This is the primer for what is happening in Arkansas right now.
Helpful Links
Regulatory Agencies
Arkansas Government
The Fraq Act
- S. 1215: Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act
This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee. Contact your Senators to get the buzz going again. Our aquifers are the source of water for the farms that feed our families. One can only imagine the outcome if nothing is done...
October 20, 2010
September 24, 2010
Water Science for Schools -- National data on water usage from 2000
USGS is an abundant source of data. They try not to interpret the data. That is up to you but it is there to utilize for researchers and others interested in charting, graphing and interpreting.
This page can be found on the web here.
Back to previous page
Water Q&A: Water use
- What is most of the freshwater in the U.S. used for?
- Which states use the most water?
- Which states irrigated the most?
- Where did this water come from and how was it used?
- How much water is used to produce power in the U.S.?
- Does the U.S. produce any power using steam energy?
- What about hydroelectric power?
- Water is used for "fish farming?" The U.S. grows fish?
- Is saline water used for anything?
- How important is ground water?
(1) Q: What is most of the freshwater in the U.S. used for?
A: In 2000, about 346,000 million gallons per day of fresh water was withdrawn from our surface- and ground-water sources, such as rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and wells. Would you think that two uses of water, irrigation and thermoelectric-power production, would account for about 79 percent of water used in 2000? Here's the breakdown by water-use category:
- Irrigation: 40 percent
- Thermoelectric power: 39 percent
- Public Supply: 13 percent
- Industry: 5 percent
- Livestock, aquaculture: less than 1 percent
- Domestic (self-supplied): 1 percent
- Mining: 1 percent
In a way, the large amount of water used for power production (electricity) is deceiving. It is mostly used to just cool the heated power-production equipment. The vast majority of the water used by power plants is returned to the environment, and thus is available for other uses.
(2) Q: Which states use the most water?
A: In 2000, California alone accounted for almost 11 percent of all freshwater used in the United States. After California was Texas, Idaho, and Illinois, which together accounted for 28 percent of all fresh water used in the U.S. Most of the water used in California was for crop irrigation. In fact, 22 percent of all the Nation's irrigation water used was in California, which indicates how important agriculture is there. Florida also is a large food producer but because it gets a lot more summer rainfall than the Central Valley of California, there is less need to apply irrigation water.
The three most populated states, California, Texas, and New York accounted for 30 percent of all water withdrawn for public-supply uses (for example, a city/county withdrawing water and delivering it to our homes and businesses). Texas, Wyoming, and Oklahoma used the most water for mining purposes, and California, Michigan, and Florida used the most water for household (domestic) purposes.
(3) Q: Which states used the most water for irrigation?
A: Agriculture is a big business in the United States, and a lot of water is used to produce our food. In 2000, farmers used water to irrigate about 61,900,000 acres of land. That is about 96,700 square miles, which you can think of as a big, square plot of land about 311 miles on a side. And that is only the land that was irrigated; other land produced crops without the use of irrigation.
As expected, California led the Nation in acres irrigated, about 10,100,000, which was over 16 percent of the national total. Nebraska was next, irrigating about 7,420,000 acres, followed by Texas at about 6,490,000 acres. Agricultural irrigation is much more prevalent in the arid Western United States than in the East. The Western U.S. accounts for the majority of irrigation water use.
(4) Q: Where does irrigation water come from and how is it applied to the land?
A: Both ground water and surface water are used for irrigation. In 2000, about 56,900 million gallons per day were withdrawn from the ground for irrigation, whereas about 89,700 million gallons per day were taken from surface-water sources. A small amount of treated (reclaimed) wastewater coming from sewage-treatment plants was used for irrigation (no, not on food crops!). It mainly is applied to golf courses and public areas, such as parks and road medians.
