Global scenario and California

Global scenario and California
Water is a precious nonrenewable resource. It is limited in quantity and serves the entire humanity, and all living beings on earth. A man can survive without water for only three days. Many problems on earth are attributed to increasing population and water scarcity is one of them. The exponential growth of the human population not only endangers other living things on earth but also deprives them of essential requirements like clean water, clean air, and a safe habitat to live. Water as a resource is under threat because it is contaminated, misused, wasted, and lost in runoff. This paper tries to understand the magnitude of the population problem and the resultant impact on water resources. The discussion would narrow down to Fresno, Central Valley, California area whose water problems reflect the global scenario. Policies and governmental actions on water utilization and conservation are also discussed.

Introduction

There are two aspects that need to be discussed - One about population increase and second on water shortage. Global perspective on this combination is discussed initially followed by local scenario. World population stands at slightly more than seven billion today (United Nations, 2013). Within the seven continents, Asia is the most populous followed by Africa. Please see attached table for broad classification of population across the world (Table 1). There are more number of people per square mile in some Asian and African cities (high density). Higher numbers mean high water consumption. Consumption is directly related to availability of the resource. Water availability has built many a culture. Irrigation canals and water transport expanded cities and initial pipeline connectivity happened in the United States during 16th century AD.

Source: One World, Nations Online. World Population. Retrieved from http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/world_population.htm
Historically the first civilizations on earth were founded along banks of rivers – Egyptian civilization along Nile river, Mesopotamian along Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Indus Valley along Indus river. These areas were densely populated with high dependence on rivers for communication, travel, irrigation, and trade. As cities grew, and water canals supplied water to outer areas, new cities developed. Aqueducts transported water to distant and hilly cities in ancient Greece and Roman Empire. Water resource preservation, water recharge, channels to preserve drying up wells, and many more techniques existed to conserve this precious resource. The wisdom of water conservation is lost to the current generation. Water is one of the most misused resources on earth today.

Major Concerns

One of the major concerns is the population growth at exponential rate. The first billion of population reached during 17th century spanning 250,000 years, second billion of population reached in 127 years and last 7th million reached in mere 12 years (The Economist Online, 2011). This fast growth in the past 200 years is attributed to better health care, high fertility rate in poorer countries, lack of contraception knowledge, women not having a choice of bearing and birthing children, and lower mortality rates across the world. Growth rate is unevenly distributed across nations. In countries like India, and China birth rates are high while developed countries have lower birth rates owing to education and awareness about contraception and childbirth.
The speed at which population has grown is alarming because it has placed enormous pressure on natural resources like water, vegetation and led to extinction of many animal species. Expanding urban areas, agricultural land conversion to semi urban lands, loss of productivity of agricultural lands due to over cropping - some of the problems that dictate the food availability of the present era. Seventy percent of surface water is used for irrigation of crops. Food crops like rice, wheat need more water than crops like vegetables, and sugars (Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y., 2010). Due to surface water scarcity, the trend now is to tap ground water resources. Power pumps pump out ground water whose levels have fallen drastically in several countries. Ground water replenishment does not happen as fast as the water is used because of surface runoff, lack of vegetation and ground surface conditions like paving in urban areas. Water on surface and underground, is used for all purposes including domestic and industrial use. Industrial use in developed countries is high while irrigation is a major use in developing countries. Please see Map 1 for water consumption across countries. This complex shortage scenario varying in degrees over developed and developing countries pose a serious threat to humanity. Water availability is a major concern in both segments- rivers drying, flash floods, extreme weather patterns governed by global climatic change, polar caps melting and many more environmental concerns add fuel to fire.

Map 1

Source: Waterfootprint.org. Dark red countries have the worst (water) footprints - between 2.1 and 2.5 million liters of water per capita each year.
What matters is how water is being used. While in a country like India water is used for irrigation and food cultivation, in United States production of beef and its cattle food cultivation consumes a lot more. Industrial water use in developed countries constitutes most of their consumptive patterns.
Specific examples of water contamination of drinking water have shown that they lead to diseases like diarrhea, Cholera and are a cause for numerous deaths in children. Lack of sanitation, waste disposal, and garbage build up near water bodies in urban areas is a concern in many developing countries. Rural areas struggle with power and water shortages in countries like India, which is highly dependent on hydroelectric power. Crop irrigation in developed countries like USA takes up a giant share of available water, as the Colorado river which dries up entirely before reaching the sea (Howard, Brian Clark, n/d) . Mechanized form of cultivation places high stress on water sources in the Central valley, California.
Globally water is a contentious issue. In developing countries, population growth exacerbates water scarcity and quality and in developed countries population is stable yet water availability is limiting. One cannot transport water from available areas to non-available areas nor can we use abundant seawaters. For present needs and for future demands available water needs to be conserved, reused, and recycled. Variable population growth rates in the world’s countries indicate that richer, developed, under populated areas use more water than over populated, dense and poor countries. Distribution of water is controversial. While water wars appear to the future of the current generation, there are good numbers of best practices, which encourage water conservation. As with most other environmental concerns like plastic usage or chemicals in food processing, water utilization is also unequally distributed across nations. Growing green lawns on the sides of highways and irrigating them appears a wasteful exercise when there are people on other parts of the world who struggle to find drinking water every day. There can be no comparison between countries that are endowed with water bodies and those that do not have any. Understanding the local and regional water requirements and using water wisely is the need of the day.

