Water Quality & Conservation by Emily Fitzsimmons

Water Quality & Conservation

A Finite Resource ●

70% of earth is covered in water ○

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2.5% of the 70% is freshwater ■ 1% of the 2.5% is easily accessible (frozen), so only 0.007% of earth’s water is accessible freshwater

Distribution of clean water is extremely uneven due to geography, climate, and politics Issue on both macro and micro levels, between countries (ex: United States vs. Libya) and within countries (ex: local water management between Indian villages) “By 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with 2/3s of the world’s population living in water-stressed regions as a result of use, growth, and climate change.”

Competing for Clean Water Has Led to a Crisis. (2019, August 20). Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/freshwater-crisis/.

US Water Quality & Conservation – History ●

Riparian Doctrine: If someone owns land adjacent to a body of water, that person has the right to freely use that water. ○ ○

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Prior Appropriation Doctrine: The ﬁrst person to claim use of a body of water has priority rights. Those with priority rights can take as much water as they can use productively. ○ ○

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Developed in the Eastern U.S. Assumes an abundance of water.

Developed in the Western U.S. Assumes a limited supply of water.

Both doctrines developed organically based on needs within the historical context. Both doctrines are based on private ownership. Neither doctrine encourages conservation or the protection of water quality.

Evolution of U.S. Water Policy: Toward a United Federal Policy. (2001). Retrieved from

https://www.fs.fed.us/research/publications/wo/wo_2001_apple_d001.pdf

US Water Quality & Conservation – Current Regime ●

State, Tribal, and Local Levels ○ ○ ○

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Since water policy developed bottom up rather than top down, it varies from state to state and city to city. Most state water policy is based on riparian rights, priority rights, or some combination of the two. Some state policies also encourage conservation and protection of water quality, although these are often limited in favor of economic concerns.

Federal Level ○ ○ ○ ○

Clean Water Act (1972) Endangered Species Act (1973) Safe Drinking Water Act (1974) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976)

Evolution of U.S. Water Policy: Toward a United Federal Policy. (2001). Retrieved from

https://www.fs.fed.us/research/publications/wo/wo_2001_apple_d001.pdf

US Water Quality & Conservation – Regime Change ●

Vertical integration of federal, state, tribal, and local actors. ○

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Proactive approach to water management ○

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Federal policies like the Clean Water Act set nation-wide standards for water quality and demanded collaboration between the EPA and state actors to comply with those standards. State allocation of water resources commonly occurs in instances of water shortage. More sustainable policy would limit the uses of water overall in order to reduce shortages.

Incentivise water conservation in agriculture, industrial, and municipal use. ○

Rather than compromise environmental health for economic growth, create legal conditions (regulations, subsidies) under which conservation is more lucrative than the alternative.

Evolution of U.S. Water Policy: Toward a United Federal Policy. (2001). Retrieved from

https://www.fs.fed.us/research/publications/wo/wo_2001_apple_d001.pdf Integrating Conservation in Arkansas State Water Policy. (2012). Retrieved from

http://www.jswconline.org/content/67/3/80A.full.pdf+html

Desalination (aka Desalinization) ●

Removal of dissolved salt from seawater ○

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Distillation/thermal desalination: Basically same as natural hydrologic cycle. Heat evaporates water, leaving behind salt; the water condenses at lower temperatures and can be collected. Very old method; used on ships. Desalination plants imitate and speed up the process through machines Reverse Osmosis: Salt water forced through a ﬁlter. The larger salt molecules are captured while the smaller water molecules penetrate through. More expensive

Decreases dependence on outside water resources; reliable Cost has halved in past 3 decades Mainly in Middles East, Australia, and California

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2015: 18,426 desalination plants in operation globally; produced 86.8 million cubic meters/day; supplied water for 300 million people Top desalinating countries include Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Libya, and N Africa, so very arid places In US, CA and FL are the biggest users of desalinated water

Desalination Issues ●

High energy input required, high emissions; creates a positive feedback loop ○ ○

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Extremely expensive ○

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Requires large-scale facilities to supply large populations, research, transportation

Leftover brine and chemical pollution ○ ○ ○

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Higher emissions leads to global warming, leading to salinization of water, drought, water shortages Consumes 14x the amount of energy it takes to conserve groundwater

High concentrations of bisulfates, coagulants, and chlorine dumped back into the water Salinizes the water even more, destroying balanced ecosystems 2 Gallons of salt water = 1 Gallon of post-desalination freshwater + 1 Gallon of very briney water

Machinery used to collect the water also unintentionally kills billions of ﬁsh each year, decreasing available catch and harming ecosystems

Desalination. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/desalination?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects. Jim Robbins. (2019, June 11). As Water Scarcity Increases, Desalination Plants Are on the Rise. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-water-scarcity-increases-desalination-plants-are-on-the-rise.Ocean Desalination No Solution to Water Shortages. (2009, February 4). Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/news/ocean-desalination-no-solution-water-shortages.

Solutions related to Desalination ●

Alternate disposal of brine ○ ○ ○

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Use brine for food preservation and cooking Cooling metals De-icing roads

Combating energy use and price ○ ○ ○

Many of the desalination plants use a lot of electricity, from oil or coal, to push the water through a filter. Switching to renewable energy will help with cost and emissions. Switching to a graphene nanopores filter would be cheaper to replace and easier for water to flow through while keeping out salt. Keeping desalination on a smaller scale to reduce emission.

https://www.britannica.com/science/brine https://www.technologyreview.com/s/532891/how-can-desalination-become-cheaper/

Desalination overall ● ● ●

Possibly good for small-scale projects; too many consequences on the large scale Not a viable solution to solving water quality and quantity problems Conservation better than desalination in the long-term economically, environmentally, and socially

Wetlands ● ● ● ●

Provide food and habitat for an array of plants and animals Serve as a buffer for ﬂooding and storm surge ○ This is due to their sponge-like ability to absorb water Naturally improve water quality ○ Extensive root systems lock soil in place and ﬁlter pollutants from water Among the most biologically productive ecosystems in the world and their microbial activity enriches water and soil with nutrients

Report on the Environment- Wetlands. Retrieved from: https://www.epa.gov/report-environment/wetlands

Wetlands Problem ● ● ●

Wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate More than half of the wetlands in the contiguous United States have been lost due to agriculture and development These losses have caused many environmental problems such as ○ Water quality protection ○ Habitat loss for ﬁsh and other wildlife ○ Decrease in ﬂood prevention

Solution ●

Conservation and restoration through action from government policy, government agencies and non government organization participation

Wetland Restoration. Retrieved from: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-02/documents/wetlandrestoration.pdf

Wetlands - Government Policy North American Wetlands Conservation Act (1989) ● ● ● ●

Provides grants to protect and manage wetland habitats Has resulted in more than 2,000 projects spanning over 30 million acres in the United States Has provided over $1.73 billion in grants for conservation efforts Encourages private-public cost sharing projects that has seen over 6,200 partners contribute an additional $3.57 billion in funding

North American Wetlands Conservation Act. Retrieved from: https://www.fws.gov/birds/grants/north-american-wetland-conservation-act.php

Wetlands - Government Policy Continued Section 404- Clean Water Act (1972) ●

Aimed to minimize the destruction, loss or degradation of wetlands

Placed restrictions on the discharge of materials into the ocean and wetlands ● ●

Made it unlawful to discharge, fill, or dredge materials into waters without first obtaining a permit Made it to where a company’s permit for discharging can be vetoed if they are discharging materials into water supplies, fishery areas, wildlife or recreational areas

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Retrieved from: https://www.epa.gov/cwa-404/clean-water-act-section-404-and-agriculture

Wetlands - NGOs ●

The United States - or rather what the United States is today - originally contained roughly 392 million acres of wetlands pre-Revolutionary War.

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Today, largely due to the efforts of government and NGO participation, we have retained around 274 million acres of those wetlands. However, many of these acres are new, created wetlands, rather than the original wetlands that once existed. That being said, we are still losing wetland acreage at the rate of 6o acres an hour in the United States alone. This does not include the mass wetland degradation that is taking place north of the border in Canada, which feeds into the rivers and waterways of the US as well as provides many natural services that we take for granted.

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Wetlands lost since the Revolution. Retrieved from: https://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Documents%5CWetlands-Loss-Since-the-Revolution.pdf

Wetland - NGOs ● ●

There are many non-government organizations that have taken part in wetland conservation for one reason or another. Some of the organizations include: ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

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Ducks Unlimited Wetlands International Society of Wetland Scientist Delta Waterfowl Many more…

For this presentation, we will focus mostly on Ducks Unlimited, the actors included in the organization, and the progress made.

