Re: Water Shortages

[Rockhopper]

Yes, we're sort of desert here and now we see that bloody awful plastic grass getting laid   

At least you won't need to irrigate it or even mow it Rogue!   

Tim.

[Agartha]

Blue gold will be the new gold soon.........it already is in some places. They reckon the city of Sanaa in Yemen to be the first city in the world to go completely dry, it's groundwater reservoir completely empy and it should happen within the next decade. Abu Dhabi, with all its oil money, will struggle not soon after..........and many other cities to follow.

Water refugees will be a common label when our children are about our age.

I know Israel has the best desalination program in the world......why can't other countries do the same?

[Rogue]

Yes, we're sort of desert here and now we see that bloody awful plastic grass getting laid   

At least you won't need to irrigate it or even mow it Rogue!   

Tim.

Yeah just hose it down when it gets dusty...  

[Lenzabi]

So, things are bad as "privatized" Detroit water is cutting poor people off of water for lack of bills paid, (Highest in the country at 75bucks a month (we pay about 40-45bucks) so the people of Detroit facing this deprivation of their water rights has sought help from the U.N. on the matter.

[Mordae]

Trees are a major component of the biosphere, even with the mass extinctions, we still have 5 major plant families that have seen it all.

They are, and according to a recent report, are a lot more valuable than first thought...

http://www.google.co.nz/url?url=http://www.td.com/document/PDF/economics/special/UrbanForests.pdf&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=_2y6U5yBKITQkwXB9ICgDQ&ved=0CB4QFjAC&sig2=yfUG_lQ-1ZxFo7kPfXIMEQ&usg=AFQjCNFF8KJ22r9Wkret2GjmGTT31q9EXQ

URBAN FORESTS: THE VALUE OF TREES IN THE CITY OF TORONTO

Highlights
• Urban forests are made up of the trees, shrubs and other flora and fauna that line the streets, parks and ravines of our cities.
• Urban forests do more than beautify the scenery. They represent an important investment in environmental condition, human health and the overall quality of life.
• The trees in the City of Toronto’s urban forest are worth an estimated $7 billion, or about $700 pertree.
• Toronto’s urban forest provides residents with over $80 million, or about $8 per-tree, worth of environmental benefits and cost savings each year. For the average single family household, this works out to $125 of savings per annum.
• For every dollar spent on annual maintenance, Toronto’s urban forest returns anywhere from $1.35 – $3.20 worth of benefits and cost savings each year.
• Maintaining the health of our urban forests is the best way to protect the value of our green investment...

[Mordae]

A good article that has some scientific results from use of a varient of water hyacinth to remove heavy metals from a lake in China.

http://permaculturenews.org/2013/09/...for-pollution/

Purple Root Water Hyacinth – A Natural Remedy for Pollution

Dianchi suffers from eutrophication, which leads to a large density of cyanobacteria. There is also a high level of heavy metals, especially arsenic. To remedy this, the local government introduced water hyacinth into the lake in 2005 [2]. This was a calculated risk, because while water hyacinth is effective at removing many pollutants, notably nitrogen, phosphorous, and heavy metals; it is also an invasive species that spreads very rapidly. This makes it a serious problem in many tropical and subtropical countries. In Dianchi, it led to a sharp reduction in dissolved oxygen [3]. Decaying roots from dead plants made the eutrophication even worse.

The water hyacinth had to be removed from the lake, with difficulty; and since 2007 it is being replaced by a different variety, the purple root water hyacinth, developed by the Yunnan Institute of Ecological Agriculture (IEA). This reproduces at only about a third the rate of the American variety. It also has smaller leaves, so some sunlight reaches the surface of the water. It is effective at degrading cyanobacteria and its roots also provide oxygen for aquatic organisms. It rapidly reduces the total nitrogen and phosphorous content and it absorbs arsenic at 52 times the rate of the Chinese ladder brake fern (Pteris vittata), a well known hyperaccumulator of arsenic [3]. (A hyperaccumulator is a plant that takes up a toxin to concentrations greater than that in the soil in which it is growing.) A powder made from the dried roots can be used to remove heavy metals from water [4]. The director of the IEA, Na Zhong-Yuan, has developed a form of fertiliser that makes the plants develop more rapidly and grow much longer roots, and preliminary trials have indicated faster and more effective remediation. When we visited Dianchi, he told us that this was based on the same sorts of herbs that are used in traditional Chinese medicines. The formulation is, however, still secret.

