Final ES 105- Water FP and Use and Dams+reserviors+the west

Which has a greater GHG footprint: almond or cow milk?

Cows milk

Which has a greater water footprint: almond or cow milk?

Almond milk

One gallon of almond milk takes like 2,000 gallons of water.

What is the Green water Footprint

Water from precipitation that that is stored in the root zone of the soil and is evaporated, transpired, or incorporated by plants. Particularly relevant for agricultural, horticultural, and forestry products.

What is the blue water footprint

water that has been sourced by surface of groundwater resources and is either evaporated or incorporated into a product or taken from one body of water and returned to another, or returned at a different time.

Irrigated agriculture, industry and domestic waters can each have a blue water footprint

What is the grey water footprint?

The amount of freshwater required to assimilate pollutants to meet specific water quality standards. Considers point source discharged to a freshwater resource directly through a pipe or indirectly through runoff or leaching from soil, impervious surfaces, or other diffuse surfaces.

Virtual water

The volume of water used to produce the product, measured at the place where the product was actually produced.

Major water exporters

The USA, Argentina, France, and Australia

What happened during + after the dust bowl?

Lost a lot of productive soil because all of the protective vegetation was removed or grazed off the land and when it got windy the soil would just fly away.

Out of this we got social security cuz so many people were destitute and it extended the Great Depression.

Who was Margie Eugene Richard

Gave a voice to the people in cancer valley in Louisiana who were getting sick because of industrial chemicals in their environment. 

Who was Floyd Dominy

US Bureau of reclamation

Child of dust bowl in Nebraska

Crusader of ending water shortages in the west

Shining achievement was the glen canyon dam (lake Powell)

Profoundly altered management and use of ground and surface water resources in America

David Brower

Prominent mountaineer and environmental advocate

Executive director of the Sierra Club

Founder of many environmental groups

Staunchly opposed and radicalized by the glen canyon dam

Flow Regimes

Discharge. These are the factors that dictate dynamics of the flow: magnitude, frequency, duration, timing, rate of change. 

What is flow regime the primary driver of?

water quality, physical habitat, energy source, and biotic interactions which are all aspects of ecological integrity.

Human altercation of flow regimes:

Channelization

Dams

Affects of channelization

Increase flow rates

Reduces complexity and habitat

Reduces terrestrial-aquatic linkages

Affects of dams

Large and small, goal is to reduce flow variability and sometimes to have water storage

Hydroelectric benefit

Type of hydroelectric dams

Traditional pond and release dam

Run-of-River hydroelectric dam (no storage of water)

Hydropeaking

Maximizing profits from hydroelectricity

Ecological effects of dams

Increased evaporation- regional climate effects

Decrease fish populations (esp migratory fish)

Overall loss of biodiversity

sources of GHGs

Wetland destruction (decreased C storage and redox processes)

Sediment

Sediment effects cuz of dams

In free-flowing systems sediment moves downstream and is slowly deposited in spring floods

Loss of natural sediment movement= loss of nutrient movement

Impacts of dams on fish

Barrier to migratory fish

• Cannot get upstream and some die in hydroelectric turbines going downstream

Slow downstream movement

• can lengthen salmon trip by 2+ months

Warmer water increases fish diseases

What condition are most dams in the US in?

a lot of them are not in good condition

When and by how much will water demand exceed supply?

Exceed water supply by 40% in 2030

What are the three different water allocation systems?

• Riparian rights Doctrine -eastern US

• Prior Appropriation Doctrine- Western US

• Dual System -  California, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Oklahoma, etc

Hoe are navigable water different?

They are waters over which commerce can occur

If navigable=public

Public has access rights

Private owners have duty to share waters

Riparian rights

Triggered by ownership of property abutting waterway. Riparian rights are rights to use not to own.

What are typical riparian rights?

Fishing

Drinking

Access to waterway

Navigation

industrial

boating

commercial

household uses

hydroelectricity

water wheel

3 requirements for riparian rights

• Channel containing flow

• Beds and banks

• Flow

Reasonable use

Rights that take into account the rights of other riparians

• Each riparian has a duty to exercise their rights only in relationship to the rights and duties of riparian neighbors.

• Consumptive and non-consumptive uses must be reasonable.

• Preferences: water withdrawals for domestic purposes.

• Unreasonable uses include: pollution of water, waste of water, nuisances.

• Riparians retain rights even if not using water or exercising their rights.

Mr. Tyler and Mr. Wilkinson both own mills on Seargent’s Trench (Pawtuxet) River, Rhode Island. Mr. Wilkinson is upstream of Mr. Tyler, who has owned his property for longer. Mr. Wilkinson just doubled his production and his use of water. Mr. Tyler doesn’t have enough water to run his mill. Who should win the lawsuit?

Mr. Tyler because Mr. Wilkinson is using the water unreasonably

Prior appropriation doctrine

“First in time-first in right”

Water rights do not stem from ownership of land

Water use rights based on previous withdrawals from water supply

use what you used in the past now and in the future

Seniority rights/priority system- don’t have the duty to share except with senior rights

How to obtain priority rights

1. Intent

2. Diversion

3. Beneficial use-includes storage-varied by state

4. Priority

Rights are entitlement to a specific amount of water, for specified use, at a specific location, and have a date of priority (senior vs. junior rights).

Mr. Tyler and Mr. Wilkinson both own ranches in the Ten Sleep River, Wyoming. Mr.Wilkinson is upstream of Mr. Tyler, who has owned his property for longer. Mr. Wilkinson just doubled his diversion of water to his alfalfa fields. Mr. Tyler doesn’t have enough water for his cows. Who should win the lawsuit?

Mr.Tyler cuz he was there first.

Do you always have water rights?

If you do not exercise them for a specific amount of time then those rights can be lost

Dual system: both riparian and appropriative

• Conversion of riparian rights to appropriation rights-only riparian rights that have been exercised are converted

• Ex - administrative permits-place management of water resources in hands of regulatory agencies

• Makes states use this for large withdrawals

• Brings a public trust doctrine-public owns resource-state manages it.

Rights to Groundwater

• Rules are still in flux in many places

• Private land

  Rules of capture

- Landowners own the groundwater beneath their properties. But neighbors do too… capture as much as you can as fast as you can

- Correlative groundwater rights

- Size of property scales to groundwater use

- Reasonable use

- Unlimited extraction as long as not damaging other wells or the aquifer (sustainable yield)