Currently, Iowa has some of the worst waters in the nation. The Clean Water Act requires states to biannually test surface water to determine impairments. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources defines impairment as “A waterbody is impaired when its water quality does not fully support that waterbody’s designated uses for human contact, aquatic life, or drinking water.” They note that an impairment on one part of a stream or river does not necessarily mean that at other points of the waterbody it is constituted as impaired. The meaning deals with what the waterbody is designated for and whether it meets the standards set for that use. The amount of Iowa water bodies listed as impaired is very high, but there are also many bodies that …show more content…
The options we have available to alleviate this situation are few. One option, considered by many is simply to do nothing. This is advanced by many who believe that since we can treat the water we should not be placing any more burden upon our farmers. Most Republicans in the state legislature believe this is the best idea, because it is better to have the Des Moines Water Works to have to pay to fix the water than to place costly measure upon farmers and hurt out economy. However, this option does not fix our increasingly polluted water, and does not help fix the increasing Dead Zone.
DMWW already tried suing upstream farmers and counties to have their runoff under the Clean Water Act however, the judge declared that the issue should be left to the state legislature. Those listed in the lawsuit were farmers located in the counties of Buena Vista, Calhoun, and Sac, each in Northern Iowa and feeding waters into the Raccoon River. Because this legal action was thrown out, the judicial approach is an unlikely path for any future policy change in this instance. Because of the judge’s ruling that the legislature is the only way to change this, that means a bill is how it will have to be fixed. The best option to alleviate farm runoff would be to impose similar regulations to what the state of Minnesota has done. The
Taking it back a bit- Unbeknownst to most residents; for well over ten years now, the water pipe infrastructure North of 50 has been leaking an upwards of 1.1 BILLION gallons of water ANNUALLY. (Roughly 3,500 Acre Square Feet- which ironically is exactly what’s needed to supply South of 50) So, in violation of Measure W. City leaders struck a deal with SO50 landowners charging them $90,000,000 to fix North of 50 pipe only to allocate the “saved” water South of 50 (saving them $260,000,000 by not requiring a dedicated water source as initially required) The options could have been to sell this “saved” water (which shouldn’t be leaking in the first place) for fair market value or conserve it, either way not giving away the farm to SO50 landowners at the expense of Folsom residents. REQUIRING them to comply with Measure W as voted and approved on by Folsom residents. Folsom’s water use is less that the actual evaporation which occurs daily on Folsom lake and I’m certain the drought will end at some point. The bigger issue is the lack of transparency and outside influenced deals our elected officials are making, selling Folsom
“For many of us, clean water is so plentiful and readily available that we are rarely, if ever, pause to consider what life would be like without it,” said Marcus Samuelsson. According to the Des Moines Register, “The federal Environmental Protection Agency is adding $12.3 million to a loan fund that will help pay for drinking water systems or improve efficiency.” There are obvious water quality issues in Iowa, and people around the state including farmers and the governor are trying to help.
After more than five years of drought in California, we are just now beginning to see an above-average precipitation,and this is leaving many to ask, "is the drought over?" This last drought was one of the worsts droughts California has experienced in history and it left many panicked and trying to come up with solutions. “Governor Jerry Brown even made one of the first cutback to farmers ' water rights since 1977, and ordered cities and towns to cut water use by as much as 36 percent ” (Zamora,et al..) Overall California has 39 million residents and on top of that California also grows an unbelievable amount of
Californians are being heavily fined for using a certain amount of water a month, which impacts the daily lives of everyone. Water is a natural resource that is crucial to everyone’s survival. Whether if it’s being used for cooking, showering, gardening, washing your car or just simply drinking purposes; water is a necessity for everyone. Though the bill has not yet been passed by congress and officially has not become a law, the issue still remains on the table. The drought in California has taken a massive toll on agriculture, the environment and infrastructure. The drought is on its route to damage California’s climate change. In the past three consecutive years the average rain fall has drastically decreased, and the winter temperatures have increased. Since majority of California’s water comes from the Western Rocky Mountains, the water supply there is dropping resulting in more strict laws and regulations on how much water can be consumed by the average
In their submitted statement of the lawsuit, PVID shares that, “[moving] farm water to cities are threatening the viability of agriculture in one of the oldest farming valleys on the river, which is central in helping us achieve a sustainable water future.”
A potential solution for farmers would be to switch to a subsurface drip irrigation system that could permanently cut farmers' water use by 25 to 50 percent. This would alleviate some of the need for conservation and free up more state water reserves for urban use during time of regional drought (U.S. Water News Online).
The answer to our drought will not be solved in a short amount of time, as a complex issue such as this requires long-term thinking. The state needs to update the water capture delivery systems and fix the groundwater problem due to a lack of regulation.
