Course:ECON372/OK2019WT2/Topic15
Water Resources
Group #1
Topic 15: https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/climate-change-and-urbanization-threaten-drinking-water-quality-331925
Summary:
This article comes from the technology network online publication. It discusses how the arising issues of climate change and increased urbanisation will threaten drinking water. It states that half the world's drinking water could decrease in availability and quality due to the increase in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in ground water sources. The article bases it’s analysis on a study from the University of New South Wales, which examined the largest global dataset of published and unpublished groundwater dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations from aquifers in 32 countries across six continents. It predicted a rise in DOC concentrations as a result of changes in temperature and rainfall due to climate change and increased urbanization.
Though not regulated or tested for by the UN or most countries, DOC can be harmful to human health. This is important as groundwater reserves make up for the largest freshwater reserves and provides 50 percent of the world's water drinking water.
Analysis:
These changes in water quality will affect the drinking water safety as contaminated water could cause illness. This will also cause a rise in the prices of drinking water as there will be a lower supply of safe drinking water and treating the water to make it safe would cost more. Due to the world’s growing population there will also be a rising demand for fresh water,
Which could cause the value of conservation of groundwater systems to increase. This in turn would make government and businesses more mindful about the ways in which such systems are set up. The increasing mean for potable water and its limited availability, would lead to a spike in its price and its value of conservation. Making sure that water is used sustainably in the present can ensure delay in investment in setting up of water conservation systems. Delaying uses also reduces the present value of expansion and saves money in the present. A scarcity price would discourage current consumption to delay capacity expansion investment.
| Category | Mark | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Article Source (10) | 10 | |
| Article Relevance (10) | 10 | |
| Summary (20) | 15 | |
| Course Related Analysis (30-50) | 40 | Should mention that this is an open access resource problem. The contamination of groundwater by any single person only affects that person a bit, but in aggregate affects a whole lot of people. |
| Extended Analysis (0-20) | ||
| Presentation (10) | 7 | |
| Total | 82 |
Group #2
Summary:
The article written by Deng from the Guarding mainly talks about the lack of drinkable water and the pollution issue that is present in developing countries such like China. Deng has expressed concerns in the article that even though China has seen drastic growth in the past decades economically, the availability of drinking water has also decreased proportionally. It was reported from studies, major cities in China such like Shanghai have 85% of the city's water base is undrinkable and 56.4% was unfit for use for any purpose, 39 percent of the water is unusable in Beijing and 4% is unusable in Tianjing. The cause of such a phenomena is negligence of the government, companies and citizens alike. As some cities have no seen proper sewage systems, and villagers are starting to dig further down in the ground to find fresh water. In general, the article mainly stresses the fresh water shortage in China as a result from the rapid development along with the negligence of the environment.
Analysis:
There are a lot of factors that led up to the current fresh water shortage in China, the biggest one is of course the rapid economic growth and industrialization over the past decade. China has recently became an economic power house right along with the United States, however the environmental impact of such a growth can be seen physically as well, as more water source are being contaminated as a result of limited regulation from the governments, irresponsible dumping from factories that produces chemically harmful wasters and citizens not paying a lot of attention to the missing water resources. From this it is obvious that China has valued economic growth far more than fresh water, and thus the opportunity cost of fresh water is valued very low, furthermore because of China's huge population the usage of water far out weights the natural replacement of water, thus making sustainability nearly impossible. The situation is getting more dire by the moment and because the government's goal is still more closely aligned to economic growth and further technological developments and with less emphasize on the environment, thus the user cost of fresh water is also very low and China will continue to use up fresh water until the country shifts focus, if not the quality of life for the citizens will only continuously decrease.