The USGS keeps records on the types of irrigation systems used in the United States:
- Flood irrigation: water is poured onto the land and flows through fields
- Spray irrigation: water is sprayed from spray guns or sprinkled onto fields
- Drip (micro) irrigation: water is slowly dripped from small pipes onto crops
In 2000, about 29.4 million acres of the 61.9 million total irrigated acres (about 47 percent) were irrigated by the flood irrigation process. Another 28.3 million acres were spray irrigated, with the remaining 4.2 million acres received drip irrigation. How the acres are irrigated in major irrigation states is illustrated in the following table:
| State | Acres irrigated (thousands) | Acres flooded, (percent) |
Acres sprayed, (percent) | Acres dripped, (percent) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 10,100 | 54% | 16% | 30% |
| Nebraska | 7,820 | 53% | 47% | 0% |
| Texas | 6,490 | 37% | 62% | 1% |
| Arkansas | 4,510 | 86% | 14% | 0% |
| Idaho | 3,750 | 35% | 65% | <1% |
| Colorado | 3,400 | 65% | 35% | <1% |
| Kansas | 3,310 | 20% | 80% | <1% |
| Oregon | 2,170 | 47% | 53% | <1% |
| Florida | 2,060 | 41% | 25% | 34% |
| Montana | 1,720 | 71% | 29% | 0% |
| Washington | 1,570 | 16% | 81% | 3% |
| Wyoming | 1,160 | 84% | 16% | <1% |
| United States | 61,900 | 47% | 46% | 7% |
(5) Q: How much water is used to produce power in the U.S.?
A: The United States produces a lot of electrical power, and water is important in that production. In 1995, there were about 2,690,000 billion watthours (gigawatt hours) of power produced by thermoelectric power plants (those plants that burn oil, gas, and coal, use geothermal energy, or use nuclear energy). Hydroelectric power plants (falling water spins a turbine to produce power) accounted for another 310,000 gigawatt hours of power.
In 2000, about 136,000 million gallons of fresh water and 59,500 million gallons of saline water each day were used in the thermoelectric power-production process. Why do power plants need so much water? Mainly it is used to cool the reactors of nuclear plants, and for condenser cooling in fossil-fuel (such as coal, oil, etc.) power plants. Incidentally, well over 99 percent of water used is from surface-water sources, rather than from ground-water sources. In fact, most power plants are located near a surface-water body so they can have easy access to large amounts of water.
(6) Q: Does the U.S. produce any power using natural steam energy?
A: Yes, but not very much. In 1995, power produced by using the earth's steam, called geothermal power, totaled about 6,100 gigawatt hours, which is about 0.2-percent of the Nation's total power production. Only about 59 million gallons per day of water was used in this process. Iceland makes great use of its geothermal resources.
(7) Q: What about hydroelectric power?
A: Power produced by hydroelectric plants was a significant source of energy for the U.S. in 1995. About 310,000 gigawatt hours of power was produced, which was about 12 percent of the Nation's total power output. Hydroelectric power is an "instream use" of water, that is, water flowing in a river or from a reservoir is used to turn a turbine to produce energy, so water is not actually "withdrawn." You can imagine that not every state can make use of hydro power because the water actually has to fall from a high altitude to a low altitude to produce power (although water can be pumped back uphill to be used again in some cases). The generally flat state of Florida does have a hydro plant, though!
(8) Q: Water is used for "fish farming?" The U.S. grows fish?
A: You mean you've never eaten farm-raised catfish, or a trout from a "trout farm?" Fish farming is a big business in some places. There are large catfish farms in Arkansas and Mississippi. In 2000, Idaho used about 1,970 million gallons of water per day to grow trout, and accounted for a large percentage of the world's farm-raised trout. In Louisiana, more than 50 times more water is used for fish farming than is used for animals that produce meat, poultry, and milk.
(9) Q: Is saline water used for anything?
A: Saline water has some uses. In 2000, the U.S. used about 62 billion gallons per day of saline water, which was about 15 percent of all water used. But saline water can only be used for certain purposes. The main use was for thermoelectric power-plant cooling. As for the other uses, about 8 percent of water used for industrial purposes was saline, and about 43 percent of all water used for mining purposes was saline. Also, saline water can be desalinated for use as drinking water by putting it through a process to remove the salt from the water. The process costs so much that it isn't used very much right now.
(10) Q: How important is ground water?