I conducted a survey of Pulaski county residents to get their opinion about the Pulaski county water supply. The purpose of the survey is to get others viewpoint of Pulaski County drinking water so that we can improve our waters system. In the Article “Arkansas Rivers is Too Polluted to Touch” written on April 24, 2000, it states “The river is fairly clean as it flows into Wichita, but by the time it leaves the city, the water is so dirty it is not safe for wading, fishing and touching, said Tom Stiles, chief of the office of planning and prevention at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The river also is not safe for canoeing, kayaking or water skiing.” Have Arkansas Rivers improved within 14 years? This question will help us to see how far Arkansas Rivers have come since the year 2000. According to Carl Safina in “Song for the Blue Ocean” he discussed how pollution can interfere with not only wildlife and aquatic animals, but humans as well. Pollution can get into our water system causing bacteria and diseases. These waters are the same that runs in our faucets and pipelines. I will discuss resent studies of central Arkansas water quality later in the survey report.
The states of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio are mainly known for their auto industries, but automobiles aren’t the only thing these states specialize in. For starters, Michigan has a growing industry in technology. Technology just happened to be one of the top five industries fueling Michigan’s economy. This industry is supported by their unrivaled epic center for research and development. The research and development center is where work is directed towards the innovation, introduction, and improvement of products and processes. When dealing with technology, water technology is a necessity because it aids greatly in Michigan’s ever improving agricultural industry. The agricultural industry brings in $101billion to Michigan’s economy which
Another one of the many problems that the severe water drought caused was it has a big impact on farmers, families,business, and many other people in the Sacramento area. In “Addressing California’s Droughts” it states that the harsh drought has been hurting a lot of Sacramento families, farmers, and small business that don’t do so well because of the drought which affects their business majorly (Addressing California’s Droughts).The CBS News explain that the State Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin says “there simply is not enough water in the system to meet the needs of the farmers” (Facing Drought,California Will Not Allow Water To The Farmers, Cities). It is also said that without the water on the surface the farmers have to pump water from underground aquifers (Facing Drought,California Will Not Allow Water To The Farmers,Cities). This happens to alter the farmers and their business because without the water for their crops they end up not having any business because they don’t have any crops grown to
individuals are affected by this issue. The once clean water in these wells is now polluted
Due to the lack of rain in the past few years, and particularly in the last few months, California faces severe drought. This is the worst drought in more than one hundred years. The impact of California drought affects community, agriculture, organic ranchers, and dairy farmers. Because of these facts, the United States must rethink the way it uses water. Californians alone are asked to reduce their water usage by twenty percent to prevent water waste.
It was a blistering summer day and it was so hot you could fry eggs on the sidewalk. I remember the day as clearly as if it happenned yesterday. The water ninjas were prowling the streets. Mocking undercover espionage and often anonymous, they secretly watch you, snapping away photos of all your wastefulness with their iPhones. Then uploading the evidence for the world to see – and the newly empowered local Glendale water agency – to blatantly see. Within five minutes of me starting to wash my car, I look behind me and there were the water district people. They did the whole calling me “mam” cliche and asking whether I knew the laws. In the end, they wrote me up a citation for using water on a non watering day. This is just an example of an incident that can occur when excess watering occurs. Luckily for me I managed to get out of the citation for being a first time offender and promising not to do it again. Many of the conventional beliefs have laid blame on the homeowners hooked on having the shiny clean cars, crisp green lawns, and sparkling swimming pools. However, the conventional beliefs don’t always tell the whole story. The truth is California communities all across the state have tremendously reduced their average water consumption. There have been both successes and failures in the fronts of California’s drought and the conservation efforts, but as we go forward there is a definite need in better planning.
“The American Dream”, a national phrase in which is mainly praised by those who pursue the goal of living a better life. All of this is merely an illusion, there is no such thing as “The American Dream”. It is just a big hypocrisy in America and will not change the fact that everyone will still be labeled in a social class and used as a lure for those migrating to the US for a better life. Not only will those in America label your class, but the people you speak to and go out with will also depend on your income. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “The Big Short” directed by Adam McKay are a great example of the dilemma occurring during this saying. Both the novel and the film portrayed “The American Dream” as a horrible portrait, having everyone seem inconsiderate and will do whatever it takes in order to fulfill their desires, no matter the outcomes.
Michelle Phan is an Asian American digital pioneer and make-up demonstrator who was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She became notable as a YouTube celebrity and an entrepreneur of a cosmetic brand. In 2005, she opened her first personal blog in Xanga to talk about different make-up tutorials. Then, she received much supports from her friends and viewers. They suggested her to post more tutorials and requested for further instruction.