Are You Aware? Water Is Critical

This is part II in our “Concerning Climate” Awareness Wednesday series. Read the other posts in the series here.

Water is critical to the sustenance of life. Creating and maintaining life is impossible without this vital resource. Throughout the history of the world, people and civilizations have followed the water. Any threat to our water sources is a threat to life itself.

While the western U.S. has always had periods of drought, many are now experiencing historic drought levels. Drought typically starts with less than normal rainfall. But temperatures also impact this. Since the industrial era began, our earth has warmed by about 1.2 degrees Celsius (about 2 degrees Fahrenheit). While that may seem insignificant, the impact of that “small amount” is great.

With increased temperatures, more water evaporates, meaning less water for our reservoirs. Dry soil acts like a sponge, soaking up rainfall that would typically make it into our rivers. If snow melts too quickly, it can affect available water for the rest of the year. Increased temperatures cause evaporation that leads to crop failures.

The largest source of water for drinking and for crops is groundwater. In early 2020, the first large-scale simulation of groundwater movement was published. According to Laura Condon, lead author of the paper and assistant professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona, there is a “direct response of shallow groundwater storage to warming that demonstrates the strong and early effect that even low to moderate warming may have on groundwater storage. Huge groundwater reservoirs are drying up at an alarming rate.”

According to one study, our warm temperatures have resulted in half the flow of water into the Colorado River over the last 20 years. Due to warmer temperatures — even when we have the same rain and snow — not as much water is showing up in our rivers. Excess heat is drawing moisture out of the earth, making every drought worse. In the Southwest, a drought has persisted for so long that some believe a megadrought is beginning in that area that could last for decades.

With another increase of 1.5 Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), we are likely to lose a lot of groundwater. This means we could even see the East Coast start to have a climate that looks more like the West Coast from a water standpoint, because that small change in temperature is expected to result in an estimated 119 million cubic meters of storage lost from groundwater.

Drought causes other serious issues. The recent drought in the West has created ideal conditions for grasshopper eggs to survive to adulthood. In mass, one group of grasshoppers can eat 1,000 acres a day. They can wipe out all forage for miles, including the leaves of fruit trees, crops of all kinds, and the food sources for wild animals as well as our cattle. Grasshoppers travel in bands and can fly for miles, meaning they can completely consume one area then continue to move and destroy more regions.

Electricity can be another casualty of extreme drought. With less snow, there is less water to operate hydroelectric dams. When this happens, that power is nearly always made up for with more expensive natural gas or coal power plants, resulting in increased carbon dioxide emissions and higher electricity prices.

Drought has both direct and indirect impacts on our lives. The National Drought Mitigation Center suggests thinking of a set of dominoes:

If those dominoes were drought impacts, the first domino you knock over might be farmers’ corn crops dying. The second domino might be that the farmers would not have money to buy a new tractor from the dealer in town. The dealer would then lose money, which would be the third domino. If enough farmers lose their corn crops, the dealership might not be able to employ as many people or may even have to close down — the fourth domino. The dealership closing would cause many more impacts in the community.

Here are a few of the possible economic effects of drought:

Farmers lose money from destroyed crops.
Farmers may have to spend more money on water rights.
Ranchers may have to spend more on food and water for animals.
Crop-dependent businesses, like equipment manufacturers and food processors and distributors, may lose business because of lost crops and livestock.
The timber industry can be affected by wildfires, which are made worse by drought.
Sporting equipment companies may not be able to sell goods dependent on water accessibility.
Barges and ships may have difficulty navigating some waterways because of low water levels, which, in turn, affects companies sending or receiving goods.
Consumers might have to pay more for food.

Indirect effects of drought might also include some social impacts:

Anxiety and depression made worse by economic losses.
Health problems related to poor water flow and quality.
Health problems related to more dust and smoke in the air.
Loss of human life.
Increased risk to public safety because of wildfires.
Reduced income in a highly connected economy.
Increased migration and population density in urban centers.
Fewer recreational activities.

As with most climate-related problems, the most vulnerable populations often bear disproportionate risk when it comes to water shortages. Food production and distribution disruptions can increase food insecurity and malnutrition. This, in turn, can lead to stunted human growth and development, which can influence entire populations. Adverse effects of malnutrition include higher mortality rates, reduced physical, cognitive, and educational attainment, and sometimes lifelong health problems from reduced immunity. The burden is especially great in politically fragile and less developed areas of the world. These issues can then stunt economic growth and development.

The world is depending on those of us with a bigger footprint, and more access to information, resources, and technology to start acting with more responsibility. A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that the past five years have been the hottest on record since 1850 — the time to act is now. All of your decisions to make greener choices can have an impact on global water availability. Here are a few suggestions to make positive changes in the ways we interact with water and help slow global warming:

1. Speak up!

What is the biggest way you can make an impact on water conservation and global climate change? Talk to your family and friends, and ask your representatives to make better decisions. Voice your concerns on social media, or for greater effect, talk to your representatives directly. Encourage new laws that promote water-wise policy, limit carbon emissions, and require polluters to pay to help neutralize their footprint. Domestic water usage only accounts for about 1% of water usage in the U.S., so encouraging good policy can go a long way — especially when it comes to planning and water diversion in the western U.S.

2. Reduce water waste.

Saving water also reduces carbon pollution. It takes a lot of energy to pump, treat, and heat water. Take shorter showers, turn off the tap when brushing your teeth, and purchase WaterSense-labeled fixtures and appliances. The EPA estimates that if one in every 100 homes were retrofitted with efficient fixtures, we could save about 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and avoid 80,000 tons of climate-warming pollution. Also, consider ways that you can make your properties more water wise by reducing non-native turf grass areas and increasing the use of drought-resistant and native plants.

3. Reduce food waste. Eat less meat.

About 10 percent of U.S. energy and 66 percent of our water goes into producing food — approximately 40 percent of it ends up in landfills. If you waste less food, you will likely lower your energy consumption. Raising livestock requires a great deal of water and energy. Eating meat-free meals can make a difference.