A: Ground water, which is in aquifers below the surface of the Earth, is one of the Nation's most important natural resources. Ground water is the source of about 37 percent of the water that county and city water departments supply to households and businesses (public supply). It provides drinking water for more than 90 percent of the rural population who do not get their water delivered to them from a county/city water department or private water company. Even some major cities, such as San Antonio, Texas, rely solely on ground water for all their needs. About 42 percent of the water used for irrigation comes from ground water. Withdrawals of ground water are expected to rise as the population increases and available sites for surface reservoirs become more limited.
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/qausage.html
Page Contact Information: Howard Perlman
Page Last Modified: Monday, 29-Mar-2010 14:14:07 EDT
September 21, 2010
Water Treasures Hidden beneath the Earth
This web site, assembled by Greek high school students and faculty, is a wonderful primer on water.
Environmental Group of 1st Messini High
School
Environmental Group of 1st Messini High
School
2004-2005
Water Treasures Hidden beneath the Earth
Water. The valuable 1% of planet Earth. One of the
most commonly found elements on earth, without which no living organism can
exist. There is no life without water. Ever since satellites were able to send
images from space, Earth has been given the name “the Blue Planet”, due
to its oceans and seas. Water covers approximately 70% of the earth and its
volume is 340 square kilometres. From this amount, 97% is found in oceans and
seas, 1% is available for human use and 2% is found, in the form of ice, in
icebergs and glaciers.
Since the beginning of time, water has been considered a very important source of life. Man would do anything in his power to obtain it. Water and the struggle to obtain it has always been one of the main concerns of man through the ages.
Great civilizations originated in water, as did man himself. Man’s dominance over water played a major role in
his development, and misuse of it led to his destruction. It’s not by chance
that we meet all great civilizations near rivers. Egypt
has been called “the gift of the Nile”. Mesopotamia, a powerful ancient state, lies between two rivers.
Today, more than 2 billion people living in developing countries have
inadequate access to water, and another 2.5 billion don’t have proper hygiene
conditions. It’s estimated that in the year 2025, 3.5 billion people will
suffer from luck of water. The estimation mainly refers to countries of Africa, Asia and Saudi Arabia.
In the last few years water has also been another pawn for political dispute. However, the United Nations declared the year 2003 as “the year of drinking water”. The 22nd of March has been declared the International Day of Water.
In chemistry, water is symbolized by H2O, which means that every molicule of water consists of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen.Water can be found in solid, liquid, or gas form. The ancient Greek word for water is “Ύδωρ”, a word from which originate many of the scientific terms that have to do with water.The scientific field that deals with the study of ground water is called Hydrogeology. Hydrogeology is a comparatively new science, dating from the previous century.
Ancient Greeks had put forward many theories about ground water. First, Thales of Miletos proposed that sea water driven by the wind, penetrates the interior of the earth, where it is accumulated, forming underground lakes. Plato, based mainly on muthology, states that water from the oceans enters the ground through an abyss, called “Tartar”. Much later, Vitrouvius wiil approach reality, saying that rain water penetrates the earth’s surface and settles on rocks and layers of clay underground.
However, even though there were no theories about ground water, people
had known how to exploit it many years before Christ was born. The Romans,
for example, constructed an excellent aquaduct and sewage system, part of
which is still in use today (Cloaca Maxima aquadict in Rome).
At the end of the previous century, the French and German geologists revealed the significance of hydrogeology as a scientific study, which could prove the existence of ground water and the direction of its flow, and invent methods for its exploitation.
It is useful to explain what is meant by the term “drinkable water”. Drinkable is the water which is destined for human consumption or for food preparation and, therefore,should be harmless in every aspect for the health of both people and animals
In order to be considered potable, water has to meet certain characteristics. It has to be transparent, colorless, without any smell or taste It should also have neutral pH and its content percentage in chemicals such as nitrates, nitrites, ammonia etc. should not exceed the limits posed by the European Union and national agents.
Nevertheless, water used for cleaning or irrigation needn’t have these qualities. What’s more, experts say that in the near future it’ll be possible to have two different water supplies, one for human use and the other for more general uses.