Fresno, California and the Central Valley

Fresno County is the sixth largest county in state of California, United States. Its geology is unique with Sacramento valley in the east, central valley that is part of San Joaquin Valley and Great foothills of west. Please see Map 2 below.

Map 2

Source: Fresno County, the official website of Fresno county, accessed on March 12, 2014.
Historically Fresno County went through four major phases of development. Currently, it contributes to one-forth of US food production with vineyards, orchards, and row crops. Its population was 930,450 according to 2010 census. Projected population was 947, 895 for 2012 (US Census, 2014). Its mountainous and valley lands make over 6000 square miles with several rivers passing through. Rivers flow from the eastern mountains towards the western sea and have extensive water infrastructure built by local, state, and federal projects.

Current water issues in Fresno

Water had been a problem in the heavily cultivated area of Fresno County for long. The county is mainly supplied by a combination of surface and ground water resources. San Joaquin River and the Kings River basins supply most water requirement. These are heavily dammed, and their reservoirs are used to control floods, irrigation flows, and for hydroelectric power generation. Melting snows in the eastern hills and several creeks, small rivers and tributaries feed into these two rivers. Largest dams on these two rivers cannot hold winter flows due to capacity constraint and overflows are unutilized.
Ground water basin of Kings river is ‘critically overdraft’ meaning that groundwater pumping is at its peak here. Its replenishment is not happening as required and several measures are undertaken to repair the damage. Industrial effluents are treated and led into percolation pits so that the water reaches underground reservoirs. Though this water may not be suitable for domestic purposes and food crops, it is used for other crops. Intense irrigation patterns of the county have to be examined in detail.
Grains and hay were cultivated historically but now more cash crops like fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts are being cultivated. These require more water than grains and hay fields. Changes in cropping patterns in the western side of the valley have led to this increased water demand (Fresno County General Plan Update, 2000). There is significant erosion in the crop farmlands towards the western part of the valley due to subsidence and overdraft of ground water. Most recent reports indicate a three-year drought brought about by reduction in water allocations from the Delta. The drought is so severe that thousands of acres are barren, and several row tree nut plantations are uprooted (Rodriguez, Robert. 2014). Almond production has fallen, and processing units are shifting operations from the county leading to large-scale unemployment and struggle with priority setting. Federal aid to fund water utilization methods, dam upgrades and reservoir capacity improvements – are set to improve the situation. It is a question between safeguarding the farms or the fish. Farming has been established livelihood for ages, but the population increase is unwarranted.
Domestic water use increased due to increased population. Unofficial account says that California population increased from 15 million to 40 million in 40 years due to illegal migration. Not all migration may be illegal because USA attracts the highest number of migrants from all over the world (International Organization of Migration, 2013). California is ideally suited for a mild climate, good rains, fertile soils, and ample employment opportunities. According to US Census Bureau, legal migrants constitute 12.5% of the total population of the country. Ten to thirteen million people are illegal migrants, according to unofficial reports. Fifty percent of Fresno County’s migrant population came from Latin American countries like Mexico.

