In a decade, as nations vie for this depleting resource, the global water industry is expected to be worth a trillion dollars a year. Another debate concerns the trade of "virtual water," where wealthy water-stressed countries purchase other nations' water in the form of food. Some see this as one solution to a multi-response requirement to the water shortage, but others see it as exaggerating the problem, since rural poor in both food-exporting and food-importing nations will most likely not benefit from the trade.
It does not appear at this time, however, that American companies are concerned about this shortage. To address the need for additional information regarding future risks organizations may face in the future, the Marsh Center for isk Insights, the world's largest insurance broker and strategic risk advisor, surveyed about one hundred Fortune 1000 executives to determine their perceptions regarding these issues. Although accessibility to fresh water…...
mlaReferences
Anderson, J. (2005) Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to waste Water Works
136(10) 21-22.
Coles, C. (2005). The World's Water Crisis. The Futurist. 39(2) 14.
Dahab, M.F. (2007).From the President: The Impending World Water Crisis.
25). Programs are also underway to increase riparian habitat and the perennial flow of water into the system (ADR, p. 26). These measures will help to reduce the impact of the water shortage, but they will not be enough without the efforts of the citizens and daily conservation efforts. Arizona citizens must realize the seriousness of the water situation and must be willing to make lifestyle changes in order to assure their water supply for the future.
In 2008, runoff into the Colorado River improved, so that additional water releases from Lake Powell and Lake Meade could be provided (ADR, p. 22). However, this does not mean the crisis is over by any measure. This is only a small amount of relief, but Arizona continues to face a severe water shortage in the near future. The underlying causes of the water shortage are partially a result of nature and changes…...
mlaWorks Cited
Anderson, B. (2007). Water Shortage Could Transform Markets. November 6, 2007. NuWire Investor. (Accessed November 1, 2008).http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/water-shortage-could-transform-markets-51332.aspx
Arizona Department of Water Resources. (ADWR) Securing Arizona's Water Future. Annual Report. State of Arizona. FY 2007-2008. (Accessed November 1, 2008).http://www.azwater.gov/dwr/Content/Find_by_Category/About_ADWR/ADWR_AnnualReport_2008.pdf
Blake, C. (2007). Arizona faces potential water supply shortage from Colorado River by 2011. December 6, 2007. Western Farm Press. (Accessed November 1, 2008).http://westernfarmpress.com/environment/120607-supply-shortage
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Services. (CSREES).(2005). Water Issues are a High Priority. Regional Water Quality Program. Spring 2005. REQ001. (Accessed October 31, 2008).http://ag.arizona.edu/region9wq/pdf/factsheet_RWQ001.pdf
While on one hand, the Nile gets the highest discharge from rainfall on the highlands of Ethiopia and upland plateau of East Africa, located well outside the Middle East region; on the other hand, discharge points of the other two rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, are positioned well within the Middle East region, prevailing mostly in Turkey, Syria along with Iraq. In other areas, recurrent river systems are restricted to the more northern upland areas of Iran and Turkey, in common with the coastline of Levant (Peter eaumont, Gerald H. lake, J. And Malcolm Wagstaff, 1988).
The conflict in the Future
It is widely believed by many experts that those who control the waters in the Middle East; control the Middle East; and those who control the Middle East; control the oil supply of the world (David M. Hummel, 1995). From the above mentioned facts it is clear that the water resources…...
mlaBibliography
Anthony H. Cordesman. Peace is Not Enough: The Arab-Israeli Economic and Demographic Crises. Part Two. Population Growth, Fertility and Population Doubling Rates, Regional Trends, National Trends, and the "Youth Explosion" Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1998.
Adel Darwish. Troubled waters in rivers of blood. Water Issues. 3 December 1992. http://www.mideastnews.com/water004.html
Adel Darwish. Inadequacy of international law. Taken at http://www.mideastnews.com/WaterWars.htm
Ashok Swain. A new challenge: water scarcity in the Arab world. Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ). January, 1998.
