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Freshwater is depleting, and so are our rivers. Many have dry seasons for miles, or others, like the Colorado, can't even run its natural course anymore. There are ~60,000 large dams worldwide that impede the natural flow of rivers. The Hoover Dam on the Colorado contributes to why the river no longer reaches the ocean.

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Since 1970, average abundance of freshwater vertebrate populations has declined 83%. Many of which found homes in wetlands. Not only do they provide fish and wildlife habitat, but wetlands provide many services to our planet. They remove nitrogen and phosphorous, regulate floods, sequestrate carbon, mitigate droughts, and so much more. Yet, we still have lost 50% of our wetlands.

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Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity

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Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity

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This a summary of the problems and solutions that Sandra Postel presents in her book "Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity" at Calvin University in January of 2020

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Director and Founder of Global Water Policy Project, National Geographic Freshwater Fellow, and an author of many water resource novels.

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After the Apollo 8 Mission, we began to realize the finiteness of water on our planet. Our planet has a finite water supply, but our water demands are not. From this moment, we began to evaluate our personal and societal water footprints as well as looking to restore our watersheds by returning water to them.

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Globally, soils can hold 8x more water than all river combined. Heavy farm equipment and large livestock compact our soils, leaving less room to hold water. A result of all this heavy usage is depletion in ground and surface water. This also points as to why 70% of irrigated agriculture experience periodic water shortages.

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To limit compaction and increase saturation of soils, farmers will aerate their soils by tilling as well as planting cover crops which will hold more water and prevent nutrient loss through leaching and runoff. However, only 6% of farmlands use cover crops.

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Head Gate on Verde River, from Sandra Postel's Presentation

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Changing Water Resources for Agriculture

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Changing Water Resources for Agriculture

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More work is being done to change, but NOT limit, the amounts of water being given to agricultural landowners. Along the Verde River in Arizona, a hired hydrologist collaborated with local irrigators to install a head gate that would supply them with the right amount of water they need. Prior to the head gate installation, there was no way of measuring the amount of water supplied to irrigators.

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BONUS: Irrigators Make Their Own Changes!

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BONUS: Irrigators Make Their Own Changes!

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When approached with a collaboration mindset, irrigators can make changes with the right information and support from hydrologists and/or ecological scientists. Like switching from flood irrigation to drip irrigation, or growing a water-thrifty crops.

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Nearly half of large cities experience periodic water shortage. In highly urbanized areas, precipitation has nowhere to go except run off the grey and black infrastructure. Falling water will run off of roofs, pavements, down buildings, or into limited drainage systems that may flood streets. When there:s no where for water to stay, there is no way for water to be stored. This is where large cities face detrimental extremes of flooding AND droughts.

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When faced with extremities of droughts and flooding, city water management may turn to building green infrastructure. This includes adding rain gardens, vegetated swales, green roofs, and permeable pavement. This infrastructure absorbs water, stores it, and gradually releases it. In China, they've developed "Sponge Cities" which include green roofs.

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To avoid the costs of installing a treatment plants, some cities have been investing in protecting and tending to the ecosystems surrounding a reservoir. This benefits everyone as well as the ecosystems. In households, standards have been created for the amount of water used in toilets, shower head, sink faucets, etc. Between 2000 and 2015, the US domestic water use per person has decreased by 18% due to these standards that didn't really make any differences for people.

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If we were to apply ecological sciences in engineering, the balance between receiving services and maintaining healthy ecosystems would be more attainable. For example, the currently build levees along some rivers will cause water levels to rise, which will increase the river's current. Due to the increased speed, it puts those down river at a greater risk of floods.

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Stationarity is dead. We are now living outside of the natural variability of our planet's water cycle. Probabilities of increasingly devastating natural disasters are increasing due to climate change. Even though we are making changes, our water demands are still infinite and our planet's water resources is still finite

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The most important part of Sandra Postel's presentation is that even with all of these increasingly worse conditions, changes are being made in our relationship with water. Lines are being drawn, ecological science is being applied, and people are doing together to help create a healthier planet!

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Please make sure to watch Sandra Postel's video! As inclusive as this Padlet may be, there is still more one can take away from watching her lecture. Thank you for reading!

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Sandra Postel  "Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity"