Chapter 18 Reading Guide
Chapter 18 reading Guide questions:
What are some of the benefits of using reclaimed water?
1. What are some of the factors that make water so special?
Water has high capacity to absorb and store heat, helping greatly in climate change.
2. What is the largest reservoir of water on Earth? What is the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth?
99% of the Earth's reservoir is located on oceans, while 1% can only be consumed by humans.
3. What is the residence time of water in the atmosphere?
Approximately 0.001% of total waste water on Earth is contained in the atmosphere and is precipitated after 9 days.
Groundwater and Streams
4. What is the water table?
The layer of surface above ground water.
5. What is a discharge zone?
The discharge zone is the places where groundwater flows out of..
6. What is an aquifer? What is a cone of depression? How is it created?
An aquifer is the underground layer of earth material where groundwater can be obtained and stored.
A cone of depression is where the water is obtained from the aquifer and how the well is constructed where the water table is depressed around it.
7. What is an effluent stream? What is a stream that flows all year called?
An effluent stream is the flow maintained during dry season by groundwater seepage into the stream channel from the subsurface. A stream that flows all year round is called a perennial stream.
8. What is an influent stream? What is a stream that doesn’t flow all year called?
An influent stream is the surface water table flowing in response to precipitation. A stream that does not flow all year is called an ephemeral stream.
Water Supply: A U.S. Example
9. What is a water budget? How is it calculated?
A budget is a model balancing inputs and outputs and storage of water in a system. This can be connected to the budget for money. It can be measured through the following equation.
precipitation - evaporation = runoff
or
inflows-outflows= change in storage
Precipitation and Runoff Patterns
10. What is the average water use for people in the U.S.? What is the average water use for people in Europe? What is the average water use for people in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Average water in U.S.A is 100 gallons per person. The average water use in Europe is 50 gallons per person, and in Sub Saharan Africa, it is 5 gallons per person.
Groundwater Use and Problems
11. How many people in the U.S. use groundwater as a source of drinking water?
Almost 50% of Americans.
12. What problems can groundwater overdraft cause?
Damages in river ecosystem/ land subsidence.
13. What is happening to the Ogallala Aquifer (High Plains Aquifer)?
The water table of Ogallala Aquifer has declined due to overuse and exploitation.
Desalination as a Water Source
14. What is the percentage of salt in saltwater?
3.5 %
15. To be used as a freshwater source, the salt content must be reduced to about 0.05%
16. What are some of the environmental impacts of desalination?
The movement of the discharge of salty waters into another body of water can increase the salinity of the water which can potentially kill the biodiversity or species that reside in the area.
Water Use
17. Describe the difference between off-stream use and in-stream use.
Off stream refers to water removed from its source. In stream use is talking about the use of rivers for navigation, hydroelectric power generation, wildlife habitats and recreation.
18. What is one of the issues with off-stream use in the Pacific Northwest?
The decline of steelhead trout and salmon due to high amounts of water removal.
19. Describe what happened to the Aral Sea.
Water usage was used for agricultural and irrigational use which caused problems such as offstream use and ultimately dried the lakes and increased salinity levels.
Some Trends in Water use
20. What are the two biggest users of freshwater withdrawals?
Thermoelectric industry affects about 65% and water irrigation for agriculture accounts for about 68% of water withdrawals.
Water Conservation
21. What are some of the suggestions for improved irrigation to conserve water?
Public Supply and Domestic Use
22. Domestic use of water (homes) accounts for 11% of total national water withdrawals.
23. What is Southern California (San Diego) doing to help with water shortages in the future?
They are building higher dams to prevent contamination, also a project called the feeder project that allows large amounts of water to be pumped from North California to Southern California. Also they have desalination plants that use ocean water and removes most of its salinity for it to be safe enough for use.
24. List 5 things that you can do at home to help conserve water usage:
25. What is virtual water?
Amount of water necessary to produce a product.
26. How much water does it take to make a cup of coffee?
140 liters (40 gallons) due to the amount of water needed to grow the coffee beans.
27. How much water does it take to raise beef?
One pound of beef would take 9 gallons of water. Depends on the weight of the beef one is raising.
Wetlands
28. How do we define wetlands?
Areas that contain water to a depth of a few centimeters for at least a few days per year.
