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GEOG 101: Day 12
Fresh Water
If you get a chance to see “Watermark” by Jennifer Baichal and Edward Burtynski, please do; see also films by local filmmaker Paul Manley, and “Blue Gold,” “Water Wars,” etc.
Housekeeping Items• Still working on your mid-terms….• Did anyone go to the talk on Tuesday on old growth
forests/ trees?• It hasn’t been well-advertised, but Solutions has been
sponsoring “No Impact Week” this week.• This weekend – Saturday and Sunday – there’s the
Nanaimo Global Film Festival on campus with some great films – see www.nanaimofilmfest.org/films.html. Ticket costs vary depending on how many shows you go to.
• Film about peyote cult in Mexico confronted by mining company – Friday, Building 356, Room 109 at 7 p.m.
• Have a good Reading Week, and just remember the LCAs are due on Thursday, March 5th.
• I forgot to show you pictures of crown land, and feedlots.
Distribution of Land Ownership in B.C.
Feedlots
‘Old-Fashioned’ Ranch
Dairy Operation
© 2010 Pearson Education Canada
12Freshwater Systems
and Water Resources
PowerPoint® Slides prepared by Stephen Turnbull
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Canada Inc.
12-7
Upon successfully completing this chapter, you will be able to
• Explain the importance of water and the hydrologic cycle to ecosystems, human health, and economic pursuits
• Delineate the distribution of fresh water on Earth• Describe major types of freshwater ecosystems • Discuss how we use water and alter freshwater systems• Assess problems of water supply and propose solutions to
address depletion of fresh water• Assess problems of water quality and propose solutions to
address water pollution• Explain how waste water is treated
12-8
• Canadians fear we will place our sovereignty at risk is we allow large-scale diversions of fresh water
• Once they start, they will be impossible to stop• Some view water as a marketable commodity, others say we should
not consider exporting it to those who have mismanaged theirs.• Canada’s fresh water is protected as each province and territory
prohibits bulk water exports“The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water.”
– World Water Commission Chairman Ismail Serageldin
12-9
Water has been described as “blue gold,” and its importance in the twenty-first century likened to that of oil in the twentieth century.
Freshwater Systems
12-10
Freshwater systems• Water may seem abundant, but drinkable water is scarce• Freshwater = relatively pure, with few dissolved salts
– Only 2.5% of Earth’s water is fresh, most is tied up in glaciers and ice caps. Of the 21% that is not, only 53% is in rivers, lakes or groundwater (0.27825%).
12-11
Rivers and streams wind through landscapes
• Water from rain, snowmelt, or springs forms streams, creeks, or brooks
• These merge into rivers, and eventually reaches the ocean– Tributary = a smaller
river slowing into a larger one
– Drainage basin or watershed = the area of land drained by a river and its tributaries
12-12
The Nanaimo River Watershed
Rivers and streams wind through landscapes (cont’d)
• If there is a large bend in the river, the force of the water cuts through the land – Oxbow = an extreme bend
in a river– Oxbow lake = the bend is
cut off and remains as an isolated, U-shaped body of water
12-14
Rivers and streams wind through landscapes (cont’d)
• Floodplain = areas nearest to the river’s course that are flooded periodically– Frequent deposition of silt makes floodplain soils
fertile• Riparian = riverside areas that are productive and
species-rich• Water of rivers and streams hosts diverse
ecological communities
12-15
Wetlands include marshes, swamps,and bogs
• Wetlands = systems that combine elements of freshwater and dry land
• Freshwater marshes = shallow water allows plants to grow above the water’s surface
• Swamps = shallow water that occurs in forested areas– Can be created by beavers
• Bogs = ponds covered in thick floating mats of vegetation – A stage in aquatic succession
12-16
Wetlands include marshes, swamps, and bogs (cont’d)
• Wetlands are extremely valuable for wildlife• They slow runoff
– Reduce flooding– Recharge aquifers– Filter pollutants
• People have drained wetlands, mostly for agriculture
– Central Canada (Potholes region) has lost more than half of its wetlands
12-17
Lakes and ponds are ecologically diverse systems (don’t need to know this)
• Lakes and ponds are bodies of open, standing water• Littoral zone = region ringing the edge of a water
body • Benthic zone = extends along the entire bottom of
the water body – Home to many invertebrates
• Limnetic zone = open portions of the lake or pond where the sunlight penetrates the shallow waters