Wetlands - Ducks Unlimited ● ●

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Ducks Unlimited was founded during one of the United States worst periods of drought, The Dust Bowl. Originally, it was started by a small group of avid waterfowl hunters that recognized the droughts effects on waterfowl populations, which, at the time, were nearing a point beyond recovery. Their mission was simply habitat conservation. There were no complex plans put in place; it was just to conserve and restore habitat in whatever means necessary. In order to achieve this, Ducks Unlimited was established as a non-proﬁt, operating solely on donations made by other hunters and conservationists. Ducks Unlimited Facts Sheet. Retrieved from: https://www.ducks.org/media/_global/_documents/stateFactSheets/NationalFactSheet.pdf

Wetlands - Ducks Unlimited Continued ●

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Currentry, now in operation for more than 80 years, they are the largest and most effective wetland conservation organization in the United States, and arguably, the world. This has been made possible through the partnerships with private individuals, landowners, agencies, government, and scientiﬁc communities. As of January 1, 2019 Ducks Unlimited has conserved: ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

6,456,698 acres in Canada 1,965,760 acres in Mexico 6,055,915 acres in the United States 177,514,637 acres inﬂuenced (these are 10 year policy agreements) With a grand total of 191,993,009 acres collectively conserved and inﬂuenced.

Ducks Unlimited Facts Sheet. Retrieved from: https://www.ducks.org/media/_global/_documents/stateFactSheets/NationalFactSheet.pdf

Wetlands - Ducks Unlimited Continued â&#x2014;?

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Many of the Ducks Unlimited projects actually do not concern ducks at all, but rather establish or restore/conserve wetlands near cities in order to provide urban populations with clean drinking water. However, a happy coincidence of this is that it provides necessary habitat for many local and migrating species. Currently, there are plans to expand from North America into South America in order to conserve and restore the Amazon as well as the many beneďŹ ts that it provides the locals, the world, and the many wild species that rely on it.

Wetlands - Ducks Unlimited Actors ●

Environmental Champions (originators and CEO of DU) ○

In essence, the originators, current CEO, and scientists of Ducks Unlimited are Environmental Champions ■ They work within the organization, identify problems that are personally important (duck populations and habitat loss), of which, they believed the organization could make a difference, using the sustainability value to attract members to donate and support the organization, and used their gathered knowledge to help incorporate private individuals, landowners, agencies, government, and scientiﬁc communities into the organization. ■ This is used as way to encourage community-based social marketing, as well as environmental stewardship ■ This includes Systems Thinking Competence, Interpersonal Relations Competence, Anticipatory Competence, Strategic Competence, Sustainability Competence, and Problem Solving Competence

Wetlands - Ducks Unlimited Actors Continued ●

Boundary Spanners ○

This includes the scientists and Ducks Unlimited as a whole ■ In which they are able to use the science available to them to link into policy and other actors working towards the same goal, as we previously mentioned with the Wetland Conservation Act and Clean Water Act. ■ Such as government agencies, other organizations, and other environmental champions. ■ This includes Sustainability Competence, Systems Thinking Competence, Anticipatory Competence, Normative Competence, Strategic Competence, Interpersonal Relations Competence, and Integrated Sustainability Research and Problem Solving Competence.

Water Transfer Projects and Dams ● ● ● ●

Redirects water from natural sources Causes loss of culturally signiﬁcant land Reduces quality of water Damaging to surrounding ecosystems

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Affects outflow of body of water Restrict migration patterns of local wildlife (specifically fish) Increased evaporation from stagnant water http://theboardman.org/dam-project/ https://www.internationalrivers.org/human-imp acts-of-dams

Dams - Loss of Water Quality Water Loss from Reservoirs

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The restriction/redirection of the natural ﬂow of water leads to: ○ ○ ○ ○

Trapping of nutrients, resulting in toxic algal blooms, which kill other life in the affected area Deepening of rivers and lowering of groundwater (affects wells and plants) Greater surface area of water, leading to increased loss of water through evaporation Increased salinization of water through evaporation

https://www.internationalrivers.org/r esources/how-dams-affect-water-su pply-1727

Dams - Flooding ●

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When dams ﬂood, the water begins to decompose surrounding plant life Decomposing plants leads to higher methane and CO2 emissions Flooding also damages local communities and infrastructure

https://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/reservoir-e missions

Emissions from Brazil Hydro Reserves in 2007

Dams - CSO ● ● ● ●

CSO stands for combined sewage overﬂow. Some cities, such as Philadelphia, are using inﬂatable dams in order to assist the storage, conveyance, and treatment of water. These dams are part of the “Green Cities, Clean Waters” plan in Philadelphia and a step towards a green infrastructure. The goal of the project is to clean up the rivers in the city by reshaping how they look for increased property value, create jobs and raise civic pride.