Like other water hyacinths, the purple root variety can be used as fodder, though this is not advised if it is has been used to remove heavy metals from water. It is also a source of fibres and is an excellent feedstock for biogas digesters [5].

In August 2011, purple root water hyacinths were planted in a part of Dianchi. Before the trial began, the water was green and had an unpleasant smell. According to the IEA, the total nitrogen was 167mg/L and the total phosphorus was 48.4 mg/L. The algal biomass was 2.11×1010 mg/L and the oxygen demand, a commonly used measure of the amount of organic compounds in the water, was 900 mg/L.

By 7 September, the odour had gone, the water was pale green and the bottom of the lake was visible for the first time in years. The total nitrogen had fallen to 0.794 mg/L, the total phosphorus to 0.069 mg/L, and the algal biomass to 1.62× 107 mg/L. The oxygen demand was now only 43.9 mg/L [6].

[Mordae]

Interesting article from the Economic Collapse blog on the Mid-West drought.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/20-signs-the-epic-drought-in-the-western-united-states-is-starting-to-become-apocalyptic
...
#1 According to the Los Angeles Times, downtown Los Angeles is now the driest that it has been since records began being kept all the way back in 1877.

#2 The California State Water Resources Control Board says that nearly 50 communities are already on the verge of running out of water.

#3 In a desperate attempt to conserve water, the state of California is considering banning watering lawns and washing cars. Once implemented, violators will be slapped with a $500 fine for each offense.

#4 It has been reported that a new social media phenomenon known as "drought shaming" has begun in California. People are taking videos and photos of their neighbors wasting water and posting them to Facebook and Twitter.

#5 Climate scientist Tim Barnett says that the water situation in Las Vegas "is as bad as you can imagine", and he believes that unless the city "can find a way to get more water from somewhere" it will soon be "out of business".

#6 The water level in Lake Mead has now fallen to the lowest level since 1937, and it continues to drop at a frightening pace. You can see some incredible photos of what has happened to Lake Mead right here.

#7 Rob Mrowka of the Center for Biological Diversity believes that the city of Las Vegas is going to be forced to downsize because of the lack of water...

The drought is like a slow spreading cancer across the desert. It's not like a tornado or a tsunami, bang. The effects are playing out over decades. And as the water situation becomes more dire we are going to start having to talk about the removal of people (from Las Vegas).

#8 In some areas of southern Nevada, officials are actually paying people to remove their lawns in a desperate attempt to conserve water.

#9 According to Accuweather, "more than a decade of drought" along the Colorado River has set up an "impending Southwest water shortage" which could ultimately affect tens of millions of people.

#10 Most people don't realize this, but the once mighty Colorado River has become so depleted that it no longer runs all the way to the ocean.

#11 Lake Powell is less than half full at this point.

#12 It is being projected that the current drought in California will end up costing the state more than 2 billion dollars this year alone.

#13 Farmers in California are allowing nearly half a million acres to lie fallow this year due to the extreme lack of water.

#14 The lack of produce coming from the state of California will ultimately affect food prices in the entire nation. Just consider the following statistics from a recent Business Insider article...

California is one of the U.S.'s biggest food producers — responsible for almost half the country's produce and nuts and 25% of our milk and cream. Eighty percent of the world's almonds come from the state, and they take an extraordinary amount of water to produce — 1.1 gallons per almond.

#15 As underground aquifers are being relentlessly drained in California, some areas of the San Joaquin Valley are sinking by 11 inches a year.