| Category | Mark | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Article Source (10) | 10 | |
| Article Relevance (10) | 10 | |
| Summary (20) | 12 | |
| Course Related Analysis (30-50) | 30 | Water pollution is a classic externality. The benefit of disposing of pollution is captured by the polluter, while the costs are shared by all those who use the water, often downstream from the polluter. Imperfect or unenforced rights makes the problem worse. All things in this article, but only sort of talked about in your analysis. |
| Extended Analysis (0-20) | ||
| Presentation (10) | 7 | |
| Total | 69 |
Group #3
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/18/bottled-water-ban-washington-state
Summary:
On the 17th of February, the Washington state senate passed a bill to ban new permits for water bottling operations. The bill, SB 6278 stated that “any use of water for the commercial production of bottled water is deemed to be detrimental to the public welfare and the public interest”. This was after a failed attempt by the Nestle corporation to aruge that their operation constituted a public good.This bill will also apply retroactivley to permits filed after the 1st of January 2019. Despite bottled water being the most popular drink in the U.S by volume, the Residents of Lewis County in southwest Washington state have been fighting a protracted legal battle to stop the establishment of a Crystal Geyser bottling plant. Crystal Geyser had previously pleaded guilty to illegally storing toxin-laden wastewater in an “arsenic pond” in eastern California and not declaring this to facilites where the arsenic tainted water was delivred to. A $5 million u.s fine is expected to be delivered at a hearing on the 24th of Frebuary. Similar Bills to SB 6278 have been introduced in Maine and Michigan and pressure to introduce them in Oregon and Montanna.
Analysis:
A number of factors are likely to have influened this decesion made by the Washington state senate. While Washington has ample freshwater groundwater, many other states in the U.S have inadequate water supplies for growing populations and an expanding economy. This creates a strong demand for the importation of water from elsewhere, through a variety of means. Meanwhile, at both the state and municipal level there are increasing demand for the protection not only of local water supplies but of instream water services provided indirectley by water, such as recreation or as wildlife habitats. While this ban on bottled water prodcution does not preclude water transfer in all its forms, it does show a mobement away from a transaction based approach to water rights with the intensification of adminstrative action. Nestle's arguement that their product represented a public good is interesting. Since public goodsare nonrivalrous and nonexcludable, Nestle bottled water would have to be available to everyone and have sufficiently little impact that anyone else could access the watershed in question. However, as a profit motivated entity, Nestle bottled water does cost money, which even at a low price excludes certain people through behaviour pertaining to willingness to pay, and the nature of the water rights in question and the transfering of the water preclude the notion of this example being nonrivalrous.
| Category | Mark | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Article Source (10) | 10 | |
| Article Relevance (10) | 10 | |
| Summary (20) | 20 | |
| Course Related Analysis (30-50) | 45 | Netle's argument would likely be that their extraction, bottling and sale of water provides a benefit to the public, not that it is a public good in the economic sense. Economic theory argues that markets lead to the largest net economic benefit, provided there are not market failures. The public perception here seems to be that the market failures - environmental externalities, justice implications, etc. - are large enough that this resource should not be privatized. |
| Extended Analysis (0-20) | ||
| Presentation (10) | 4 | |
| Total | 89 |
Group #4
https://www.ecowatch.com/war-on-science-epa-2645458348.html
Summary:
An international team of scientist developed a portable filtration system that converts Saltwater into clean drinking water. This System was created at MIT with the purpose of helping people on islands or other places with lack of electricity supply. It works by using solar panels stacked on top of each other with a mix of condensers and evaporators. The System uses the heat from the sun to pass through an insulating layer which heats up the wicking material. There the water is heated, evaporated and condensed on the last layer where it drips down as fresh water. The condensed water realises heat in the process, which is transferred to the next layer for this process to repeat itself. This innovated new system makes the process more efficient than comparable devices. Combined with 10 layers in each model, results in almost a 400% conversion rate of sunlight energy to evaporation. A unit costs $100 and occupies one-square-meter. It is capable of producing 1.5 gallons of drinking water per hour.
