Increase in water consumption is a topic usually discussed inasmuch as this problem affects many cities. Phoenix is located in the State of Arizona, with around 540 square miles. Moreover, according to official site of City of Phoenix, the city ranks as one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation with approximately 1.4 million people. The city of Phoenix, although it is being in an arid area, has a per capita consumption lower than expected. The consumption of water is essential for life; however, what have to be analyzed is the withdrawal of water; furthermore, the capacity of regeneration of water resources mainly for future generations, which is the concept of sustainability. There are many aspects that would influence the consumption of water; however, each city has its own particularities. Although, Phoenix when analyzed as totality does not have an excessive consumption; it is a peculiar city and if an analysis is done in small scale, such as neighborhood, it is possible to identify the major consumer of water. “Determinants of residential water demand reflect both indoor and outdoor use and including size of the houses, if the houses have swimming pools, lot size, and the prevalence of gardens and vegetation that require water.” (Elizabeth A. Wentz & Patricia Gober, 2007). In addition, according to Phoenix City, since 1881, when the city was officially incorporated, until today’s date, the city of Phoenix has been improving its own capacity to provide water for the population. Phoenix can reach 2.2 million people by the 2030 (Census Boreau, 2010). A challenge for the future is to find new resources to provide water for the population even in severe drought.
Wicked problem is a complex problem that cannot be address...
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...Patricia Gober (2007). Determinants of Small-Area Water Consumption for the City of Phoenix, Arizona. November 2007 Volume 21, Issue 11, pp. 1849-1863.
Robert C. Balling Jr. and Patricia Gober (2006) Climate Variability and Residential Water Use in the City of Phoenix, Arizona. October 2006 Volume 46, pp. 1130-1137.
Source U.S. Census Bureau: Census of Governments, People QuickFacts, Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/04/0455000.html. Arizona Department of Water Resources, Phoenix Active Management Area, Water Demand and
Supply Assessment: 1985 — 2025, December 2011, Retrieved from http://www.azwater.gov/AzDWR/WaterManagement/Assessments/documents/PhxAMA_AssessmentSummarySheet.pdf
City of Phoenix Official Web Site, History of Phoenix Water: 1881 – 2007, May 2014, Retrieved from http://phoenix.gov/waterservices/wrc/yourwater/history/.
Drip irrigation, xeriscape, desalination, water recycling, personal water conservation, and the change of household appliances are all techniques that would have a positive effect on California’s drought. Because of the constantly growing population, the demand for water is constantly growing. To make sure that this water crisis doesn’t become vital, Californian’s should think it is their duty to help improve the situation. These improvements can be made in farmers, landscapers, and the everyday citizen. Everyone should do their part in employing these techniques, whether they take the simple approach of shortened shower times or a costly approach, and re-design their outdoor spaces to be xeriscaped and use drip systems. California’s water is precious, and it is the duty of California Citizens implement solutions to bust the water drought.
What we have seen in late January has proved that the city of Phoenix needs one more water treatment facility. The tax revenue that will be lost if a water crisis every happen again will pay for the building of the new facility. The water department has known of this problem for years but has chosen not to rectify the hazard. City officials chalked up the high levels of sediment in the water to Mother Nature, but they acknowledge that a series of decisions by water officials could have worsened the problem. (Villa, Fehr-Snyder, 1) The water department knew and Frank Fairbanks knew that maintenance was required on rotating bases, on each facility and chooses to take two offline during the “winter” or “rainy months”.
Groundwater remained the main supply until 1971 which was when Las Vegas became more dependent on Colorado River water due to the “Southern Nevada Water System” (Brown, n.d.; Larsen et al., 2015). Since then up to 90,000 acre-feet of groundwater has been pumped on a yearly basis, this value surpasses the natural groundwater recharge (Laczniak et al., n.d.). Rain as well as snow serves as the primary sources of groundwater recharge for the aquifers while precipitation plays a minor role (Laczniak et al., n.d.). Due to there not being balanced discharge and recharge this has led to subsidence and as a result of this subsidence the storage capacity of aquifers has decreased due to compaction (Laczniak et al., n.d.). It is estimated that 187,000 acre feet of storage capacity in the aquifers has been lost due to compaction (Laczniak et
The water supply of Florida is important for a number of reasons. But it is crucial because it not only helped develop human society but it is also continually sustaining it. There are a number of phases and processes that take place to make this happen.