• Profundal zone = water that sunlight does not reach – Supports fewer animals because there is less oxygen
12-18
12-19
Lakes and ponds are ecologically diverse systems (cont’d)
• Oligotrophic lakes and ponds = have low nutrient and high oxygen conditions
• Eutrophic lakes and ponds = have high nutrient and low oxygen conditions
• Eventually, water bodies fill completely in through the process of succession (e.g. Burnaby Lake is going through this process)
• Inland seas = large lakes (such as the Great Lakes and, formerly, the Aral Sea hold so much water that their biota is adapted to open water
12-20
Groundwater plays key roles in the hydrologic cycle
• Groundwater = precipitation that does not evaporate, flow into waterways, or get taken up by organisms
• Aquifers = Porous sponge-like formations of rock, sand, or gravel that hold groundwater
• Zone of aeration = spaces are partially filled with water
• Zone of saturation = spaces are completely filled with water– Water table = boundary
between the two zones• Aquifer recharge zone = any area
where water infiltrates Earth’s surface and reaches aquifers
12-21
A typical aquifer
12-22
Groundwater plays key roles in the hydrologic cycle (cont’d)
• Confined or artesian = water-bearing, porous rocks are trapped between layers of less permeable substrate (i.e., clay) – Is under a lot of pressure
• Unconfined aquifer = no upper layer to confine it– Readily recharged by surface water
• Groundwater becomes surface water through springs or human-drilled wells
• Groundwater may be ancient: the average age is 1,400 years
12-23
Water is unequally distributed across Earth’s surface
• Many areas with high population density are water-poor and face serious water shortages
12-24
Climate change will cause water problems and shortages
• Climate change will affect the hydrologic cycle: – Shift northward in mid-latitude rain belt– Earlier snowmelt and spring runoff– More evapotranspiration– Drier summers in the interior continental region
• Additional impacts:– Warmer rivers (impacting fish)– Lower water levels in Great Lakes– Higher ocean water levels
12-25
How We Use Water
12-26
Photo by Chris Jordan; see also PowerPoint on bottled water on my web site
How we use water• We have achieved impressive engineering
accomplishments to harness freshwater sources– 60 % of the world’s largest 227 rivers have been
strongly or moderately affected – Dams, canals, and diversions
• Consumption of water in most of the world is unsustainable– We are depleting many sources of surface water and
groundwater– One-third of the world’s people are already affected
by water scarcity
12-27
Water supplies houses, agriculture, and industry
12-28
Water supplies houses, agriculture, and industry (cont’d)
• Consumptive use = water is removed from an aquifer or surface water body, and is not returned
• Non-consumptive use = does not remove, or only temporarily removes, water from an aquifer or surface water– Electricity generation at hydroelectric dams– Use of water to cool nuclear power plants before being discharged
back into the water bodies from which it came
12-29
We have erected thousands of dams
• Dam = any obstruction placed in a river or stream to block the flow of water so that water can be stored in a reservoir– To prevent floods, provide drinking water, allow
irrigation, and generate electricity– 45,000 large dams have been erected in more than 140
nations• Only a few major rivers remain undammed
– In remote regions of Canada, Alaska, and Russia– These are so-called “wild rivers” (e.g. the (e.g. the
Mackenzie-Slave-Athabasca system)12-30
A typical dam
12-31
Benefits and drawbacks of dams
• Benefits:– Power generation– Emission reduction– Crop irrigation– Drinking water– Flood control– Shipping– New recreational
opportunities
• Drawbacks:– Habitat alteration– Fisheries declines– Population
displacement– Sediment capture– Disruption of flooding– Risk of failure– Lost recreational
opportunities12-32
China’s Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest• 186 m high and 2 km wide, completed in 2006
• When filled it will be as long as Lake Superior• It has cost $25 billion to build, flooded 22 cities and the
homes of 1.24 million people, submerged 10,000 year-old archaeological sites, productive farmlands, and wildlife habitat, and causing erosion below the dam
• Some fear pollutants will also be trapped in the reservoir, making water undrinkable
• Two films about: “China’s Three Gorges Dam” and Still Life.”
12-33
Some dams are now being removed• Some people feel that the cost of dams outweighs their
benefits• Rivers with dismantled dams
– Have restored riparian ecosystems– Reestablished fisheries– Revived river recreation
• In Canada only a few dams have been decommissioned but 500 dams have been removed in the U.S.
12-34
“YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — An environmental artist with the skills of a mountain climber painted a giant crack down the face of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir dam, park officials said Monday. "It was really a work of art--it wasn't just graffiti," said Dean Coffey, general manager with the Hetch Hetchy Water and Power District, which provides water to San Francisco and surrounding communities. ‘Whoever did it has a lot of pride.’”
Dikes and levees are meant to control floods
• Flooding is a normal, natural process– Floodwaters spread nutrient-rich
sediments over large areas• Floods also do tremendous
damage to property• Dikes and levees (long, raised
mounds of earth) along the banks of rivers hold rising waters in channels
• Levees can make floods worse by forcing water to stay in channels and overflow
12-35
We divert – and deplete – surface water to suit our needs
• Diversion has drastically altered the river’s ecology
• What water is left in the Colorado River after all the diversions comprises just a trickle into the Gulf of California and Mexico
12-36
We divert – and deplete – surface water to suit our needs (cont’d)
• Aral Sea - once the fourth-largest lake on Earth
– lost over 80% of its volume in 45 years from diversion to irrigate cotton crops (Khrushchev's idea)
• Consequences– Lost 60,000 fishing jobs– Pesticide-laden dust from
the lake bed is blown into the air
– The cotton cannot bring back the region’s economy
12-37
We divert – and deplete – surface water to suit our needs (cont’d)
People may have begun saving the northern part of the Aral Sea
12-38
Inefficient irrigation wastes water• Today, 70% more water is withdrawn for irrigation than
in 1960– The amount of irrigated land has doubled– Crop yields can double
• Only 45% of water is absorbed by crops via “flood and furrow” irrigation
• Over-irrigation leads to waterlogging, salinization, and lost farming income
• Most national governments subsidize irrigation; moreover, water rights often penalize users if they choose to use less.
• Water mining = withdrawing water faster than it can be replenished
12-39
Areas where water use exceeds supply; will get worse with climate change
12-40
Wetlands have been drained for a variety of reasons
• Promote settlement and farming
• Seen as useless “swamps”• Ramsar Convention was
established in 1971 – Reflects global concern
for wetland loss and degradation
– It promotes local, regional, and national actions and international cooperation
• 90% of original wetlands in southern Canada have been lost
12-41
We are depleting groundwater• Groundwater is easily depleted
– Aquifers recharge slowly– 1/3 of world population relies ongroundwater
• As aquifers become depleted– Water tables drop– Salt water intrudes in coastal areas– Sinkholes = areas where ground gives way
unexpectedly– Some cities (Venice, Mexico City) are slowly sinking– Wetlands dry up
12-42
Our thirst for bottled water seems unquenchable
• Canadians’ use of bottled water only surpassed by U.S.• University-educated households were shown to be less
likely to consume bottled water• Average capital use in 2003 was almost 50 L of bottled
water• Most bottled water is nothing more than tap water,
sometimes with additional filtering or other treatment• Canada’s Food and Drug Act does not require a
manufacturer to obtain a licence to bottle water12-43
The price of a litre
• Do you drink bottled water? Why? • Do you think it is safer than municipal water? Do you prefer the taste?• What do you pay for a litre of bottled water? What do you pay for a litre of gas at the pump? • What do you think should be reflected in these prices? • What price do you think was paid for the water by the company that bottled it? • What about the source of the water you consume— is it groundwater and, if so, is its source adequately protected? • And what about the plastic waste that is generated?
weighing
the issues
12-44
Will we see a future of water wars?• Freshwater depletion leads to
shortages, which can lead to conflict– 261 major rivers cross national borders– Water is a key element in hostilities
among Israel, Palestinians, and neighboring countries
• Many nations have cooperated with neighbors to resolve disputes– India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
and Nepal
12-45
Solutions to Depletion of Fresh Water
12-46
Solutions can address supply or demand
• We can either increase supply or reduce demand• Lowering demand
– Politically difficult in the short term – Offers better economic returns– Causes less ecological and social damage
• Increasing supply– Water can be transported through pipes and aqueducts– It can be forcibly appropriated from weak communities
12-47
Desalinization “makes” more water• Desalinization = the removal of salt from seawater or
other water of marginal quality– Distilling = hastens evaporation and condenses the vapor– Reverse osmosis = forces water through membranes to filter
out salts• Desalinization facilities operate mostly in the arid
Middle East• It is expensive, requires fossil fuels, and produces
concentrated salty effluent which is dumped in the ocean
12-48
Agricultural demand can be reduced• Look first for ways to decrease agricultural
demand – Lining irrigation canals– Low-pressure spray irrigation that spray water
downward– Drip irrigation systems that target individual plants– Match crops to land and climate– Selective breeding and genetic modification to raise
crops that require less water
12-49
We can lessen residential and industrial water use in many ways
• Eat less meat (1 kg of beef = 13-15,000 litres)• Install low-flow faucets, showerheads, washing
machines, and toilets• Use automatic dishwashers instead of washing
dishes by hand• Water lawns at night, when evaporation is
minimal, or replace lawn with native plants • Xeriscaping = landscaping using plants adapted
to a dry environment12-50
• Shift to processes that use less water– Wastewater recycling (separating greywater and
brown water, and re-using former)– Excess surface water runoff used for recharging
aquifers– Patching leaky pipes– Auditing industries– Promoting conservation/education
12-51
We can lessen residential and industrial water use in many ways
Economic approaches to water conservation are being debated
• End government subsidies of inefficient practices– Let the price of water reflect its true cost of extraction (the
oil sands use huge amounts of freshwater and contaminate the water that is released back into river systems)
• Industrial uses are more profitable than agricultural, but not necessarily more essential
• Privatization of water supplies– May improve efficiency– Firms have little incentive to provide access to the poor
• Decentralization of water control may conserve water– Shift control to the local level
12-52
Freshwater Pollution and Its Control
12-53
Freshwater pollution and its control• Water for human consumption and other
organisms needs to be…
– Disease-free– Non-toxic
• Half of the world’s major rivers are seriously depleted and polluted– They poison surrounding ecosystems– Threaten the health and livelihood of people
• The invisible pollution of groundwater has been called a “covert crisis”
12-54
Water pollution takes many forms• Pollution = the release of matter or energy into
the environment that causes undesirable impacts on the health and well-being of humans or other organisms – Nutrient pollution– Pathogens and waterborne diseases– Toxic chemicals– Sediment– Thermal pollution
12-55
Water pollution takes many forms (cont’d)
• Nutrient pollution from fertilizers, farms, sewage, lawns, golf courses– Leads to eutrophication (is a natural process but
excess nutrients increase the rate)• Solutions
• Phosphate-free detergents• Planting vegetation to increase nutrient uptake• Treat wastewater• Reduce fertilizer application
12-56
Water pollution takes many forms (cont’d)
• Pathogens and water borne diseases– Enters water supply via inadequately treated human
waste and animal waste via feedlots– Causes more human health problems than any other
type of water pollution– Fecal coliform bacteria indicate fecal contamination of
water• The water can hold other pathogens, such as
giardia, typhoid, hepatitis A
12-57
Water pollution takes many forms (cont’d)
• Pathogens and water borne diseases– 1.1 billion people are without safe drinking water– 2.6 billion have no sewer or sanitary facilities– An estimated 5 million people die per year from poor
water, especially children– Solutions:
- Treat sewage- Disinfect drinking water- Public education to encourage personal hygiene- Government enforcement of regulations
12-58
Water pollution takes many forms (cont’d)
• Toxic chemicals– From natural and synthetic sources– Effects:
• Poisoning animals and plants • Altering aquatic ecosystems • Poor human health
– Solutions:- Legislating and enforcing more stringent
regulations of industry- Modify industrial processes- Modify our purchasing decisions
12-59
Water pollution takes many forms (cont’d)
• Suspended matter– Sediment can impair aquatic ecosystems
• Clear-cutting, mining, poor cultivation practices
– Effects:• Dramatically changes aquatic habitats• Fish may not survive
– Solutions: • better management of farms and forests• avoid large-scale disturbance of vegetation
12-60