Analysis:
This portable unit has enormous potential as water becomes more and more scare. This unit can make converting saltwater to drinking water a practical possibility. This model can be expanded and made cheaper. The water cycle currently causes a lot of fresh water to end up in the ocean and not drinkable in its current form, estimates also predict that within 3 decades we will reach natural irrigation limits. These two factors suggest there we will be using a different method to get drinkable water. This system maybe be the start of a system that will be used long into the future. Water is roughly 1 cent per litre in more expensive places, so not only does this have the opportunity to provide places with an alternate source of water, it can provide a possible way to make money in this process. On average Canadians uses 329 litres of water a day, because this system is so an affordable it provides and an option for private and public use. With places like Nevada and many others where dams are running out we could see partnerships with the inventors to scale this for public use This invention has many other possible uses such as agriculture. They are able to put these units on top of water and connect pipes that would run into land. If enough of them were grouped together it would result in a constant source of water for farmers. The opportunities that this renewable method has in endless and could provide solutions to many problems.
| Category | Mark | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Article Source (10) | 10 | |
| Article Relevance (10) | 6 | Note that the link is wrong. This relevance refers to the article actually linked, as I don't see the article summarized. |
| Summary (20) | 20 | While I don't have article, summary seems complete. |
| Course Related Analysis (30-50) | 30 | With reference to our class, this is largely an example of lowering the cost of supplying drinking water in some parts of the world. In these parts of the world, the supply of drinkable water will increase, and the price of drinkable water will fall. Not mentioned in the summary or analysis is the pollution - in particular the remaining brine that is left over and needs to somehow be disposed of. |
| Extended Analysis (0-20) | ||
| Presentation (10) | 10 | |
| Total | 76 |
Group #5
https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/10/02/canada-blind-eye-first-nation-water-crisis
Summary:
The forthcoming government of Canada should compensate Neskantaga First Nation. Neskantaga First Nation evacuated the community at a high cost, after the failure of the water project in Canada. Due to the fatal water project, the Canadian government needs to develop a mechanism of dealing with infrastructural failures, especially in remote areas. One water pump failed in one community treatment facility on September 12, 2019, that left many homes without water for a while. The remote area was not easily accessible, but only by planes or roads used only during winter.
The incident was a potential health and human rights crisis, and people need to be helped protected and provided with community safety. The Canadian government denied the people of Neskantaga assistance for evacuation terming the incident a small issue and that a quick repair for the pump will be done. The government expressed no safety and health risks and could not orchestrate an emergency plan to help the community.
Back in 2016, human rights watch published the effect of dire and prolonged sanitation and dunking water problems for the people of Canada. The documented findings emphasized issues to do with the provision of sanitation and safe water which included inadequate government funding, water regulations, degradation of water sources and substandard infrastructure. Another issue that human rights watch focused on was the challenges that people of Neskantaga face for years. The water system for the community that was founded early in 1991 could not solve the water needs of the people completely. At the moment, the community still depends on the old water system including a machine that is used for refilling water in the bottles but not easy to use.
Analysis:
Water rights in Canada, especially surface water are centered upon Riparian rights and prior appropriation. Riparian rights refer to the ability to use water next to a given property while ensuring that other users are not adversely impacted. On the other hand, prior appropriation is where one diverts water, but must indicate their intended use for the diverted water. According to the Human Rights Watch (2019), the water rights of the Neskantaga Community have been ignored despite the people of the region facing a water crisis that was brought by the failure of a water-based infrastructure. Due to the failure of the water facility in the First Nations, the community was evacuated without being compensated or provided with the necessary assistance the federal government, thus constituting to gross violation of the community’s rights to access clean and affordable water.
As reported by news sources in the Canada, the water pump at Neskantaga Community failed, thus leaving some households with no running water, while others had water but was not fit for human consumption unless for flushing toilets. This situation presents a clear violation of water rights where the community could not access clean water for use despite the local water resources being diverted for major projects around the area. Also, the remote community started evacuating its members after declaring a state of emergency and to the surprise of many, the Indigenous Services in Canada could not provide assistance in evacuating the people. The overall effect was the community being exposed to both a health crisis and a human rights violation despite being registered citizens.
