22 replies to this topic

[E3 wise]

When people ask me what I think is the biggest environmental issue facing the United States over the next twenty years, my answer is always the same, drinking water.  Yes greenhouse gases, climate change, ocean acidification, dirty energy, pollution, hunger in the United States are all huge issues.  Likewise each has an aspect which directly affects drinking water. The problem is that after four decades of kicking the can down the road, today we are as a nation are closer to a major water crisis, and time may be running out.

The problem is that most people have short memories.  A few years of concern over frequency of droughts can all be forgotten after a single year of rains, meaning that because of the cyclical nature of weather, often much needed water fixes are discussed and then forgotten.

Our friends at the Circle of Blue.org have made it their mission to keep this issue in the forefront, their timely, thoughtful reporting highlights the critical needs of water and the many affects it has on our lives and our economies.

That is why I am posting the first link to their 2014 Water Supply preview.  My plan is to use this thread as a place to discuss the many factors affecting our future water.  Let’s begin here

California, Texas, and the Southwestern U.S. Face a Critical Year for Water Supplies: 2014 Preview, Part 1

http://www.circleofb...water-supplies/

Lois Moore
President
Environmental Power & Water Generation

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Solar power uses less water than thermal via Inhabit via Treehugger.
http://inhabitat.com...water-supplies/

Also this piece about solar powered desalination plants in California; which could
solve their water problems.
http://inhabitat.com...supply-problem/

[synodbio]

Humanity is already committed to a great deal of change in our global climate, but reducing greenhouse gas production and creating more efficient technologies and production systems now will benefit future generations and help us back away from thresholds of irreversibly harsh conditions.

[eds]

Are we on the path to PEAK Water?
. . . (the point at which freshwater is being consumed faster,
. . . . . . than it is being replenished or available)

2014-02-18 Source:  PEAK Water.jpg

[Dustoffer]

Technically, we hit peak water when we hit max sustainable population around 1900.  Since then the fresh water supply demands have gone up geometrically with surface and ground water pollution and depletion, with long term aquifers depleted/depleting rapidly.
How did I miss this?
Last Call at the Oasis

The film is an urgent wake-up call, showing people’s carelessness with drinking water all over the world. Even Israel’s holy Jordan River is suffering - its waters are heavily polluted, but that doesn’t stop thousands of pilgrims from going there for full-immersion baptisms. 2011

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Got this notice in the mail from the city-
it reads in part:
"Inadequately treated water may contain disease causing organisms.
These organisms include bacteria, viruses and parasites that can cause symptoms such
as nausea, cramps, diarrhea and headaches.
On May 17-18 the city failed to meet minimum treatment technique requirements." - equipment failure.

Well that explains it. (I keep a daily journal)
I thought I had eaten some cottage cheese that had expired. I had all symptoms listed above except
for the headache and it wasn't just nausea..............   

And I have water filters on every faucet.
But they didn't send this notice out til a few days ago.........................

[Dustoffer]

You need better filters!!  How do you filter out gas??---

Wyoming Residents Frustrated With State’s Fracking-Funded Water Contamination Investigation

Brandon Baker | June 16, 2014 11:45 am | Comments

Wyoming environmental officials continue investigating water wells and whether fracking is the source of water contamination in the tiny town of Pavillion, but some groups in the area are concerned about the credibility of that investigation.
That’s because it’s being funded by Encana, the oil and gas firm those groups believe is responsible for adding methane, hydrocarbons, lead and copper into the local water supply. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency handed the investigation over to the state a year ago, and things have been downhill ever since, according to groups like Earthworks and Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens.
State regulators held a meeting late last week that was meant to provide an update to residents. Instead, it reinforced their lack of confidence in the process."
http://ecowatch.com/...-investigation/
Then, the fox is guarding the hen house.........

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Dustoffer, on 22 June 2014 - 12:36 PM, said:

You need better filters!!  How do you filter out gas??---

Wyoming Residents Frustrated With State’s Fracking-Funded Water Contamination Investigation

Brandon Baker | June 16, 2014 11:45 am | Comments

Wyoming environmental officials continue investigating water wells and whether fracking is the source of water contamination in the tiny town of Pavillion, but some groups in the area are concerned about the credibility of that investigation.
That’s because it’s being funded by Encana, the oil and gas firm those groups believe is responsible for adding methane, hydrocarbons, lead and copper into the local water supply. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency handed the investigation over to the state a year ago, and things have been downhill ever since, according to groups like Earthworks and Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens.
State regulators held a meeting late last week that was meant to provide an update to residents. Instead, it reinforced their lack of confidence in the process."
http://ecowatch.com/...-investigation/
Then, the fox is guarding the hen house.........

Luckily (or unluckily for residents living further south) the panhandle of Texas sits on bedrock, so not as much
gas drilling done here.
http://en.wikipedia....rock_Escarpment
East of here, sure.
Middle to southern Texas? Lot's of it.
http://www.maydayres...emovie_com1.png

And a few years back after watching Gasland, I tried to set my faucet on fire.
No flames.