Water pollution takes many forms (cont’d)
• Thermal pollution– Warmer water holds less oxygen
• Dissolved oxygen decreases as temperature increases • Industrial cooling heats water• Removing streamside cover also raises water
temperature– Water that is too cold causes problems
• Water at the bottom of reservoirs is colder• When water is released, downstream water
temperatures drop suddenly and may kill aquatic organisms
12-61
Water pollution comes from point and non-point sources
• Point source water pollution = discrete locations of pollution– Factory or sewer pipes
• Nonpoint source water pollution = pollution from multiple cumulative inputs over a large area– Farms, cities, streets, neighborhoods
12-62
Freshwater pollution sources
12-63
Scientists use several indicators of water quality
• Scientists measure properties of water to characterize its quality– Biological indicators: presence of fecal coliform
bacteria and other disease-causing organisms– Chemical indicators: pH, nutrient concentration,
taste, odor, hardness, dissolved oxygen– Physical indicators: turbidity, color, temperature
12-64
Groundwater pollution is a serious problem
• Groundwater is increasingly contaminated, but is hidden from view– Difficult to monitor– Out of sight, out of mind– Retains contaminants for decades and longer– Takes longer for contaminants to breakdown in
groundwater because of the lower dissolved oxygen levels
• DDT is still found in aquifers in North America although it was banned 40 years ago
12-65
There are many sources of groundwater pollution, including some natural sources• Some toxic chemicals occur naturally
– Aluminum, fluoride, sulfates• Pollution from human causes
– Wastes leach through soils– Pathogens enter through improperly designed
wells– Hazardous wastes are pumped into the ground– Underground storage septic tanks may leak
12-66
There are many sources of groundwater pollution, including some natural sources (cont’d)
• Agricultural pollution– Nitrates from fertilizers– Pesticides were detected in more than half of the
shallow aquifers tested– Walkerton – E. coli in water supply
• Manufacturing industries and military sites – for instance, Hanford, WA – have been heavy polluters
12-67
Legislative and regulatory efforts have helped reduce pollution
• Pollution legislation is enacted and enforced at the provincial level (province currently creating new Water Act)
• Federal government sets guidelines:– Canadian Environmental Protection Act (transfers of
hazardous materials)– Fisheries Act (illegal to damage water that serves as a
habitat for fish)• The Great Lakes are one success story
– Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the International Boundary Waters Treaty Act
12-68
We treat our drinking water
• Technology has improved our pollution control• Health Canada publishes standards for drinking water
contaminants– Local governments and water suppliers must meet
• Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water
• Before water reaches the user– It is chemically treated, filtered, and disinfected– Sometimes the resulting product can be less than optimal– In some First Nations communities, the water is not even
drinkable; it is of ‘Third World’ standards12-69
• Other options are not as good:– Filtering groundwater expensive– Pumping, treating, and re-injecting aquifers takes too
long– Restricting pollutants above aquifers shifts pollution
elsewhere• Consumers choice drives environmentally friendly
products and decisions
12-70
Waste Water and Its Treatment
12-71
Municipal wastewater treatment involves several steps
• Wastewater = water that has been used by people in some way– Sewage, showers, sinks, manufacturing, storm water
runoff• Septic systems = the most popular method of
wastewater disposal in rural areas– Underground septic tanks separate solids and oils from
wastewater, then microbes decompose the water– Solid waste needs to be periodically pumped and
landfilled
12-72
Municipal wastewater treatment involves several steps (cont’d)
• In populated areas, sewer systems carry wastewater – Physical, chemical, and biological water treatment
• Primary treatment = the physical removal of contaminants in settling tanks (clarifiers)
• Secondary treatment = water is stirred and aerated so aerobic bacteria degrade organic pollutants– Water treated with chlorine is piped into rivers or the
ocean– Some reclaimed water is used for irrigation, lawns, or
industry
12-73
A typical wastewater
treatment facility
12-74
Artificial wetlands can aid treatment• Natural and artificial wetlands can cleanse wastewater
– After primary treatment at a conventional facility, water is pumped into the wetland
– Microbes decompose the remaining pollutants– Cleansed water is released• Nova Scotia government and Nova Scotia Agricultural
College have three test sites• Constructed wetlands serve as havens for wildlife and
areas for human recreation
12-75
Septic systems for country living
Conclusion• One of great challenges is to ensure adequate
quantity and quality of fresh water• With expanding population and increasing water
usage, we are approaching conditions of widespread scarcity
• Water depletion and water pollution are already taking a toll on the health, economics, and societies of the developing world and in arid regions of the developed world
• Potential solutions are numerous, and the issue is too important to ignore
12-77