Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Best Solutions Of Water Crisis

By Arthur B. Williams


California is one of the most heavily populated regions in the United States, and requires a tremendous amount of water. Unfortunately, most of California is arid, with little in the way of local water resources. Los Angeles and the farms of the Inland Empire are sustained with water that is imported, whether it is from distant snow packs or the Colorado River. Unfortunately, the California water crisis has demonstrated that the demand for clean water is rapidly out pacing available supplies.

You see, for about five years I took Google news alerts for; "Water Crisis." And yes, every day there was new information about a drought, contaminated water, polluted water, and natural disasters causing havoc with our precious H2O. In fact, not a day went by for over five years that I didn't learn of some place on the planet that was exhausting their freshwater resources, having trouble getting water from their wells, if they hadn't gone completely dry.

In terms of the use of H2O, while the total percentages have varied depending on the analyzing authority and date, the following is a rough approximation of overall H2O use in California: i) H2O Utilized for Industrial purposes: 33 percent. ii) H2O utilized for residential purposes, including gardens and internal use: 39 percent. iii) H2O utilized for agriculture purposes, including crops and livestock: 28 percent.

However, the over all supply of water has remained relatively static and is even declining as California's population increases. For example, snow pack levels have consistently been lower than predicted, which in turn reduces the amount of water available from runoff. More importantly, increasing population growth in other Southwestern states has reduced the amount of surplus Colorado River water available for California's use, aggravating the California water crisis.

Towards A Way to Improve the Situation The water crisis witness today is not about having too little water to satisfy our needs but rather a crisis of bad management of water. With the current state of affairs, corrective measures still can be taken to check the worsening situation. There is an increasing awareness that our freshwater resources are limited and need to be protected both in terms of quantity and quality. This water challenge affects not only the water community, but also decision-makers and every human being.

Water Crisis Facts 43% of water-related deaths are due to diarrhea. 84% of water-related deaths are in children ages 0 - 14. 98% of water-related deaths occur in the developing world. 884 million people, lack access to safe water supplies, approximately one in eight people. The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. At any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.

Creating a Sustainable Water Use Policy By avoiding the overuse of water, Californians can beat the California water crisis and ensure that the state retains sufficient reserves for its current and future needs. Creating a sustainable strategy for water usage and securing the state's future is a mission that requires the assistance of every California citizen.




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