29. Wetlands are very important, what are the natural service functions of wetlands?
Wetlands act as natural filters that purify water and the plants in these wetlands may trap sediment and other toxic chemicals. It also encourages the biodiversity in an ecosystem.
30. How much of the original wetlands of the U.S. have disappeared? 95%
Restoration of Wetlands
31. What did the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 require?
Projects that involve the removal of wetlands to create additional ones to compensate for the loss of them.
Dams and the Environment
32. Explain the environmental impacts of dams.
33. What are the PROS and CONS of the Three Gorges Dam?
Pros:
34. What are some of the issues associated with removing of dams?
The removal of dams may cause ecological problems such as the sudden release of contaminated sediment, or endangering the people that live nearby.
Global Water Shortage Linked to Food Supply
35. What are the environmental issues associated with global water shortage and food supply?
Large bodies of water are drying up at a very fast rate; furthermore pumping up the freshwater not only depletes the resources but also allow us to realize just how small the amount of water we have in our planet.
36. Water is one of our most abundant resources, why are we concerned about its availability in the future?
The main concern with the resource of water, is if there will be enough of it to supply the rapidly growing population and the future generations as well as the ability to grow crops without the water needed to grow them.
Study Questions
1. Which is more important from a national point of view, conservation of water use in agriculture or in urban areas? Why?
I believe that conserving water in agricultural areas is not logical; because we need water to grow crops; and often these crops are essential to life. It is easier to realize that without the crop the nation will fall under duress, malnutrition, economical depression, as well as spread health issues. Whereas conservation of water in the urban areas are easier; little things that each individual does will allow for more and more water to be preserved. From the hundreds and thousands of people that carelessly use water, if they are aware and if policies are applied and enforced, people will have no choice but to change and allow for nature to replenish itself the water that we regularly exploit.
What are some of the benefits of using reclaimed water?
- The with private lawns save money because reclaimed water is less expensive
- Reclaimed water have traces of nitrogen and phosphorus as a fertilizer
- Constructed wetlands that accept treated waste water help with natural environment.
1. What are some of the factors that make water so special?
Water has high capacity to absorb and store heat, helping greatly in climate change.
2. What is the largest reservoir of water on Earth? What is the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth?
99% of the Earth's reservoir is located on oceans, while 1% can only be consumed by humans.
3. What is the residence time of water in the atmosphere?
Approximately 0.001% of total waste water on Earth is contained in the atmosphere and is precipitated after 9 days.
Groundwater and Streams
4. What is the water table?
The layer of surface above ground water.
5. What is a discharge zone?
The discharge zone is the places where groundwater flows out of..
6. What is an aquifer? What is a cone of depression? How is it created?
An aquifer is the underground layer of earth material where groundwater can be obtained and stored.
A cone of depression is where the water is obtained from the aquifer and how the well is constructed where the water table is depressed around it.
7. What is an effluent stream? What is a stream that flows all year called?
An effluent stream is the flow maintained during dry season by groundwater seepage into the stream channel from the subsurface. A stream that flows all year round is called a perennial stream.
8. What is an influent stream? What is a stream that doesn’t flow all year called?
An influent stream is the surface water table flowing in response to precipitation. A stream that does not flow all year is called an ephemeral stream.
Water Supply: A U.S. Example
9. What is a water budget? How is it calculated?
A budget is a model balancing inputs and outputs and storage of water in a system. This can be connected to the budget for money. It can be measured through the following equation.
precipitation - evaporation = runoff
or
inflows-outflows= change in storage
Precipitation and Runoff Patterns
10. What is the average water use for people in the U.S.? What is the average water use for people in Europe? What is the average water use for people in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Average water in U.S.A is 100 gallons per person. The average water use in Europe is 50 gallons per person, and in Sub Saharan Africa, it is 5 gallons per person.
Groundwater Use and Problems
11. How many people in the U.S. use groundwater as a source of drinking water?
Almost 50% of Americans.
12. What problems can groundwater overdraft cause?
Damages in river ecosystem/ land subsidence.
13. What is happening to the Ogallala Aquifer (High Plains Aquifer)?
The water table of Ogallala Aquifer has declined due to overuse and exploitation.
Desalination as a Water Source
14. What is the percentage of salt in saltwater?
3.5 %
15. To be used as a freshwater source, the salt content must be reduced to about 0.05%
16. What are some of the environmental impacts of desalination?
The movement of the discharge of salty waters into another body of water can increase the salinity of the water which can potentially kill the biodiversity or species that reside in the area.
Water Use
17. Describe the difference between off-stream use and in-stream use.
Off stream refers to water removed from its source. In stream use is talking about the use of rivers for navigation, hydroelectric power generation, wildlife habitats and recreation.
18. What is one of the issues with off-stream use in the Pacific Northwest?
The decline of steelhead trout and salmon due to high amounts of water removal.
19. Describe what happened to the Aral Sea.
Water usage was used for agricultural and irrigational use which caused problems such as offstream use and ultimately dried the lakes and increased salinity levels.
Some Trends in Water use
20. What are the two biggest users of freshwater withdrawals?
Thermoelectric industry affects about 65% and water irrigation for agriculture accounts for about 68% of water withdrawals.
Water Conservation
21. What are some of the suggestions for improved irrigation to conserve water?
- Pricing agricultural Waters
- Using systems to maximize efficiency of water use.
- Irrigate when evaporation is minimal such as nighttime or early morning
Public Supply and Domestic Use
22. Domestic use of water (homes) accounts for 11% of total national water withdrawals.
23. What is Southern California (San Diego) doing to help with water shortages in the future?
They are building higher dams to prevent contamination, also a project called the feeder project that allows large amounts of water to be pumped from North California to Southern California. Also they have desalination plants that use ocean water and removes most of its salinity for it to be safe enough for use.
24. List 5 things that you can do at home to help conserve water usage:
- Have just enough water resources to maintain human Health
- Advertise to friends about saving water and teach them about the consequences of it.
- Do not forget to turn off the faucet
- Reuse some water for growing plants.
- Do not have excessively long showers.
25. What is virtual water?
Amount of water necessary to produce a product.
26. How much water does it take to make a cup of coffee?
140 liters (40 gallons) due to the amount of water needed to grow the coffee beans.
27. How much water does it take to raise beef?
One pound of beef would take 9 gallons of water. Depends on the weight of the beef one is raising.
Wetlands
28. How do we define wetlands?
Areas that contain water to a depth of a few centimeters for at least a few days per year.
29. Wetlands are very important, what are the natural service functions of wetlands?
Wetlands act as natural filters that purify water and the plants in these wetlands may trap sediment and other toxic chemicals. It also encourages the biodiversity in an ecosystem.
30. How much of the original wetlands of the U.S. have disappeared? 95%
Restoration of Wetlands
31. What did the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 require?
Projects that involve the removal of wetlands to create additional ones to compensate for the loss of them.
Dams and the Environment
32. Explain the environmental impacts of dams.
- The loss of land, cultural resources, biological resources in the reservoir
- Potential risk to flood hazard
- Sediment build-up that cause death of other organisms
33. What are the PROS and CONS of the Three Gorges Dam?
Pros:
- Store Water
- Provide flood control
- Easily floods the cities
- Has removed approximately 2 million people from their homes
34. What are some of the issues associated with removing of dams?
The removal of dams may cause ecological problems such as the sudden release of contaminated sediment, or endangering the people that live nearby.
Global Water Shortage Linked to Food Supply
35. What are the environmental issues associated with global water shortage and food supply?
Large bodies of water are drying up at a very fast rate; furthermore pumping up the freshwater not only depletes the resources but also allow us to realize just how small the amount of water we have in our planet.
36. Water is one of our most abundant resources, why are we concerned about its availability in the future?
The main concern with the resource of water, is if there will be enough of it to supply the rapidly growing population and the future generations as well as the ability to grow crops without the water needed to grow them.
Study Questions
1. Which is more important from a national point of view, conservation of water use in agriculture or in urban areas? Why?
I believe that conserving water in agricultural areas is not logical; because we need water to grow crops; and often these crops are essential to life. It is easier to realize that without the crop the nation will fall under duress, malnutrition, economical depression, as well as spread health issues. Whereas conservation of water in the urban areas are easier; little things that each individual does will allow for more and more water to be preserved. From the hundreds and thousands of people that carelessly use water, if they are aware and if policies are applied and enforced, people will have no choice but to change and allow for nature to replenish itself the water that we regularly exploit.