[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/EW-04-22-14-Scarce-Water.mp3|titles=EW 04-22-14 Scarce Water]
Water poverty – the lack of access to clean, fresh water – is a much-discussed problem in the developing world. However, problems with water scarcity are in no way limited to third-world countries.
The depletion of aquifers as a result of agricultural, industrial, and municipal water use – coupled with the growing frequency of extreme weather events – is making water supplies much less reliable. In places like California, communities grapple with severe droughts that tax their water supplies. Floods alter seasonal patterns of water availability and affect water quality and aquatic ecosystem health.
In order to address the need for reliable water supplies, people are increasingly turning to desalinization technologies, water recovery, and water reuse programs. There are more than 16,000 desalinization plants worldwide and their numbers are growing. California’s Carlsbad Desalinization Project is a billion-dollar facility that will supply over 50 million gallons of water a day to San Diego when it comes on line in 2016.
There is much work to be done in improving desalinization technology. It requires a lot of energy, most of which comes from burning fossil fuels. It produces harmful waste products such as hyper-saline brine and chemicals used to clean the systems. And it disrupts many aspects of local ecosystems with both chemical and thermal pollution.
Providing reliable sources of clean water in a changing world is a challenge for communities everywhere. It will require improved technologies, enlightened policies and creative economics to tackle this fundamental issue.
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Web Links
The Costs of Fresh Water in a Changing World
Photo, taken February 20, 2010, courtesy of Vinoth Chandar via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.