Other areas of water engineering include flood prevention and a multitude of environmental specialties, many of which relate to other areas of water engineering. Finding ways to divert runoff to prevent erosion, for example, has both civil and environmental applications, and involves identical principles in most situations (Kalle 2009). Effective strategies for collecting and draining runoff water in a way that doesn't simply divert the problem can be a lot more complex than it might at first seem, especially in environmental situations, and this is precisely why water engineers remain must have a comprehensive view of many different areas of engineering, including fluid mechanics, a knowledge of different materials for conducting water, effective ways of filtering and/or treating water, etc. The amount of knowledge required to take on any major water engineering project virtually guarantees that the engineer will have the knowledge and skill set for other jobs, too, meaning…...
mlaReferences
BLS. (2009). "Engineers." Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed 17 November 2009. http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm
DOT (2003). "Civil Engineering Occupations." Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Accessed 17 November 2009. http://www.occupationalinfo.org/defset1_880.html
Kalle, M. (2009). "Water engineer: Job description and activities." Accessed 17 November 2009. http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/water_engineer_job_description.jsp
NACE (2009). "New & Emerging Occupations: Science and Engineering Occupations." National Association of Colleges and Employers. Accessed 17 November 2009. http://www.jobweb.org/studentarticles.aspx?id=1795
California Drought
Many parts of the United States have had droughts at one time or another. However, they generally go away and they generally do not last all that long. That being, California has been a different story in more than one way. The high agricultural use of water in the state combined with the lack of rainwater coming into the water table has led to a situation that is already dire and is getting worse by the day. This issue is important because the long-term viability of the water in California is a major concern for everyone that works and lives there or that will do either in the future years and generations. This report shall cover the totality of the problem and then offer solutions. While desalinization and shifting of agricultural priorities are seemingly on the horizon, the current prospects of the water resources and status in California is…...
The role of community in achieving proper water and sanitation standards in times of disaster
It is important to note that whenever a natural or manmade disaster hits a particular region, the entire community is put at risk since it is them who suffer the direct results of the disaster. These negative outcomes of the disaster could be social, economic and even psychological. It is therefore necessary to properly educate the entire community on how they can cope with water shortage and sanitation problems that are as a result of either flooding or hurricanes. The various community drinking water treatment plants should have elaborate emergency plans that are to be put in action should there be a disruption of the service. It is integral that the community water treatment facilities comply with the stringent requirements that are laid down by both the federal and state regulations.
After the emergency for example, it…...
mlaReferences
Associated Contents,(2010) The Importance of Water to Health and to Human Life
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/124062/the_importance_of_water_to_health_and.html
Copeland, C (2005). Hurricane-Damaged Drinking Water and Wastewater Facilities:Impacts,
Needs, and Response
Water Scarcity
The World Water Council estimates that approximately 1.1 billion people, which translates to one-sixth of the world population, lacks access to safe drinking water. Another 2.6 billion lack access to proper sanitation facilities (World Water Council, n.d.). It is estimated that by 2025, almost 3 billion people will be finding it almost impossible to meet their basic water needs (Concern Worldwide, 2012). This text discusses the potential causes of the current water scarcity problem, its implications on the environment, and the various strategies that could be used to ease or eliminate the problem.
Population growth, industrialization, and inefficient agricultural/food supply systems are the main causes of water scarcity in the world today. Population increases that are not matched with concurrent increases in the available resources put a strain on the existing resource base and increase the risk of faster depletion. Forests are cleared to create more room for settlement and…...
mlaReferences Cited
Concern Worldwide. (2012). Water: How can we Improve the World's Access to Clean Water? Concern Worldwide. Retrieved April 22, 2015 from http://gcc.concernusa.org/content/uploads/2014/08/Water.pdf
The World Water Council. (n.d.). Water Crisis: Towards a Way to Improve the Situation. The World Water Council. Retrieved April 22, 2015 from http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=25
Toledo, V.J. & Harvey, M. (2015). Thirsty Crops Cause Water Shortages and Pollution. WWF Global. Retrieved April 22, 105 from http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_freshwater/freshwater_problems/thirsty_crops/
Water infrastructure and safety issues are far more pressing in the developing world, and large numbers of research teams and laboratories are engaged in developing better and safer water system in Africa and much of Latin America (Helmholz 2009). A lack of clean drinking water and reliable systems is a growing problem in much of the world, and so attention is shifted away from infrastructure issues in the developed world to where there is a greater need (Helmholz 2009). This leads to a lack of research in domestic water supply infrastructure issues.
eferences
Briscoe, J. (1983). "Selective primary health care revisited: water supply and health in developing countries." Arlington, Virginia, Water and Sanitation for Health Project NO. 28, pp. 18. Accessed 11 October 2009. http://www.popline.org/docs/0627/023354.html
Helmholz. (2009). "esearch to secure a safe water supply." Helmholz association of German research centres. Accessed 11 October 2009. http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/03/20/research.secure.a.safe.water.supply...
