The United States is a nation relatively rich in water resources. According to the U.S. Geological Survey's Estimated Water Use in the United States in 2000 (the latest data available), in the lower forty-eight states the total renewable supply of water is about 1,400 billion gallons per day. Nevertheless, while the nation as a whole is water-rich, this abundance is not spread evenly throug…
Precipitation (rain, snow, and sleet) is the main source of essentially all freshwater supplies in the West. The amount of precipitation largely controls the availability of surface water and groundwater. In the arid regions of the West, much of the available precipitation evaporates shortly after rains. Tucson, Arizona, for example, receives most of its annual rainfall from heavy thunderstorms du…
Cities and towns in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico have experienced unprecedented growth in the recent past. The creation of new jobs and the influx of more people continue. The growth of the job market there since 1980 has exceeded that of the United States as a whole, and population increase has mirrored the job opportunities. Some new residents, drawn by the natural beauty of the West, &…
The natural environmental systems of the West are very fragile. Because much of the West is arid or semiarid in climate, the ecosystems are in precarious balance. Alteration of the life-sustaining water supply can dramatically affect habitat and the plant and animal species that reside there. Under natural conditions, most of the surface water and groundwater recharge occurs at higher elevations, …
The American pioneers who settled the West knew how precious water was. They had to dig their own wells and haul the water. They watched crops dry up and turn to dust and cattle die from lack of this precious commodity. Today, most people in the United States take a plentiful supply of water for granted because of our many efficient water supply systems. As populations grow, however, particularly …
Drought is a recurring and inevitable phenomenon. In arid and semiarid regions where water is particularly scarce, the effects of drought may be more immediately felt, but it happens everywhere in the world at some time, and all climates are susceptible. For example, an analysis of climate data for river basins in the United States from 1896 to 1995, based on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin…
The National Drought Mitigation Center has characterized drought management in the United States as the hydro-illogical cycle. The public in the West and elsewhere tends to assume that abundant water supplies are normal, when in fact occasional droughts of moderate duration and intensity are unavoidable. When rainfall is plentiful, the public is apathetic about the need to conserve water and to pl…
Water shortfalls are first and foremost a local and regional problem. Because of the lack of a cohesive federal water policy, states have become important innovators in devising ways to reduce long-term vulnerability to drought. In 1976–77, during the widespread U.S. drought, no state had a drought plan. In 1982 only three states had them. According to the National Drought Mitigation Center…
The early history of the migration of people to the American West in the latter part of the nineteenth century has been told in innumerable histories, films, and stories. Two important events in the process of settling the West led to laws for the allocation of the scarce water supplies in the extremely arid environment—the discovery of gold and silver in the western mountain regions and th…
According to an online fact sheet of the American Water Works Association (http://www.awwa.org/Advocacy/pressroom/Desalination.cfm, 2005), there are more than 12,500 desalination plants operating in 120 countries. These plants convert seawater, brackish water, and wastewater to freshwater suitable for a variety of purposes. Sixty percent of desalination plants are located in the Middle East. As of…
Wastewater from sewage treatment plants is one of the largest potential sources of freshwater where supplies are limited. About 60% to 90% of the potable water delivered to urban residents in the United States is discharged into sewage collection systems. After it has been treated to kill pathogens and remove contaminants, it can be reused for irrigation and industrial use, and to maintain stream …
Problems in the West, including explosive population growth, existing water shortages, conflicts over water, aging water facilities, and ineffective crisis management, have led to a U.S. Department of the Interior proposal designed to assist communities in addressing these needs. A May 2, 2003, Department of the Interior press release, Water 2025: Preventing Crises and Conflict in the West, calls …
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments