Replenish The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity by Sandra Postel by Maya Branch

"Water Rich Planet"; or is it?

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 00:26:40 UTC

"<1% of Earth water is both fresh and accessible" (Postel, 7:44)to us. The Earth's water is finite. Global water depletion is never ending in food, in processing. Our products, overload our water intake, leaving our land depleted. Massive clothing industries go through tremendous amounts of water, however often they lack consideration for the lands loss of water.
"10% of our food today comes from the unsustainable use of groundwater and that number is increasing" (Postel, 9:48).

Paving our way to destruction

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 00:43:26 UTC

Wetlands have been destroyed nonstop all throughout the country. Even here in Humboldt, Eureka's Mall was build on a massive wetland with a large bird population. Wetlands are extremely important for treating the nitrogen and phosphorus in the water. They help regulate floods, create wonderful habitat's for birds and wildlife as well as fishery production's often depending on wetlands. They also help carbon sequestration occur, all the while increasing water storage and mitigating drought.
Increase of algal blooms are also on the rise. Some of these blooms are toxic, and so aren't but it's very random. As well as forest fires increasing while in turn threatens water supply scarce. In the words of Postel, "we need to become more resilient" (21:38). Droughts have been striking people daily all over but specifically in Africa. The probability of droughts are becoming more common as well as Hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires.

Irrigation

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 00:51:41 UTC

Irrigation is extremely impacted when it comes to water loss. There were many solutions when it came to water restoration and conservation. Postel spoke about keeping river health all the while allowing water distribution for irrigation. They had a specific measurement of how much water was needed to grow their crops. There also have been simple incentives for farmers to switch crop by creating a demand for barley crops.

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 00:55:22 UTC

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 00:59:11 UTC

"Globally, Soils can hold 8x more water than all rivers combined - but this critical reservoir has shrunk." (Postel, 38:01)

Droughts are very common all around the United states and all year round as well. There are solutions that are in place to help hold water in the soil.

One farmer that Postel spoke about around 41:00, that offered to have his farm in an experiment. UC Davis researches were assessing the soil to ensure their crop were growing normally with the replenishing of groundwater. He provided a space for scientific research in a field that seems to be missing because the market is small. There are many paths that our industries could take in the regard of honing in on pollution and gaining our watershed back. Ground water cost less that desalination as well so it will be more practical in the future.

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 01:12:09 UTC

"Taking out only as much as is going in" (Postel, 40:52)

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 01:19:40 UTC

"Sponge Cities"

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 01:24:10 UTC

Rain garden and vegetative swells can capture rain water that allow for the water to return back to aquifers and under ground water ways. China has been thinking up innovative ideas of ensuring that the ground can absorb all water to replenish a green infrastructure.

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 01:25:43 UTC

Recognize the finiteness of water

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 01:30:09 UTC

Finite means there is a capacity of water that we must be careful with. When we have seen a scarce perception of water it has created some really creative ideas. However, water rights are only getting harsher. We as individuals must recognize how much of a carbon footprint our materials posses. We must be responsible, but also fight the greater corporations over using water.

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 01:34:40 UTC

Farmers were planning to become more self sufficient by only using the amount of water needed exactly. If we were able to do that as consumers. However it is up to the producers and suppliers to be able to sustain with extremely regulated water.

mjb45 — 2021-09-06 01:41:29 UTC

If we could provide all living things with water before everyone gets more, that would be ideal. Water is not a resource, it is a living system that provides for many ecosystems. Water must be regarded as a living entity in order to protect all of it's wonders. Water conservation will force us to use water efficiently, it just can be controversial as well as a hassle for large corporations that just want to go about their business.