Americas Watershed Initiative - Research Paper Example

America’s Watershed Initiative Introduction: Every civilization is developed based on River. Water is not only the foremost requirement for the humanbeing but it is also important for the development of society. Agriculture, industry, mankind, civilization transportation, science and technology all needs water to a great extent. Being the leading nation of the modern world America also need to develop some well thought out plan to use the River Mississippi for the development of their society as well as development for their industry and transportation. The Mississippi River, third largest river basin in the world, is an economic engine that supports Midwest factories, steel mills, ports and oil refineries. Additionally, it powers the U.S. economy, produces our countries export items, supports commercial fishing and provides recreational activities. The Mississippi River basin has thrown a challenge for the government of the USA and that is to secure this particular basin for the development of their mankind and their society. Objective of the Paper The main discussion of this paper is about various steps taken by the USA government in order to protect and ensure effective use of the Mississippi River basin. The paper also discussed about the importance of this river basin in the development of the nation both in terms of economy, society, political and positioning aspects. The paper also critically analyzes what possible roles the unmanned aircrafts can play as a means to protect and secure this massive watershed along with some well thought out suggestion and recommendations for the same. America’s Watershed initiative: Why it is important? America’s Watershed Initiative is a conglomerate work process planned to improve various kinds of possible resolutions for effectively control many stresses placed on the massive and many-sided Mississippi watershed system by integrating themes as well as partners and ideas at the full watershed scale. The main objective of this initiative is to search for creating as well as executing a precise vision based on partnership and equally advantageous outcomes in comparison to single purpose advocacy. Americas Watershed also seeks to link and expand these efforts, creating a broader partnership that can serve as a unified voice for the whole system, and support the effective resolution of issues that span multiple regions—issues such as energy, transportation, and water quality and floodplain management. Mississippi River: Historical and Economical Significance The Mississippi River is the major and the largest river of the United States. The Mississippi River, often mentioned as the “Mighty Mississippi,” originates as a small stream rolling out of Lake Itasca in Minnesota and, flowing down 2,340 miles later, empties into the Gulf of Mexico. By simply its huge length and its positioning, it is considered as nation’s most important assets. In its entire path, the river is covering forty-one percent of the forty-eight adjoining areas of the United States; the entire route of this river is across the heart of the nation. This massive river system covers near about 1,260,000 square miles, making it the principal drainage basin if one considers the same in terms of area enclosed in the North America and in terms of area covered it is the third largest in the world. (Great river partnership, 2012) The conventional path of the Mississippi River has headwaters expanding at Lake Itasca, Minnesota and flows approximately 2,340 miles (3,765 km). The lengthiest share of the river comprises of the Missouri River which runs almost 2,540 miles (4,088 km) before coming in touch with the Mississippi near its middle point at the North of city of St Louis. The total length of the river, which includes includes the Missouri River conjoined with the main stem Mississippi River, is 3,902 miles (6,310 km). (Hogan, 2012) History and Economical Significance: There are number of Native American groups, who used to live along the banks of the Mississippi River, including the Quapaw which is now known as eastern Arkansas. People of this area used to exchange goods, fished, farmed the fertile floodplains, and gave the river its name. In the older time, the Ojibway Indians of northern Minnesota used to call it “Messipi” or “Big River”. The river was also known as also known as the “mee-zee-see-bee” or “Father of Waters” in the Algonquian language. As the time move on, the process of navigation has become a very significant action on the river, especially during the early 1800s when steamboats were used to for various kind of powered shipping. As a matter of fact, transportation with the help of ship cargo by river was far faster up to New Orleans in comparison to transporting goods by land over the Appalachian Mountains. After a lengthy pause in the use of the river, barge traffic again started to increase in the early twentieth century. Aquatic commerce on the Mississippi increased a great level with the shipment of various kinds of product such as grains, coal and coke, petroleum products, sand and gravel, and more. Ransacking and other channel developments made the river seaworthy as far north as St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota. After all these developments, St. Paul became an important grain-shipping port. St. Louis, situated at the convergence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, is known as the “Gateway to the West.” This place is developed with the time as a connector between Mississippi and the Great Plains. In the further downside of the river, seagoing vessel navigation is possible as far upstream as Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Subsequently, New Orleans and Baton Rouge have developed as vital ports and major cities along the river. (Stroud, 2013) Following are the key roles played by this river in the development of USA as a nation. Shipping: There are number of ports such as Baton Rouge and Lake Charles in and around the river which act as a link between Mississippi and the American Midwest with other parts of the globe. With five of the country’s fifteen major ports within its boundaries, Louisiana started to control almost one-fifth of the total water born commerce in the United States, making the state a dynamic channel for foreign and domestic trade. Every year it is accountable for trade of over $100 billion value of merchandises and finished goods to the rest of the United States while at the same time getting an almost equivalent amount of farming produce, apparatus and other products from workshops, farms and urban areas in the Mississippi River Valley and other sections of the country. Natural Resources: The state is blessed with a wealth of natural resources. Fisheries in the coastal Louisiana aid as a significant source of seafood for much of the United States, while the marshland habitats of the Mississippi River Delta appeal hundreds of thousands of hunters and fisherman every year. Dispensation and manufacture facilities for energy merchandises are concerted in the southern reaches of the state, nearby to the vast pools of oil and natural gas that lie underneath the northern Gulf of Mexico. (Mississippi River Delta, nd). Following example helps to understand how this river plays a key role in the development of civilization and economy in and around it. New Orleans is one of the great examples of the important role played by the river as the city is developed proximity of the Mississippi river. When the city was in its full growth phase, New Orleans was known as the “marketplace of the wealth of the West” because of its planned position at the center of trade between cultures and goods. In two years’ time, the value of total yearly earnings at the New Orleans port enlarged from $8 million to $13 million (Kelman, 2003). Large, ornamented steamboats also encourage tourist from all over the world, inquisitive to see not only the huge Mississippi, but also the unique lifestyles of the people in and around this great river. On the basis of such well planned development, by the end of 1853, the flourishing New Orleans was one of the 5 largest cities in the United States. But with the growing political trouble, ecological disaster started to hamper the growth of the city. Not only that, the development of science and technology also played an important role in the de-growth of this city. Discovery of railroads along with the undesirable impact of civil economic growth affected the booming economy of the Mississippi Rivers countryside. The importance of the water trade started to lose its importance as more and more rail road started to evolve. At present, continuous civilization, industrialization and global warming –all these have increased the level of uncertainty associated with this route. (Kelman, 2003). For a long period of time the US government has started to take initiative to overcome this problems associated with the Mississippi river bed. US administration now using their technological knowledge to use the river for the betterment of the economy as well as society as they still believes that it is one of the main source of economy for the nation. Most important thing is the location of this river and cities around it. For example, the city of New Orleans is very suitably located within nearness of 6 railroads and the Regional Highway System (Port of New Orleans, 2003). In the start of 2000, the earnings from the trade done by the water route with the use Port of New Orleans alone was around $2.3 billion. Not only that, this great trade route is also helped to create over 107,000 river-related jobs statewide (Ryan, 2001). If statistics of the Port of New Orleans is being considered, it is very clear that no matter rail road is important for the communication and trade the water route is still has its importance. The total volume of cargo of 2004 was around 31.5 million ton, and that was a noteworthy 5.4% increase in comparison to that of 2003 involving of 72% imported cargo and 28% exported cargo. Arriving imports include steel, iron, forest products, aluminum, and natural rubber. Exports consist of mostly chemical substances (pesticides, dyes), animal/ vegetable products, and forest products. Pollution of Water bodies: There are number of unwanted and unavoidable human activities, which are the actual or main cause behind water pollution across the globe. Various forms of human activities generally add nitrogen and phosphorus or other polluting substances in the water bodies across the globe and this is not intentional. One must also consider the fact that, over the course of time, with the continuous development of the urban civilization, development of industry, far more use of chemical ingredients to improve agricultural sector- all these plays a major role in the increasing the level of pollution in water bodies. Apart from these uncontrolled factors, some natural calamities are also responsible for increasing water pollution in around the globe. It is often happens that storm water or rainwater carries various chemical ingredients, pesticides and other heavy metals into river which causes the pollution. (St. Johns River, 2011) If one look at the water pollution reasons, it is very clear that there are more or less same reasons for water pollutions, specially the river water pollution in every countries. There are some key reasons associated with the water body’s pollution in the USA and here are small discussion about some of the key points: Wastewater from central sewers: In every developed and developing countries, the drainage system is very well advanced. The waste of every house hold, industries, hotels all are drained away from the inside of the country/state