Policies, Acts and Laws

Water in the Fresno County is governed by the state level and local level agencies like city irrigation departments and water supply divisions. Seventy percent of water in the state precipitates north of Sacramento and 80 to 85% water demand comes from southern cities, south of Sacramento. The state has six major water transport systems, and aqueducts that carry water down towards the south for irrigation and domestic purposes.
Surface and ground water sources are governed separately. Ground water sources supply 40% of the state’s water demand during the year. Its pumping rights remain with the landowner who may extract water as needed, and its high water table permits many users to tap into it individually. Surface water is governed by four statutory laws namely pueblo, riparian, prior appropriation, and water reserved by the U.S. Water usage is directly related to land ownership. If a person owns land he may use, direct, or divert the water flowing through his land as per his need. This creates contention between adjoining landowners or upper valley versus lower valley, east versus west.
Water wars are not new to the state and now to the Central Valley. Central Valley is the agricultural, golden belt, which produces numerous food produce. Water flowing through this area irrigates the farms and promotes economic impetus. Water shortages in this area have led to many a controversy. The recent one was the lessening of the water allocations to farmers. Farmers have no alternate but to cut down age-old almond trees, or shelf the vegetable sowing. Several dams and river lets that irrigate the area make the governance complex with individual rights.
Fish populations in the Sacramento River Delta suffered immensely due to continuous water drainage from the north to south. The three-year drought which threatens to fallow millions of acres of farm lands in the Central Valley has prompted the signing of Sacramento-San Joaquin Emergency Water Delivery Act, 2014 (Legislative Digest, 2014 ). The Act increase flows of water from San Joaquin River to Central Valley. The Act only attempts to reassign available water to save the fish, but does not address the long-term problems of water scarcity. The Act is politically controversial because there are many disputes on how much water goes where. Overall some senators would like to increase the capacity of existing reservoirs to improve the Central Valley’s dilemma. Others would like to improve conservation measures. The 300 million dollar aid suggested creating ‘operational flexibility’ is just like a drop in the murky ocean.
Conserving the farmlands from urban development is one of the priorities of Fresno County. A farmland conservation program designed by American Farmland Trust (AFT, 2008) is employed to classify lands by soils, availability of water, micro-climates, environmental sensitivity and urban development pressure. The program helps identify lands which need immediate relief and those which may permit farming with minimal changes. If cities be prevented from expanding, rural lands have greater chance of continuing farming and employment. Los Angeles development is viewed by many as a catastrophic move that destroyed many rural lands. Low-density housing layouts, paved parking, and large malls are not advised for conserving lands. This also raises the question ‘where do people live, if population increases?’ Water requirement of the increasing populous sees innovative conservation measures. Rain water harvesting, prevention of surface run-off, soil erosion prevention with low grasses, avoiding major land form changes which trigger landslides, preventing evaporative losses of reservoir waters are some more measures which may be suggested.

Conclusions

Water is the essence of life. Availability of water means food, employment, social equality, and peace. Lack of water is not a problem even in water-shortage countries like Kenya. Uniformity and equitable distribution is a problem where the poor suffer due to lack of land ownership, infrastructure availability, or access to clean drinking water. In developed countries like USA or Fresno County water availability is a problem, due to over drafting of ground resources, drought, or not replenishing the water bodies. The problem is same there is a water shortage either in domestic front or agriculture front. We need to ask ourselves who needs water most- people or industry.
It is unfortunate that this question arises. We as people or living beings need water to survive. We also need food, which grows out of the land, air, and water. We need more than just food to lead happy and healthy lives. Water as assumed by many, is a limited resource and our over consumptive patterns are leading to distress. It is high time we realize the wastage, misuse of water and feel environmentally conscious about our wrong choices. Food production cannot suffer due to shortages of water nor should people suffer due to non-availability of drinking water. There is a fine balance between the two, which needs conscientious thinking, and decision-making process. A deeper understanding about local and regional water crisis would lead to better choices and better lives.

References

United Nations, 2013. Population today. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2013). World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision. Web. Available at http://www.geohive.com/earth/population_now.aspx

The Economist Online, October 31 2011. World Population. We are 7 billion. Web. Available at http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/10/world-population
Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2010) The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products. Value of Water Research Report Series No. 47, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands. Web. Retrieved from
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Map 1: AK Streeter, June 24, 2009. We Use How Much Water? Scary Water Footprints, Country by Country. Streethugger.com via Waterfootprint.org. Web. Retrieved from http://www.treehugger.com/clean-water/we-use-how-much-water-scary-water-footprints-country-by-country.html
Howard, Brian Clark, n/d. National Geographic, n/d. 8 Mighty Rivers Run Dry From Overuse. Web. Available at: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/rivers-run-dry/
Map 2. Fresno County, the official website of Fresno county, accessed on March 12, 2014. Web. Retrieved from http://www.co.fresno.ca.us/CountyPage.aspx?id=19947
US Census, 2014. Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. Web. Available at http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=PEP_2012_PEPANNRES
Fresno County General Plan Update, 2000. Public Review Draft Environmental Impact Report. Water Resources 4.8. Web. Available at www2.co.fresno.ca.us/4510/4360//GP/water4-8.pdf‎
Rodriguez, Robert. January 18, 2014. San Joaquin Valley farmers take drastic measures to deal with drought. The Fresno Bee. Web. Available at http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/01/18/3721739/desperatemeasuresfor-valley-farmers.html#storylink=cpy
International Organization of Migration, November 2013. Facts and Figures. United States of America. Web. Available at: http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/where-we-work/americas/central-and-north-america-and-th/united-states-of-america.html
Legislative Digest, 2014. Gop.gov. H.R. 3964 Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act. Web. Available at http://www.gop.gov/bill/113/2/hr3964
American Farmland Trust, December 2008. Model Farmland Conservation Program for Fresno County. Report to the Council of Fresno County Governments. Web. Available at http://www.fresnocog.org/files/FarmlandConservation/Fresno%20County%20Report_01-06-09.pdf.