Water Use and Groundwater

Supply is Dwindling, Demand is increasing

•population growth

•industrial development

•expansion of irrigated agriculture.Irrigation for crops uses 65- 70 percent of fresh supplies

Industry uses 20-25 percent of available freshwater

Domestic use accounts for about ten percent of water use

Shallow sand, gravel, rock

North China Plain

Groundwater levels dropping in many developing countries

Finite Resources

Surface water 79%Groundwater 21%

United States

Abundant ground and surface water resources

#1 use of groundwater is for irrigation#1 use of surface water is for power generation

U.S.

Thermoelectric power begandominating withdrawals in 1965

Overall withdrawals peakedin the 1980s

#1 consumptive use is irrigation

Aquifer levels declining

Western populationcenters increasing

Ogallala

Power

China

India

Iran

Israel

Jordan

Mexico

Morocco

Pakistan

Saudi Arabia

South Korea

Spain

Syria

Tunisia

United States

Yemen

• Withdrawals exceed recharge creating deficits in the aquifer

Over-exploitation of renewableand non-renewable aquifers

Water Mining

• Lack of contemporary recharge

 

GROUNDWATER . (Mm3/yr)  

COUNTRY Total use % Non-renewable

Saudi Arabia 21,000 84%

Libya 4,280 70%

Yemen 2,200 32%

Jordan 486 31%

Egypt 4,850 18%

Saudi Arabia and Libya, use 77% of the estimated total world extraction of non-renewable groundwater for urban supply and irrigated agriculture.

The Middle East

Lack of Contemporary Recharge

United States

1/3 of irrigation water comes from groundwater

3 of the largest aquifers are in arid/semi-arid regions

Ogallala Aquifer MidwestCentral Valley Aquifer CaliforniaSouthwest Aquifer System Arizona, Utah, Nevada

Central Valley Aquifer (California)

Pumping 15% more water than is replaced

Southwest Aquifer (Utah, Nevada, Arizona)

Pumping 50% more water than is replaced

Water storage capacity has declined by 50%

High Plains Aquifer (Ogallala)¼ gone in areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas

Water table declines up to 100 feet in some areas

Phoenix Arizona Growing 2 acres/hr

Among the highest water users

Tripled in population over the last 40 years

Tucson

Canal 335 miles long

44 billion gallons/yr

7% lost to evaporation

Central Arizona Project

Ends about 15 miles south of Tucson

*

Florida

7 Bgal/d Water Withdrawn

1700 rivers and streams (Feet to miles wide)

One of the most productiveAquifer systems in the world

4,242 million gal/day groundwater

2,626 million gal/day surface water

The Past

The Past

8 million acres>100 miles wide¼ mile per day

Too much water

The Everglades

35,000 people in 1830

"The first and most abiding impression is the utter worthlessness to civilized man, in itspresent condition, of theentire region." Buckingham Smith

1835First Survey

In 1850, the Swamplands Act Passed

South Florida and the Everglades

Transferred 20 million acres from federal to state control

11 miles (17.7 km) of canal south of Lake Okeechobee towardsMiami.

1881

Hamilton Disston

50,000 acres drained

By 1920 4 major canals constructed

Historic Flow

Current Flow

The Present

The Present

16 million people withdrawing 7 billion gallons/day

Almost 30 M by 2030

#1 user Palm Beach Co.#1 groundwater use is Miami-Dade County

A/C: 1950sfirst mosquito control district: 1922DDT introduced: 1949Bureau of entomology: 1953

Population doubled between 1950 and 1970

Population Changes

38% 62%

43% Public Supply39% Agriculture8.5% Industrial/Commercial4.5% Recreation Irrigation4.0% Domestic Self-supply

62% Agriculture20% Power8% Public Supply6% Recreation Irrigation4% Industrial/Commercial

Heavy Reliance on GroundwaterU.S.

Florida

62% is from groundwater

Averaged

Recent Trends

Florida

# 11 in agricultural water user in the U.S.# 1 in agricultural water user in the East

Greatest freshwater withdrawal: Palm Beach CountyGreatest groundwater withdrawal: Miami-Dade

½ of all agricultural water withdrawal:

Palm BeachHendrySt. LucieIndian River

The Future

Desalinization

Reservoirs

The Future

Tampa’s Reverse Osmosis plant

South Florida Water Management District to buy 180,000acres from U.S. Sugar Corp

The University of Florida currently irrigates approximately 90% of the irrigated areas on campus using reclaimed water from the Water reclamation Facility located on North/South Drive.

Reclaimed Water

A high quality non-potable water supply that is not meant for potable drinking purposes

St. Petersburg Dual Distribution System – Highly treated reclaimed water is made available in a separate piping system for landscape irrigation, including the irrigation of more than 9,992 residential lawns, 61 schools, 111 parks, and 6 golf courses.

This is one of the most widely known reuse systems in the world. The system has been in operation since 1977. An average of about 17.7 mgd of reclaimed water was reused in 2003 to irrigate the spring training grounds of a major league baseball team, and in cooling towers at the Tropicana Dome.

Reclaimed Water

Reedy Creek Utilities -- This utility provides reclaimed water for irrigation of landscaped areas within the Walt Disney World Resort Complex.

Tallahassee Spray Irrigation System -- Florida’s capital city irrigates over 2,200 acres with reclaimed water. Corn, soybeans, coastal Bermuda grass, and other feed and fodder crops are grown.

Orlando Wetlands -- Orlando created a 1,640-acre wetlands system using reclaimed water from the Iron Bridge advanced wastewater treatment facility.

Reclaimed Water

Gainesville -- The City makes extensive use of reclaimed water from the 10-mgd Kanapaha treatment facility. In the Southwest Reuse Project, Approximately 2.2 mgd of reclaimed water is used to irrigate residential lawns, golf courses, parks, and other landscaped areas. Reclaimed water is used for irrigation and in water features at the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens.

In addition, reclaimed water meeting drinking water standards recharges the Floridan Aquifer via deep wells. 7.9 mgd of reclaimed water is used to recharge the ground water.

Reclaimed Water

Redistribution?

Florida water managers are considering tapping rivers and lakes to quench the thirst of a growing populace.

A plan to pipe water from the Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers and other water bodies to Central Florida communities is moving forward. The project could cost as much as $1.2 billion and pipe up to 262 million gallons a day to three dozen utilities including those serving Leesburg, Orlando and The Villages.

St. Johns water withdrawal permit approved

Northeast Florida's last-ditch effort to stop plan fails on 5-4 vote

The decision allows Seminole County’s utility system to take up to 5.5 million gallonsdaily for drinking water and lawn watering.

Next: Florida’s Aquifers