#16 It is being projected that the Kansas wheat harvest will be the worst that we have seen since 1989.

#17 The extended drought has created ideal conditions for massive dust storms to form. You can see video of one female reporter bravely reporting from the middle of a massive dust storm in Phoenix right here.

#18 Things are so dry in California right now that people are actually starting to steal water. For example, one Mendocino County couple recently had 3,000 gallons of water stolen from them. It was the second time this year that they had been hit.

#19 At the moment, close to 80 percent of the state of California is experiencing either "extreme" or "exceptional" drought.

#20 National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Boldt says that this is "the worst drought we probably have seen in our lifetime".

...

[Lenzabi]

This popped up in the Ebola thread. That soda, which is no longer healthy water, is cheaper to buy that bottles of water. The corporates are already getting their hands on a Human Need/Right, and trying to place their ownership of free water to sell in their branded bottles for usually the double the price their soda is sold for.

Now while soda may taste nice, it is sugared, and with caffeine, a diuretic which dehydrates you, the opposite job of water. Water saves us, but not if made into a sales commodity by those who would be alright with people dying just because they had not the money to buy what is supposed to be a Human Right.

[Mordae]

Yep, probably worth noting that outfits like Nestle continue their water pumping operations even during droughts.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/15/as-californians-grapple-with-drought-nestle-pumps-water-for-bottling-from-tribal-land/


http://permaculturenews.org/2014/07/31/water-resources-fact-sheet/

Seventy percent of world water use is for irrigation.

Each day we drink nearly 4 liters of water, but it takes some 2,000 liters of water — 500 times as much — to produce the food we consume.

1,000 tons of water is used to produce 1 ton of grain.


Between 1950 and 2000, the world’s irrigated area tripled to roughly 700 million acres. After several decades of rapid increase, however, the growth has slowed dramatically, expanding only 9 percent from 2000 to 2009. Given that governments are much more likely to report increases than decreases, the recent net growth may be even smaller.

The dramatic loss of momentum in irrigation expansion coupled with the depletion of underground water resources suggests that peak water may now be on our doorstep.

Today some 18 countries, containing half the world’s people, are overpumping their aquifers. Among these are the big three grain producers — China, India, and the United States.

Saudi Arabia is the first country to publicly predict how aquifer depletion will reduce its grain harvest. It will soon be totally dependent on imports from the world market or overseas farming projects for its grain.

While falling water tables are largely hidden, rivers that run dry or are reduced to a trickle before reaching the sea are highly visible. Among this group that has limited outflow during at least part of the year are the Colorado, the major river in the southwestern United States; the Yellow, the largest river in northern China; the Nile, the lifeline of Egypt; the Indus, which supplies most of Pakistan’s irrigation water; and the Ganges in India’s densely populated Gangetic basin.

Many smaller rivers and lakes have disappeared entirely as water demands have increased.

Overseas “land grabs” for farming are also water grabs. Among the prime targets for overseas land acquisitions are Ethiopia and the Sudans, which together occupy three-fourths of the Nile River Basin, adding to the competition with Egypt for the river’s water.

It is often said that future wars will more likely be fought over water than oil, but in reality the competition for water is taking place in world grain markets. The countries that are financially the strongest, not necessarily those that are militarily the strongest, will fare best in this competition.

Climate change is hydrological change. Higher global average temperatures will mean more droughts in some areas, more flooding in others, and less predictability overall.

[Lenzabi]

This can make things worse
thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/03/3467068/toledo-ohio-water-crisis/

[Rockhopper]

Yeah Len. The algae is from mostly human waste which is high in Phosphorus and Potassium because of our diet.

Tim.

[Stirky]

Well after one of the wettest winters on record for the UK our local reservoir is now at 65% capacity. This was after a winter that left the aquifers full. But we've now had very good hot weather, doesn't take much to deplete those levels.

[Mordae]

Another factor could possibly be electricity generation...

