You & Water
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Water is an essential for life, very few life forms do more than lie dormant or die when
sufficient amounts of water are not available to them for use. Different species have
different needs when it comes to using water. Some species do well having access to
water that other species would find unusable. An example of this is species living in salty
waters versus animals that live in fresh water or on land.
Water born parasites, bacteria, viruses and some chemical compounds that form
solutions with water can be harmful even deadly to humans and other species. Thus,
consumption of clean water is an essential and desirable component to living healthy
and long lives for many species. Humans fall into this category of species.
Because humans are negatively affected by various water impurities, many sources of
water are not good for consumption by humans with out removal of the impurities they
contain. It is for this reason that many areas of the world have water supplies that are
treated to reduce or remove impurities that cause ill effects in human populations. It is
also why some areas place restrictions on impurities that can be introduced into water
resources.
As the population of humans on earth grows. Sustaining adequate resources that
provide clean water for consumption becomes a greater challenge. In some areas the
population may experience great difficulty in maintaining adequate water resources to
meet the needs of the population. This could be due to excessive population growth in
relation to the normal amount of available water resources or abnormal lows in their
water resource's inflows. Other challenges arise when inflows exceed outflow capacity
and flooding of an area occurs. Though plenty of water is available during a flood,
removal of impurities in the water is usually a factor. Additional negative factors to
humans caused by floods is destruction of: habitations, croplands and infrastructures
and reduction of habitable area.
When one speaks of developing and maintaining sustainable water resources. Extremes
of low water conditions and high water conditions must be addressed because both
extremes are harmful to humans and other species of life. Because low and high water
are opposites of extreme, it is possible one can be used to lessen the effects of the
other. Extremes in water can be managed better through larger scale than smaller scale.
Water management systems that seek to manage extremes on a local or small regional
scale are less effective than large region and national scale. However, the larger the
scale the larger the water network has to be.
Increasing the scale, increases the non affected area to a particular instance of extreme
and increases the possibility of having an opposing extreme present in the network. This
increases the likely hood that mitigation of the extreme can be achieved in a more rapid
time frame. The time it takes for an extreme to be mitigated can play a vital role in how
much damage caused by the extreme condition is incurred. Rapid mitigation of extreme
water conditions is a key to achieving sustainable water resources.
sufficient amounts of water are not available to them for use. Different species have
different needs when it comes to using water. Some species do well having access to
water that other species would find unusable. An example of this is species living in salty
waters versus animals that live in fresh water or on land.
Water born parasites, bacteria, viruses and some chemical compounds that form
solutions with water can be harmful even deadly to humans and other species. Thus,
consumption of clean water is an essential and desirable component to living healthy
and long lives for many species. Humans fall into this category of species.
Because humans are negatively affected by various water impurities, many sources of
water are not good for consumption by humans with out removal of the impurities they
contain. It is for this reason that many areas of the world have water supplies that are
treated to reduce or remove impurities that cause ill effects in human populations. It is
also why some areas place restrictions on impurities that can be introduced into water
resources.
As the population of humans on earth grows. Sustaining adequate resources that
provide clean water for consumption becomes a greater challenge. In some areas the
population may experience great difficulty in maintaining adequate water resources to
meet the needs of the population. This could be due to excessive population growth in
relation to the normal amount of available water resources or abnormal lows in their
water resource's inflows. Other challenges arise when inflows exceed outflow capacity
and flooding of an area occurs. Though plenty of water is available during a flood,
removal of impurities in the water is usually a factor. Additional negative factors to
humans caused by floods is destruction of: habitations, croplands and infrastructures
and reduction of habitable area.
When one speaks of developing and maintaining sustainable water resources. Extremes
of low water conditions and high water conditions must be addressed because both
extremes are harmful to humans and other species of life. Because low and high water
are opposites of extreme, it is possible one can be used to lessen the effects of the
other. Extremes in water can be managed better through larger scale than smaller scale.
Water management systems that seek to manage extremes on a local or small regional
scale are less effective than large region and national scale. However, the larger the
scale the larger the water network has to be.
Increasing the scale, increases the non affected area to a particular instance of extreme
and increases the possibility of having an opposing extreme present in the network. This
increases the likely hood that mitigation of the extreme can be achieved in a more rapid
time frame. The time it takes for an extreme to be mitigated can play a vital role in how
much damage caused by the extreme condition is incurred. Rapid mitigation of extreme
water conditions is a key to achieving sustainable water resources.