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Hydrologic Cycle, Reservoirs, and Processes

Hydrologic cycle - water is neither created or destroyed, cycle is how it moves around the Earth

Reservoirs - glaciers, oceans, groundwater

Processes - move water between reservoirs, such as land precipitation, inbasin circulation, and vertical ocean circulation

How important is groundwater to MN?

VERY - 75% of water comes from groundwater supplies

Range of time-scales of groundwater movement, how does that affect the renewable status of a water resource?

Can range from days/years to millenia, centuries-millenia are nonrenewable because they aren’t in a human’s lifetime

Be able to explain the formation process and types of aquifers in MN, examples of water quality issues for confined + unconfined aquifers

Most aquifers in MN formed by glaciers

Unconfined - renewable source close to surface, recharged in days/years, vulnerable to pollutants (NITRATE)

Confined - nonrenewable source underneath confining beds, recharged in centuries/millennia, vulnerable to natural pollutants (GEOGRAPHIC ARSENIC)

What is a watershed, and what types of env or water quality issues can be examined with a watershed framework?

Watershed - the entire area of land from which water drains into a given river

ENV/WQ Issues - polluted runoff into river, issues over state responsibility

What is hypoxia and how is it formed? Use scientific vocab….

Hypoxia - when the levels of dissolved o2 in water reaches less than 2mg per liter

1. Nutrients carried to coast from point and non-point sources

2. Nutrients stimulate growth of autotrophs

(CO2 + Energy (sun) + nutriends = biomass (algae)), consumers bloom and consume o2

3. Biomass (dead algae) sinks to the floor and decomposes

Decomposers are heterotrophs, get energy and carbon from biomass + consume o2

4. O2 is depleted, organisms die or leave :(

Why would it be difficult to prevent seasonal Dead Zone formation in the Gulf of Mexico?

• Fed by runoff from a lot of different states, no one clear solution that works for all of them

• Weather patterns can’t be controlled

• Lack of government funding and support

What is MN doing to reduce nutrient loading to the Mississippi River?

MN Nutrient Reduction Strategy - 45% reduction in nitrogen (dissolved in water), 45% reduction in phosphorus (particle bound), 45% reduction in nitrogen (dissolved in water) by 2040

What are main practices that can be used to reduce nutrients from ag. to the Mississippi River (Dr. Laura Christianson)

Use of cover crops, reduced tillage, wetlands, saturated buffers, extended rotations, grazed pastures, land retirement

Anticipated time scales for nutrient reduction?

Goal is by 2040 and I don’t want to look back for this answer so if you get this you’re cooked :)

In MN what are the main sources of nitrate and phosphate to the Mississippi?

Fertilizers used in ag., manure, wastewater treatment

Why did the water level in the Aral Sea change?

The two source rivers were diverted, and the lake’s outputs became more than its inputs (evaporation exceeds precipitation, ect.)

What were the consequences of that change?

Loss of fisheries (loss of jobs), loss of land that could be used for agriculture, increased dust and sand storms, desertification

How did the North/Small Aral sea make a recovery? What is a WQ measurement that describes the North AS recovery relative to the Western Aral Sea?

A dam was built that raised the water levels by 13ft and irrigation was improved up river

• WQ Measurement could be salinity, which determines how well the native fish population will thrive

What is the aral sea water budget?

The inputs now exceed the outputs? *This is a stupid question

How does the amount of fresh water on Earth compare to the total amount of water? How is it distributed?

• Freshwater is only 25% of the global water source

• Water is unequally distributed in space and time

What are the three biggest water-consuming activities globally? What are some basic trends in water use for different countries?

• 70% agriculture, 20% industry, 10% domestic

• Arid countries use water for agriculture, developed countries use their water for industry/power

What are the water quantity issues facing humans around the globe? Give examples from specific cases, including Troubled Water project.

• Jordan - water is purchased, if truck drivers strike or if there’s a storm then they don’t have anywhere to get it

• Niger - political instability can affect access to water (Niger river)

• India - their water comes from groundwater in a well, which can be depleted

How does water availability affect the most impoverished communities globally?

• Affects population growth

• Political instability, conflicts over water

• Gender equality - women are mainly responsible for gathering water in scarce areas, gives them little time to do anything else

• Water availability is a human right

What is the relationship among water use, wealth, and diet?

• Wealthy countries tend to eat more meat, which uses more water in the production process

How has US water use changed from 1950 to 2005? Which sectors are growing? Which are the largest uses?

• Electricity water use increased almost 400% from 1950-2005

• Irrigation water use increased by about 29% to feed growing population

• (I’m guessing industry also increased water use)

What is water scarcity? How does it affect poor families and communities and woman and children globally? Programs that aim to improve water security in developing countries should include which stakeholders?

• WS occurs when the amount of water withdrawn from lakes, rivers, or groundwater is so great that water supplies are no longer adequate to satisfy all human/environmental requirements, which results in increased competition between water users and other demands

• Affects gender equality, growth and development of children

• Stakeholders should include members of the community who are directly affected by the issue

Improved vs Unimproved water source

Improved - household connections, public standpipes, protected dug wells, protected springs, and rainwater collection

Unimproved - unprotected dug well, unprotected spring, surface water (river, dam, lake, pond, canal, ect.)

How will water scarcity change in the future?

• You guessed it! We’re cooked!

• By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be in absolute water scarcity, and 2/3 will be in water stress

• Climate change will change historical patterns of water availability in many parts of the world

Describe the Day Zero water crisis in Cape Town

• Reservoir (main source of water) expected to dry out in April of 2018, they were a water stressed region in a drought

• Residents cut water consumption in half in several years

• Water use was tracked and enforced, bans on car washes, ect

• Reduced overall water pressure

What is the major concern about marine plastic debris? What are environmental and human health concerns?

Animals will mistake it for food, leading to choking and injuries

• Env: pollution

• HH: biomagnification, microplastics

Savoca et al. 2016:
What was the question they were trying to address?
What is the role of phytoplankton in attracting seabirds?

What is the experimental design?
What were the main conclusions of this study?

• Why do seabirds eat marine plastic?

• It takes up sulfate from seawater, and release DMSP when they die, which is an ‘infochemical’ for birds finding food

• Incubate plastic for a month and measure for DMSP levels

• Incubated plastic has DMSP levels that are above the level needed to serve as an infochemical, so plastic is attracting seabirds to low quality foraging areas

What are the three main factors that determine a country’s contribution to marine plastic debris?

• Amount of plastic waste generation, population density/size, and waste management techniques

What are mismanaged wastes and how do they affect a country’s contribution to marine plastic debris?

• Littered, inadequately disposed, uncontrolled dumps/landfills, any waste with a strong potential to transport to the ocean through waterways, wastewater, wind and tides

How is the behavior of marine plastic debris in the ocean different from the Great Lakes?

Plastic inputs come from the shore instead of waterways, and reducing plastic on-shore requires inter-state and international solutions

What is food waste? How much of the human food supply is wasted per year globally?

• Food waste is wholesome edible material intended for human consumption arising at any point in the food supply chain that instead discarded, lost, degraded, or consumed by pests

• 1/3 of global food supply goes to waste annually

In countries like the US, where are the major losses of fruits/vegetables in the food supply chain?

In households

What types of foods are most vulnerable to waste?

Fresh fruits and vegetables

Define municipal solid waste, and rank waste management strategies from most preferred to least preferred according to the US EPA

MSW - made up of things we commonly use and then throw away, such as packaging, food scraps, grass clippings, couches (for some reason, tires, ect.

• Most preferred method: my life is a joke

  • Waste-to-energy

  • Landfills?

  • Incinerators?
    Hey look this up later

What is a landfill? What are pros and cons? What engineering strategies can be used to compensate for the cons?

• Landfill - place where trucks dump trash and then process it

  • Pros: can protect water (plastic liners), collect methane

  • Cons: conditions discourage decomposition, leachate can escape, limited land capacity, 3rd largest methane source in US, env justice issues, oder/traffic

  • Eng. strategies - methane collection, seperation from groundwater

What is energy recovery? What are pros/cons? What engineering strategies can be used to reduce pollution?

• Energy recovery - burning the trash and filtering the shit out

  • Pros: reduce reliance on landfills, serves high pop. density areas, reduce waste volume

  • Cons: costly to build and operate, create wastes, air emissions, env justice issues, oder/traffic

• Eng. Strats: air filtration, waste-to-energy

Why do some environmental advocates argue that landfills can be a better option for waste management?

Landfills give local government more flexibility, because incinerators can have contracts

I think incinerators are better at energy recovery

Describe HERC, where does the waste come from and where does it go? Where is it located and why is that an environmental justice issue?

HERC is a waste to energy plant in Minneapolis. Waste comes from Hennepin county, and excess fly and bottom ash is transported to a landfill in Rosemount. The neighborhood that it’s located in is 25-49% people of color, and 20-30% are considered below poverty level.

HERC also has crazy air pollutants! The more you know!

Main types of plastic!

PETE, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, PS, PA, ABS, and other

Describe history and predicted future of new plastics generation, and why are plastic wastes a big problem? Why are mixed packaging wastes so difficult to recycle.

Plastics weren’t common until after 1950, now they’re a huge part of life. They’re a big problem because it’s in high demand, and they’re not designed to be recycled. Mixed packaging wastes are heterogeneous

What happened in 2018 that changed internationally export/import of plastic wastes? What is the physical basis for sink-float separation of plastics?

2018 - China banned international imports of plastic wastes

Sink/float - sorting based on plastic density

What is a circular economy?

• System that is restorative/regenerative by design, rests on preserving and enhancing natural capital, optimizing resource yields, and fostering system efficiency

What watersheds could be impacted by mining by PolyMet and Twin Metals mining?

PolyMet - Lake Superior

Twin Metals - Boundary Waters

Explain the mine siting process, compare and contrast Twin Metals and PolyMet

Long + complex process over many years, site-specific characteristics, essential aspect of planning (geology, hydrology, env conditions, ect.), environmental impact statement isn’t the first step

Twin Metals - underground mining

PolyMet - pit mining

What causes acid mine or acid rock drainage? What factors must be present to create acid mine drainage? Discuss strategies for preventing this.

• chemical oxidation of sulfide minerals

• sulfide mineral, water, and oxygen

• Strategies to reduce: minimize o2 supply, remove/isolate sulfide minerals, control acidity, water movement

Define water quality? Why is it important that water quality is a relative concept, as well as quantifiable?

WQ - measure of the sustainability of water for a particular use based on physical, chemica, and biological characteristics

Because

What is the Clean Water Act? What does it cover/not cover?

(1972) restore and maintain chemical, physical and biological integrity of nations waters, affresses untreated sewage, industrial discharges, distribution of wetlands and contaminated runoff

• illegal to discharge pollution from point source without permission

• Does NOT cover agricultural runoff, non-point sources

Explain the condition of US waterways prior to the Clean Water Act

1968 - water pollution in Chesapeake Bay caused $3.3 billion in damages

1969 - bacteria levels in the Hudson River 170x the safe limit, record # of fish kills reported, Cuyahoga River catches fire again

What is tile drainage? Why is it useful to farmers in MN?

• A sort of plumbing is installed below the surface of agricultural fields, effectively consisting of a network of below-ground pipes that allow subsurface water to move out from between soil particles and into the tile line

• Reduces surface runoff pollutants

What is Superfund, what does it cover, and what is it designed to accomplish?

Superfund - taxes from chem/petrol industry to cover closed and abandoned sites, creates liability for persons responsible (polluter pays principle)

Des Moines Water Works legal challenge, what was the goal of the legal challenge, implications of a ruling in favor of the Water Works for the CWA?

DMWW - sued three neighboring counties for high nitrate levels in Raccoon + DM rivers, targeting the drainage

• Argument - ag. runoff largely unregulated, nitrate public drinking water hazard, difficult and expensive to remove

• Lawsuit dismissed, judge ruled utility promoted policy argument, not constitutional, ruling makes it clear that the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is path forward

What is the National Priorities List, and what does it mean for a site to be proposed, final, and deleted?

NPL - list of all superfund sites in america

proposed means it’s up for debate that it’s a superfund site, final means that it is officially a superfund site, and deleted means that the site has been cleared

South Minneapoliss Residential Soil Contamination Superfund Site

Phillips Neighborhood - arsenic in residential soil

Formal industrial site, contamination discovered by MNDOT in 1994, prompted soil sampling by department of health in 1999

Arsenic 3000x greater than background levels, 10-20x than MN pollution control standards, designated acute risk to human health

Remediation - soil removal (top 12in from yards, 18in from playgrounds and gardens)

What are persistent organic pollutants (POP)

POP - toxic chemicals that adversely affect human health and the environment around the world

• they can’t be excreted, they collect in tissues and increase in concentration as the food chain progresses

• Dirty Dozen is a list of the worse pollutants in circulation, they are usually formed by pesticides

Stockholm Convention - How does the US participate in the convention?

SC - global treaty to protect human/env health, persistent chemical distribution geographically and accumulate in fatty tissues of human/wildlife

USA participates since 1996, but didn’t ratify or enter into force

What is a wetland?

lands where saturation with water is the dominant factor determining the types of plant and animal communities living in the soil, in the water column, and on the surface

Where do they form?

Water flows downhill so surface water moves from higher to lower places in the landscape, which means that wetlands often form in geographical low spots. They are also common on the borders of lakes, streams, or oceans, acting as a transition zone between mostly dry and mostly wet environments. Occasionally wetlands form on hillsides where springs emerge; springs form when groundwater travels between rock layers below the earth to the surface of the land. 

What are some of the main water inputs and outputs in wetlands?

receive water from: the atmosphere (precipitation), surface water (streams and stormwater runoff), and groundwater. Wetlands lose water to: the atmosphere (evaporation), transpiration (the evaporation of water from plants leaves), surface water (streams), and groundwater.

What is a water budget?

water budget describes for a particular amount of time (e.g., a season or a year) how much water enters a wetland (inputs) and from what sources, how much water leaves a wetland, and from what sources, and how much water is expected to be held in the wetland (storage). 

What is a hydrograph?

visual depiction of a wetland’s water level over time at one location, and broadly represents changes to water volume.

What are key parameters for a hydrograph?

Duration of Flooding: The amount of time a wetland is flooded
 
Timing of Flooding: Start and end dates of flooding.
 
Flashiness:  How rapidly water levels rise and fall

What is a hydropattern?

A hydropattern depicts how the amount of water stored in a wetland changes over long periods of time (i.e. one to many years). This pattern reflects a wetland’s water budget and describes the timing and magnitude of periods of flooding and drought.

Do wetlands ever experience major shifts in their hydropatterns?

sensitive to a wetland’s water budget and it’s common to see differences that reflect changes to water inputs or outputs. For example, Long-term climatic patterns can produce major hydropattern shifts. Humans can also cause shifts to hydropatterns. Development around a wetland that increases the amount of impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots etc.) can result in more and faster water inputs, especially after storm events (Fig. 4). Humans sometimes also change the terrain of a wetland by filling in portions, adjusting bank slopes or adding ditches. These modifications affect a wetland’s water storage capacity and the distribution of water throughout the wetland’s entire area. 

How are plants affected by wetland hydrology?

Short periods of standing water cause oxygen levels in the water column and soil to decrease. Plants that cannot provide oxygen to their roots quickly show signs of stress and die.

How are animals affected by a wetland’s hydrology?

can have a big or minimal impact on wetland animals, depending on an animal’s life cycle requirements. For animals that use wetlands for short periods, at non-critical life stages, hydrology will likely minimally affect them. Other animals depend on wetlands to complete part of their life cycle