Tuesday, January 24, 2012

What is "Water Depletion"?


            Water is used all around the world and has countless uses. The depletion of water is becoming more of a prominent issue these days. This blog will focus on the issue of water depletion in the United States, although it is truly an issue across the entire world.
            Little by little water levels are dropping. Water is depleting due to over pumping of groundwater and aquifers. People are constantly using water, for drinking, cooking, food products, livestock, and especially agriculture and this issue will continue to worsen unless people are made aware of the problem.

“The moment one starts using freshwater beyond the rate at which it can be replenished, the hydrological cycle is endangered.”
         -Dinyar Godrej, 2003

         A large portion of the world’s freshwater sits underground, in soil and cracks in rocks in the Earth’s crust. We as humans rely completely on this water to survive. This water is a precious resource. Water may seem like just something we use every day and will always have access to. Although we have access to clean water (in the U.S. anyways), if we use this water faster than the rate it can be replenished, like Godrej stated, our access to water will be in danger. Both our groundwater and freshwater are depleting. Not only are the aquifers getting used up, causing drilling to go even deeper to reach water, but even water levels across the U.S. are dropping as well.
         This is just a brief overview of what water depletion is, both groundwater and freshwater. It is difficult to sum up exactly what the issue of water depletion is without going more in depth into what causes it and what the consequences are. However, it is not difficult to explain that water depletion is a serious issue that poses an incredible danger to humans if it is not taken care of.

Sources:
"Groundwater Depletion, USGS Water Science." USGS Georgia Water Science Center. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/gwdepletion.html>.
 
"Mission 2012 : Clean Water." MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2012/finalwebsite/problem/groundwater.shtml>.
 
"Environmental Protection Agency." U.S. EPA Cold Fusion Server. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://cfpub.epa.gov/eroe/index.cfm?fuseaction=list.listBySubTopic>.
 
Barringer, Felicity. "Groundwater Depletion Is Detected from Space." The New York Times - Science. 30 May 2011. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/science/31water.html?pagewanted=all>.