years before. The small amount of water the central valley is receiving is harming not only to the land but humans and animals as well. It’s destroying the habitats of animals with forest fires caused from the dry spells occurring. The central valley is going through a drought, so much that around this time of year the central valley usually accumulates enough rain for the necessities in the valley, agriculture for example. This year, however, has been different, the central valley hasn’t received enough water and this has caused a drought in the valley. Water is an important element in this world for not only human life, but for the environment in general, a shortage of water supply can bring issues to the environment and those living in it. The central valley holds the largest percent of class one soil, not only that, the valley grows a third of all the produce being grown in the United States, that’s more than 230 crops that are being grown in the central valley. However, this drought isn’t only affecting the resident...
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
Rain rot is a severe skin infection in horses, but it is actually a normal inhabitant of the skin on horses. So why does this disease seem to be so serious? Although it lives naturally in the horses skin, rain rot can get very serious if it gets persistently damaged or wet. This can cause an infection to occur. Rain rot is also called rain scald or dermatophilosis. It is caused by dermatophilus congolensis. Dermatophilus congolensis is a gram-positive bacterium and is the etiologic agent of rain rot. It lives within the skin until the skin is disturbed some how. “The bacteria live in the outer layer of the skin and cause from pinpoint to large, crusty scabs.” (Mendell, 2014, January 29.) It can happen when there is high humidity, wetness for a log period of time, high temperature, or even attacks by biting insects. An increase in the number of biting insects can occur if there is high humidity or warm temperatures so it is best to have a cooling spot for the horses. The biting insects are how this disease can spread from horse to horse. Although there is a natural immunity, some horses are more susceptible to it and can get it year after year. Their must be an infected carrier, or even a fomite like a saddle or a blanket that has the organism in the form of a spore. The spores then have to come in contact with the susceptible animal. Once these spores attach, you can start to see the disease take over the horses body.
...es the Yosemite Falls and the sequoia trees. One of the state’s problems is the appetite for water. The once fertile Owens valley is now dry and its waters tapped by Los Angeles. In the Imperial Valley, the eradication of water is controlled by the All-American Canal which gets its water from the Colorado River. In Central Valley the poor distribution is the water problem that is an imbalance lessened by the vast Central Valley project. California had cutbacks in federally funded water in the 1970sand 80s which led to California cities buying water from areas that had a surplus of water. But California failed to make a long-term to plan and the federal government stopped the funding of water to the state in 2003. But with all this being said and done, California remains to be a unique state with a lot of entertainment, history, agriculture and a productive economy.
California is going through a water crisis. Some of the main problems that led to the water crisis
For about five years California has experienced above average temperatures and a lack of rain. This lack of rain and snowfall has caused California to become increasingly dry, starting arguments over whose right to water is more important and who needs to be more mindful with their use of water. Farming in California truly began during the gold rush when water was redirected to land where food was grown for those looking for gold (Siegler, 2015). The farmers that have stayed on that land now have senior water rights (“Water wars”, 2015). Farmers that settled their land before 1914 are those with senior water rights (Terrell, 2015). Governor Jerry Brown has called for a cut in water use by one-quarter percent to people living
Flood control is the main reason for building the Three Gorges Dam. Since Han Dynasty (300BC), flood has been killed millions of lives, and destroyed millions of acres of farmland and homes every ten years. Billions of money has been spent on recovering the damage. The Three Gorges Dam is meant to be responsible for controlling the flood by changing the water height of the reservoir upstream from the dam according to season. It was planned to allow the water level to reach 185 meters above the sea level during the dry season, from November to April, and reduce to 135 meters during flooding months in order to attempt to contain flood waters. ("Biggest flood control,")
Hydroelectric power seizes the buoyancy released from descending water. Two thousand years ago, Ancient Greeks utilized wooden water wheels to convert kinetic energy into mechanical energy because that’s all they had back then. However, in 1882, the first hydroelectric power plant was constructed in the United States using a fast flowing river. During that time, humans began to build dams to reserve water at the most suitable places or areas in order to best apply the power capacity. Engineering and structural changes have been increased in designing a more efficient hydroelectric power plant, but in order for that to happen they had to go through a very difficult process which can cause much conflict. (http://www.ems.psu.edu/~elsworth/courses/cause2003/finalprojects/vikingpaper.pdf)