| Category | Mark | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Article Source (10) | 10 | |
| Article Relevance (10) | 10 | |
| Summary (20) | 17 | |
| Course Related Analysis (30-50) | 30 | The rights being talked about in the article are human rights, not water rights. Some believe that each person should have a right to sufficient, safe drinking water to meet basic human needs. Within Canada, a core question is who is responsible for ensuring that right is upheld. This is particularly true for First Nations, for whom the federal government has primary responsibility. First Nations communities are provided with funds to deliver services to their members. This community decided to evacuate, while repairing the system, rather than staying in place and finding some alternative way to provide necessary water while the repairs were done. Who should be responsible for the cost of the evacuation? |
| Extended Analysis (0-20) | ||
| Presentation (10) | 8 | |
| Total | 75 |
Group #6
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/waterresourcesmanagement#3
Summary：
This article discusses the management of water resources globally. The article first discusses the background and challenges of water resources management. Due to the rapid growth of the global population, the world will face a 40% gap between forecast demand and available water supply by 2030. By 2050, the earth's population will increase to 9 billion, and resources in many parts of the world will face severe scarcity. About 1.8 billion people will live in areas with absolute water shortages. Also, continuous climate change changes altering hydrological cycles, increasing the frequency and intensity of floods and droughts, leading to the inability of rural poor people to make ends meet. Finally, the fragmentation of water resources limits water security, which means cooperation is needed to achieve optimal water management and development solutions for all riparians. So water security is a major challenge for many countries, and this challenge is constantly increasing. For the challenge of water security, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) propose four strategies. First, Water security is the goal of water resources management. Second, rational development and management of water resources. Third, realize the potential of water production and manage its destructive power. Fourth, The Water Security and Integrated Water Resources Management Global Solutions Group (GSG) supports SDGs analysis. The result SDGs' multi-year planned engagement in strategic areas. Significantly improve the economy in the long run and improve the lives of millions of the world's poorest people.
Analysis:
Although the amount of water on the earth is large, very little can be directly produced and used by people. The drinking water resources that humans can use are part of rivers, lakes, and groundwater, accounting for about 0.26% of the total water of the earth. Not only is there a shortage of global freshwater resources, but the regional distribution is extremely uneven. At present, about 1.5 billion people in more than 80 countries around the world are facing a shortage of drinking water, of which 300 million people in 26 countries are living in a state of water shortage. Water resources in the 21st century are becoming a precious and scarce resource. The issue of water resources is not only a matter of resources but also a major strategic issue concerning the sustainable development and long-term security of the country's economy and society. If the use of water correctly, water is a renewable resource. But if the groundwater extracted without hesitation, it becomes non-renewable because it takes a long time to replenish naturally. As the world's population increases and demand grow, drinking water resources are becoming depleted increasingly. To date, most surveys have only assessed physical water shortages. For example, water shortages experienced in arid regions ignore social and economic constraints on water use. Based on history, water has nourished humanity and created civilization. But today, water has become an obstacle to human survival.
| Category | Mark | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Article Source (10) | 10 | |
| Article Relevance (10) | 10 | |
| Summary (20) | 18 | |
| Course Related Analysis (30-50) | 33 | The chapter emphasizes issues that make the efficient management of water difficult. The article talks about many initiatives the world bank is involved with that relate to shifting out the supply of water, and increasing the effectiveness of management - including the externalities and/or enabling negotiation between affected parties to arrive at a solution that is more efficient (e.g. like the Coase theorem). |
| Extended Analysis (0-20) | ||
| Presentation (10) | 10 | |
| Total | 81 |
Group #7
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8070367/Farming-crops-feed-cattle-depleting-Colorado-River-53-species-fish-risk.html?ITO=applenews
Summary:
The water level in the Colorado river is decreasing, this is not only a concern for the people living near by but also an enviromental concern. This article focuses in an study of the University of Delawere that points out that one of the main causes of the reduction of the water flow might be the agricultural activity of the area. According to the research conducted by the University of Delawere, the use of water for agricultural purposes, specially for cattle, will end up reducing the water availability for both people and aquatic creatures. Moreover, the study points out that there has been a 20% decrease in the water flow of the river over the past 100 years. This is because the water storage runs out faster than it can be replenish through natural means. Additionally, around 53 species of fish are now in risk of extintion because mof the reduction of the water flow. Since, according to the study, the cattle industry is most demanding of fresh water the team of the University of Delawere suggests that the farmers take an off cattle feed crops season. The idea is that the farmers would be paid a compesation during the off season to allow the water to replenish.
