how we use water
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HOW WE USE WATER. Grace Masterjohn Sean Klapperich Autumn Kelley Amanda Lance. HOW WE USE WATER. Where Does Our Water Go? Diverting Surface Water Using and removing dams Costs and benefits Dikes and levees Groundwater. WHERE DOES OUR WATER GO?. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
HOW WE USE WATER
Grace MasterjohnSean KlapperichAutumn KelleyAmanda Lance
HOW WE USE WATERWhere Does Our Water Go? Diverting Surface Water
Using and removing damsCosts and benefits
Dikes and leveesGroundwater
WHERE DOES OUR WATER GO?Residential/Municipal: Drinking, cooking, and
cleaningAgricultural: Irrigate crops and water for
livestock.Industrial: Manufacturing processesConsumptive use: Take thewater and don’t return it.Non-Consumptive use: We only temporarily use it.Ex: Hydroelectric dams
DIVERTING SURFACE WATERWater is diverted from rivers, streams, lakes,
and ponds to provide water for farm fields, homes and cities.
We are overexploiting surface water.Colorado River is a prime example of the
depletion of our surface water.
USING AND REMOVING DAMSA dam is an obstruction placed in a river or
stream.We build dams to prevent floods, provide
drinking water, facilitate irrigation, and generate electricity.
There are about 45,000 large dams (greater than 49 feet high) worldwide across rivers in over 140 nations.
A concept introduced in the late 1990s, removing dams restores ecosystems and fisheries, and revives recreation.
BENEFITS AND COSTS OF DAMSBENEFITS COSTS
Power generationEmissions reductionCrop irrigationDrinking waterFlood controlShippingNew recreational
opportunities
Habitat alterationFisheries declinePopulation displacementSediment captureDisruption of floodingRisk of failureLost recreational
opportunities
DIKES AND LEVEESHelp prevent floods.They are long raised mounds of earth along
the bank of rivers.Most of the time stops flooding, but can
sometimes make flooding worse because they force water to stay in channels and accumulate lots of energy, leading to occasional catastrophic overflows.
GROUNDWATERGroundwater is extracted by drilling into the
ground and using pipes to transport it.Most groundwater is beingused faster than it can replenish itself.Artesian spring: Unconfined aquifer
We have altered many environmental systems.
60% of the worlds largest 277 rivers have been affected by artificial dams, canals, and diversions.
Our consumption of fresh water is unsustainable.
We are depleting many sources of surface and groundwater.
1/3 of the world’s people have already been affected by water scarcity as of 2006.
INEFFECTIVE IRRIGATION WASTES WATER18% of the world farmland is irrigated but
yields fully 40% of worlds agricultural produce, including 60% of the global grain crop.
Only about 45% of the water we use for irrigations is actually taken up by crops.
When floods are liberally flooded with water that may evaporate accounts for about 90% of irrigation worldwide.
Can lead to waterlogging and salinization.
DEPLETING GROUND WATERMore easily depleted than surface water
because most aquifers recharge slowly.As aquifers are depleted, water tables drop.This will make groundwater more difficult
and expensive to extract.When groundwater is over-pumped then salt
water may intrude into aquifers.