Climatology and Pollution of Watersheds - Essay Example

Watersheds Mississippi watershed is found along Mississippi river which flows in the United s of America and the river emerges from western part of Minnesota and it flows towards the south at 4,070 km towards the delta of the Mississippi river. The watershed has a number of tributaries that drains in all of the states in America or to approximately 31 states within the United States of America between the Appalachian Mountains and the rocky extending to the southern regions of Canada. River Mississippi is ranked as the largest and the longest river in the world and it holds tenth and fourth positions in that order (Carluer and De Marsily 87). For long time watersheds have acted as an important framework for various scientific studies on the impacts of anthropogenic and natural phenomenon on both quantity and quality of water (Naiman 78). The effects of silvicultural and agriculture have been based on watersheds. Studies concerning watersheds have been conducted in places such as Coweeta in which the data collected have been used by researches to evaluate the effectiveness of various ecological regions. Most individuals are not aware about the source of their drinking water an aspect that means that they care less whether the water they drink have been treated or not before they reach their homes. Additionally, people should be knowledge about the process used in treating the water that they consume. This is because clean water is important to life even though people have taken this fact for granted. Therefore this particular essay will analyze watershed within Mississipi River with an aim of helping the society to have a better understanding of scientific process and various forms of water resources. According to Carluer and De Marsily (95) a watershed is that particular area of land that drains into the lake, river, stream or other forms of water bodies. Moreover, watersheds can be small or large. For instance a small stream located in neighborhood may consist of a watershed. Nevertheless, the watershed of the Mississippi river covers approximately two thirds of the North America (Naiman 78). Figure 1: Mississippi watershed (Schertzer, 124) Put into consideration a small stream located at the top of the mountains. The watershed of this particular stream will comprise of few underground precipitation runoffs and springs coming from the lands that are above it. Hence the stream continues to flow down the hill; it flows to large water bodies including larger rivers, streams and even lakes before flowing into the oceans which accordingly have watersheds that are large. However, it is important to note that all watersheds both large and small have complex processes that in one way or the other impact on the quality of water coming out and utilized by the human population for various purposes. According to Sivapalan (2266) human beings does not only use water for the cleaning and cooking but also for drinking, cleaning and draining the waste systems. In order to achieve this treatment plants, dams and pipes have to be put into place for the purposes of treating water before and after it enters the homes of individuals in the society. Additionally, other structures should be put in place for the purpose of transporting water. This is because in order for human beings to be free from infections, to be water too need free from all forms of pollution and safe for domestic use. This explains the importance of managing all the watersheds as they are the sources of water for human and animal populations. According Sivapalan (2268) most cities and towns have put in place plans for managing the watersheds with an aim of ensuring not only quantity but also quality of the water sources. Moreover, it is important to take note that as watersheds continue to develop; storm water continues to drain from areas such as buildings, parking lots, fields and even fields. Hence, the roadside ditches are designed in a particular manner to prevent the structures from flooding by ensuring increased flow of the run off waters. Nonetheless, effects of both quality and quantity of water in lakes and streams are not put into consideration in the process of designing, building and maintaining the ditches. Within the watershed there are various types of matter including water which is usually in constant flow. However, in similar environment there is air, water and soil which support lives of human population. The physical aspect of the watershed includes hydrologic, geomorphic and climatic processes. Climatology is an important element in understanding the concept of watersheds. Climatic condition in one way or the other impacts on the vegetation communities of watersheds and other features of the watersheds which include timing and magnitude of the stream flow in addition to water temperatures (Sivapalan 2266). Accordingly, fluvial geomorphology is essential in having a clear understanding of the alteration and formation of either the river or the stream in addition to flood plains. Therefore geology is an essential aspect for successful management of watersheds. On the other hand, hydrology deals with water science and it is directly linked with the hydrologic cycle. It is the study of all forms of water including solid, liquid and gas. Accordingly, the flow of both nutrients and energy in any given environment is open. Therefore, streams, rivers and watersheds represent an open system whereby there is flow of both energy and nutrients (Sivapalan 2266). One of the factors that interfere with the natural sources of water including the watershed includes the impairment, destruction and removal of the ecosystems. Additionally, the hydro logically processes are directly linked with the watersheds (Moussa 398). Nevertheless, it is difficult to include ecosystems and hydro logically based processes in managing the watersheds. Human and natural activities result into purities in water bodies and if the quantity of the sediments is high, water sources are likely to change. Moreover, the watersheds are likely to be impacted on negatively due resultant changes in the ways in which agricultural land are being utilized. In the global perspective, sediments impact negatively on coastal habitats, freshwaters, coral reefs and fish in the marine environment (Sivapalan 2267). In the recent past, society have become greatly concerned about the effects of chemicals originating from homes, hospitals, industries and agricultural sector on watersheds and other sources of water. a number of pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics and other forms of medication find their way into drainage systems and eventually into watersheds (Johnson and Van Hook 89). However, higher percentages of the antibiotics are as a result of agricultural practices. Furthermore, manure and fertilizers used in agriculture always leech and find their way into sources of water such as lakes, rivers and streams (Moussa 396). Moreover, it is important to note that treating water using conventional methods does not treat water collected in the watersheds. This is because water pollutants do not always have similar patterns so using one indicator for all the water contaminants makes the method to be ineffective. Therefore in order to eliminate contaminants from watersheds advanced techniques which are advanced and other modern technologies of treating water. The major concern all over the world is pollution of ground water and even the watersheds by human activities. Contamination of water has been caused by industrialization, urbanization, mining and agricultural activities. Contamination of watersheds further results into pollution of other water sources such as lakes, rivers and streams which results into the lives of aquifers being threatened. Nevertheless, the pollution of watersheds and ground waters are as a result of human and natural activities which further result into pollution of the surface water (Moussa 396). Moreover, it is important to note that there are distinct strategies that control the mobility of the contaminants within the water surfaces (Johnson and Van Hook 199). According to study carried out treatment of watersheds should involve processes, incentives, technical, awareness in order to handle the contaminants that are not visible and ensure that the water that reaches human population are safe for consumption. Another way through which human activities is through urbanization. Most of the towns and cities all over the world have been developed have been developed not only along the waterways but also within the watersheds (Moussa 394). This has result into floods and other environmental hazards that have resulted into loss of lives. According to research carried out by Johnson and Van Hook (199) there are two distinct ways through which human activities results into pollution of watersheds. These methods are grouped as non-point and the point source. Point source pollution is a type of pollution whereby the cause of the pollution can be traced from either the leaking pipes or the site of disposal. In the recent past, technological and law advances have made it possible to detect the various sources of pollution and thus the problem have been contained in most of the watersheds and the degree of pollution reduced (Moussa 394).Non point source pollution takes place when pollution is caused by water runoff from parking lots, crops and other parts of the land. Additionally it can be due to atmospheric particulars falling into the land without going through the process of precipitation (Sivapalan 2266). Another way through which human activities have impacted on the environment is through causing the reduction and interfering with the flow of water within the watersheds, rivers, lakes, streams and other sources of water (Moussa 394). It has been argued that the process of human beings harvesting water from the aforementioned water sources results into a decreased in the flow of the river and as a result the cycles that take place in the natural rivers such as flooding may fail to take place (Johnson and Van Hook 199). This in turn affects negatively on the ecosystem as a whole and in particular those that rely on cycles of the natural rivers. Pollution of watersheds can result into a number of hazards not only in the human population but in the ecology as a whole. Polluted water can result into throat inflammation, respiratory diseases, pain in the chest, congestion and even respiratory diseases that can result into death. According to World Health Organization approximately 14, 000 deaths that take place on a daily basis are as a result of water pollution (Johnson and Van Hook 199). This is mostly as a result of untreated sewage, contaminated water which flows freely into watersheds without any precaution being taken. Studies indicate that oil spills from industries can drain into water sources such as rivers, streams, lakes and watershed and as a result cause skin rashes and irritations. Additionally, mercury which can be present in the waters can result into neurological problems and development deficits especially among children. Furthermore, radioactive metals which can find their way into sources of water can result into cancer not only among children but also among adult (Carluer and De Marsily 76). Management of watershed is the act of organizing and planning all forms of human activities on the watersheds and establishing any existing association between the health of the watershed and the activities of the human population. Therefore, it is important for organizations and government officials to take the initiative of restoring watersheds so that their natural state is preserved (Johnson and Van Hook 199). This can be achieved in laws, policies and regulation are put in place so that the rate of pollution is reduced considerably. Works cited Anderson, Edwards. Patterns of water table dynamics and runoff generation in a watershed with preferential flow networks. PhD thesis, Univ. British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. 2008. Carluer, Nadia, and De Marsily, G., Assessment and modeling of the influence of man- made networks on the hydrology of a small watershed—Implications for fast flow components, water quality, and landscape management: Journal of Hydrology, v. 285, p. 76–95. 2004. Johnson, Williams and Van Hook, Analysis of biogeochemical cycling processes in Walker Branch Watershed. Springer-Verlag, New York. 1989. Moussa, Roger et al. Effects of spatial organization of agricultural management on the hydrological behaviour of a farmed catchment during flood events: Hydrological Processes, v. 16, p. 393–413. 2002. Naiman, Robert (ed.) Watershed Management: Balancing Sustainability and Environmental Change. Springer-Verlag. 1992. Sivapalan, Beven, K., et al. `On hydrologic similarity 2. A scaled model of storm runoff production',Wat. Resour. Res., 23, 2266 -2278. 1987. Schertzer, Michael. Freshwater lakes. In: Thesurface climates of Canada. W.G. Bailey, T.R.Oke, and W.R. Rouse (editors). McGill-Queen’sUniv. Press, Montreal, Que. And Kingston,Ont., Can. Assoc. Geogr. Ser. Can. Geogr. No.4, pp. 124–148. 1997. Read More