Worldwide water shortage by 2040

Two new reports that focus on the global electricity water nexus have just been published. Three years of research show that by the year 2040 there will not be enough water in the world to quench the thirst of the world population and keep the current energy and power solutions going if we continue doing what we are doing today. It is a clash of competing necessities, between drinking water and energy demand. Behind the research is a group of researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark, Vermont Law School and CNA Corporation in the US.

In most countries, electricity is the biggest source of water consumption because the power plants need cooling cycles in order to function. The only energy systems that do not require cooling cycles are wind and solar systems, and therefore one of the primary recommendations issued by these researchers is to replace old power systems with more sustainable wind and solar systems.

The research has also yielded the surprising finding that most power systems do not even register how much water is being used to keep the systems going.

By 2020 the water issue affects 30-40% of the world

"It's a huge problem that the electricity sector do not even realise how much water they actually consume. And together with the fact that we do not have unlimited water resources, it could lead to a serious crisis if nobody acts on it soon", says Professor Benjamin Sovacool from Aarhus University...

So just to add to peak oil and peak water, guess we can now add peak electricity into the mix as well.

[Rockhopper]

Yea Mordman. Nuke power stations use a huge amount of sky juice as well. They are one of the biggest users of water which explains why they are built beside rivers or lakes!

Tim.

[Lenzabi]

Yeah Len. The algae is from mostly human waste which is high in Phosphorus and Potassium because of our diet.

Tim.

Also, massive pig and chicken farms are also to blame. Still counts as human based activity.

[Rogue]

THE world is running out of water, with one state in Australia having their reserves depleted at an alarming rate.

According to a NASA-led study, more than half of the world’s large underground water sources were being drained at rates placing them at serious risk of drying up.

It found 21 out of the 37 basins were being depleted quicker than they were being replenished.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/nasa-study-says-the-canning-basin-in-wa-is-being-depleted-too-fast/story-fnjwvztl-1227438071442

[Kaere]

It's so alarming, the same kind of thing is occurring here. Too much drain on our resources, too many people perhaps or (most likely) poor management and usage.

[Lenzabi]

Some claim that we could feed 10billion people, but they are not thinking all the drinking and waste water, nor the piss-poor management of food that sees millions of tons of food tossed to the trash, maybe if people went to buy food and stores also gave allotments of of food getting close to the expiration date with their purchase so that they could use it before the fresher food, and make it so folks did not starve, and also give more away to food banks and other ways to keep things from being wasted as they re presently.

Tom Selleck, aka Magnum P.I. was caught stealing truckloads of fire hydrant water to water his avocados by guess what, a real P.I.

[Kaere]

The gov't has finally admitted that my part of the country (at the very least) is experiencing a drought. They weren't keen on the D word *shocked* expect your wheat and canola oil prices to be higher this year... meaning bread and everything else too.

Funny how prices never go down after an emergency kinda situation, hey?

[Rockhopper]

And here's why. It seems that the Big Fella is annoyed by ABORTION!

Scientists are still exploring the causes of California's historic drought, but one local lawmaker thinks it might all come down to one thing: God's wrath over abortion.

While speaking at the California ProLife Legislative Banquet last week, California Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R) suggested a theory that the state's worst drought in 1,200 years may be divine retribution for California providing women with access to abortions, RH Reality Check reported.

“Texas was in a long period of drought until Governor Perry signed the fetal pain bill,” she told the audience. “It rained that night. Now God has his hold on California.”

Grove was likely referring to House Bill 2, RH Reality Check noted, a Texas abortion bill banning abortions 20 weeks after fertilization, four weeks earlier than the standard set by Roe v. Wade.

Grove did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation that she made the statement at the event, but she elaborated on her theory in a Facebook comment.

"I believe --and most Americans believe --that God’s hand is in the affairs of man, and certainly was in the formation of this country," she wrote. "Is this drought caused by God? Nobody knows. But biblical history shows a consequence to man’s actions."

Here she is!

Tim.

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