Solutions for the United States of America Large Water Shortages - Case Study Example

Environmental Studies Introduction Water is a very important component to the human body and animal biology. Waterhas great properties such as; it is a great solvent, a great lubricant for muscles and tendons, great temperature regulator, it easily dissolves and can be used as a great transporter of nutrients, soluble and unwanted waste from the metabolic system. During digestion of food, water breaks down food molecules into smaller parts that can easily be absorbed in the body. Water is made up of two molecules hydrogen and oxygen (Goldfarb 1041-1043). When it rains, water flows into water masses and then it evaporates into its gaseous form forming condensed clouds in the atmosphere, through precipitation this condensed clouds are converted into water and the rain falls with water flowing into the water masses again. There are several factors that affect the hydrologic cycle such as global warming, human activities such as deforestation increase in human population or saturation of people in one area and water pollution through chemicals run off, organic wastes, oil and nuclear wastes (Oren 258-261). This paper focuses on the United States of America and a report given drought on seven cities; Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas, New Mexico, Nevada and California its causes and possible solutions to these large water shortages. Water shortages in these states can be curbed. Commercial industries and agriculture use the largest amount of global fresh water (Waldie). This is because there is a need to supply enough food stuff and finished commercial products to meet the market demand from consumers. This has led to irrational thinking and destruction of most sources of water leading to a decreased level of the height of water in water surfaces. This is basically economic scarcity of water as described by the states shortages and can be curbed by building large reservoirs which increase the water storage in times of rain. Drinking of salty water through building of desalination plants would be a good way to use all available water. Water purification by reusing sewage water through purifying it again is a great way too to keep water flowing in these states. The purified water is then stored in the reservoirs tanks. Forestation in dry areas like Arizona would really help to preserve soil moisture and underground water surfaces. Fixing of water meters in every household and increasing the water prices per meter used would also encourage residents to use water wisely. Encouraging green farming in the farming regions would ensure that water is used wisely as plants do grow within electronically controlled temperatures and not much water is used for irrigation. The government should also ensure that every company fixes leaking pipes by law as to allow reuse of that waste water from them by purifying it, desalination and pepping it back into reservoir tanks. Cross country pipeline would help in giving water from regions that have high concentration of water to regions with low concentration of the same. Stabilization of population in these states would help decrease water usage into a more stabilized and economic level (WATER 1-4). Fracking has been mentioned to be a major cause of draught in Texas. Fracking could also be known as hydraulic fracturing which has become a recent mining project in United States of America (USA) of gas and oils through fracturing of the shale rocks by drilling using intensive injection of fluid onto the rocks at a high pressure to produce natural gas (Scanlon 3580-3586). While fracking has been of great benefit to the economy of the USA, it has quite raised concerns about water shortages especially in the areas where hydraulic fracturing is taking place in states like Colorado, Ohio, and Texas among others. Fracking uses water as the major fluid to disintegrate these rocks using very large amounts of it and once it has been used, it is mixed with a lot of other chemicals and it cannot be reused again. This fluid goes on to the water surface on the ground, and totally contaminating it with un-biodegradable material. It not only decreases the height of water level underground by causing distress on the rock surface but it contaminates it making it totally not safe for use. It has been proven that contaminated water causes respiratory, digestive and water borne diseases to human beings as well as contaminating the soil decreasing agricultural produce (Tucker 1-14). Apart from Fracking mentioned in the article, there are other financial gain schemes on water being used as a resource for financial gain to a few. Large scale agricultural irrigation in states like California, Texas and Nevada among other has a large impact on water usage (Maupin 56). This uses large amounts of water both for sprinkling and micro irrigation systems leading to enlargement of the economy and meeting demand for agricultural produce in the consumers market but this has a direct effect on the large amounts of water needed in the state. This would be more economic if they practiced greenhouse farming reducing the large amounts of water needed thereof conserving water. This activities done for financial gain such as fracking and large scale irrigation, analysis have shown that without this both activities not being done in the USA water usage would be enough and thou there could be other factors that affect water supply, it would be good to note that water usage for example in domestic houses would be enough despite the drought (David Pimentel 909-918). There are ethical issues of using water supply as a finance profit business for a few. This can be ground on ethics. An ethical issue could be described as a situation that the particular person involved or company has to make the right decision to their best ability as this is brought to judgment either by law or consumers of the product or service. It has been viewed that using water for personal financial gain should be an issue that the involved companies or person have to come out and speak about their activities and be ready for judgment from the public but at the same time be ready to defend themselves thus allowing room for fairness on both sides. The company or organization has to be ready to come clean on what exact chemicals or micro substances that they are including in their working process as this will help other ministries involved in guarding water and be able to come up with ways to either purify or clean water for reuse again. Should there be a conflict of interest between firms dealing with water matters, they have to be ready to come together and discuss such issues while helping build stronger business relationships among them (Oddo 293-297). The state of Ohio is facing major critical water issues. Owing to mining in Ohio State, iron and aluminum compounds get easily drained in the rivers, ground water and underground water sources making are acidic and generally change the PH level of the water making it very polluted and unsuitable for drinking. Owing to this acidity there has been a rise in the growth of alga blooms (WINES) in most water surfaces in Ohio as the aquatic life has been killed giving rise to green colored water that is totally unsuitable for consumption. This alga produces toxins that cause liver damage, nausea and vomiting leading to death of some patients. The government is however trying its best to see to it that water is purified before sale to consumers. This acidity in water also evaporates and is condensed giving rise to rain with high acidic levels which is not suitable for human or animal use. While companies, persons and mining farms are looking forward into gaining from water as a major resource for all production, it is important that we try and help conserve the water that we get and use it wisely to avoid drought, water borne diseases and these will help protect our environment avoiding issues like global warming and earthquakes. Works cited David Pimentel, Bonnie Berger, David Filiberto, Michelle Newton, Benjamin Wolfe, Elizabeth Karabinakis, Steven Clark, Elaine Poon, Elizabeth Abbett, and Sudha Nandagopal. "Water Resources: Agricultural and Enviromental issues." Oxford Journal ; BioScience (2004): 909-918. Goldfarb, Dan Negoianu and Stanley. "Just Add Water." Journal of The American Society of Nephrology (June 2008): vol.19 no.6; 1041-1043. Maupin, M.A., Kenny, J.F., Hutson, S.S., Lovelace, J.K., Barber, N.L., and Linsey, K.S. "Estimated use of water in the United States in 2010." U.S. Geological Survey Circular (2014): 56. Oddo, Alfonso R. "A Framework For Teaching Business Ethics." Journal of Business Ethics (1997): 16 (3):293-297. Oren, Marc D. Abrams and Ram. "Adaptations of forest ecosystems to air pollution and climate change." Tree Pschycology (2011): 258 - 261. Scanlon, Jean-Philippe Nicot* and Bridget R. "Water Use for Shale-Gas Production in Texas, U.S." Enviromental Science & Technology (2012): 3580−3586. Tucker, Charlotte. "Health concerns of ‘fracking’ drawing increased attention: EPA conducting studies on health effects." The Nations Health ( March, 2012): 1-14. Waldie, D. J. "Drought by the Numbers: Where Does California Water Go?" Social Focus. 10 February 2014. WATER, NATIONAL DRINKING. "Water Conservation Measures." A NATIONAL DRINKING WATER CLEARINGHOUSE FACT SHEET. December 1998. WINES, MICHAEL. "Spring Rain, Then Foul Algae in Ailing Lake Erie." New York times (March, 14, 2013). Read More