Freshwater Distribution of Water source Oceans Seas Bays

Freshwater

Distribution of Water source Oceans, Seas, & Bays Percent of fresh water Percent of total water -- 96. 5 Ice caps, Glaciers, & Permafrost 69. 6 1. 79 Groundwater 30. 1 1. 7 Lakes 0. 26 0. 013 Soil Moisture 0. 05 0. 001 Atmosphere 0. 04 0. 001 Wetlands, Swamps 0. 03 0. 0008 Rivers 0. 006 0. 0002 Biological Water 0. 003 0. 0001 Source: USGS

70% of fresh water on earth exists as ice South pole – 2 miles deep North pole – 15 feet deep Melting = 200 ft sea level increase + 45 ft - 375 ft If all the atmospheric moisture fell to the earth at once the sea level would rise only one inch

Available Freshwater Groundwater Lakes Soils Wetlands Rivers 0. 775% 0. 8%

98% of readily available freshwater is in groundwater

Water Distribution

Location, Location 6 countries possess half of the world’s total renewable freshwater supplies. Brazil Colombia Russia Canada Indonesia China

Water Availability and Location South America: 3 of the 10 largest rivers 25% of fresh river water 5% of world population Greenland: 8 million gallons/person/day Alaska: 1 million gallons/person/day Congo: 130, 000 gallons/person/day Gaza: 37 gallons/person/day Australia is the driest continent, but has small population Asia has 2/3 of world population, but 1/3 renewable water

Water Demand

The three major factors causing increasing water demand over the past century • population growth • industrial development • expansion of irrigated agriculture. Agriculture accounted for most freshwater withdrawal in developing economies in the past two decades

Population expected to grow to 9. 3 billion by 2050 2 billion people will be “water scarce” (UNFPA, 2002)

Industry and Income Country Agriculture High income Industry 30% 59% Middle income 74% 13% Low income 87% 8% Industrial use in China is expected to increase 5 -fold.

Agricultural Production 1% world energy Food production has grown with population 70% of all water used Irrigated land expected to expand by 23% in 25 years

Overall Consumption Irrigation for crops uses 65 - 70 percent of fresh supplies It takes over 528 gallons of water to produce enough food for one person for one day Over the past 30 years, the area of land under irrigation has increased by about 30%. Industry uses 20 -25 percent of available freshwater steel, computers, and raw materials for industrial products annual industrial water use in China could grow from 52 billion tons to 269 billion tons (5 X) within the next two decades Domestic use accounts for about ten percent of water use each person needs between 2 -3 gallons of water a day for drinking, food preparation, and cooking average consumption person is five gallons a day (WHO, UNICEF), but in the U. S. , Canada, and Western Europe the total consumption rises dramatically (>50 gal/day)

Supply and Demand Turning to Groundwater

Turning to Groundwater Use Local, On-demand Availability, Drought Resistance, Good Quality Heavy investment in groundwater exploration 50% of the world’s drinking water 40% of industrial water 20% of agricultural water 1. 2 billion urban citizens worldwide depend on groundwater

Groundwater Use Fastest growing countries India China Pakistan ½ the world’s total agricultural groundwater use In India, 80% of domestic supply and 70% of agricultural supply is from groundwater

Growing Pains

This part of China is mostly flat and the soil, replenished by silt carried down by the Yellow River, is well-suited to agriculture Shallow sand, gravel, rock North China Plain

½ China’s wheat, 1/3 corn Shallow aquifer largely depleted (renewable) 99, 900 wells were abandoned Shift to Deep fossil aquifer (non-renewable) Agricultural well depths can exceed 1000 feet ($) Municipal well depths can exceed 3000 feet Aquifer Levels dropping 3 ft/year China’s grain production has fallen from its historical peak of 392 million tons in 1998 to an estimated 358 million tons in 2005 (34 million tons-8%) China largely covered the drop-off in production by drawing down its once vast stocks until 2004, at which point it imported 7 million tons of grain.

India Population 1, 132, 446, 000 21 million wells water table is falling by 6 meters (20 feet) per year falling water tables have dried up 95 percent of the wells owned by small farmers drilling 3000 ft to reach water agriculture is rain-fed and drinking water is trucked in Pakistan Punjab Quetta Pakistan is growing by 3 million people per year In the Punjab plain, the drop in water tables appears to be similar to that in India. In the province of Baluchistan, water tables are falling by 11 feet per year. within 15 years Quetta will run out of water if the current consumption rate continues

Israel Cenomanian-Turonian Mountain Aquifer Besor highly permeable recharged from the West Bank Coastal Aquifer Width between 3 and 20 km depth to groundwater 60 m to 8 m chief resource of water for Gaza Besor Negev Gaza has the lowest per capital water availability in the world.

80 -100 sites lack infrastructure and mitigation measures

Saudi Arabia Disi Conveyance Project al-Disi aquifer Sandstone aquifer not subject to recharge Partly in Jordan 1984 Saudi national survey reported fossil water reserves at 462 billion tons Wheat on 2. 5 million acres of desert ½ has been depleted irrigated agriculture could continue for perhaps a few decades

The Sahara: Libya 1953 Nubian Sandstone Aquifer “fossil” water Formed 145. 5 to 65. 5 million years ago two million square kilometers world's largest fossil-water reserve equivalent to the flow of 200 years of water in the Nile River located near the center of the world's largest continuous stretch of desert

The Great Man-Made River Project the largest underground network of pipes in the world 1300 wells more than 500 m deep 10, 000 km³ 6, 500, 000 m³ water/day 4, 800 km³ Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirt 20, 000 km³ 4 major basins Water is 1/10 cost Of desalinization

United States

Wettest United States Rhode Island Florida Land (mi 2) 3, 618, 770 Water (mi 2) % water 79, 481 2. 2% 1, 545 500. 6 32. 4% 65, 975 11, 808 17. 9% North Carolina, Maine, Louisiana, Minnesota, Massachusetts Driest? New Mexico Arizona 121, 593 West Virginia 2 0. 2 43 % 114, 000 364 0. 32% 24, 232 145 0. 6%

Surface water 79% Texas California Idaho Illinois Groundwater 21% California Texas Nebraska Arkansas

Groundwater and Surface Water Use #1 irrigation #2 public Supply #1 power generation #2 irrigation Groundwater Surface water

Surface Water Groundwater

Agriculture and the Ogallala Aquifer Irrigation 1930 s 1970 s 600 wells 200, 000 wells ¾ of wheat traded on the world market Slowly replenished: Water tables have fallen By up to 100 ft 5 – 25”/yr Rainfall Pumping has declined by ½; new wells banned

irrigated Below is a link for a story on NPR http: //www. npr. org/templates/story. php? story. Id=12595774

Surface Water Groundwater

Summary Surface water 79% of withdrawals Ground water 21% of withdrawals #1 use of groundwater is for irrigation #1 use of surface water is for power generation Both ground and surface water withdrawals peaked in 1980 Texas uses the greatest amount of surface water California uses the greatest amount of groundwater