Transcript WATER: Our Next Clear Gold? - University of Wisconsin

WATER:
Clear Gold?
Natural Resource: Water
Agenda: Water Conservation
Lesson Plan Topics:
I. Self analysis
A. Daily water consumption
B. National average per person
II. Aral Sea
A. Size and reduction
B. Socio-economic reasons and impact
C. Applicable to Great Lakes
III. Conservation Treaty Proposal
A. Conservation Home Evaluation Website
B. Five areas to improve
C. Written proposal
D. Present the proposals
E. Evaluate and reflect on the success of their implementation
F. Correlations between this and the UN/Envirnomental Treaties
IV. Essay to Legislators
Table 1: Dishwasher water use rates, national average*
National Average*
Dishwasher Load Volume
9.3 gallons
Daily Per Capita Use
1.0 gallons
Frequency of Use
0.1 loads per capita per day
*Mayer, et. al. 1999
ARAL SEA
Don’t let it happen!
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea
is located in
the countries
of
Uzbekistan
and
Kazakhstan.
UZBEKISTAN
The Aral Sea was once twice the size of Belgium
but has steadily decreased in size.
BELGIUM
Aral Sea
Aral Sea
Abandoned Boat
Karakalpakstan,
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan was
heavily irrigated
during Soviet times,
to provide water for
growing cotton. The
excessive water
taken from the AmuDarya river caused
the Aral Sea to dry
up. This has had
devastating
consequences for
the region of
Karakalpakstan.
Here, a boat sits in
what used to be the
Aral Sea.
SHIP
GRAVEYARD
OF THE
ARAL SEA
History of Aral Sea
The Aral Sea is located in southwestern Kazakhstan and northwestern Uzbekistan,
near the Caspian Sea. See map, on slide above.
It was once twice the size of Belgium but has steadily decreased in size.
Only a few decades ago, the Aral had:
a surface area of 64,000 square kilometers
a water volume of 1,020 cubic kilometers
an average depth of twenty to twenty-five kilometers.
Mineralization of the sea, which was freshwater, was less than 9 grams per liter.
Each day, 160 tons of fish were pulled from its waters.
In the 1960s, economic officials in Moscow began diverting the waters from the Syr
and Amu rivers, which flow into the Aral, for use in cotton farming. Irrigation
canals were dug speedily without any type of lining, such as concrete or clay. Due
to this, the canals lose up to 40% of the water they carry before it reaches its crop
or destination. However, at the time, the large amounts of money from cotton
blinded the officials to the definate future results of their actions. They pushed the
cotton industry at all costs!
Currently, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are substituting less water intensive crops
such as winter wheat, grains, soybeans, fruits, and vegetables to replace the
cotton industry thus reducing some of the need for irrigation.
Recent aerial view
of Aral Sea
Its sea level is
now 40 meters, its
surface area
40,000 square
meters, and its
volume 400 cubic
kilometers.
Aral Sea
• http://visearth.ucsd.edu/VisE_Int/aralsea/
framesets/aralnav_fish.html
Use this interactive website to click on
various locations within the Aral Sea to
retrieve a close up view.
Withdrawals and Consumptive Uses of Water
Diagram showing inflow and outflow rates for Lake Michigan
(source: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 00-4008)
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Figure 6. Decline in water
levels in the sandstone
confined aquifer, Chicago
and Milwaukee areas, 18641980. (Modified from Avery,
1995.)
GREAT LAKES WATERSHED BASIN
Figure 4. Estimated ground-water withdrawal rates for some major U.S.
metropolitan areas (data not available for Canadian areas).
Subcontinental Divide and the Great Lakes Basin
The subcontinental divide that crosses the study
area is the watershed boundary for the Great
Lakes Basin. West of this divide, rivers and the
waters that replenish them do not discharge to
the Great Lakes but, instead, are tributary to the
Mississippi River. The subcontinental divide is
very close to Lake Michigan
in southeastern Wisconsin.
The map shows that more
than half the case study
area lies west of the divide
and, therefore, falls in the
Mississippi River Basin.
The Importance of Ground Water in the Great Lakes Region
Ground water helps to replenish the lake level water.
Extra Slides
• The following slides are extra resources
for the teacher.
Rapid vs. Slow Ground-Water Circulation:
Figure 5. Generalized ground-water flow (A) under natural conditions and (B)
affected by pumping (Note that surface-and ground-water divides are coincident in A
but not in B).
Figure 1. Surficial geology of the Great Lakes Basin