NRES Water

Agricultural uses

the uses of water in terms of crops (80% of our water usage) and animals

the Ogalla aquifer is the largest ground water supply in north america

Industrial Uses

Water is used for energy generation, but the exact footprints for each way of generating energy vary wildly

Domestic water uses

The per person daily use of water for thinks like drinking, or washing.

This number changes on where the person lives, and what the climate conditions are like where they live, ex places where water is more expensive and less available use less water

Water Footprint

the water appropriated by industry to produce products or energy per person to use. This includes both the water used directly, and the water polluted.

this includes food, (meat uses a lot more water than plants) and items such as cotton t-shirts

Nonconsumptive water use

the water remains available after in situ use,

examples include recreation, hydropower, maintenance of aquatic ecosystems

Consumptive water use

water is lost at the source of use

examples include crop irrigation and livesto

Water withdrawal

water can be withdrawn from all different sources, in consumptive and nonconsumptive ways. Groundwater can be depleted, as well as lakes, and rives.

Riparian Rights

mostly in the eastern US

water rights are based on and established by ownership adjacent to a river or lake

the rights of one riparian owner are weighed fairly and equitable with the rights of adjacent riparian owners

Prior Appropriation

Mostly in the western US

water rights are based on ‘first in time, first in right’

first person (senior rights holder) to draw water from a specific source for a specific purpose has the complete right to all that water. subsequent (junior rights holders) are able to draw remaining water, as long as it does not impinge on senior rights holder

these rights are given via state permit and dont take land ownership into account

Physical water scarcity

what is says on the box buddy

economic water scarcity

insufficient infrastructure or financial capacity for water to meet all demands

Water quality

this is a universal sustainable development goal, as there are issues both globally and locally

Impaired water causes and consequences

affects health, recreation, and wildlife

mostly caused by pollution such as sewage and agro runoff

point source pollution

pollution that comes from one single identifiable source, ie, you can point to it

examples include pipes, ditches, channels, tunnels

non-point source pollution

much messier to deal with

the source of the pollution is diffuse and there is no clearly defined point of origin or outlet

this is hard to control and it can include every type of pollutant

Clean Water Act

established basic structure used for regulating point source pollution, but struggles to regulate non-point source pollution

CWA impaired waterways

waterways that do not meet CWA quality standards, either pollution controls are deficient, or TMDL or the total maximum daily load of pollution into the waterway is not met

Watershed

and area of land that drains all of the water into a common outlet

sources- precipitation, snowmelt, groundwater

outputs- rivers, lakes, oceans

Hypertoxia

dead zone

too much nutrients meant that there was too much algae growing, which caused zooplankton, which caused oxygen depleting bacteria

harmful algae blooms

too much nutrients cause algae to bloom, which can be deadly to humans and pets.

Conservation planning solutions

solutions for agricultural runoff like a prairie buffer strip, constructed wetlands, or a riparian buffer, and similar for urban runoff, like rain gardens, urban wetlands, and mixed use parks

Challenges to conservation

political boundaries, multiple stakeholders, relies heavily on voluntary action, linking upstream practices with downstream problems