#aquifier

All around the world, there are nature’s treasures. Treasures that are unique and full of resources. One of them being water. Think of the Everglades for example.

“Today Everglades is one word and yet plural. They are the only Everglades in the world.”

Yet, it is important to note that these treasure are being endangered, in particular, fresh water. Our planet is a water planet, but we should think of it as a limited water planet.

“About 97.5 percent of Earth's water is salt water. The remaining 2.5 percent is freshwater, most of which is frozen in ice and snow.”

So in reality, our planet has little freshwater, and the little that is available is not being respected or protected.

“Most freshwater on the planet is frozen and not accessible for us to use.”

This creates problems for areas with a limited amount of water. Take California for example. Two-thirds of state uses 80 percent of the water demand. To meet the demand, tunnels and canals are used in order to transport the water to cities and farmland in the south part of the state.

Without water, farmland cannot thrive and produce.

Without water, cities can’t remain sanitary and provide a basic necessity of life.

However, the northern part of the state is suffering. Ecosystems of salmon and smelt are feeling the lack of water. To counteract, there have been cutbacks in water movement to help save the species. However, this hurts farmers.

As you can see, the issue of water scarcity is a problem that affects everyone, directly or indirectly.

As the need of freshwater arises, more resources are being depleted and endangered. Aquifers are being pumped nonstop, to rate of them being unable to recharge.

The problem is called “The Tragedy of the Common.” Basically, when an aquifer is found to have groundwater, the first person takes as much water as he or she desires. Then, a second person comes and continues the process. A third person finds out, and nobody seems to focus on preserving the aquifer but instead focus on getting a much water for themselves.

When no one steps up and takes responsibility more negative results occur. As aquifer depletion occurs, subsidence may occur. This refers to land sinking. When this sinking occurs, another problem occurs.

When sinking occurs near coastal areas, saltwater can be mixed with fresh water. If this happens, groundwater is lost and is now saltwater. The end result is a decrease of usable groundwater near the coastal areas.

Water is not only being over-pumped, it is also being polluted. The rivers and streams that once were clear are being dumped with chemical waste, fertilizers, and industrial spills.

People thought that water diluted harmful substances. But that was incorrect.

Once water becomes polluted, more problems happen.The chemicals that enter the water are known to be cumulative. This means that once they enter the food chain, the negative reactions continue.

For example, a small animal consumes the chemicals in the water. Then, this small animal is consumed by a larger animal. The larger animal is consumed by humans. Humans then have health issues that arise from the consumed chemicals.

As you can see, not protecting our freshwater is going to cause a cycle of problems if we decide to do nothing at all.