Analysis:
The trend that is presented by the article and the study follows the same trend the United States has have over the past century for the withdrawal of water. As explained in the book, the sectors of the economy that demand the most water are agriculture and industrial sectors. As explained in the article, the agriculture industry has a large demand of water because of cattle and irrigation. Eventhough the management of the the surface water, in this case the lake, has change throughout the U.S history the system still puts a lot of weight in the competing interest of the large industries. A sustainable solution, as suggested by the article, could be the stablishment of cattle feed crops off seasons. The implementation of the off season can be good for the enviroment without affecting terribly the income of the farmers.
| Category | Mark | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Article Source (10) | 10 | |
| Article Relevance (10) | 10 | |
| Summary (20) | 20 | |
| Course Related Analysis (30-50) | 20 | There are two things directly in the article that relate to course concepts. One is that the use of water has externalities, namely the threat to endangered species. The second is that payments to water rights holders can be an incentive based policy to address the externalities. |
| Extended Analysis (0-20) | ||
| Presentation (10) | 10 | |
| Total | 70 |
Group #8
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/18/are-we-running-out-of-water
Summary:
As a biological necessity for human life, access to clean water is an immensely important natural resource. It may seem that this precious liquid is in high abundance as it cover three quarters of the Earth's surface and is continually replenished through the water cycle. The issue is that only around three percent of water is fresh water viable for human consumption and a large portion of that is inaccessible to us. In The Guardian's article, "Are we running out of water," Fiona Harvey addresses some of the global water supply concerns,how climate change is impacting the current situation, who controls water and who is most at risk, and how the world can better manage its freshwater resources.
Sadly around one in nine people around the world (844 million) lack access to clean, affordable water within half an hour from their homes. This causes safety and security concerns, easily avoidable diseases, and burdens on healthcare and the economy. a charity called WaterAid states that for every dollar invested in clean water there are four dollars in economic returns. Climate change also negatively impacts the situation. areas that tend to get less rainfall are experiencing more severe droughts and there has also tended to be higher levels of rainfall in typically wetter climates which has worsened the problem of flooding. The article mentions that in many places water resources are poorly managed which can lead to issues of overuse, pollution of water reservoirs, inadequate investment in water delivery, and waste. These negative consequences are often distributed regressively and tend to put the poor at greater risk and the article uses the example of the intense water supply crisis in Cape Town South Africa to demonstrate this issue. The article concludes by discussing what could be done to address this issue in the future and giving advice on how fresh water resources can be better managed in a sustainable manner.
Analysis:
One of the articles main arguments for why there is water scarcity issues in many parts of the world is that accessible freshwater is unevenly distributed. Chapter fifteen of the Natural Resource Economics textbook explores this in its section on international water issues. It explains how freshwater resources do not follow international borders and how often times one country's water use of a river can negatively impact the countries downstream causing conflicts. Both the article and the textbook discuss how in many cases water rights are distributed inefficiently and can subsequently cause negative externalities like pollution, inequitable distribution, and/or overuse of the open access resource.
The textbook teaches about the implications of and different ways in which to invest in freshwater resources and infrastructure. The article's advice for water delivery investment is maintaining current infrastructure by fixing leaky pipes. The article says points out that three billion litres a day are wasted through leaks which would be enough to serve twenty million people if fixed. This example would be the investment-type decision of investing in an existing system to increase the capacity. Other implementation the article calls for are inexpensive irrigation sensor technology, genetic modifications in crops, drip irrigation, and water meters for domestic use. Looking at the present value of the costs and benefits from these investment decisions can help different regions decide which methods would be best for them. The UN's sustainable development goal six is to provide safe water and sanitation to all by 2030. This is a noble goal, but will most likely be quite difficult to achieve based on the current issues the article examined. As the article and textbook analyzed, water resource management can be an intricate challenge and important consideration to maintain sustainable water use practices for the future.
| Category | Mark | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Article Source (10) | 10 | |
| Article Relevance (10) | 10 | |
| Summary (20) | 18 | |
| Course Related Analysis (30-50) | 50 | |
| Extended Analysis (0-20) | ||
| Presentation (10) | 10 | |
| Total | 98 |