Freshwater and Society

1
Freshwater and Society

• Module 1, part A

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Content of module 1

• Beneficial uses of water
• Hydrologic cycle
• History of watershed science
• Watersheds
• Human impacts and impairment of water resources

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What are the resources?

• More than 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams
  (including intermittent streams)

4
What are the resources?

• Approximately 40 million acres of lakes, ponds,
  and reservoirs
• The area of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs in the
  United States converts to about 62,500 square
  miles
• An area larger than many individual states such
  as Illinois, Georgia, or New York

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What are the resources?

• 5,382 miles of Great Lakes shoreline

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What are the resources?

• More than 277 million acres of wetlands such as
  marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens, including 170
  million acres of wetlands in Alaska

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Beneficial uses of water

• How do people use freshwater resources?

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Beneficial uses Summary

• Aquatic life and wildlife support
• Fish/shellfish consumption
• Drinking water supply
• Recreation
• Agriculture

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Beneficial uses Aquatic life and wildlife support

• The waterbody provides suitable habitat for
  survival and reproduction of desirable fish,
  shellfish, and other aquatic organisms

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Beneficial uses Fish and shellfish consumption

• The water body supports populations that do not
  pose a human health risk to consumers
• Fish free from contaminants
• Shellfish free from toxicants and pathogens

http//seagrant.umn.edu/pubs/vgl/com3.html
http//hawaii.gov/health/eh/food/
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Beneficial uses Drinking water supply

• The water body can supply safe drinking water
  with conventional treatment
• Consider possible negative impacts of this
  beneficial use
• May greatly reduce water quantity in rivers,
  lakes and groundwater
• Rivers and streams may be dammed to store water
  for dry seasons
• Groundwater retrieval may create saltwater
  intrusions in coastal areas

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Beneficial uses Recreation

• Primary contact recreation - Swimming
• People can swim in the waterbody without risk of
  adverse human health effects (such as catching
  waterborne diseases from raw sewage
  contamination)
• Secondary contact recreation
• People can perform activities on the water (such
  as canoeing) without risk of adverse human health
  effects from occasional contact with the water

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Beneficial uses Agriculture

• Agriculture
• The water quality is suitable for irrigating
  fields or watering livestock

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Other beneficial uses

• Landscaping
• Power generation
• Industrial processing and/or cooling

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Beneficial uses Water use and management

• Beneficial uses are driven by societal values
• Vary geographically due to numerous
  characteristics
• Vary over time
• Governs the science and administration of water
  quality
• Guides water quality assessment and monitoring
• Results in water quality classifications

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Beneficial uses

• Water quality for the beneficial uses can be
  degraded by human actions or natural events
• The US Environmental Protection Agency is a major
  federal agency responsible for monitoring and
  assessing water quality

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Beneficial uses Monitoring program questions

• What is the overall quality of waters in the
  State?
• To what extent is water quality changing over
  time?
• What are the problem areas and areas needing
  protection?
• The State must identify impaired waters.
• The State should also identify waters that are
  currently of high quality and should be protected
  from degradation
• What level of protection is needed?
• How effective are clean water projects and
  programs?

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Beneficial uses Five levels of water use

• Fully supporting overall use
• All designated beneficial uses are fully
  supported
• Threatened overall use
• One or more designated beneficial uses are
  threatened and the remaining uses are fully
  supported
• Partially supporting overall use
• One or more designated beneficial uses are
  partially supported and the remaining uses are
  fully supported

19
Beneficial uses Five levels of water use

• Not supporting overall use
• One or more designated beneficial uses are not
  supported
• Not attainable
• The State has performed a use-attainability study
  and documented that use support of one or more
  designated beneficial uses is not achievable due
  to natural conditions or human activity that
  cannot be reversed without imposing widespread
  economic and social impacts

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The hydrologic cycle Understanding the context

• Introduction to the hydrologic cycle
• Brief history of the hydrologic cycle

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The hydrological cycle What is it?
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The hydrologic cycle Active model
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The hydrologic cycle Water cycle active model

• The water cycle includes
• Precipitation events rain, fog, mist, snow
• Infiltration and ground and surface water flow
  events with eventual discharge into creeks and
  rivers
• Intercepting this process is the vegetation
  process of root adsorption
• Water enters back into the atmosphere in the form
  of water vapors through transpiration (plants)
  and evapotransporation (water bodies)
• Vapors condense, form clouds, and result in
  another precipitation event

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The hydrologic cycle 1955 historical
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The hydrologic cycle Global water balance
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The hydrologic cycle Global cycle
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The hydrologic cycle Global water balance
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The hydrologic cycle Global water balance
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History of hydrologic cycle and watersheds

• 900 B.C. - The Chinese develop the concept of the
  hydrological cycle. Had no influence on Western
  thought
• 400-300 B.C. - Aristotle Plato described some
  portions of the water cycle, but believed rivers
  arose from deep, dark, cold caves, where air was
  transformed into water
• 1215 - Louis VI of France issued decree on water
  and forests

• 1342 - Switzerland community beginning of an era
  on forest protection
• 1500s - Paulini brothers of Venice accounted
  correctly for the silting and flooding of the
  lagoons
• 1563 - Bernard Palissy of France published a
  correct version of the hydrological cycle

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History of hydrologic cycle and watersheds

• 1670s - Pierre Perrault measured and correctly
  accounted for the major elements of the
  hydrological cycle precipitation,
  evapotranspiration, runoff, and discharge of the
  Seine River Basin
• 1864 - George Perkins Marsh wrote a book called
  Man and Nature focusing on the effects of
  deforestation

• 1874 - New York State report to legislature
  outlining the negative effects of deforestation
• ...creating vast areas of naked rock, arid sand
  and gravel unable to retain the bounty of clouds.
  Streams that now flow icy cold will flow exposed
  to the sun, heated and impure.
• 1890s - First forest research efforts appear
• 1910 - Forest watershed research begins