to various water bodies and finally all those lead up to the river. This is the main reason behind the water bodies’ pollution across the globe. Wastewater from septic tanks: One of the key reasons behind the river pollution is the debris coming out from the septic tank of various tall buildings of the cities in every nation. For example, if one considers the case of Florida, almost 33% of total water body’s pollution in the city is mainly due to almost 2.5 million on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS). Storm water from road and drainage ditches: There are number of cities in the globe where the chances of natural calamities are very high and also with greater velocity and severe impact. In those areas, there is a large possibility that various chemical ingredients, debris of motor oil and other polluted, chemicals all these used to get mixed with the rain water. As a part of high quality drainage systems, this large volume of polluted water often get mixed with water bodies creating water pollution. Excessive use of fertilizers/pesticides in Fertilization: Very often, high volume of nitrogen pollution created from over use of fertilizers and pesticides in various paddy fields as well as in the lawn of individual’s home. Generally, “nitrate-rich water makes its way to surface waters as runoff during rainfall or over-irrigation, or it may drain slowly from the soil over time.”(St. Johns River, 2011) This kind of water is the ideal for the development of Algal groups which is one of the main reasons behind water body’s pollution in the globe. Along with all these reasons there are another two key reasons associated with the water bodies pollution in developed nations like USA namely Discharge of water from farmland with mixed chemical substances and Impact of Industrial development. (St Johns River, 2011) Why the Water shade Initiative was first introduced? Let’s now discuss the present scenario in respect to America’s Water shade initiative, the steps taken by the government in recent years and what are the possible future steps for the betterment of the same. In the USA, watershed initiative has a major role to play in the development of the country. Over the course of year, as a nation USA has changed the strategies they has about watershed specially associated with the Mississippi river and the main objective is to ensure growth in terms of economy, security development as well as social development for the nation as a whole. Not only have that, the watershed initiative in a way helps the nation to boost their security as well. For USA, Mississippi watershed initiative in a way is also helpful to improve the security as well. In modern perspective, quality of water available for the people in the USA is a major challenge both politically and environmentally. Water is a natural resource and like every other nations, USA also forced to depend on the environmental variety that the country possess. In the USA, there are almost 15000 rivers, streams and lakes in the nations and almost 100% of those are polluted due to runoff nutrient from wildlife support system of the country, excessive and too some extent unplanned use of the water resources for the recreation purposes and due to use of these water bodies for water resources in the developed parts of the nations. Mississippi River Basin area is the major water resources for the country and it is responsible for almost 40% of the total water resources for the nation. One of the major concerns associated with this major water resource is the level of pollution associated with it. The major reason of this water pollution is the fertilizer and the livestock manure used by the farmers in the areas near to the Mississippi river bed. Another key point is the point at which the river drains into. “The MRB (Mississippi River Basin) drains into the Gulf of Mexico, where the county’s largest ‘dead zone’ an oxygen-devoid region, forms every spring and wipes out aquatic life and fisheries.” (Perez, 2014) In recent years there are number of major initiative taken by the US authority to protect the water bodies in the nations, and one key one is the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) launched in the year of 2009. (St. Johns River, 2011). Before discussing the initiatives taken by the US government to protect all kind of river bodies, let discuss about the reason behind such large degree of water pollution in the country. Following are some key points associated with the water bodies’ pollution across the globe. These are more or less common in every part of the globe. An Innovative Approach to Water Quality Management: Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative One of the key initiatives taken by the US government is Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI). It was launched in the year of 2009 to protect Mississippi river from various kinds of manmade as well as natural pollution. For the development of the country, both economical as well as environmental, it is important to make sure that the Mississippi river is remaining pollution free. Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative project is a key one as it was designed so effectively that it can work in various phases. In every phase, the project has targeted some key areas in the entire flowing path of the river and concentrating on the same. Another key advantage of this project is that from the very beginning “it uses a targeted watershed project and partnership approach to deliver the same financial and technical assistance NRCS has been providing for years. Partners from state agricultural and water quality agencies, watershed groups, universities, and farm and environmental non-governmental organizations help in the implementation of these watershed projects. The idea is that by targeting multiple, strategically located farms in affected watersheds, MRBI will be able to improve the water quality of a stream or river in that watershed.” (Perez, 2014) Main objective of the Project: USA Government started this project with some basic objective of betterment of mankind. The Mississippi river is the main water source of the entire USA. So it is very much important to ensure that water supply from this riverbed is a pure one for all the people. One basic objective is to ensure that every city/locality in and around the river bed must get pure water. Another one is to ensure that agricultural sector must get pure water so that the crop fields are not getting affected. The broad or bigger objective is to ensure that the overall health of the basin gets improved. The fish and wild life in and around the basin get protected. Another fact associated with this project is water quality monitoring. One major objective associated with this project is to ensure development of the ecology as well as adverse nature of the Dead zone in the Gulf of the Mexico. (American News, 2013) Use of unmanned aircraft for the protection of Mississippi Water Basin: The river basins in the USA are not only economically as well as ecologically important for the nature and development of the nation, but at the same time it is also important for the government to ensure that there is a proper monitoring and surveillance system at place all over the Mississippi water basin and adjoining areas. To ensure proper surveillance in those areas US government has taken several initiatives and to strengthen those, use of unmanned aircraft can be a great option for the government. The Unmanned Aircraft System or UAS is generally consisted of “an unmanned aircraft, its mission payloads, launch and recovery equipment, ground control station, and control and data links. The Coast Guard is preparing to employ UAS to augment the service’s land- and cutter-based aircraft, and expand the surveillance range of surface assets, such as the National Security Cutter (NSC)” (Acquisition Directorate, 2014) It is a clear fact that the area under Mississippi water basin is a huge one and the development of agricultural land or human population is not so dense in those areas. So it is important for the US government to ensure proper protection in those areas as by using that river bay, various anti-social groups can attack the nation and at the same time people can use those water bays for some illegal activities like smuggling etc. As the area is so vast, to deploy army to keep a check on the entire area is a very hard task. For the US navy or the coast guard, this unmanned aircraft system or the UAS is a great way to ensure proper ensure proper surveillance of the river beds and the surroundings. Not only for the security purposes, this process is helpful for the administration also for protecting any kind of ecological damages in internal parts of the water basin, they can make the people of areas surrounding the river basin aware about any kind of natural calamities way before so that necessary precautionary actions can be taken by both people of those areas and the local authority. As per report published by the US Customs and Boarder Protection (2011), “he remotely piloted Predator B Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) is providing streaming video and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mapping and change analysis of areas affected by flooding, such as levee integrity along the Mississippi River”. (US Customs and Boarder Protection, 2011) Recommendation for the Future: Development of water basin and protection of the same There are number of initiatives taken by the US government to ensure that the project of Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative is a successful one. Following are some points which US government can consider to make this campaign a more successful one in the coming years. Divide the entire water body into smaller parts and developed plan on the basis of the nature of the agriculture and people’s lifestyle in and around those areas so that the project can be more people oriented. Regular examination of the water quality in terms its purity, level of chemical mixed with it and other pollution level so that at no point the water pollution go beyond the danger mark. Encourage people of various adjacent areas of the river to ensure that they are using less volume of chemical ingredients in their agricultural land. Encourage the use of more natural fertilizers so that water pollution from chemical fertilizer gets reduced. Ensure that the volume of pesticide used by the farmers is in lowest possible amount because these pesticides are the main source of nitrogen pollution in the water bodies. The drainage system in the city or the countryside in around the riverbed has to be of highest quality. Often the drainage of all the major cities mixed with the water bodies and creates water pollution. The administrative departments have to design their drainage system such a way that purity of the water is not getting affected. One better way to make the drainage system of various cities and countryside’s in and around the riverbed improved is by developing high drains and also by ensuring it that all the drainage is accumulating in one central area and then it is drained of close to the point where the river is mixing with the seabed. Then the level of pollution can be controlled in a better way. USA is a highly developed nation in terms of science, technology and innovation. The government can introduce projects such as to develop nutrients from the waste materials of the human beings as well as from various other residual elements. These initiatives will not only protect the water bodies, but at the same time can decrease the excessive use of chemical fertilizers in the agricultural sector which often creates water pollution. The modern