Midterm 2: Water Issues

In movie "A Civil Action"  (the Woburn groundwater contamination case), children diagnosed with _____________ after their mothers drank water from two polluted wells while they were pregnant.

leukemia

Two of the Woburn's eight municipal drinking water wells were contaminated with __________.

organic solvents

The infiltration of water into the subsurface is the __________ .

recharge

The water table is _________________________.

the top of the saturated zone in an unconfined aquifer

Water become groundwater when _______________

precipitation seeps into the recharge zone

Which of the following is an impermeable material?

clay and granite

The saturated zone is filled with _______________.

water

A substance has a low permeability when:

Water CAN'T Flow through easily

What is an aquifer?

An underground geological unit that stores water

Woburn, Mass – a case of groundwater pollution with extreme consequences and several potential sources of pollution. Children diagnosed with ____________ after their mothers drank water from two polluted wells while they were pregnant.

leukemia

In Woburn, geologists studied the interactions between geology and _______________  system to try to determine how these factors influenced the flow of chemicals to the wells.

groundwater flow

Do confined aquifers have water tables?

false

An unconfined aquifer has _____ upper boundary and a confined aquifer is surrounded by _____ beds.

water table, confining

Which of the following reservoirs contains the most water?

groundwater

The boundary between the saturated zone and the unsaturated zone is called the______ .

water table

The movement of water into the subsurface is the __________ .

recharge

An aquifer is:

a body of saturated rock or sediment through which water can move easily.

Which material(s) would most likely form an aquifer?

sandstone, gravel

the following shows an aquifer. this is a good example of:

an unconfined aquifer

Excessive pumping in relation to recharge in an unconfined  aquifer can cause ________ .

a cone of depression to form, the well to go dry, the water table to decline

The Ogallala is an unconfined aquifer, and virtually all recharge comes from ___________ and snowmelt. As the High Plains has a semiarid climate, recharge is minimal.

rain

Top three states using High Plains Aquifer groundwater are Texas, _________, and Kansas.

Nebraska

A _______________ occurs in an aquifer when groundwater is pumped from a well. In an unconfined aquifer, this is an actual depression of the water levels.

cone of depression

Perennial stream is a stream that has____________ flow in parts of its stream bed all year round during years of normal rainfall.

continuous

The high plains aquifer is ______________ aquifer.

an unconfined

The water table in the High Plains Aquifer has dropped by over 100 feet in some places from historic levels. This is because

overpumping of wells has resulted in aquifer drawdown.

The high plains aquifer that stretches from Texas to South Dakota contains vast reserves of ground water. During the last fifty years, however, the water table in this aquifer has dropped dramatically. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the depletion of this aquifer?

Precipitation in the region is not sufficient to compensate for the withdrawal of water by farmers and communities.

A water balance equation for the high plains aquifer can be written as:

volume change over time =
  precipitation – irrigation withdrawals  – discharge to surface water bodies  – ______________ 

evapotranspiration

The following diagram shows water level changes in the High Plain Aquifer and indicates that Texas shows greater water level changes compared to other states. Potential causes is/are:

the state has less precipitation, the state has higher groundwater withdrawal.

In the High Plains aquifer area, cattle production is closely associated with _____ growing.

corn

The number of perennial streams in Kansas decreased from 1961 to 1994 due to _________________.

pumping for irrigation

The following diagram shows water budgets of the southern High Plains aquifer (all flows in million cubic feet per day) before development and during development. Calculate the value of decrease in storage.

330 (with margin: 0)

The High Plains aquifer is one of the world's largest aquifers, it underlies an area of approximately 174,000 sq mi in portions of eight states (South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, ________, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas).

kansas

We have to maximize benefit of water being used to move towards sustainability at the High Plain aquifer area. we could achieve this by:

• Adapting more efficient ______ _______ technology which will reduce evaporative losses

• Irrigating in areas where excess water will re-enter the_______ ______ system

irrigation, groundwater

Which of the following(s) is/are a perennial river?

Scioto River, Olentangy River, Ohio River, Mississippi River

The success of the Garamantes was based on their subterranean water-extraction system, a network of tunnels known as

foggara

The Garamantian Empire believed to have thrived from ______BCE to 400CE.

500

In the south of _____ ____, a native civilization begins to emerge in the form of the water-mining Garamantes, which spans the ____ ____ Desert and extends into sub-Saharan Africa. 

Libya, Sahara

Groundwater __________ is the withdraw of water in the natural ground over a period of time that exceeds the recharge rate of the supply aquifer.

mining

Examples of groundwater mining include:

High plain aquifer

In the "Water Cycle" of the Garamantian Empire, Water, foggaras, __________, food, agriculture are interdependent

slave

The Sahara was not a desert during the _____________ humid period

African

The Garamantian Empire believed to have thrived during a ___________ period.

dry

A foggara could not collect groundwater because it did not intersect a __________.

water table

A water table in an aquifer dropped due to over usage of _______ ___________. This happened because the _____ _______ rate of water is smaller than the withdrawal rate. 

water, recharge

The decline of the Garamantian culture may have been connected to ______________.

misuse and overuse of limited resources

What is often formed when a mountain stream enters a broad valley?

none of the mentioned

An alluvial fan is a good ___________________ because it contains sand and gravel and Garamantes withdraw water from it using foggaras.

aquifer

We focused on the three major aquifer systems (HPA, NSAS and QANC).

