Transcript CHAPTER 1 Watersheds & Wetlands “All is born of water; all is sustained by water.” -J.

CHAPTER 1
Watersheds & Wetlands
“All is born of water; all is
sustained by water.” -J. Wolfgang von Goethe
Our Water Resources
• Renewable but limited
• What if more water was being held in
other parts of the cycle or other places?
• Water is a very old resource- millions of
years old
• One if the main reasons people live
longer today is clean water.
List several things we use
water for:
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Cook
Clean (bath, homes, cars, etc)
Sanitation
Medicines
Swim
Fish
Grow plants
Where does our water go?
• Agriculture and power plants account
for most of the water usage in the US.
• Residential usage is about 8%
• Agriculture usage 42 %
• Industrial usage 50%.
How much water do have?
• Approx 70% of Earth’s surface is water.
• 97% is saltwater
• 3% is fresh water
3 % Fresh Water
• 77% of that water is frozen in polar
icecaps
• 22% is groundwater
• 1% is usable in lakes, rivers, soil
moisture and atmospheric.
Surface Water
• Surface water is all water that falls and
stays above ground to flow into rivers,
lakes and streams.
• depended on by most cities for their
supplies
• All surface water flow in a watershed.
Watersheds
• All surface water on the Earth travels
thousands of miles through watersheds is a
result of precipitation.
• Watersheds are very important because they
could lead to pollution and dispute
• 40 % of the world’s population rely on water
that originated in other countries
• Why would a community prefer to get water
from a lake vs. rivers?
• Many governmental bodies debate and
compromise “Share Treaties” over these
resources.
Pennsylvania Watersheds
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Pennsylvania has five major watersheds
The Ohio Basin
The Great Lakes Basin
TheSusquehanna Basin
The Potomic Basin
The Delaware Basin
Stream Characteristics
• Rivers begin at their source and end at their mouth.
• A stream’s velocity is the distance a slug of water flows
over a specific period of time. (m/s or ft/s)
• A stream’s sediment load can be carried along in one of
three methods:
• 1. Dissolved load - small grained sediments are dissolved
completely in the water.
• 2. Suspended load - larger grained sediments are carried
along by the water.
• 3. Bed load - largest grains (gravel, pebble or rock sized)
are pushed along the stream bed by the water.
Major Drainage Patterns
• Dendritic-resembles a tree with branches. Forms
where the bedrock is uniform and massive.
• Radial-streams radiate outwards from a central
point. Usually occurs from an uplifted feature such
as a plateau or volcano
• Rectangular-stream bends are at right angles to
each other. Occurs where the bedrock has been
fractured or faulted.
• Trellis-tributary streams are parallel to each other.
Bedrock is alternating resistant and nonresistant
layers.
Dams
• Dams are structures built across rivers
to restrict and control water flow in the
river.
• They are built for many reasons
– flood control
– drinking water
– irrigation
– industry
• Dams are vulnerability indicators of watershed
health because they cause changes in
temperature and salinity of the water
Reservoirs
• A Reservoir is the area where the dam
water collects.
Environmental Impact
• Building a dam has some detrimental
effects to the local ecology.
• Flora and Fauna?
• Fertile Land (Flood Plains)
• Communities lose valuable property.City
Water- Treatment System
(Transparency)
Wetlands
• Defined by Chapter 105 of the Pennsylvania
Commonwealth code as: “Those areas that
are inundated or saturated by surface or
groundwater at a frequency and duration
sufficient to support, and that under normal
circumstances do support, a prevalence of
vegetation typically adapted for life in
saturated soil conditions.”
Types of Wetlands
• There are six types of wetlands:
• Emergent Wetlands-rushes, grasses and
sedges.
• Scrub-Shrub Wetlands-trees < 20’,
spicebushes, blueberry bushes,
winterberries and swamp honeysuckle
• Forested Wetlands-trees>20’, red & silver
maples, black gum, river birch & green ash.
Types of Wetlands (cont.)
• Bogs-soil is mostly decomposed organic
matter. Mosses are dominant. Soil is very
acidic and there is very little oxygen content
in the water.
• Swamps-a forested wetland in which trees
and bushes are dominant. Classified by the
species of tree that dominates, such as
conifers or hardwoods
Types of Wetlands (cont.)
• Marshes-form at the mouths of rivers or
areas of poor drainage. Rich soils and
abundant vegetation and wildlife. Examples
are grasses, sedges, bulrushes, cattails,
beavers, frogs, turtles, raccoons, muskrats,
opossums, birds & insects.
Functions of Wetlands
• Cycle nutrients through the ecosystem via
plant life.
• Provide buffer zones to absorb increased
runoff due to flooding.
• Control pollution (sediments) by filtering
them out of the water and slowing down the
water allowing settling to occur.
Groundwater
• Groundwater is the precipitation that
seeps into the ground.
• It is then trapped by rock and mineral
formations.
• This area of water that collects below
the ground is called an Aquifer.
• Example: Ogallala Aquifer
Recharge Zone
• Recharge Zone is the area of land in
which groundwater originates.
• This is area is the primary region that
recharges an aquifer.
Aquifer Transparency
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Solutions to water shortages:
• I. Desalinization
– Reverse osmosis
– Desalinization
• II. Towing water in “Buffalos”
• III. Conservation
I. Desalinization
• The term means to de-salt.
• The oceans are full of saltwater (97% of the
Earth’s water.)
• How would you remove salt from salt
water?
II. Towing water in “Buffalos”
• These are tankers on wheels. They contain
“potable” water.
• Would be inconvenient because of the need
to transport water back home.
• Would need heated
• Added expense of delivery and filling.
