Water Woes

 

   Although I would prefer to avoid the awful things now occurring, a recent article compels me to issue this alert: "Our drinking water may soon disappear!"

   I read the article which is the first one listed above and both the graphic and the article are from the New York Times. It was written by a team and the data supporting it were substantial. The other articles pictured above constitute a series and there may be more. If you can access them, do so. "America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There's No Tomorrow," is in the Aug. 28 issue. The "Big Farms" one is from Sept.3, the "Colorado City" one from Sept.5 and the "Monster Fracks" from Sept.25.

   I will offer my simple summary of the core article by suggesting that we are all living in Arizona now and that assertion is based on a lot of data. Here are some extracts from the article:

   "Many of the aquifers that supply 90 percent of the nation’s water systems, and which have transformed vast stretches of America into some of the world’s most bountiful farmland, are being severely depleted. These declines are threatening irreversible harm to the American economy and society as a whole. 

   The New York Times conducted a months-long examination of groundwater depletion, interviewing more than 100 experts, traveling the country and creating a comprehensive database using millions of readings from monitoring sites. The investigation reveals how America’s life-giving resource is being exhausted in much of the country, and in many cases it won’t come back. Huge industrial farms and sprawling cities are draining aquifers that could take centuries or millenniums to replenish themselves if they recover at all.

“There is no way to get that back,” Don Cline, the associate director for water resources at the United States Geological Survey, said of disappearing groundwater. “There’s almost no way to convey how important it is.”

   This analysis is based on tens of thousands of groundwater monitoring wells that dot the nation. The Times collected data for these wells, which are widely scattered and often poorly tracked, from dozens of federal, state and local jurisdictions....

   One of the biggest obstacles is that the depletion of this unseen yet essential natural resource is barely regulated. The federal government plays almost no role, and individual states have implemented a dizzying array of often weak rules....

   The federal government sets rules on groundwater, but not its overuse or depletion, although experts say Congress has the constitutional authority to do so. Overall, federal responsibility for water is scattered among a half-dozen different agencies....

   America’s approach to regulating water is “a total mess,” said Upmanu Lall, director of the Columbia Water Center at Columbia University.

   “From an objective standpoint, this is a crisis,” said Warigia Bowman, a law professor and water expert at the University of Tulsa. “There will be parts of the U.S. that run out of drinking water.”

   In the very near future, thirsty people will be found throughout the country. Minnesota, the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is not excluded, nor is Maryland, the state in which I grew up. Charles County, "which contains fast-growing suburbs of Washington, has used most of its groundwater for homes and agriculture. And, it isn't coming back anytime soon."

Canadian Content

   Canada is not mentioned, but it is not difficult to find articles that indicate concerns about this commodity in our country. Tofino, one of the wettest places I have been, has nearly a dry reservoir and has issued water restrictions and this headline indicates lack of water is a problem elsewhere: "Gulf Islands Water Woes an Ominous Omen For the Rest of B.C." Also in that province, there are major issues between the U.S. and Canada involving the Columbia River and the water in it and it is not too difficult to imagine that there will soon be increased demands in the U.S. from some of the Great Lakes, one of which supplies water to London. Let's hope that Line 5 does not burst under the Straits of Mackinac.

Post Script:
  The water-related news continues to be bad, which is one reason I decided to bring up an issue we would rather not think about. When you do think about it, you realize that it is rather amazing that we plop down housing developments and assume that water will magically come up to supply the residents. Among the news stories one learns that the folks living in New Orleans soon may run out of drinking water, although they generally have to worry about having too much water, and salt water intrusion is a problem in many coastal areas. (see, for example, "A Saltwater Wedge Climbing the Mississippi River Threatens Drinking Water: New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell Signed an Emergency Declaration Friday as Saltwater Threatens the City," Brady Dennis, Washington Post, Sept. 22, 2023.)

Even the Panama Canal is 'Thirsty.'
   The picture above shows ships waiting to enter the Panama Canal. Who knew that it takes 50 million gallons of fresh water from the Gatun Lake to move one ship through the canal and that daily the Panama Canal uses three times as much water as all of New York city? If you are still waiting for that fridge to come from the Far East, it may be delayed because of a lack of water. (The NASA photograph is found in this article where you can learn more about another cause for supply chain interruptions: "Panama Canal Traffic Backup.")