1. HPA name: the _____ _______ Aquifer
   location: in central United States

2. NSAS name: the _____ ________ Sandstone Aquifer System
   location: in northeastern _____ ______

3. QANC name: the ____ ______ Aquifer of North China
   location: in North China

High Plains, Nubian, Africa, Quaternary

Problems are associated with technology-driven megaprojects include:

• These are unlikely to keep up with continuing _____ _____ increases.

• The costs of building and operating systems to exploit new water sources are now competing with the rapidly escalating costs of national social programs in education, medical care, and pensions, and of state security.

• Supplies of “cheap _____ ______” from thermoelectric, coal, and other sources to run these megasystems are becoming less available, as the full environmental cost of energy production is being understood.

population, power

Groundwater supplies are vulnerable to over-pumping. The status of these problems in NSAS and QANC are:

NSAS
Exploitation of the NSAS has been somewhat slower. This is now changing in ____ ____ with the “Great Man-Made River Project,” which is expected to mine an estimated 2.4 km³ /year of groundwater from western and southern ____[a]____ and move it to the populous Mediterranean coast.

QANC
____ _____ agriculture is producing significant lowering in groundwater levels.

Libya, irrigated

In recent years, the rate of utilization of ground water has increase substantially because:

• Technologies for high-capacity wells and broad distribution have developed.

• Increasing populations, with their associated agricultural and industrial activities, create sources of ___________ that further limit supplies of water.

pollution

What is Plan B for water?

none of the mentioned (water recycling, saltwater desalination, groundwater mining, groundwater pumping)

An excess of which of the following(s) would most likely be associated with the formation of a dead zone?

nitrogen

Which of the following is not a source of nitrogen and phosphorous to a river?

burning fossil

What does DO stand for?

dissolved oxygen

Which of the following correctly expresses the relationship between decomposition and dissolved oxygen

Decomposition uses dissolved oxygen, removing it from the water

The term "anoxic" refers to an absence of what?

oxygen

What is the primary culprit behind the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico?

sewage discharge, agricultural chemicals

The depletion of which essential element is responsible for the Gulf of Mexico dead zone?

oxygen

How do excess nutrients in the Gulf of Mexico affect plankton?

allows them to grow to higher than usual levels

Which process removes oxygen from water in hypoxic zones?

decay of plankton

Which of the following would help reduce the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico?

improved agricultural technologies that reduce nutrient inputs to rivers

Where are dead zones found throughout the world?

in many places worldwide

In the Gulf of Mexico, hypoxia occurs in winter.

false

In order to solve problems associate with Gulf of Mexico "dead zone", the followings can be done

• Change flood control practices

• Use ____________ more efficiently

• Control discharges of nitrogen

• Create and restore wetlands

• Reduce nutrient loading

• Manage the whole system

fertilizers

What is an acre-foot?

a convenient unit used to express a large volume of water, the volume of water that will cover 1 acre of land to a depth of 1 ft

Discharge in Colorado River _______increased _________ after 1930s due to ______climate change ________.

decreased, construction of dams

In 1944, a treaty facilitated by the International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC) was signed granting Mexico 1.5 maf annually. However, no water _______ standards were established.

quality

In 1944, a treaty facilitated by the International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC) was signed granting Mexico 1.5 maf annually. As the river became increasingly developed, deliveries to Mexico were often diverted and/or had a near-toxic _______ level. In 1973, IBWC Minute Number 242 was signed mandating the U.S. to adopt measures to reduce the ________ of those waters delivered to Mexico.

salinity

What is the purpose of the Colorado River Compact?

it apportions the annual flow in the Colorado River between upper- and lower-basin states

Yuma Desalting Plant was built for the treaty between _________ and _________.

Mexico, United States

_________ divided the basin into 2 areas at Lee Ferry.

Colorado River Compact

Boulder Canyon Project Act authorized the construction of _________ and the All-American Canal.

Hoover Dam

Arizona started _____________ to bring about 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water per year.

the Central Arizona Project

The proposed Boulder Canyon project, which included construction of the All-American Canal and a high dam on the lower river, intensified animosity between ____ _______ and _____ ____. The project increased _____[b]______'s access to the Colorado River, to ____[a]_____'s distinct disadvantage. The bill approving the project passed despite ___[a]_____'s objections. ___[a]____ then turned to the courts in an effort to get satisfaction, but without success.

Arizona, California

Water salinity in Colorado River increases because of

none of the mentioned (industry, electric power generation, natural process, livestock)

___________ accounted for most total withdrawals in the Colorado River basin, excluding instream use for hydroelectric power and interbasin transfers.

none of the mentioned (public water, industry, livestock, residential)

In Colorado River Compact (1922), each basin having the right to develop and use 7.5 million acre-feet (maf) of river water annually. 7.5 maf was determined based on measurements conducted in one of wet years.

What is/are (a) potential problem(s) of this compact?

it would not be able to allocate 7.5 maf of water in a dry year

What is a watershed?

An area of land that drains into a stream, river, or lake

Some people live in a watershed, but others do not.

false

How are the boundaries of a watershed determined?

The elevation of the surrounding area

A watershed is ______________ that water flows across or through.

none of the mentioned (a wetland, a stream, a river, a river mouth)