The quantity of water, srangely enough, remains the same, regardless of time and the changing of seasons. What probably changes is the proportion of water in solid, liquid and gas form.
Water follows a cycle which starts from the sea and end up in the
sea again. This circular route never changes, generally speaking. Water
evaporates from the oceans and, with the help of winds,
it is transferred to land where it falls as rain, snow or hail. Part of it
evaporates again soon after reaching the earth surface. The rest returns to sea
through rivers, lakes and underground ways. Man uses water by trapping it with
different methods and in different stages of this cycle. This phenomenon is
called “the water Cycle”.
Therefore, it’s not impossible for us to be drinking the same water
our grandmother had once drunk. Water cycle is not exactly the same today as it
was some time ago, since man uses more and more water and, consequently,
modifies its cycle.
When it rains, water follows three different routes. Approximately one third evaporates another one third flows in rivers and lakes and eventually ends up in the sea. The remaining third is absorbed underground and creates what we call an “aquifer”.
The aquifer is part of the ground, which has certain lithological characteristics which permit flowing of water in such a degree that it can be recharged, but also exploited by humans. In fact, it’s quite possible to have two distinct aquifers in the same area, the one separated from the other by a layer of clay. This second aquifer is called a “confined aquifer”.
Underground flow of water is manly due to gravity nad pressure. Movement also depends on the permeability of the rock.
As far as this third factor is concerned, rocks are divided into two distinct categories. Water permeable materials, such as sand (with a diametre up to 0.06 milimetres) allow water to flow underneath the surface, while impermeable materials, such as silt (diametre up to 0.002 milimetres) and clay, prevent water flow and trap it. Other factors playing a role in the forming of aquifers is the ground temperature and viscosity, in other words the resistance a liquid body meets, when part of it moves in relevance with another.
When water flowing underground meets certain rocks, such as
dolomites, which can be easily eroded, natural hollows are formed which are
called caves. Erosion is due to the chemical reaction of dolomite of the
rocks and carbon acid of the rain water, together with the humic acid which is
produced by the decomposition of plants.The dolomite which is dissolved in
water is laid again, creating diversified geological formations, such as
stalactites and stalagmites. Caves are places full of magic and mystery, born by
time and rock which, in their turn, give birth to other myths extracted from
the earth and its own history.
The point, where ground water finds its way to the surface, is
called a “source”. Nature, as we know, has the ability to purify itself.
Therefore the water which travels through the ground can be purified of
substances that pollute it as rain water, and reach the source clean and fresh.
It could be, thus,
true to say that the longer water travels beneath the earth the
cleaner it reaches its surface.
Main sources of water intake are the following
Ø Surface Flow (rivers and lakes)
Ø Rain water
Ø Ground water
Man exploits ground water by drilling it from wells and mountain sources.
Both the quality and the quantity of ground water resources can be affected. Quality is affected by pollution and quantity by the rainfall rate and over-drilling
Ground water is a natural resource which plays a most important role affecting ecosystems, human life and human activities. It’s a renewable treasure, which only if it is highly protected and wisely managed can continue to be beneficial to the human race for ever.
Water resources in Greece and Messinia
The
distribution of rainfall in Greece is
unequal. In Greece, water is abundant in the wrong place and the wrong time. In other
words,there is plenty of water in the mountains in
winter, while it is scarce in summer in large cities and the islands, where
mostly need
Greece has a lot of mountains, which helps the formation of aquifers, but no large rivers or other surface flow basins. A lot of water flows from rivers which have their sources in neighboring countries. (14 km3 annually). The islands are dry and coastal areas are highly developed, a fact which causes even greater problems, when someone thinks of the high tourist seasons.
In Messinia we are fortunate to have adequate ground water, so pure that doesn’t need any kind of refinement. It can be consumed directly from the source, in contrast with other regions in Greece, such as Athens, where water has to pass through numerous processes before it is given to public consumption. As a mere measure of precaution, water is chlorinated with chlorine in gas form. Chlorine is a yellow green acid with an acute, offensive odor. It reacts and oxidizes both organic and inorganic substances. In our region water needs only 20 to 30 minutes to be transferred from the source to our homes.
