Question

Discussion 06.2: Fresh Water: A Limited Resource

Read “Growing Demands for a Limited Supply of Water in the West” on page 354. Describe the problem, the cause, and some possible solutions. SC1100 - Environmental Science

Answer 1

Demand for limited water supply has become an issue in the 21st centiey. Th current implementation of the water policies have accelerated agriculture but fails to address the issues of water demands. Increase and shift of population to Colorado and West of America is being met with water management crisis and fall in agricultural water management. This geographical area is a semi-arid area which receives an average of 14-16 inches of precipitation each year. With the increase in population in these area,which is anticipated to increase to 9.2 million by 2050(Colorado Water Conservation Board, 2015), this area will face one of its biggest water crisis in future.Southwest states like in Colorado, the farmers or the irrigators use about 80% of the diverted water. This is met by another pressure to sell water rights to other flourishing cities. This requires them to keep their previously irrigated watered land dry, after the water rights are purchased for utilization by other cities and municipalities. This capitalization of water rights has severely damaged local farmers and their economy. Since the West coast States are irreversibly suffering from both scarcity and capitalization of water rights, various water shortage issues are being addressed by the state agents, citizens and the human right activist (as water is a human right).There are multiple techniques that has been in practice by Colorado population to avoid water scarcity issues. Water conservation is one of them. Another technique that must be used for the awareness and prevention of water crisis is education among the inhabitants of the semi arid coastline of America. A rich ecosystem should be encouraged, that would sustain the water resources in these areas.It is basically a water regime within the water body that strengthens the flow and richness of the water ecology. It not only benefits the river health but also leads to increase in economy of the local water farming population. There is lot to be done in terms of awareness and implementation of policies, that are encouraged by the State agencies, to address the water shortage issue and standards to efficiently face it.