According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Insurance Study Birmingham, Alabama is “relatively flat and highly urbanized, with storm runoff directed through storm sewering into streams” (FEMA, 2010, pg 18). The concern is the runoff “sometimes exceeding the capacity of the streams to safely transport the water downstream” (FEMA, 2010) which has caused millions of dollars in flood damage. Lindell, Prater & Perry (2007) describe flash flooding occurring “when runoff reaches its peak in less than six hours, which usually occurs in hilly areas with steep
Mahatma Gandhi once said that “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” 1 The quote talks about how Earth gives us beauty and our basic needs, but when people get greedy it disappears and in my opinion I feel like this quote relates to the topic about the debate of Hetch Hetchy Dam. Back in 1913, there was a Congress hearing debating whether or not the Hetch Hetchy Dam should be built into a part of the California’s Yosemite National Park. The dam was being built so water could be brought to the city of San Francisco. However, during the debate there were some people who were about the dam being built and there were others who weren’t. The people who were for the dam being built were known as preservationist. An example of a preservationist was John Muir; he thought building the dam was being more useful to the nation compared to not disturbing it. But then there were people who argued against the debate like Gifford Pinchot. Pinchot was known as a conversevasionlist, and they were the people who cared more about nature and wanting
The movie Blue Gold: Water Wars provided an in depth look into how the scarcity and availability of potable water is drastically effecting everyone around the world. The movie attempts to relay the fact that if we don't change our methodology of conserving water then the world is in for a number of problems. The films begins by describing the plight of a Mexican immigrant traveling across the desert to the United States. The narrator says the man neglected the consumption of water for an entire week. It then goes on to describe the horrifying effects the lack of hydration had on the man’s body. This scene could be considered a thesis of the movie as it uses a specific instance to relay the point that without the conservation of water all humans
Sources of fresh water are necessary for health care, agriculture and industry. Water supplies used to be relatively constant, but now in many places demand exceeds the sustainable supply, with dramatic consequences in the short and long term. Large cities dependent on significant supplies of water have experienced periods of shortage, and at critical moments these have not always been administered with sufficient oversight and impartiality. Water poverty especially affects Africa where large sectors of the population have no access to safe drinking water or experience droughts which impede agricultural production. Some countries have areas rich in water while others endure drastic
In the article, “Op-Ed In the water crisis, it’s time to move beyond the farms vs. cities mindset,” Nathanael Johnson informs the public that some individuals do not condone the amount of water that farmers consume, as opposed to the people who live in the city. People believe that irrigation is making farmers rich and the vast percentage of water that is being distributed to the farmers is aiding them. However, farmers need the water much more than the people living in the city because all of the farmer’s living is based on farming. For instance, whenever there is a drought, then farmers are the first to pay the price; people living in urban areas do not really understand the important of water, therefore, water is taken for granted. Unfortunately,
Some of water is returned to aquifers and surface water but because this water drains from urban, agricultural and mining lands often contaminated with chemicals, metals and nutrients.
Governor Rick Snyder caused one of the biggest disasters in Michigan. The flint water crisis. Governor Snyder switched the Flint water system which was connected to the Detroit water system to the Flint River. And right away people started noticing severe changes to their water. This was caused from the water pipes corroding and lead leaking into the water. The water that everyone uses, and that we all need to drink. The water started corroding GM’s car parts because of the flint river water. So Governor Snyder switched the GM’s water system back to the Detroit system and he left the rest of flint drinking lead contaminated water. Many people believe that Governor Rick Snyder should be recalled for many reasons.
The Flint Water Crisis is often described as one of the greatest environmental injustices of all time. The crisis began on March 2013 when the city city switched its water source to Flint River. However, due to inadequate water treatment, more than 100,000 residents were exposed to dangerously high levels of lead in the drinking water and a federal state of emergency was declared. The crisis has sparked debate on where to place the blame. A number of civilians, intellectuals, and politicians have agreed that the Flint Water Crisis is a result of the failure of the government on all levels. An article published by moderately liberal newspaper, The Washington Post, entitled “Flint’s water crisis reveals government failures at every level” offers
One of the main reasons that is driving China's unfortunate water crisis is, China’s tremendous population growth. As China’s cities are increasing in population more of their residence are consuming their limited water supply. China’s Water is not only being used for
Has the lack of water supply affected your life in the past three years? California has been in a drought recently, and there has been a great decrease in citizen water possession. The state should regulate water usage because people are using too much water, and it is affecting other people.
The text allows for the reader to understand what the water crisis is, and how it is impacting our daily lives. The text also gives the reader multiple different examples of water control in the United States. But, because of all the corporate greed, corporations are ruining our natural resource of water by creating it into a commodity and selling it. This book gives great insight on how corrupt the government can be when they want to make a cheap buck. Again, “Water is a necessity of life that touches everyone in their own homes” (Snitow and Kaufman, 1) water is a right to all humans, not a commodity for business
While it is not a fact that bigger families are happier, it is a fact that the Earth is running out of space. With an estimated 7.3 billion people living on this planet as of now and 2 billion more people are estimated to join the current population by 2050, the world does not have the space nor the resources to keep these many people happy. Whether people like it or not, something has to be done about the growing human population. If the human population continues to grow without anything to slow the growth, humans will die out along with the Earth. Because humanity will run out of resources, there will be economic issues, and there will be serious contamination to the environment. Population control needs to be implemented into countries by governments.
Let’s talk about what is going on around the world; I will mention to you just a few major cities, and show you how they are dealing with water shortage.
Water is crucial to our survival! Water is one of the scarcest commodities in the world at the moment; some argue that it is scarcer than oil. Wars have been fought over oil; therefore a war over water is a very big possibility in the years to come on this planet. With the current growth of the world’s population and the increase in demand for water in the agricultural industry, the issue of water scarcity is very likely to get worse and worse (Gupta, 2016). This essay will therefore critically discuss water scarcity and how one can prevent a war fought over water, as well as how one can save water and implement change to better our future nationally and globally.
By the year 2025, the Philippines is believed to be brought to a water crisis if no new sources of water are developed or found to meet the growing demand of the citizens. (Sapnu, R., Balabo, D., & Cervantes, D., 2007) "There is a Japan International Cooperation Agency study that says that if we will not conserve water, there may be some problems. But of course we can always start conserving now and look for other sources," Lopez (2013) said. Studies have shown how water conservation and appropriate water utilization are significant as early as today.