Water used for our personal needs is not more than 10% of the water
consumed by humans. The biggest amount (85%) covers the needs for irrigation,
while 5% is absorbed by industry. Water is also used as a source of energy
(hydroelectric factories), as a mean that enables transport and as a mean of
extinguishing fires.
Another way of extracting water, which is widely
used in the region of Messini as in many other agricultural regions, is drilling,
which mainly covers the needs for irrigation.
Most of drilling operations are uncontrolled and many times completely
unnecessary, since we could use the water of the Pamisos river, which we let
unexploited to flow into sea. Furthermore, over-drilling, in
other words, when the irrigation percentage from our aquifer surpasses the
amount that nature can substitute, causes greater problems, as the aquifer
gradually reduces and saline water intrudes it. In Messinia, as we were
informed, many cases of saline water intrusion have been recorded, which
are due to over-drilling.
After its numerous uses, water is driven to the drainage pipes. In our region, dirty water is sent to the Unit of Biological Waste Treatment of Kalamata.
These Units
are huge tanks, where the city’s waste is gathered and it is subjected to
purifying processes with the use of microorganisms, thus a biological
treatment. Finally, waste is channeled to sea after being cleaned at a
percentage of 95%. The water, pure and clear, is transferred by use of 500-metre
pipes into the sea, from where, with the method of self- cleaning, it comes
back to the seashore free from bacteria.
POLUTION AND CONTAMINATION
Since water is the biggest dissolver, it faces the danger of pollution and contamination, every time it contacts another substance.These two terms have many times been used interchangeably, so it could be useful to explain their meaning.
Water pollution is called the influence of chemical factors on water, whereas contamination is the influence of biological material, that is microbes and their products.
Every time we use water we pollute it. From the moment water passes through our sink, our bath our toilet, our fields and factories, it carries a large amount of foreign materials with it, which makes water improper for re-use, until it is properly purified again. The time, though, that is demanded for water to be clear again has to do with the factors that have polluted and contaminated it. For example, there are substances that are leached away by the soil itself, as we have already mentioned, but other substances which are difficult to be disposed of, and sometimes tens, hundreds or ever millions of years are needed, until water can become again suitable for use.
CAUSES OF POLLUTION
There are three major sources of water pollution. Agriculture, Industry and Urban Waste.
AGRICULTURE
The main reason of the pollution of the aquifer from the agricultural activities is the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Fertilizers are chelical substances that are added to the soil and contain one or more of the main plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium.
v Even in the most moderate use in the long term fertilizers degrade soil
v The consequences become more obvious in intensive agriculture, where the mass production is combined with drastic fertilization.
v In the case we have an excessive use of fertilizers, especially the ones containing nitrogen, the aquifer is polluted, and consequently fresh water too.
Farmers, in their effort to increase their production, add bigger amounts of fertilizers than the amount plants can absorb. When nitrogen meets ground water it eventually turns into nitrates and nitrites, substances which are highly poisonous, especially to children and infants
When
fertilizers find their way to rivers and lakes they act as nutrients to aquatic
plants and phytoplankton.
Plants are consequently overdeveloped and trap too much oxygen from water. As a result species living in rivers and lakes can’t find enough oxygen and die massively. This phenomenon, which is observed commonly in our rivers and lakes but also in marine ecosystems, is called eutrophism. In our region samples of eutrophism can be found in Bouka beach and the mouth of the river Pamisos.
Another source of pollution that is due to agriculture is the use of pesticides. As with fertilizers, farmers use pesticides uncontrollably and unnecessarily and eventually excessive pesticide is driven down to the aquifer and pollutes it.
INDUSTRY
Industrial
waste is too dangerous for our health, especially if they contain heavy metals
or, even worse, radioactive materials which as everybody knows pose a great
threat to our lives.A lot of discussion has been recently held about cadmium,
which is one of the most toxic metals.It is used in batteries in colours and
plastics.Man can get cadmium by bathing and by consuming food that contains
cadmium. Daily intake of cadmium by water can reach 2-3 mg and by food
up to 50 mg. Cadmium settles in our kidneys and liver where it can cause
serious illnesses.
