- Facing the Freshwater Crisis
Summary-AVID Article Format
- Freshwater diversion to irrigation in New Delhi has shortened water supply and have caused citizens to gather water themselves
- 1 out of 6 people have inadequate access to freshwater, due to policymaker control, demand for water
- Faulty water disposal, runoff, coastal influxes rendering some bodies of water unfit for consumption
- Must understand freshwater requirement of each individual, factors that impede supply and increase demand
- Estimated 1000 m2 of water per year for each individual for drinking, hygiene, and growing food; dependent on location due to population density and climate (high demand, low supply) (droughts, dry periods)
- People with money get water, others don't, even natural environments that benefit society
- Negotiations and compromise are the only ways people have gotten water in the first place
- Demand changes through population size and growth rate, location, wealth, prices
- The cost of water has become too low for people to consider saving it, few worry
- Higher water prices can encourage reuse of water for other applications and recycling system use and higher quality water-delivery systems and maintenance
- Focus on largest consumers, put limits on water supplies or rise supply or use more efficient methods of use
- High supply season water should be saved for high demand season in storage, use of drip irrigation
- Providing virtual water for companies and farmers can free up water supplies for other uses
- Purification systems can be used such as reverse osmosis and desalinization
- Large investment must be made, acceleration of adoption of already existing techniques that benefit supply
Summary
Today, the availability of resources such as oil are very well known throughout the world. Many know of these problems and think nothing of it, but how would people react if water, which is such a commodity in the U.S. today, started becoming scarce? We may find this reaction in the future if water isn't properly divided for use in agriculture, manufacturing, and civil use. Many farmers use countless gallons of water to irrigate their crops, and many believe that policies should be put into place to lessen usage, such as issuing virtual water to farmers and increasing the cost of water for citizens. Either way, water will become less of a commodity and more of a rarity if pollution and usage isn't kept in check.
Reflection
Policymakers should create a governing body concerning the division of water, a body that consists of agriculture experts, public needs officials, and manufacturers that can decide on how much water should be allocated to which industries. I believe that this, combined with all of the methods of keeping water supplies in the high numbers, should be used so more awareness is present in the water scarcity problem that is affecting countries worldwide. If worldwide issues for water were to happen, the same idea should be implemented for international use, much like the U.N.