[Dustoffer]

Part of the water crisis is pollution;

Companies Dumped 206 Million Pounds of Toxic Chemicals Into U.S. Waterways





Posted  by Dave Gardner   on Tuesday, 01 July 2014 in Wall of Shame

"Environment America does important work, and the report, Wasting Our Waterways: Toxic Industrial Pollution and Restoring the Promise of the Clean Water Act, is no exception. The report puts a spotlight on the sheer volume of toxic chemicals industry dumps into U.S. waterways every year."
http://www.growthbia...o-u-s-waterways

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Here's another crisis.
(It happened a year ago too)
Toledo-
"Worried residents were told not to drink, brush their teeth or wash dishes with the water."

Via NPR news-

http://www.npr.org/2...ins?ft=1&f=1025

Probably not this bad but still..............

 dirty water.jpg   7.78K   0 downloads

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Did we know this? OMG.

"No states — including Texas — require testing for such toxins, which are caused by algal blooms.
And there are no federal or state standards for acceptable levels of the toxins, even though they can be lethal."

Follow up article
via PBS via Texas Tribune-

http://www.panhandle...s-other-states/

[still learning]

The water ban has been rescinded in Toledo..... see http://www.bloomberg...llins-says.html

[Shortpoet-GTD]

still learning, on 04 August 2014 - 06:56 AM, said:

The water ban has been rescinded in Toledo..... see http://www.bloomberg...llins-says.html

Will they stop using the chemicals that cause these *&^%^things in the first place? Probably not.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Although this thread is primarily about the water crisis in the US, we should include our neighbors; Canada.

Mining waste from tailing ponds leaks into waterways.
Via Think Progress-
http://thinkprogress...vity&imed=rr1x4

[Shortpoet-GTD]

still learning, on 04 August 2014 - 06:56 AM, said:

The water ban has been rescinded in Toledo..... see http://www.bloomberg...llins-says.html

Cleaned and fixed temporarily but it's ongoing and will continue to be an issue; especially for those area lakes.

"The Maumee River drains more than four million acres of agricultural land and dumps it into Lake Erie at the Port of Toledo," the Wall Street Journalreports.
More than 80 percent of the Maumeee River watershed is devoted to agriculture, mainly
the corn-soy duopoly that carpets the Midwest.
Fertilizer and manure runoff from the region's farms feed blue-green algae blooms in the southwest corner of Lake Erie, from which Toledo draws its water."  

Via Mother Jones-
http://www.motherjon...t-our-ag-system

[SheforACT]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 04 August 2014 - 01:53 PM, said:

Will they stop using the chemicals that cause these *&^%^things in the first place? Probably not.

Agree, they probably won't.  Why?  Because they get used to it, it's easier and convenient for them, and they are making dollars from it regardless of what effects it will give to mankind and our environment.  Just my two cents.

[SheforACT]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 06 August 2014 - 05:23 AM, said:

Although this thread is primarily about the water crisis in the US, we should include our neighbors; Canada.

Mining waste from tailing ponds leaks into waterways.
Via Think Progress-

These people should have thought about the effects before doing it in the first place.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

"Emergency manager's" have wrecked havoc on the water bills for Detroit citizens-raising them 119% over
the past 10 years.
People cannot pay those huge bills, so the city cuts off their water.
24,000 have already lost their water this year. The rate of cut-off is 400 homes PER DAY. Sickening.
Via Addicting Info-
http://www.addicting...-thanks-to-gop/

[Tom Butler]

Living in Reno, we have escaped a near record dry January by a few hundredths of an inch of rain. The San Francisco bay area has broken records with no water for January.

What little snow pack there is in the Sierras is very high up, just as climate for casts predict. This means more water simply runs off and the summer watershed depletes earlier. That is our drinking water.

Meanwhile, our lobby-driven government ... city, state and federal, is making no preparations for more water storage with "We are good for this year" kinds of comments that reminds me of that story of someone fiddling while Rome was burning.

Now this: "The new research suggests that increased land warming, coupled with an increase in frequency of extreme El Niño events, will mean extreme La Niña could occur every 13 years, rather than the 23 years previously seen." “Global warming doubles risk of extreme La Niña event, research shows” from http://www.scienceda...50126124723.htm

I am going to ask two questions concerning this in a new thread that i would like some help understanding.

PS: I am impressed about how information rich this board has become. Good work!

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Tom Butler, on 02 February 2015 - 09:34 AM, said:

Living in Reno, we have escaped a near record dry January by a few hundredths of an inch of rain. The San Francisco bay area has broken records with no water for January.

What little snow pack there is in the Sierras is very high up, just as climate for casts predict. This means more water simply runs off and the summer watershed depletes earlier. That is our drinking water.

Meanwhile, our lobby-driven government ... city, state and federal, is making no preparations for more water storage with "We are good for this year" kinds of comments that reminds me of that story of someone fiddling while Rome was burning.

Now this: "The new research suggests that increased land warming, coupled with an increase in frequency of extreme El Niño events, will mean extreme La Niña could occur every 13 years, rather than the 23 years previously seen." “Global warming doubles risk of extreme La Niña event, research shows” from http://www.scienceda...50126124723.htm

I am going to ask two questions concerning this in a new thread that i would like some help understanding.

PS: I am impressed about how information rich this board has become. Good work!

Thank you very much; our Ed works tirelessly posting information from around the web.
(Your link doesn't work, btw)