III. Conservation
• Indoor water uses per person:
– Toilets
– Showers
– Laundry
– Cook/Drink
– Cleaning
– Dishes
– Brush Teeth
28 gal
25 gal
7.5 gal
7.5 gal
2.5 gal
4 gal
2.5 gal
What can you do to conserve
water?
• Take shorter
showers and avoid
taking baths unless
you keep the water
level low.
• Install low-flow
shower heads in
showers
• Install low-flow
faucet aerators in
faucets at home
• Install water saving
devices in your toilets.
• Don’t let water run while
not in direct use
• Fill up sink basins.
• Water lawn at night to
avoid evaporation.
• Replace lawns with
native plants that are
more suitable to local
climate.
Average American uses
approx. 77 gal. water per day
Source: Clean Water Action, Inc.
What can you do to conserve water?
• Take shorter showers and avoid taking baths
unless you keep the water level low
• Install low-flow shower heads in showers
• Install low-flow faucet aerators in faucets at
home
• Install water saving devices in your toilets.
• Don’t let water run while not in direct use.
• Fill up sink basins.
• Water lawn at night to avoid evaporation
• Replace lawns with native plants that are
more suitable to local climate.
Freshwater Pollution
Developed countries have made
strides in the last 20 years.
In lesser developed countries there
remains a large problem.
• Why would developed countries have been
able to make strides?
– Realize the need for clean environment
– Have the technology.
• Why would underdeveloped countries still
be striving to do better?
– Need the business at all costs
– Lack the technology.
• In Russia it could cost up to $200 billion
dollars to clean up.
• In Poland it is said to be too polluted for
industrial use.
• In very poor countries pollution is not the
problem
• What could be the problem if not pollution?
– Higher population demands an abundance of
clean water.
Water Pollution
The introduction of chemical,
physical, or biological agents into
water that degrades the quality of
the water and affects the
organisms that depend on it.
Several kinds of water pollution:
• Pathogens - are disease causing agents
such as bacteria. Mostly animal feces.
• Organic Matter is the biodegradable remains
of plants and animals.
• Organic Compounds are pesticides,
fertilizers, plastics, detergents, gas/oil, and
other fossil fuels. (P & NP)
• Inorganic Compounds are acids, salts, toxic
metals. (P & NP)
• Toxic Chemicals are chemicals that are toxic
to living organisms such as heavy metals
(lead, mercury, cadmium), industrial
chemicals and many household chemicals.
• Physical Agents are heat and
suspended solids such as soil.
• Radioactive Wastes are from nuclear
processes and defense facilities.
Point Source Pollutants
A pollutant discharged from a
single source such as a factory,
treatment plant, tanker. Easily
traced to the source.
Sources of point source
pollutants
• 23 million septic
tank systems
• 9,000 municipal
landfills
• thousands of
wastewater
treatment plants
• 190,000 storage
lagoons
• @2 million U.G.S
tanks
• thousands of
wastewater
treatment plants
Point source pollutants are easy
to monitor and regulate??
Why do you think this is so?
nonpoint source is a
pollutant that comes from
many sources.
They are put into the
environment over a wide area
Examples of Nonpoint sources
• oil on road surface washes into storm
drains
• pesticides and fertilizers on a farm
• storm water: oil, gas, feces, liter
• 50 million tons of fertilizers applied
• 10 million tons of dry salt on roadways
• eroding soil and toxic chemicals
Water Quality
• Cleaning up water pollution was
intended to “restore the chemical,
physical and biological integrity of the
nation’s waters”.
• The goal was to make all surface water
clean enough for fishing and swimming.
Federal laws gave way to
tougher state laws with bigger
teeth.
• Many heavy metals are now removed at
the site of industry and the water was
treated before leaving the plant.
• organic pollutants are channeled to
lagoons to allow for decay before being
released in the water.
• This was a very effective way to deter
point source pollution. $$$
Water Quality Legislation
• 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA)
– Make nation’s water “fishable” & “swimmable” by
1983
– Ban pollution discharge by 1985 & metals by 1980
• 1972 Marine Protection, Research &
Sanctuaries Act
– Renewed in 1988 empowered EPA to control
ocean pollution.
• 1975 Safe Drinking Water Act
– Enacted control for surface and groundwater
management.
Continued
• 1980 Comprehensive Environmental
Response Compensation & Liability Act
(CERCLA)
– *This is the superfund act liability to owners,
operators & customers of hazardous sites
responsible for their cleanup.
– * Renewed in 1988 empowered EPA to control
ocean pollution.
• 1975 Safe Drinking Water Act
– enacted control for surface and groundwater
management.
• 1987 Water Quality Act
– was a support mechanism to help state & local
efforts to clean polluted runoff. Funded
wastewater treatment plants.
Groundwater
• Poses special problems due to the fact
that it is below ground
• Takes a lot of time to percolate
• Recharge zone is an expansive area
therefore it includes a lot of nonpoint
source pollution.
• How could you decontaminate an
aquifer?
Bottled water
• Mostly just purified water.
• May be checked less than public water.
– Corporate Regulations are less stringent
that P.U.C.
• No fluoride
Artificial Eutrofication
• Phosphates and nitrates act as
fertilizers in the water.
• Any green plant in the water will then
grow at a faster rate than normal.
• This will eventually choke off a water
system.
• Could this be considered a form of
succession?
Biomagnification
• the increase in concentration of a
pollutant that occurs in a food chain.
Ocean Water Pollution
Ocean Water Pollution
• Very little research is being done at this
point to determine the exact extent.
• This is largely due to the fact that the
ocean is too big and that nobody feels
direct ownership of the ocean.
• 85% of ocean pollution originates on
land.
• How does it get to the ocean?
– It finds its way by rivers and runoff.
The Affects of Ocean Pollution
• It affects coral reefs and estuaries the
most.
• Also could have an affect on food
production.
• Cruise Liners are responding to
international pressure.