society is based on the industrial development. The growth of industry is helpful for the development of the society, economy as well as mankind. But at the same time all these industries in a way are responsible for the waterbed pollution in the USA. It is therefore important to ensure that there are sufficient amount of awareness among the industrialist to protect the waterbeds. Various industries must developed technologies or design their operations such a way that they can use the residuals of various chemicals as well as end toxic materials for the betterment of their own purposes or for the development of the people and society. Else all these toxic substance will mix with waterbed to create water pollution. Often it has been observed that the high degree of air pollution caused by various kinds of industries is the reason for number of natural disaster. Torrential rain, acid rain, irregular session change and other natural disasters are also the reason behind water pollution. It is therefore very much important for the government to set some strict environmental standard for all the industries so that they can have a control over such environmental pollution and irregularities. To protect mankind from natural calamities like flood etc. number of administration used to develop or take protective measures in and around the river bed. All these steps are in away important to protect mankind. But at the same time, government also have to make it sure that those protective measures is not disturbing the natural balance of the river bed. Because, over protective measures can hamper the ecological balance which can cause more damage than the normal. More frequent use of unmanned aircraft system all over the river basin so that government can get idea about every minute changes in the nature and structure of the river basin so that they can take necessary steps to protect the mankind as well as protect any natural disaster. Using advanced technologies along the Mississippi river basin, so the US can strategically place themselves over and above the neighboring nations. A strong observation from the US Navy is helpful to reduce the illegal activities across the river side such as smuggling etc. It will not only protect the people of those areas, but at the same time will help the government to have a strong hold on the terrorism and other antisocial activities in and outside the country With the developments of science and technology, hydropower or using river bed to generate power is an alternative source of current in modern days. To generate hydropower, it is important to develop large infrastructure over the river bed itself. For the betterment of the mankind this is important but at the same time government also need to ensure that such initiatives are not affecting the natural flow of the river drastically. If any such project is creating major disruption for the river bed then it is advisable to change the plan or review the same as this disturbance can disrupt the ecological balance in a great way. Conclusion: From the overall analysis, one can easily conclude the fact that water bodies as a natural source are very much important for the development of the mankind as well as for the ecological balance of the society. Every government must ensure the fact that there are some well-defined steps in place to protect the water bodies in and around the area. Industries, farmer group, people of the society all have to follow the set standard to make it sure that water bodies are protected in a better way and at the same time can be utilize in a best possible manner for the development of the society for a long span of time. References 1. Americas Watershed Initiative; (2012); Great River partnership; retrieved on 20.7.2014 from http://www.greatriverspartnership.org/en-us/NorthAmerica/Mississippi/Pages/Americas-Great-Watershed-Initiative.aspx 2. CBP Unmanned Aircraft System Providing Imagery Above Mississippi. (2011). U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Retrieved on 20.7.2014 from http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/2011-06-15-040000/cbp-unmanned-aircraft-system-providing-imagery 3. Focus on water quality in Mississippi River basin having impact; (2013); American news; retrieved on 20.7.2014 from http://articles.aberdeennews.com/2013-08-09/farmforum/41248526_1_conservation-stewardship-program-conservation-practices-water-quality 4. Hogan, C.M.; (2012); Mississippi River; The Encyclopedia of Earth; retrieved on 20.7.2014 from http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/175961/ 5. Kelman, A; (2003); A river and its city; Berkeley, Los Angeles: UC Press. 6. Perez, M; (2014); A New Strategy to Improve Water Quality—One Targeted Watershed at a Time; World resource Institute; retrieved on 20.7.2014 from http://www.wri.org/blog/2014/01/new-strategy-improve-water-quality%E2%80%94one-targeted-watershed-time 7. Port of New Orleans; (2003); About the port of new Orleans; Retrieved November 15, 2006, from http://www.portno.com/facts.htm/ 8. Ryan, T. P; (2001); The economic impact of the port of New Orleans and the New Orleans maritime industry; New Orleans: University of New Orleans 9. Stroud, B.H.; (2013); Mississippi river; The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture; retrieved on 20.7.2014 from http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2648 10. The Delta and America’s Economy; (2014); The Mississippi River delta; Retrieved on 20.7.2014 from http://www.mississippiriverdelta.org/america-needs-the-delta/delta-and-americas-economy/ 11. Unmanned Aircraft System; (2014). United States Coast guard: Acquisition Directorate. Retrieved on 20.7.2014 from http://www.uscg.mil/acquisition/uas/ 12. Water pollution (2011); St. Johns River: Water Management District; retrieved on 20.7.2014 from http://www.sjrwmd.com/waterbodies/pollutionsources.html Read More