The links below provide an outline of the material for this lesson. Be sure to carefully read through the entire lesson before returning to Canvas to submit your assignments.
In Lesson 11, many of the concepts learned in prior lessons become highly relevant, especially our three principles from the course introduction:
In this lesson, you will learn about virtual water and compute a personal water footprint. You will also select and profile a nation likely to be affected by global climate change. You will gain an appreciation for the complexities of conserving and managing freshwater resources. Additional information on future threats on freshwater resources will provide insights on changing demands and uses of freshwater in the years to come.
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
This lesson is one week in length. Please refer to the Calendar in Canvas for specific time frames and due dates. To finish this lesson, you must complete the activities listed below.
Requirements | Assignment Details | Access/Directions |
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To Read |
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The readings come directly from the course textbook (Holden 2020). |
To Do |
Assignment 11.1 - Water Footprint Report Submit a 2-3 page report summarizing the numeric results and your reaction to your personal water footprint and the water footprint of the nation you chose to investigate. |
Submit your essay to the Assignment 11.1 - Water Footprint Report drop box under Lesson 11 in Canvas. |
If you have any questions, please post them to our Questions? discussion forum located under Orientation and Resources in Canvas. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate.
Credits: GEOG 431 Lesson 11 – Conservation of freshwater and future needs. Authored by Jason Pollack and Robert P. Brooks, Ph.D., Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, 2014. Material adapted from the text, references cited, and information gleaned from the websites listed.
There is a water crisis today. But the crisis is not about having too little water to satisfy our needs. It is a crisis of managing water so badly that billions of people - and the environment - suffer badly.
World Water Vision Report, 2000
An ecological footprint calculates the land that is needed for the products that sustain a nation as well as the waste needed to contain the waste of that population. A water footprint is an illustrative tool to measure total freshwater consumption for countries, states, counties, cities, organizations, or even a single person. A water footprint can be broken into three different sub-areas.
The quote at the beginning of this lesson is an unfortunate representation of freshwater management in the present. There are enough freshwater resources globally to support human populations; however, allocating the water to at-risk populations is where freshwater scarcity comes into play. A key example of this quote can be seen in the map below (Figure 11.1). Nations like Norway have enormous water resources that could support a population much larger than itself, while nations like Yemen on the Southern Arabian Peninsula have hardly enough freshwater to support their population.
The changing global climate is expected to greatly impact available water resources. According to NOAA, “Records and research show that sea level has been steadily rising at a rate of 1 to 2.5 millimeters (0.04 to 0.1 inches) per year since 1900. This rate may be increasing. Since 1992, new methods of satellite altimetry (the measurement of elevation or altitude) indicate a rate of rise of 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) per year” (Figure 11.2). If the rate of 3 mm (0.12 inches) per year remains steady, it is possible that by 2100 the ocean will be at a height of 300 mm (12 inches) or one foot higher than it was in 2000. If the ocean were a foot higher in elevation, many island nations throughout the world would be forced to abandon their homeland and become environmental refugees in foreign nations. Coastal cities throughout the world would have to spend billions of dollars to prevent the ocean from encroaching on their boundaries.
At this rate of 3 mm (0.12 inches) per year of increased elevation, human populations should be concerned. As global temperatures rise, places like Greenland, which have trillions of gallons of freshwater stored in ice and glaciers, will begin to experience a decrease in the mass of their snow cover as they melt, adding to the rising sea elevation. Besides the expanding ocean taking away valuable land where humans live upon, it can also have other devastating impacts. Storm surges or even high tides would be capable of bringing the saline ocean water into rivers, groundwater, and reservoirs as the ocean expands. These freshwater resources will mix ocean water with freshwater, creating brackish, undrinkable water. Changing climate also will have an impact on freshwater resources. Larger fluctuations in rainfall will result in longer periods of drought, which could drain groundwater and riverine resources. Rainfall fluctuations will also cause stronger floods and storms, which could cause increased saltwater intrusion and pollution of freshwater resources.
Population growth is expected to increase in the coming century with global populations reaching nearly 8.1 billion by 2025, 9 billion by 2050, and nearly 11 billion people by the century's end. Such a rapidly increased global population is expected to place additional stress on freshwater resources. Peoples from water-stressed regions of the world will become environmental refugees. They will be forced to migrate to countries that possess an excess of freshwater, most likely places like the United States or North/Central Europe. In order to protect remaining freshwater resources in the face of decreasing land space and a rapidly increasing global population, effective conservation policies must be developed.
In order to protect the world's remaining freshwater resources, effective conservation policies need to be created. California, a state with ample freshwater in the northern part of the state and a deficit of water in the heavily-populated southern part of the state, has become a national leader in creating strong conservation policies. The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) is promoting water conservation statewide to combat one of the longest recorded droughts in the state. Most of the general policies can be applied universally throughout the world.
If you are interested in reading more about the subject of conservation, you can access the full Association of California Water Agencies' report on Water Conservation Policy Principles [3] (accessed 7-23-14):
Other ways to enhance water resources could include creating a new governmental body specific to water, give greater authority to the UN to implement water-related laws, invest in technology to access deep groundwater resources, and further develop desalination technology. Extensive lists and further information can be found on any or all of these web pages.
The final readings of this course provides background on and a rationale for having people compute their Water Footprint. There are some excellent graphics providing perspectives on how different nations use freshwater resources. The concept of virtual water is discussed and illustrated. Finally, the last chapter of the text ends with a discussion of water challenges of the future.
Holden (2020) - Chapter 12 - Virtual water (p. 405-425)
Holden (2020) - Chapter 13 - The future of water (p. 427-445)
Assignment 11.1 involves using the Water Footprint Assessment Tool to compute your personal (or family) usage of water (select Your Water Footprint). If you don't have a precise answer, just estimate a value. This website is also where you will access the data for investigating the water footprint for an entire country (select National Water Footprints). Remember to answer the questions about your chosen nation from the perspective of leader in a water resources agency for that country. Metric-to-English equivalents are listed below to help your translations of usage to the metric system used by the calculator.
Use the Water Footprint Assessment Tool [1] from The Water Footprint Network to calculate water footprints. There are tools available, but this one works well and has excellent resources. I encourage you to explore their website, including case studies of calculating and discussing water footprints for products, nations, and the world.
Note: The calculator provides footprint estimates in kilograms (kg). Here are a couple of handy conversions for you:
Read about water footprints in the Water Footprint Network website [6]. Then, compute your personal water footprint using the Water Footprint Calculator [7], briefly discuss the results, and comment on whether you would or would not voluntarily change your behavior concerning water consumption, broadly speaking, and if so, how you would accomplish this. Be sure to demonstrate an understanding of the concept of water footprints. Hint: your water footprint includes both direct and indirect water use.
Note: Do NOT include the fraction of your personal water footprint based on industrial goods consumption. This measure is not very accurate, since it uses income as a proxy for consumption of industrial goods. In addition, I do not intend to know your annual income. Therefore, when you describe your water footprint, please discount the footprint attributable to industrial goods consumption.
Choose a country that is likely to be dramatically affected by global climate change with respect to its freshwater resources. How should this country adapt considering its economy, politics, resources, and global actions? As a leader of this country's water resources agency, what actions would you implement for water conservation? NOTE: The maps on pages 340-341 of the Holden text may suggest which country would be of interest for you to investigate.
Summarize the findings and comments for Parts A and B in a 2-3 page written report that includes the both numeric results of your personal (or family) water footprint and those of the country you've chosen.
Please submit your report using the Assignment 11.1 - Water Footprint Report drop box under Lesson 11 in Canvas. (See the Calendar in Canvas for specific due dates.)
The following rubric will be used to score your assignment.
Description | Full points | Partial points | No points | Points total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Personal Water Footprint | Results presented and discussed whether or not you would voluntarily change behaviors. | Presented results, but did not discuss whether you would voluntarily change behaviors. And vice versa. | Did not present results nor discuss whether or not you would voluntarily change behaviors. | 5 |
Vulnerable Country Water Conservation | Discussed adaptation strategies and gave specific recommendations on actions for water conservation. | Discussed adaptation strategies, but did not give specific recommendations on actions for water conservation. And vice versa. | Did not discuss adaptation strategies, nor provide specific recommendations on actions for water conservation. | 5 |
Content | Thoughtful narrative overall. Demonstrated an understanding of how choices (at the individual and national level) impact water conservation. | Narrative is thoughtful, but could be more specific. Demonstrated an understanding of how choices (at the individual and national level) impact water conservation. | Narrative is too vague. Does not demonstrate an understanding of how choices (at the individual and national level) impact water conservation. | 10 |
College-level writing | No grammar or spelling mistakes. Content is organized well. | 2-3 grammar or spelling mistakes. Flow and organization of content could be improved. | 3+ grammar or spelling mistakes. Content does not flow and is unorganized. | 5 |
Citations | Included a complete works cited page. All information is in the student’s own words and appropriately cited. | Works cited page is incomplete. Some information is not written in the student’s own words. | Works cited page is incomplete or missing. Most information is not written in the student’s own words. | 5 |
Congratulations! If you have completed Assignment 11.1 on computing water footprints, you've have completed your last major assignment for the course, and you are 98% of the way to the finish line. Hopefully, you've gained new perspectives on how precious our freshwater resources are and have learned about the complexities of conserving and managing them into the future. In Lesson 12, you will have 3 simple tasks to complete: 1) take Quiz 4 covering Lessons 10 & 11; 2); view the Lecture 12 Microsoft PowerPoint, which is a collage of photographs I've taken with connections to waters - just for fun!; and 3) complete a course evaluation. I value your input on what worked and what did not, and if the course was stimulating and useful to you and your future or current career and activities. All the best, and see you on the water!
You have reached the end of Lesson 11! Double check the to-do list on the Lesson 11 Overview [8]page to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there before you begin Lesson 12.
Links
[1] https://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/interactive-tools/personal-water-footprint-calculator/
[2] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Total_Renewable_Freshwater_Resources_in_mm_per_year_By_WaterGAP_Average_1961-1990.jpg
[3] https://www.acwa.com/resources/water-conservation-and-water-use-efficiency-policy-principles/
[4] http://www.unwater.org/
[5] http://www.wikihow.com/Desalinate-Water
[6] https://www.waterfootprint.org/water-footprint-2/
[7] https://www.waterfootprint.org/resources/interactive-tools/personal-water-footprint-calculator/
[8] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog431/768