Transcript Questions 16-20

PART I
1-5
• 1)Describe the location of the Salton Sea.
What is the climate and geography of the area
• Colorado Desert
Imperial / Riverside counties, California, USA.
It is located in a valley below sea level, in a
desert. There are a few rivers feeding it (New
and Alamo rivers)
2) How did the Salton Sea form?
Explain what role humans played
• The New River and Alamo River sporadically
dumped the volume of the Colorado river into
the Salton Sink (the valley). Humans tried to
stop the inflow but ended up making it worse.
3) What is the present condition of this
body of water? How has it changed
over the last 30+ years?
• The rivers carry in dissolved salt. The only
outflow from the Sea is through evaporation,
which leaves salt behind. The water has
gotten saltier and saltier, which is bad for the
fish. There have been suggestions of piping in
low salinity sea water and piping out high
salinity sea water, but it is extremely
expensive.
4) Describe several ways the Salton Sea has
altered the ecosystem of the region. Explain the
stability of that ecosystem. How is it changing
over time?
• At first, the Salton Sea increased the
biodiversity of the region, forming a new lake
with fish and many species of birds. The
ecosystem is very unstable and is only getting
worse. The water is increasing in salt
concentration by 1% annually.
5)List and explain three environmental
and three economic reasons why the
Salton Sea is important
• Environmental: 1) Over 400 species of birds have
been documented there; it is an now an important
location for certain migratory birds. 2) It is home to
many species of fish and birds; it is high in
biodiversity. 3) fishing; provides food for some
surrounding populations
• Economic: 1) bird watching; brings in tourists and
consequently money. 2) recreational activities; brings
in money. 3) fishing; brings in money and attracts
sport fishers.
Works Cited
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_sea#Avia
n_population
• http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/salton/Salton%20Se
a%20Description.html
6.
What steps have been taken (and are being taken)
to remediate the Salton Sea? What are the
chances of success? Explain.
• Nothing has been done but many things have
been proposed such as: piping out water to
Mexico, constructing dams or canals, and
desalinating the water and incorporating in into
the drinking water supply.
• There are very slight chances of success because
the situation seems beyond remediation.
7.
Discuss the similarities and differences between
the Salton Sea and Lake Chad in sub-Saharan
Africa.
• Both are lakes in turmoil. Salton for the
ecosystem and Chad for the people
dependant on it.
• The Salton Sea is becoming increasingly salty
while Lake Chad is shrinking.
8. Where is Lake Chad located? What is its
importance? How has it changed? Why has it
changed?
• Lake Chad is situated between Niger, Nigeria,
Cameroon, and Chad and provides a major
source of water for those regions.
• It has shrunk from 25,000 km2 to 1,500 km2.
• This has been blamed on overgrazing and the
resulting desertification. Others blame
inefficient human water use.
9.What former Soviet republics border the
Aral Sea?
• Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
10.
Which rivers mainly supply the Aral Sea?
• The Amu Darya and the Syr Darya.
11. What government agency is
responsible for the Aral Sea and its
plight?
• The World Bank Uzbek mission (of the
Uzbekistanian government) is responsible.
Read more:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_governmen
t_agency_is_responsible_for_the_aral_sea_an
d_its_plight#ixzz1JQhUlILm
12. Why was the water supply to the
Aral Sea diverted?
• In the early 1960s, the Soviet government
decided that the two rivers that fed the Aral
Sea, the Amu Darya in the south and the Syr
Darya in the northeast, would be diverted to
irrigate the desert, in order to attempt to grow
rice, melons, cereals, and cotton.
Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea
13. What resources did the Aral Sea
supply to the local inhabitants?
• The Aral Sea was a source of fish, commerce,
transportation, and recreation.
Read more:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qi
d=20080916081427AAW0GN4
14. Describe three environmental
effects of the fading of this sea?
• First the devastation of all ecosystems and biodiversity in the area
because the only biologically rich environment of that area was the
Aral Sea. Now, the process of desertification has been more than
tripled. Second, the water that is left in the Aral Sea has such a high
percentage of salt, it has become toxic. Lastly, The receding sea has
left huge plains covered with salt and toxic chemicals – the results
of weapons testing, industrial projects, pesticides and fertilizer
runoff – which are picked up and carried away by the wind as toxic
dust and spread to the surrounding area.
Read more:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea#Impact_on_environment.2C
_economy_and_public_health
• http://www.adb.org/Documents/Presentations/RC_Shared_Water/
Ataniyazova.pdf
15. Describe three economic impacts in the
region because of the water diversion
• First, the Aral Sea fishing industry that reportedly
produced one-sixth of the Soviet Union's entire fish
catch, has been decimated. Also, the water diversion
destroyed the muskrat trapping industry in the area,
which used to yield as much as 500,000 muskrat pelts a
year. Lastly, through the devastation of these industries
many thousands of people lost their only source of
income or food or both.
Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea
Questions 16-20
Brennan Kelly
16. How is the situation of the Salton Sea
similar to the Aral Sea? How is it different?
•
Recent major environmental changes that were caused by humans.
Potential dangers from military toxins/wastes.
Loss of fisheries due to human-caused environmental changes.
Sea water that is polluted by sewage, pesticides, defoliants, selenium (SS), agent
orange (AS), and DDE (SS).
Salinity at near-fatal (SS) or fatal (AS) level for sea-living organisms.
Salinity levels that are still on the rise.
Major source of airborne particles (dust) for their respective regions.
Cotton growing regions.
Closed systems, with no outlet except for evaporation.
The health of animals and people in the areas have been negatively affected.
Long history of natural cycles of drying up and re-establishing bodies of water.
Read more:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_do_Salton_and_Aral_Seas_have_in_common#ix
zz1JQhf49cy
17. How would you describe this region
today, other than a “sea”?
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Salton- a saline lake that was formed in a large basin
created San Andreas fault
became lake in 1891
dried up within a year
Aral- Formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world
shrinking since the 1960s
Due to Soviet Union irrigation projects
split into four lakes
By 2009, the south-eastern lake had disappeared and
south-western lake retreated to a thin strip
http://visearth.ucsd.edu/VisE_teach/lessons/Aral_SaltonLP.html
18. Explain five health effects on people
related to the vanishing Aral sea
•
•
•
•
•
•
Digestive disorders
Anaemia
Liver and kidney problems
High cancer rate
High rate of lung diseases
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea
19. How can the Aral Sea be realistically
rehabilitated?
• Many solutions have been suggested over the
years
• Improving the quality of irrigation canals
• Installing desalination plants
• Charging farmers to use the water from the rivers
• Using alternative cotton species that require less
water
• Using fewer chemicals on the cotton
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea
20. Compare the situation in Mono Lake in
Cali with that of the Aral Sea
• Caused by ill thought-out diversions of their natural sources
of water
• The Owens River for Mono Lake
• The Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for the Aral Sea
both are now desolate
Severe effects on the area they are in
• Including health and environmental effects
Read more:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_are_the_problems_betw
een_Mono_Lake_and_the_Aral_Sea_similar#ixzz1JQkO4z9
E
Question 21 -25
Zachary Cornelius
Question 21
• The Mono Lake problem arose from the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power
(DWP) diverting excessive amounts of water
from Mono Basin streams.
• http://www.monolake.org/about/
Question 22
• 1. They both got depleted because diversions
from the feeder rivers.
• 2. They both had a dramatic increase in the
salinity of the water after the water levels
dropped.
• 3. Both problems lead to devastating
consequences for the ecosystems.
• http://www.orexca.com/aral_sea.shtml
• http://www.monolake.org/about/
Question 23
• The problems of Mono Lake are different from those of the
Aral Sea because
• 1. Mono Lake was saved by the Mono Lake Committee
• 2. Russia wanted to take the water to grow crops with,
where as Los Angeles took the water to support a growing
population
• 3. The fishing industries were ruined for the Aral Sea
because all the fish died, where as in Mono Lake there are
still shrimp.
• http://www.monolake.org/about/
• http://www.orexca.com/aral_sea.shtml
Question 24
• In 1994, after over a decade of litigation, the
California State Water Resources Control Board
ordered DWP to allow Mono Lake to rise to a
healthy level of 6,392 feet above sea level
• The Mono Lake Committee, founded in 1978, led
the fight to save the lake with cooperative
solutions.
• http://www.monolake.org/about/
Question 25
• The diversion of the Colorado River is different
from that of the Salton Sea and the Aral Sea
because the Colorado River Flows into a bay
instead of a lake or sea so the water level of
the bay will not be affected by its diversion.
• http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Change/waterd
evelopment1.htm
derp
Bah james kraus
26
• The Aral sea basically had it’s sources diverted
elsewhere for irrigation and has shrunk
massively. The Salton sea is currently growing
in size. The Aral sea is currently fighting
massive amounts of pollution, while the
Colorado River Basin has been cleaned up by
the Clean Water Act.
•
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea
27
• A tributary or affluent is a stream or river
which flows into a main stem (or parent) river
or a lake.
•
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tributary
28
• Most of the water of the Colorado River Basin
originates upstream at the Glen Canyon Dam
which is filled from precipitation and melting
snow in the mountains of Colorado.
•
http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/contracts/watersource.html
29
• The Gunnison, Green, San Juan, and Little Colorado
are the main tributaries in the upper basin of the
Colorado; the Gila is the chief tributary of the lower
basin.
• The Little Colorado rivers primary source is the West
Fork of the Little Colorado River. The Gila River has its
source in western New Mexico, in Sierra county on
the western slopes of Continental divide in the Black
Range.
•
http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/us/A0812939.html
Water Diversions
Research 30-33
Brandon
Harris
Pd: 4
30) What is the most important origin
of water in the Colorado River?
• Most of the river water is supplied by
runoff from high mountain systems.
– In turn these systems act as a source for
tributaries which run into the Colorado
River.
31) Who decides where the water in
the river system goes?
• The seven states of the Colorado
River basin collectively decide
how the water is allocated via the
Colorado River Compact.
– an agreement established in 1922.
32) What is a watershed?
• A watershed is the area of land within which all
living things are inextricably linked by their common
water course and where, as humans settled, simple
logic demanded that they become part of a
community.
• Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes.
• In the continental US, there are 2,110 watersheds;
including Hawaii Alaska, and Puerto Rico, there are
2,267 watersheds.
33) How is the Colorado River
resource divided between the various
states In the watershed and the
beyond?
• The 1922 Colorado River
Compact divided the river
between the upper and lower
basins and reserved unused
water for future development in
the four upper basin states.
SOURCES
• http://water.epa.gov/type/watershe
ds/whatis.cfm
• http://ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER/a
rroyo/101comm.html
Questions 34-37
John Arsenault
34. How do the individual states use
the water?
• The water from the Colorado River goes
through dams which send the water into
aqueducts and from there the water is used in
all different areas such as agricultural use,
drinking water, and used for livestock.
• http://ag.arizona.edu/azwater/arroyo/101co
mm.html
35. Describe some of the conflicts that
arise over water use. How are they
usually resolved?
• When a fish is named an endangered or a threatened
species, conflicts usually arise on how the water is used
in the area where the certain fish live. To resolve these
conflicts, conferences usually take place where they
come to the agreement on the best way to use the
water in these areas.
• http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/
More-conflict-expected--over-Colorado-River
36. How are the conflicts between
public and private use managed?
• The Colorado River Salinity Control Program
comes up with the answer to the conflicts
between public and private water use.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_
Basin_Salinity_Control_Program
37. Serious differences with Mexico exist concerning
the amount of water the Mexicans receive from the
river. Explain why this problem exists and what can be
done to work out this dispute between the countries.
• The problem exists because droughts and
other climate changes occur and change the
way that water can be used in the Mexico
area. The conflict was resolved by the
Colorado River conflict between Mexico and
the United States.
38-41
Tali Schroeder, 4th
38.
• The countries through which the Tigris and
Euphrates flow are more arid than the
western US.
• Countries may have disputes over water.
• Ex: Syria wanted to build a dam, but doing so
would deprive Iraq of water. The Syrians
deployed troops to prevent sabotage by Iraqi
commandos.
39.
• The Yangtze and the Colorado rivers are both
being used for populations too large to supply
to sustainably.
40.
• The Three Gorges Dam
– Supplying hydroelectric power to the region
– Reducing the potential for floods downstream
• flood storage
– Augmenting shipping capacity of the river
41.
• The Three Gorges Dam
– Increases the risk of landslides
– Crosses geological fault lines
– Located in a heavily populated area
– Home to threatened flora and fauna
– Disrupts aesthetics of area
Sources
• http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/tigris.htm
• http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/200706/01/content_885084.htm
• http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2008/dec/21
/1n21colorado211057-colorado-river-may-face-fighti/
• http://www.businessinsider.com/three-gorges-damsouth-to-north-water-diverson-project-china-2010-7