Freshwater

Where is all the Water?

Oceans, Seas, & Bays 96.5

Ice caps, Glaciers, & Permafrost 1.80

Groundwater 1.70

Lakes 0.013

Soil Moisture 0.001

Atmosphere 0.001

Wetlands, Swamps 0.0008

Rivers 0.0002Biological Water 0.0001

Water sourcePercentageof total water

70% of fresh water on earth exists as ice

South pole – 2 miles deepNorth pole – 15 feet deepMelting = 200 ft sea level increase

- 375 ft

+ 45 ft

If all the atmospheric moisture fell to the earth at once the sea level would rise only one inch

Available Freshwater

GroundwaterLakesSoils

WetlandsRivers

0.775% 0.8%

01E+142E+143E+144E+145E+146E+147E+148E+149E+141E+15

acre

-feet

of w

ater

Earth

Fresh

water

Ice an

d Glac

iers

Liquid

Ground

water

Surfac

e Water

Lake

sAt

mos

phere

Rivers

Resource

Water on Earth

0

5E+12

1E+13

2E+13

2E+13

3E+13

3E+13

acre

-feet

of w

ater

Fresh

water

Ice an

d Glac

iers

Liquid

Ground

water

Surfac

e Water

Lake

sAtm

osph

ere

Rivers

Resource

Freshwater on Earth

01E+122E+123E+124E+125E+126E+127E+128E+129E+121E+13

acre

-feet

of w

ater

Liquid

Ground

water

Surfac

e Water

Lake

sAtm

osph

ere

Rivers

Resource

Liquid Water on Earth

Groundwater provides 98% of all available freshwater

62% 21%

United States

Total Water Withdrawals

Florida

Surface Water Groundwater

More than 90% of Florida’s drinking water is from groundwater

Geographic Distribution

Location, Location

6 countries possess half of the world’s total renewable freshwater supplies.

BrazilColombia RussiaCanadaIndonesiaChina

Water Availability and Location

Greenland: 8 million gallons/person/dayAlaska: 1 million gallons/person/dayCongo: 130,000 gallons/person/day

South America: 3 of the 10 largest rivers

Gaza: 37 gallons/person/day

Asia has 2/3 of world population, but 1/3 renewable water

25% of fresh river water 5% of world population

Gaza has the lowest per capita water availability in the world.

Water Demand

The three major factors causing increasing waterdemand 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

High income 30% 59%

Middle income 74% 13%

Low income 87% 8%

Country Agriculture Industry

Industrial use in China is expected to increase 5-fold.

Agricultural Production

Irrigated land expected to expand by 23% in 25 years

70% of all water used

Food production hasgrown with population

1% world energy

Irrigation for crops uses 65- 70 percent of fresh suppliesIt takes over 528 gallons of water to produce

enough food for one person for one day

Industry uses 20-25 percent of available freshwaterSteel and other raw materials for industrial products

annual industrial water use in China could grow from52 billion tons to 269 billion tons (5X) within the next two decades

Domestic use accounts for about ten percent of water useaverage consumption per 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)

Over the past 30 years, the area of land under irrigation has increased by about 30%.

Overall Consumption

Supply and DemandTurning to Groundwater

Turning to Groundwater Use

50% of the world’s drinking water40% of industrial water20% of agricultural water

Local, On-demand Availability, Drought Resistance, Good Quality

Heavy investment in groundwater exploration

1.2 billion urban citizens worldwide depend on groundwater

IndiaChinaPakistan

½ the world’stotal agricultural groundwater use

In India, 80% of domestic supply and 70% of agricultural supply is from groundwater

Turning to Groundwater Use

1. _______% of fresh water on earth exists as ice

2. _____% of readily available freshwater is in groundwater

3. ___ has the lowest per capita water availability in the world

4. 70% of all water used is for ________________________

5. One of the 3 countries that account for 50% of world agricultural groundwater use.

Extra Credit:

Growing Pains

Shallow sand, gravel, rock

North China Plain

This part of China is mostly flat and the soil, replenished by silt carried down by the Yellow River, is well-suited to agriculture

½ China’s wheat, 1/3 corn

Aquifer Levels dropping 3 ft/year

Shift to Deep fossil aquifer (non-renewable)

Agricultural well depths can exceed 1000 feet ($)

Municipal well depths can exceed 3000 feet

Shallow aquifer largely depleted (renewable)

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.

99,900 wells were abandoned

India

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 3000ft to reach water

agriculture is rain-fed and drinking water is trucked in

Population 1,132,446,000

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

PakistanQuetta

Punjab

Cenomanian-Turonian Mountain Aquifer

recharged from the West Bank

highly permeable

Coastal Aquifer

Width between 3 and 20 km

chief resource of water for Gaza

depth to groundwater 60 m to 8 m

Israel

Gaza has the lowest per capitalwater availability in the world .

Besor

Negev

Besor

80-100 sites lack infrastructure and mitigation measures

1984 Saudi national survey reported fossil water reserves at 462 billion tons

½ has been depleted

irrigated agriculture could continue for perhaps a few decades

al-Disi aquifer

Sandstone aquifer not subject to recharge

Saudi Arabia

Partly in Jordan

Wheat on 2.5 million acres of desert

Disi Conveyance Project

The Sahara: Libya1953

“fossil” water

Nubian Sandstone Aquifer

world's largest fossil-water reserve

located near the center of the world's largest continuous stretch of desert

two million square kilometers

equivalent to the flow of 200 years of water in the Nile River

Formed 145.5 to 65.5 million years ago

4 major basins

20,000km³

10,000km³

4,800km³

The Great Man-Made River Project

Water is 1/10 costOf desalinization

the largest underground networkof pipes in the world

1300 wells more than 500 m deep

6,500,000 m³ water/day

Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirt

United States

United States 3,618,770 79,481 2.2%Land (mi2) Water (mi2) % water

Rhode Island 1,545 500.6 32.4%

Florida 65,975 11,808 17.9%

North Carolina, Maine, Louisiana, Minnesota, Massachusetts

Driest?

New Mexico 121,593 243 0.2%Arizona 114,000 364 0.32%West Virginia 24,232 145 0.6%

Wettest

Texas CaliforniaIdahoIllinois

CaliforniaTexasNebraskaArkansas

Surface water 79% Groundwater 21%

Groundwater

Surface water

#1 irrigation#2 public Supply

#1 power generation#2 irrigation

Groundwater and Surface Water Use

Surface Water

Groundwater

Agriculture and the Ogallala Aquifer

¾ of wheat tradedon the world market

1930s 600 wells1970s 200,000 wells

Water tables have fallenBy up to 100 ft

Slowly replenished:

Pumping has declined by ½; new wells banned

5 – 25”/yr Rainfall

Irrigation

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12595774

irrigated

Below is a link for a story on NPR

Surface Water

Groundwater

Surface water 79% of withdrawalsGround 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 waterCalifornia uses the greatest amount of groundwater

Summary

8 Bgal/d Water Withdrawn

1700 rivers and streams (Feet to miles wide)

One of the most productiveAquifer systems in the world

Florida