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Collect oxymora? How about this: Optimistic hydrographer? According to a report published by National Wildlife Federation, "Currently, the human population consumes approximately 54% of all the accessible freshwater contained in rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers. By 2025, population growth alone could push this figure to 70%."
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POPULATION & WATER
According to an article in The Hartford Courant by Steve Grant, availability of water was once largely a problem for western states. It is now becoming a problem--and source of friction--for eastern states whose population growth is straining water supplies as well as water storage, purification, and transportation infrastructure.
Grant quotes aquatic ecologist Margaret A. Palmer, who believes battles over available water will increase in this century. She says water shortages are now affecting parts of America unaccustomed to such shortages and that eventually, “. . . water will be what oil is . . .”--a factor that limits what humanity can and cannot do. As the number of urban dwellers climbs, farmers will have to compete even more aggressively with cities and industry for shrinking resources.
In many states--from coast to coast--there are areas where groundwater is being pumped to the surface and used faster than rainfall can replenish it. In some of those places, the ground is sinking as a result. In all of these places, the cost of water increases as it must be pumped from deeper and deeper wells. At what point will the quantity of available water affect our quality of life?
While water availability--quantity--will remain America’s primary concern through this century, increasingly, water quality is becoming a problem. As water is used by farmers and by cities, then reused by both, and eventually returned to rivers and lakes via groundwater and wastewater discharges, its quality changes. At what point will the quality of available water affect our quality of life?
America’s addiction to population growth is affecting both the quantity and the quality of our water.
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©2006 Edward C. Hartman. All Rights Reserved
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