mlaReferences
Briscoe, J. (1983). "Selective primary health care revisited: water supply and health in developing countries." Arlington, Virginia, Water and Sanitation for Health Project NO. 28, pp. 18. Accessed 11 October 2009. http://www.popline.org/docs/0627/023354.html
Helmholz. (2009). "Research to secure a safe water supply." Helmholz association of German research centres. Accessed 11 October 2009. http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/03/20/research.secure.a.safe.water.supply
Groundwater
"Water is starting to become an issue" in Harper County, Kansas, where groundwater reserves are running dry (Vaidyanathan and Gilmer, 2012). Low rates of precipitation, coupled with diversion of groundwater to the oil industry, are threatening to diminish available water used for farming and domestic use. Therefore, it is important to understand the nature of groundwater in Harper County, Kansas and the flow rate of pumps in order to prepare for the future.
Harper County is in south-central Kansas, and abuts Oklahoma. The county "lies partly in the Wellington Lowland minor division of the Arkansas iver Lowland section of the Central Lowland province and partly in the ed Hills minor division of the Dissected High Plains section of the Great Plains province," (Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin, 1960). More recent geological surveys divide Harper County into six main areas: the Upland area, the Bluff Creek area (with Pleistocene deposits), the Big Sandy…...
mlaReferences
Barlow, Paul M. And Leake, Stanley A. 2012. Streamflow Depletion by Wells -- Understanding and Managing the Effects of Groundwater Pumping on Streamflow. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1376/pdf/circ1376_barlow_report_508.pdf
Ellis, Blake. Water grab in Kansas oil boom. CNN Money. 12 June 2012. Retrieved online: http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/12/pf/kansas-water-america-boomtown/index.htm
Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin, 1960. Geology of groundwater resources of Harper County, Kansas. Retrieved online: http://www.kgs.ku.edu/General/Geology/Harper/index.html
Kansas Geological Survey, 2005. Retrieved online: http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/ED10/04_occur.html
region suffering from resource shortages. The writer explores the region of Iraq and its current problems with water, food, power and other issues. The writer looks at the problems, the political and economic issues behind the problems and how the problem is affecting the society. The writer then defends the resource management decisions that are being proposed. There were four sources used to complete this paper.
In recent years the world has become painfully aware that it is running out of resources. Nations have begun to work together to preserve fuel, water, power, food and other needed sources for mankind's survival. Different regions struggle with different issues. The middle east is well-known for its water and food problems and recently Iraq has moved to the forefront of publicity because of the war, but before the war began the nation was struggling with its resource needs. Today, the problems have intensified…...
mlaReferences
Author not available, As thick as blood.(water supply in the Middle East). Vol. 337, The Economist, 12-23-1995, pp 53(3).
Author not available, U.S. BLOCKS ELECTRICITY CONTRACTS: IRAQ., Xinhua News Agency, 12-07-1999.
James Cox, Iraq's economic problems have deep, tangled roots., USA Today, 11-11-2002, pp 03B.
WAIEL FALEH, Associated Press Writer, Iraq: Food Rations Are Insufficient., AP Online, 12-23-1999.
Xeriscaping
Southern California Water issue
The issue of water shortage is a fact that lives with the entire world taking into account the ever receding usable water levels. These are due to pollution, lack of access and misuse at the domestic level. The misuse at the domestic level and the very basic domestic solutions that there can be within the society as seen in other countries especially in the Middle East and desert countries is the prime focus of the paper since it is here that there are many fallacies and wrong arguments that surround the water conservation issue and yet therein to lies the solution to the water conservation approach among them being Xeriscaping.
One of the faulty logics commonly used by people at the homestead level to argue for domestic waste of water is the faulty logic of circular reasoning. Many argue that they have to use water the way they…...
mlaReferences
Utah Valley State College, (2013). Types of Writing: Logical fallacies. Retrieved November 08, 2013 from http://www.uvu.edu/owl/infor/pdf/content_organization/fallacies.pdf
Wilson C & Feutch J., (2007). Xeriscaping: Creative Landscaping. Retrieved November 10, 2013 from http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07228.html
All these factors have added too many variables to the Middle East, an important region for crude oil production" (Xuequan, 2008).