Bentor-Short and J.Short. 2013. Cities in Nature (2nd ed.) New York: Routledge

Solutions to the Dam problem ●

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Adding fish ladders allow for fish migration upstream, while bypass systems allow for migration back downstream Only current solution to flooding, evaporation, and nutrient/sediment trapping at the moment is to tear down the dams, and perhaps invest the money (estimated $34 billion) that would have been allocated for upkeep back into other renewable energy sources https://damsafety.org/sites/default/files/Cost%20of%20Rehab%20Repor t-2016%20Update_0.pdf

Dams and Water Transfer Projects Overview ● ●

While dams provide a source of renewable energy, the negative consequences may outweigh the positive aspects to some Dams are overall harmful to water quality, not only for the wildlife that inhabit the affected body of water but also to the humans that live around the dams due to ﬂooding, low-quality drinking water and lowered groundwater levels

CSO and Clean-up ● ● ●

Cleaning out waste from lakes is extremely expensive. Mexico City spends nearly $900,000 daily to pump sewage out of Lake Texcoco. If not properly decontaminated, dams increases CSO downstream, creating more pollution in the water and making it undrinkable. In developing countries and cities, the lack of clean water causes a form of monopoly on drinkable water. ○ ○

Crime rates increase Kids and women are tasked with collecting water and missing out on a valuable education and work

Bentor-Short and J.Short. 2013. Cities in Nature (2nd ed.) New York: Routledge

Water Clean-up Problems: As of now 1 in 9 people of the world’s population doesn’t have access to clean drinking water ● Many countries lack good sanitation systems and 1 in 3 people lack access to toilets ● 58% of Africa doesn’t have access to clean water ● E.Coli in water sources Location: ● Many pipes in Sub-Saharan Africa contaminate the water during the movement of water (1 in 5 people in South Africa) ● Huge inequalities persist between and within countries; 8 in 10 people who live without clean water in Sub-Saharan Africa live in urban areas ●

https://water.org/our-impact/water-crisis https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/world-water-day-water-crisis-explained/#close /

Water Clean-up Problems Cost: ● ● ●

Africa needs to spend $150 billion on water projects Currently all of Africa spends $3.6 billion America Public Works needs $150 billion to repair piping across the United States

Pollution: ● ● ● ● ●

40% of China’s water supply is polluted to unsafe drinking levels 40 percent of lakes across the United States are unsafe for swimming or ﬁshing By 2050 47% of people on earth will struggle to ﬁnd drinking water 14 billion pounds of plastics are dumped into the ocean each year E.Coli in developing Nations

https://blog.ansi.org/2016/06/water-infrastructure-problems-worldwide/ https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/08/7-reasons-were-facing-global-water-crisis https://thewaterproject.org/water-crisis/water-in-crisis-south-africa https://www.globewater.org/facts/water-pollution-statistics/

Water Pollution Around the World

https://earthlymission.com/exposure-to-ambient-air-pollution-around-the-world https://upgro.org/2017/03/13/new-pollution-risk-maps-for-africa/

Water Clean-Up Solutions Solutions: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Private and non-proﬁt actors have started constructing pipelines to help direct water from different sources to not easily reachable communities in 27 different countries. Since 1990, 2.6 billion people have gained access to an “improved” drinking water source, one that is designed to protect against contamination. Government is investing in better infrastructure (South Africa) Various non-proﬁt groups test the water quality to detect if there's a presence of e.coli in water sources. Desalination technology eventually becoming more affordable . Monitored natural attenuation is being used as an alternative to pump-and-treat or other active technologies. Reinjection of treated groundwater has also proved to be an effective treatment in superfund sites if certain conditions are met.

https://www.epa.gov/superfund/groundwater-technologies#GWTT_anchor