Written by: Katie B
Water scarcity isn’t a term that gets used very much in the United States. However water day zero is slowly approaching all of us and little, to nothing is done to stop it. Scientists predict that water demand will be greater than the water supply in just over 10 years if this rate continues. It is clear that if the government or the people don’t step in and make a big effort to change our water usage, day zero will hit us faster than we can prepare for it.
One of the major problem leading the water crisis is the agriculture use of it. 70% of the world's freshwater is used in agriculture. Irrigation systems are a major water waster and pump water at a unsustainable level out of reservoirs, however it is estimated that 60% of this water is lost due to leaks and other inefficiencies. Not only are we wasting water on irrigation but we are doing so in a state that is notoriously dry, California. The state of California accounts for 11% of the United States agriculture (Cook). How has the drought affected this? Well the scarcity of water led the government to take action, since 1995 California farmers in Fresno County have collected one billion in farm subsidies. Farmers are not paying the full cost of their water usage due to government subsidies. When farmers don’t pay the full cost of water, it is wasted, and used unsustainably.There are a few solutions to this growing problem but they all carry their own economic cost. One trend that has been picking up speed is desalination. Ocean water is undrinkable unless it has gone through a rigorous process of being desalinated (removal of salt). In 2014 the desalination Encina power plant was built for a staggering price of one billion dollars. This price does not include daily operation and according to Mercury News the cost of running this desalination plant costs 4 times as much as changing current processes to be more conservative with water use. If desalination was to become more widely used there would be a multitude of other costs including transportation, energy costs, and the costs to the environment. Despite these costs desalination may be the future as we continue to over-pump aquifers, dry up rivers, and treat water like an inexhaustible resource.
Cape Town South Africa was recently faced with their own day zero, and without government and community involvement could have face disastrous consequences. With day zero looming overhead water limits were placed on citizens to 13 gallons a day. Along with this the city was forced to fix their water inefficiencies such as leaky pipes (saving 13 million gallons daily), and farmers were given strict quotas. All of their efforts ended up pushing back their day zero and they set an example for how water should be valued globally.The lower the cost of water the more of it is wasted. If water continues to remain criminally underpriced, arguably our most precious resource will become increasingly obsolete. However by fixing inefficiencies and banding together to conserve water change can be made. Whatever the costs may be now, they will be tenfold in the future if this problem continues to worsen.
Works Cited
Laudicina, Paul. “Water Day Zero Coming To A City Near You.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 7 June 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/paullaudicina/2018/06/07/water-day-zero-coming-to-a-city-near-you/#6ef2f79b1738.Lohan, Tara. The. “The Global Water Crisis May Have a Surprising Solution.” EcoWatch, EcoWatch, 11 Mar. 2019, www.ecowatch.com/global-water-crisis-2631317903.html.
Rogers, Paul, and Paul Rogers. “Nation's Largest Ocean Desalination Plant Goes up near San Diego; Future of the California Coast?” The Mercury News, The Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2017, www.mercurynews.com/2014/05/29/nations-largest-ocean-desalination-plant-goes-up-near-san-diego-future-of-the-california-coast/.
Smedley, Tim. “Future - Is the World Running out of Fresh Water?” BBC, BBC, 12 Apr. 2017, www.bbc.com/future/story/20170412-is-the-world-running-out-of-fresh-water.
Cook, Rob. “States That Produce The Most Food (By Value).” Beef2Live, beef2live.com/story-states-produce-food-value-0-107252.
Stoddard, Ed. “Cape Town 'Day Zero' Pushed Back to 2019 as Dams Fill up in South...” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 3 Apr. 2018, www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-drought/cape-town-day-zero-pushed-back-to-2019-as-dams-fill-up-in-south-africa-idUSKCN1HA1LN.
I think you make a good point about how our perception of the abundance of water impacts its overuse. When water prices are kept artificially low with subsidies, there is no incentive to fix inefficiency or invest in new technology to help reduce the amount of water we use in agriculture. While there are alternatives to traditional flood irrigation like drip irrigation that waste much less water, the low price of water makes establishing such systems less financially rewarding for farmers, making them unpopular in developed countries.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to read about how water cost something, not many would think that water comes with a price. Water seems to be all around us and therefore making it easy to get. Then even sell that water, but coming with a price is news to me. With the water being used for agriculture and mainly taking all of that water and using it for farming, does mean that there may not be much water left but then here is the idea of taking water from the ocean. The only problem with that is the salt, and how long it would take to clean the salt out. It is very interesting that when water is being sold for less that it is losing more and more money but not only that the lower the price it is sold for the more is being wasted. It was very well written, and gave a very interesting point on how water is being used and the real cost of water.
ReplyDeleteThe argument if water scarcity is very interesting. Especially when a country has already had a day zero and at the usage rate Americans are at now are also projected a day zero. What people do not understand is the fact that the United States may run out of safe drinking water. Nobody can comprehend not going to a local water fountain to get clean drinking water, or taking a shower every day. As Americans, we have lived our entire lives just expecting that water will be in those places. We have trusted our government to provide safe drinking water. Agriculture by far has the largest impact on water. If we are willing to change our water usage it has to be a nationwide movement.
ReplyDeleteI have heard a lot about this issue. I heard that it takes more water to make a bottle of water than what is actually in the bottle. You made a good point that farmers have no incentive to lower their usage of water or fix leaks in their system becuase of the subsidies they recieve. If the water supply begins to decrease as it is expected to, the future cost of water will be much higher.
ReplyDeleteBecause people are not aware of the soon to come effect of a water shortage, there might not be enough being done to counteract it. As water becomes more and more rare, not only will the water industry be in trouble but so will any that utilize the product. For example, farming requires a lot of water in order to grow produce and maintain livestock. If that resource were to become rare and have to raise its prices accordingly, the supply of products in the agriculture market would decrease. Many consumers would complain about this and if farmers stopped making profit, they may become discouraged and be tempted to exit the industry. The government may try to counteract this by raising the subsidies they already provide to farmers but those dollars may have to come out of the consumers' pockets through taxation. This increase in taxation would limit consumer spending and lower aggregate demand. If we refer to the Philips curve, we know a decrease in aggregate demand can lead to an increase in unemployment due to the tradeoff with the decreasing interest rate. Thus, the water problem may lead us to a possible recession if a solution like desalination is not actively pursued.
ReplyDeleteI feel like in America we never see ourselves as in danger when it comes to water scarcity. I fully agree that we need to be more aware of the danger that may lie ahead. In the near future we may truly be in water scarcity danger which is very scary because it is something that here in America was have never really seen in our lives.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think about the role water plays in America compared to in other countries. For instance, in a lot of European countries water at restaurants is not free and comes in a bottle, similar to purchasing soda in the United States. It's also interesting to think that a planet composed of mostly water could one day run dry of healthy, consumable water. The desalination system that you mentioned could be beneficial in our future. While it could be costly, it could be something that we rely greatly on in our futures. I think this is something politicians need to take note of so that they can institute preventative methods instead of waiting for the problem to happen and trying to construct a solution during chaos. The demand for water is inelastic, and it always will be as it is a life necessity - which is why a plan needs to be created soon to save water for our future.
ReplyDeleteI feel like water is a super important resource that is constantly taken for granted in our society today. We really aren’t doing that much to protect our water supply and we continue to subsidize it and allow it to become less valuable in our eyes. We never truly will understand how impending that day 0 really is and how detrimental it will be to our civilization until it is right in front of us.
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