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 shortage is a growing problem for most countries in the world. For China, which has 20% of world’s population and only 7% of available water resources, this problem may become catastrophic (Hofstedt 2010, 72). Therefore some actions and measures should be performed to avoid or at least to weaken future water crisis in China. In this work the following three solutions will be proposed and analyzed in terms of efficiency and applicability: water usage efficiency improvement; adopting the local agencies on controlling water resources; reasonable water pricing.
Peterson, M., (2014, March 20). Drought: Our homes could be recycling gray water right now—why aren't they? Retrieved on March 21, 2014 from http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/03/20/42917/our-homes-could-be-recycling-gray-water-right-now/
Water is a quintessential element of all life on Earth. Of all the water on Earth, about three percent is fresh and can be used immediately for human consumption. Perth’s climate is drying, yet Western Australia is still consuming relatively high amounts of water. This problem of high consumption of water in a drying climate is far from straightforward There are many elements contributing to water consumption in Western Australia. Broadly, these factors fall under the three pillars of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. Each of these pillars are made up of many components, and all those components are intricately and numerously linked. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Using Systems Analysis to examine the interlinked factors of water consumption in Perth and Western Australia is a good way to uncover hidden root causes of the issue of water consumption in WA and start to apply leverage in the most serviceable places.
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
Pina, P. (2011 , March ). Addressing water Crisis in Mexico City. Retrieved 2014, from SYPA: http://watersecurityinitiative.seas.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Patricia%20PINA%20SYPA%20on%20Mexico%20City%20Water_0.pdf
Mexico is high-urbanized country. Almost 78% of its citizens live in cities (Castro and Heller 2009). That is why citizens of urban areas suffer the most from the appreciable water shortage. The situation with water supply in urban areas is critical. As an example, Mexico City, with population about 20 million people, faces quite serious scarcity of water. It obtains water from 3 main basins, all of them are overexploited (UNESCO 2006). The solution of the government to this problem was to pump water from the aquifers. However, these palliative actions of the government have not solved the problem, three aquifers from which city gets water are overused (UNESCO 2006).
Developed countries struggle with managing water consumption. Our high demand in agriculture, industry, and domestic use further complicates this issue. With increasing urbanization and extravagant changes in lifestyle, our use and wasting of water will only increase. As of this year, nearly 1.1 billion people live without clean drinking water and 2.6 billion live without adequate water sanitation. The McDonald's down the street, however, will sell you a 1/3 pounder burger for only 150 gallons. Changes in lifestyle can easily reduce this number and help not only save water, but money as well. Currently, with our diminishing water supply, one of the main goals of humanitarian organizations is ensuring that everyone has t...
Many scientific studies also show increases in the intensity, duration, and extent of droughts, higher atmospheric temperatures, warmer sea surface temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, and diminishing glaciers and snowpack. The bottom line is that causes of climate change, such as greenhouse gas emissions, will have to be minimized if people want to do as much as possible to solve the water crisis. Works Cited Water demand management: the case of Zaragoza, Spain Web 25 Nov. 2014. http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/swm_cities_zaragoza_2010/pdf/final_report_swm_cities.pdf.
The. Drinking Water: A History. New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2012. Print. The.
Water is an integral part of not only human beings but all other creatures in the world. We use it every day for different purposes such as domestic, agricultural and industrial. Water has always been a prestigious resource. However, the majority of people do not appraise water’s worth since they do not face water scarcity; whereas, in third world countries it is one of the most serious problems. Nearly 2.4 billion people have a lack of water resources in the world, shows the investigation done by the Pacific Institute, an Oakland, California-based non-profit scientific research group. Moreover, every year this number is growing gradually and more people are suffering (Bloomberg News, 2010). There are certain causes which deteriorate current situation. The most influential reasons are global warming, pollution by human-beings and overpopulation. It is known that India is one of the countries which face water scarcity so this essay will consider the possible ways of solutions of water shortage in India.