BY KARA CAPELLI AND KEVIN DENNEHY
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/understanding-the-connections-that-determine-groundwater-availability/?from=title
Typical pump used for obtaining groundwaterSummary:
Groundwater is essential to the well-being of any community across the Earth. It is used for many things, including drinking water, agricultural purposes, and for businesses and machinery. This article states the importance of maintaining an abundance of good quality groundwater for a healthy community. The people at this organization do just that by testing the water around them and across the country. They study everything about the topic. They have made clear observations on the way water transfers to aquifers underground and how it is retrieved. They make sure their equipment does not effect the water in any negative way. They also make sure they don't contaminate the water beneath them, or run it dry.
Many factors contribute to the quality of groundwater, including things as abstract as climate change. groundwater is not only affected by the little things, but it impacts the big things. Se levels have risen due to groundwater patterns. When water is pumped from aquifers and not used, run off leads ultimately to the ocean. Groundwater is major part of life. "The USGS National Water Quality Program is documenting water quality in the principle aquifers throughout the country while continuing studies to determine which groundwater sources are most vulnerable to contaminants like arsenic, radium, and other trace elements."
Reflection:
Groundwater has such an impact on our lives it is worth being taken care of. Monitoring it in the way that USGS does is very wise. I believe that most areas should have some group of people to be in charge of making sure groundwater is in check. The path that water follows, from run off to your kitchen ink is incredible. For the safety of our environment, we should also be careful not to block aquifers with pavement. This is why laws that limit how much concrete can be put down is also a wise decision. In conclusion, I think we an agree that without the upkeep of groundwater quality, we would be nowhere.
Questions:
1. In what way is groundwater most important?
2.What is the best way to keep groundwater safe?
3.Are the actions of the USGS adequate?
4. What, if anything, would you change about the way we treat groundwater?
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ReplyDeleteThis article ties in greatly with what we are learning in class, Great Job Sara! I agree, groundwater is one of our most important resources. Without it, we wouldn't be able to do much of anything. Aquifers are important as well. If we block all of our resources with pavement and concrete, we will strand ourselves. I am eager to learn about groundwater some more in class. If we are to save what little water we have in comparison to the rest of Earth's water, we need to learn about it first.
ReplyDeleteTo answer question 2:
The best way to keep our groundwater save is by preserving wetlands, stop laying down concrete, and stop using harmful runoff chemicals. Preserving wetlands is probably the most important thing, because it is needed to keep the water table alive. Next comes laying down concrete. If we keep laying down concrete and pavement, wetlands and underground water will be blocked off. Finally, we must stop using harmful chemicals that will runoff and contaminate the groundwater. We can't drink contaminated water, it is not good for our health.
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ReplyDeleteGreat article! I am glad USGS scientists are researching to better understand how groundwater is affected by population, climate, changes in land use, oceans and ecological demands. They have many important goals like to write down the groundwater availability for aquifers all over the United States, test and see if they are defenseless to elements, make sure their tools do not affect the water and that the water running underground is not contaminated. What would we do without them? Ground water is essential and without it we wouldn't be able to much of anything. I remember talking about groundwater when we went over the water cycle in class. I agree that the law that limits how much concrete we can place down is clever because pavement can block aquifers.
ReplyDeleteExpand:
I found a blog that describes about another organization that saves groundwater.
http://www.saveourgroundwater.org/
Save Our Ground Water (SOG) is an organization in New Hampshire Sea Coast made by native citizens. They officially started in 2001. When a bottled water company, wanted to take more than 400,000 gallons per day from their local aquifer, the residents living their decided to do something about it! They persuaded the company to stop. As a result, not one drop of water has been bottled from their nearby aquifers ever since. They did a very important deed and are continuing to be successful.
Nice article Sara! It really pertains to what we just went over in class. I agree with you and with what the article says; if we do not have water, we would be dead…it is as simple yet harsh as that. Since we cannot just drink any water like salt water, we need to drink fresh water. Where we live, we get the groundwater from aquifers and it is so important we do not disturb this system. If we lay down pavement, we are stopping water from reaching the aquifers. I think it is a good thing that the USGS group is working hard to make sure their machines do not affect the water. It is good that they also check that their water is safe because people are drinking it.
ReplyDeleteTo answer question 4:
There are many little things I personally can do to preserve our groundwater. Just by taking shorter showers or turning the water off while brushing my teeth, I am preserving many ounces of fresh drinkable water. I can also keep my clothing clean by wearing them instead of throwing them in the washing machine; according to http://ga2.er.usgs.gov/edu/sq3action.cfm, about 10 gallons of water per load are used to wash clothes. Also on this website, I answered a few questions such as: how many glasses of 8 oz. water per day? , how long of a shower? , how many loads of wash? , etc. After answering, it gave me some interesting facts. For a 15 minute shower, it is about 2.5 gallons per minute…that’s 37.5 gallons of water used just for a shower! By reducing my shower to ten minutes, I could be saving 12.5 gallons of water. That is a lot for just one person to do in order to save water each day. It is all about the little things that can save water (and reduce the price on the water bill!)
More information about http://ga2.er.usgs.gov/edu/sq3action.cfm:
publication: USGS
title: How Much is Your Daily Indoor Water Use?
author: none availabe