We have to mention that not only solid industrial waste are water pollutants. Even gases returning to earth and eventually to aquifers, with the help of rainfall, can contaminate ground water.
Industrial waste should be treated by the industrial units themselves and purified, to such an extent that can be harmless for ground water.In our region the waste of olive factories sets a great danger to our surface and ground waters, as they are uncontrollably disposed in the rivers ending up into the sea or the aquifer.
URBAN
WASTE
Urban waste that is not properly treated in Biologial treatment Units, pollutes ground water. In Greece, many sewers still exist, which are not built to be water proof. As a result, liquid waste permeate the ground and end up in the aquifers of the area.
Safe waste disposal is a permanent headache both for authorities and citizens of every region in Greece. So far the most common choice has been proved to be disposing waste in open, uncontrolled waste disposal areas.
After all that is mentioned anyone could understand how dangerous a choice this is for our health. Rain water leaches rubbish away and carries in this way all toxic material underground. After a few days, when litter is decomposed, all liquid substances are driven to ground water
After reducing litter and recycling the only safe way
of waste disposal and treatment, as experts say, are Sanitary Landfills.
Even though we must admit that these constructions are quite expensive to build and conserve, they are absolutely necessary for safe waste treatment and consequently our health.
Another factor that can pollute ground water is the existence of cemeteries and burial gounds in areas which are located above aquifers.
All things said above can well justify the phrase that, instead of water we may have a toxic cocktail in our glasses every day.
WATER: ZERO HOUR
Any discussion about water, according to our point of view, must begin with a fundamental but unfortunately not obvious statement. Water is not anymore a free good in abundance. It is an financial commodity and, at the same time is the heritage of humanity, for which we are obliged to make any possible effort in order to manage water properly.
Ground water is no man’s property. It’s a common wealth whose quality is influenced by a series of factors, not only natural but also man-made, that have to do with all human activities on a large scale and for a long period of time.
The first thing that has to be done is to inform citizens about the importance of ground water and its proper ways of management.
Farmers are the main users of water. This water is usually uncontrollably drilled.Uncontrolled is also the use of fertilizers and pesticides that create enormous problems to the quality of drinkable water.
Solutions proposed:
ü Make wiser use of fertilizers and pesticides in collaboration with agronomists. Most of the time destruction is caused by the farmers’ ignorance and it is due to their conviction that the more fertilizers they use the more their production will grow.
ü Use of biological fertilizers instead of chemicals.In this point agronomists should also prompt farmers to use methods of cultivation which are friendlier to the environment.
ü Take advantage of surface flow water for irrigation
ü No one has the right to use water without any cost. According to that point of view, farmers ought to pay for the water they drill, as ground water is common wealth. However we can understand that this measure may also cause a rise in the price of agricultural products. Thus. Such an activity should be based on a common decision of all social parties involved.
Another important issue is the lack of environmental study preceding the construction of industrial of cattle farm units.Another essential issue is henceforth the study of subsoil in the planning of manufactures that can potentially pollute ground water that is likely to be lying underneath. Such constructions should be built on clay rocks that will prevent the surge of sewers in the aquifer.
According to the law 2000/60 of the European Union all member states have the obligation to restore their waters until 2015. A series of directives has already been issued to this direction.Beyond this date the law “the pollutant pays” will be take effect. Therefore everyone has to be prepared for another state of reality.
History of human race began with the war for the acquisition of fire. It is likely to finish with the war for the access to water.
September 18, 2010
September 17, 2010
The Frac Act
S. 1215: Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act
A bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal a certain exemption for hydraulic fracturing, and for other purposes.
This bill was introduced at the national level on June 9th, 2009. Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee.
If the Oil and Gas Industry claims their practices are completely safe, then they should not be opposed to being subject to the Clean Water and Clean Air acts like they were before the 2005 exemption(see page 12 of this EPA document) was passed into law. Contact your Senators if this makes sense to you.
Our aquifers are the source of water for the farms that feed our families. One can only imagine the outcome if nothing is done...
September 16, 2010
September 14, 2010
September 13, 2010
September 12, 2010
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