Final Presentation Abstracts
Once again, BASK students ended 3-weeks of intensive learning and intense fun with 40-minute presentations on water issues of our choice. All of the groups contained a mix of both Andover and Chinese students and were asked to use their respective expertise to report on water issues prevalent on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. The students looked at their case studies through scientific, economic, and philosophical lenses, which they kept in consideration when developing comprehensive policy recommendations to solve these dilemmas. This year's topics ranged from lead poisoning to international river management. Below are the abstracts from a couple of the five groups.
International Rivers: Andrew Zheng (PA'15), Alex Cao (PA'16), Cassie Chin (PA'17), and Bella (Da Tong High School Shanghai)
In this study, we look at two international rivers, that two or more countries depend upon: the Colorado River (U.S. and Mexico) and the Mekong River (China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar). The Colorado faces issues such as drought, salinity control, biodiversity decline, and over-allocation, all while attempting to cooperate with Mexico. Annually the U.S. gets nearly 20 billion cubic meters of water while Mexico gets less that 2 billion. Along with the mismanagement of water, the original amount of water the U.S. allocated is far too much to support the future. The Colorado River Delta is dried up, and the U.S. and Mexico are now trying to restore it. This international cooperation isnât happening everywhere, particularly with China and the other countries that share the Mekong River. The Mekong was once home to an extensive fishery, worth $2.5 billion, largely impacting their economy. Rare freshwater Irrawadddy Dolphins once thrived, their numbers in the thousands. Because of the existing five dams, the fish production reduced by 60-70%. Less than 100 Irrawaddy Dolphins now exist in the Mekong. Now, China has plans to build a series of eight more dams and increase hydropower to support their growing economy and population. These dams will deplete what little fish production and biodiversity the Mekong has left. China hasnât taken into account the effect the dams will have on the other five countries that share the Mekong. Itâs important and in their best interest for China to consider the other affected countries because they are all interdependent on the Mekong, making it imperative for them to work together. Keeping moral obligations, environment issues, and political responsibilities in mind, we search for solutions and policies for both the U.S. and China in their international water diplomacy struggles. The U.S. has started to collaborate with Mexico, and we hope China can follow and think about the other Mekong users before they make any significant decisions.Â
Bad Beaches: Matt Osborn (PA'15), Felix Sanchez (PA'16), Charlie (Da Tong High School Shanghai), Â Monica (RDFZ Beijing), and Sandy (BDFZ Kunming)
The Santa Monica Beach is a popular tourist destination within the Los Angeles area. As a result of the massive population and urbanization the beach and the bay have become polluted. The Santa Monica Beach produces $10B and 45 million tourists annually.
California also spends a lot of money trying to clean this beach (~$300M) but if we were to clean this mess up we can save a lot of money and the environment. For example, Heal the Bay (a non for profit organization) is helping clean up the Santa Monica Bay and its surrounding areas. They have successfully stopped oil companies from drilling in the bay in 1995. In addition, they are currently working on holding a city-wide moratorium on oil wells in Santa Monica Bay. Predications say there is a 34% chance of oil leakage from said wells.
We approached this issue with a utilitarian intensive viewpoint. We feel that all of California deserves to enjoy the bay so we can ignore the few rich for the greater good.
Similarly, the Sanya Beach in Hainan, China is in danger of losing itâs status as the âOriental Hawaiiâ due to excess amounts of pollution. As one of the biggest tourist destinations in China. Sanya is critical for the local economy. Unfortunately, what is driving the economy is in turn threatening the environment. As tourism grows, Sanya takes in more pollution and for the most part is unable to handle the increase. Often times, trash can be seen littered on the beaches or coming from hotels and restaurants. If Sanya is unable to address the pollution problem before it is too late, fewer and fewer people will seek the beaches out as vacation destinations. We believe it is in Sanyaâs best interests to keep the status of the environment in consideration when attempting to drive economic and tourism growth.
Water Recycling:Â Anna Dear (PA'16), Alphonse Le (PA'15), ZhangKai (Da Tong '17), Linda Sun (BDFZ'16), and Holden Wang (RDFZ'16)
Water recycling is crucial in order to ensure that future generations will have access to a sufficient and clean water resource. Unfortunately, most people are unable to anticipate these long-term needs, and accordingly, they spend wastefully consume and expend the already limited water we have today.
Water purification and reclamation via treatment in plants not only cuts back on our water usage, but also is cost effective and is mostly environmentally friendly. Many urban areas around the world are starting to establish new water treatment plants to minimize wasting water, especially within the US and China. Â
One of the main issues with this process right now is that many, if not all plants, only produce non-potable water, which can have agricultural, municipal, or industrial uses, but not water suitable for drinking. The most ideal situation is to have potable water being produced in these recycling plants.
We cannot fully recycle all the water that we consume, but with the water purification and reclamation plants, we can minimize our losses.Â