4. Conclusions
The improved standards of living have contributed significantly to an increase in the population's demands. And to satisfy these demands, with the ultimate scope of registering higher profits, the American corporations have abused the natural resources and are now moving towards the resources in other countries. Two such vital resources are crude oil and natural gas. The situation of gas is quite stable, but that of oil is critical. Based on limited natural resources, a weakening American dollar, speculative operations on the international market, but also the regulations implemented by OPEC and the conflicts in the Middle East, the price of oil has sky rocked - and it is likely to continue its ascendant trajectory.
eferences
Leonard, a., 2008, the Story of Stuff, http://storyofstuff.ethicalbrand.org/last accessed on May 30, 2008
Wallace, E.,…...
mlaReferences
Leonard, a., 2008, the Story of Stuff, accessed on May 30, 2008http://storyofstuff.ethicalbrand.org/last
Wallace, E., May 13, 2008, the Reason for High Oil Prices, Business Week, accessed on May 30, 2008http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/may2008/bw20080513_720178.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStorieslast
Xuequan, M., April 18, 2008, Weak Dollar Not Sole Reason for High Oil Prices, Xinhua News Agency, Ast accessed on May 30, 2008http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/18/content_7999121.html .
2004, Why are Oil Prices so High?, BBC News, accessed on May 30, 2008http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3708951.stmlast
The establishment of the MWD right after the aqueduct was approved is another milestone, because the MWD administers the water even today, and regulates how much water goes to each of its member water districts. The final milestone in the Colorado iver Aqueduct is the Seven States Water Management Agreement, which was signed in April 2007. The agreement spells out how the river's water will be managed in the future, and allows for more freedom for some of the member states to access water. Many people feel it is the most important milestone of Colorado iver management since the original Compact was signed in 1922. Obviously, all the milestones help spell out how the water is managed and who gets how much of the stored water in Lake Powell and Lake Mead. However, the agreement also encourages water agencies to develop alternative forms of water management, some of which the…...
mlaReferences
Editors. (2007). California's Colorado River allocation. Retrieved 25 Feb. 2008 from the Metropolitan Water District's Web page: http://www.mwdh2o.com/mwdh2o/pages/yourwater/supply/colorado/colorado04.html.
Editors. (2008). The Colorado River. Retrieved 25 Feb. 2008 from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Web site: http://wsoweb.ladwp.com/Aqueduct/historyoflaa/coloradoriver.htm.
Hofer, G. (2007). A new day on the Colorado. Aqueduct. 1-2.
Schulte, S.C. (2002). Wayne Aspinall and the shaping of the American West. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.
Gray Water System
As the world's population continues to grow, there will be an ever greater need for potable or purified water. Most people are completely unaware of just how big the problem of world water consumption is because they never think past turning on their sink or sprinkler system. Take into consideration the demands on the water supply by less obvious factors such as livestock and farming. There is an economy of scale: those massive agricultural irrigation systems that suck water out of rivers, lakes, streams and ponds consume hefty amounts of water that cannot then be used for any other purpose. Farms, cities, industry and the many other levels of human consumption place a great deal of pressure on Mother Nature. Globalization has actually increased the demand for water and has strained many regionally dry areas into even worse water deficits. For example, "industries and communities located in cold…...
Waste Water Treatment
Inadequately treated waste water poses hazards such as water-borne diseases and water-body pollution. People generate wastewater (sewage) in numerous ways, including laundry and toilet use. To prevent pollution and ensure public health, waste water ought to be treated adequately. Today, waste water is not so much a problem as it was in earlier centuries, a trend that is attributable to the development of efficient sewer lines and treatment plants, otherwise referred to as centralized wastewater collection and treatment facilities. Not long ago, however, these were not as effective as they are today, and worse still, were not available to a majority of the population. People used the conventional decentralized waste systems to take care of, among others, the black waters, and still managed to lead hygienic lives.
Septic Systems: these consisted of a "septic tank, the drain field, and the soil beneath the drain field" (NCSU, 2013). The tank,…...
mlaReferences
NCSU. (2013). Septic Systems and their Maintenance. North Carolina State University. Retrieved 2 May 2014 from http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/publications/Soilfacts/AG-439-13/
Rapaport, D. (1995). Sewage Pollution in Pacific Island Countries and how to Prevent It. Center for Clean Development.
UNL. (2011). A Place in the Country: the Acreage Owner's Guide. University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Retrieved 2 May 2014 from http://lancaster.unl.edu/acreageguide/waste.shtml
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