Troubled Waters: There is a Perfect Storm on the Horizon

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 40

Troubled Waters, The Perfect Storm Is on the Horizon

About 10 years ago, Annette and her son and I were sitting in a small cafe in some far corner of Costa Rica. Her son Erik was still very young at the time and this was his first trip out of the country. As we were sitting at the table looking at the menu, Erik proclaimed, “I want a glass of orange juice.” I informed him that he could not have a glass of orange juice because they just don’t have that here” 

It was his first lesson that when you travel outside your home country, you just cannot expect everything to be the same. But, what if you were sitting in a restaurant in the United States and you asked for a glass of water and the response was “Well, we just don’t have that here.” More than likely, that is exactly what could happen in the near future. Stay tuned to find out why. 

Welcome everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is episode #40 which is called Troubles Waters: The Perfect Storm is on the Horizon.   

The Things We Take for Granted 

There are so many day-to-day things that we take for granted. You turn on the tap and have fresh water. You flip a switch and have lighting. You adjust the thermostat and have instant heating and cooling. You go to the supermarket and can get anything you want. In fact, you have multiple variations of the same darn thing. You get to wear whatever you want. Easy access to an education. Freedom to travel when you want. The freedom to own property, to have a business, to drive wherever you want. 

As Americans, when it comes to our freedoms and our general expectations as to how our lives should be, we take so many things for granted. And I think it is fair to say, that many Americans even have a sense of entitlement. And I see that on a regular basis when I tell people “No”. Because the simple fact is that we are not accustomed to being told “No!”. We are addicted to convenience, and having whatever we want, whenever we want seems to be an everyday part of our lives. 

Well, in my opinion you had better get used to being told no because in the not to distant future that is going to start happening. 

There have been a number of times in my life that I have seen first hand what people are like when things get taken away without notice. For instance, in the event of an emergency, and you suddenly have no access to fresh water, food, and other basic necessities. By virtue of where I have lived and worked, I have been evacuated three times and have been trapped at home for as much as 10 days on several occasions. This has mostly been due to tropical storms, hurricanes, and blizzards. Call it luck I guess. 

And by virtue of living in somewhat of an isolated area at the cabin, I have simply learned to be prepared. But what I see with so many other people in such situations is that they either panic or they get really angry, which is more than likely out of fear.  

In many respects our attitudes are that we live in the land of free, the home of the brave, and in a world of unlimited resources. In fact it is the easy access to anything we want, any time, and the convenience of our society that makes us come to expect such things. Consequently over time, we come to feel we are entitled to such things. Meanwhile we continue to squander the valuable and limited resources that we have. 

And maybe some of my listeners think I have no idea what I am talking about. Well, at this point in time, I think we can all agree that we live in a world that is rapidly changing. We are no longer sure what our world is going to be like next month, much less next year. Did you ever think that in our country you would go to the supermarket and be faced with empty shelves? Did you ever think that you would be told by the government to stay at home. 

Yet most of us still live our day-to-day lives never paying attention, never realizing that sooner or later one of our most basic resources is going to run out. And that resource is fresh water. And about this time some of you are laughing in disbelief because water scarcity is an abstract concept to most of us. 

But keep listening because I am about to prove you wrong. 

First off it is easy to point our gaze at other countries and say a shortage of fresh water is their problem, not ours. But let’s actually take a moment and think about a couple of things because I want to give you a reality check. 

Of the nearly 7.7 billion people on the planet, 2.1 billion of those do not have access to basic fresh water. That is about 1 in 3 people. Now of course this is hard to think about when you stand on the banks of the mighty Mississippi, the Ohio, the Tennessee, or the Missouri Rivers. 

So let’s think about for a minute. Nearly 70% of our planet is covered with water. But only 2.5% of it is fresh water and the rest of it is saline or ocean water. We only have easy access to to about 1% of that fresh water. The rest of it is trapped in glaciers and snow fields. 

The amount of water on the planet has always been essentially the same, even since the time of the dinosaurs. This is because water is constantly recycled through the atmosphere and back to Earth.  But over time the population of the world has exploded which means every year the competition for clean safe water intensifies. 

And because of the rate at which we use water, we are seeing increased demands and we are now seeing river basins running dry. And more than likely this is hard for you to believe because you simply turn on the tap and have clean fresh water. 

Allow me to give you a couple of examples. The Rio Grande starts in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado and flows to the Gulf of New Mexico. It is the third longest river in the United States. It now runs dry every year at about Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The Colorado River, with its sources high in the Rocky Mountains, channels water almost 1,500 miles south to the vast delta in Mexico and into the Gulf of California and has done so for 6 million years. It now runs dry before it reaches the vast delta in Mexico. The last 70 miles of the Colorado River has been dry for decades.

Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which are fed by the Colorado, are now at historic low levels and are only about 35% full.  For the first time ever, the government has declared a water shortage for the West.

How and Why Has This Happened?

And how and why has this happened?

Lake Mead, which is the largest man made reservoir in the United States, is formed by the Hoover Dam, which was completed in 1935. 

Lake Powell, which is the second largest man made reservoir in the United States, is formed by the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, which was completed in 1963. 

Both of these projects were built for the purpose of storing and supplying water for human use of course. Presently, these reservoirs which supply water for about 40 million people, are at historic lows.

These rivers are running dry  because water is being pumped out of the Colorado and Rio Grande to supply farms, homes, and cities. It is a combination of excessive water usage, extreme drought, climate change, and an exploding population. And where do you think all this water comes from? Well it comes from natural precipitation meaning rain fall and snow pack. 

Unfortunately, with climate change and global warming, there is less rain fall and snowpack. In fact the snow pack is melting sooner and faster which means less water goes into the river basins. All these changes coupled with increased demand, warmer temperatures causing increased evaporation is causing river basins to run dry. 

Lake Powell was named after John Wesley Powell, who is best know for his exploration of the Colorado River. At one point he was appointed as the head of the US Geological Survey. He made three recommendations back in 1878.

1. Sell no more farmland that does not have access to fresh water. 

2. Set property boundaries to encompass natural watersheds to avoid competition for streams

3. Do not rely on private water companies to develop water projects. 

Of course his ideas were rejected at the time and he later resigned his position with the government due to controversy over his views of the settling of the West. 

Now here we are 145 years later and what do you think? 

And if you think this is only a problem in the western United States, think again.  A government backed study expressed serious concern over water shortages in 96 out of the 204 major water basins in the US by the year 2071.

But to a great degree, we compensate for water shortages by mining ground water. But even that has its limitations. In some areas of the US as much as 60% of water demands are met by using ground water.  But what most people do not realize is that once this water is gone, it is gone for good.

Our Fresh Water is Contaminated 

The other problem that is a huge concern is the fact that about a huge portion of our fresh water is contaminated. A recent study conducted by the Environmental Working Group starkly revealed a widespread problem. The majority of Americans are drinking contaminated water. 

This is because we have widespread water contamination with what is being called “forever chemicals”. Well, I cannot pronounce the names of these chemicals, but they are in the transcript of this episode, but for short they are called PFAS (perfluoroalky and ployfluoroalkyl).

Of the 9000 known PRAS compounds, 600 of them are currently used in the U.S. in countless products such as cookware, cosmetics, dental floss and even fire fighting foam. These are called “forever chemicals” because of their unique chemistry they do not readily break down under normal environmental conditions. They can persist, and accumulate in the environment  for hundreds and even thousands of years. According to Chris Higgins, a civil and environmental engineer at the Colorado School of Mines, “These chemicals can linger on geologic time scales.” 

 And because of the widespread use and disposal of these chemical over numerous decades, PFASs are ubiquitous in the environment: the soil, surface water, the atmosphere, the deep ocean, and even the human body.  In fact the U.S. Centers for Disease Control web site says that the agency has found PFASs in the blood of nearly everyone they have tested. 

What is even more concerning is that scientists have found links between a number of these chemicals and significant health problems including kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, liver damage, developmental toxicity, ulcerative colitis, high cholesterol, pregnancy-induced preeclampsia and hypertension, and immune dysfunction.

And what is even more concerning is that the study I looked at grossly under estimates our exposure because it only looked at two compounds and one source. 

Furthermore, numerous cities in the US have tap water that is contaminated such as Flint, Michigan, Pittsburg, Pennslyvania, Milwaukee, Washington DC, Brady, TX, Boston, and the list goes on and on.

So, the underlying point here is that while you may think you have an unlimited source of clean, fresh, safe water, think again. 

How Do We Solve This Crises?

This of course brings me to my next point. How do we solve this this growing water crisis?

Well, you can easily start by looking carefully at your water footprint. 

On average, each American using 80 to 100 gallons of water a day. A lot of this is from showers, flushing the toilet, laundry, and automatic dishwashers. I find this absolutely incredible because in my family of three, we consume about 600 gallons of water a month. I know this because I am the one that hauls it in. So that is an average of 20 gallons of water per day for drinking, dishes, laundry, the green house, the dogs, and the chickens and turkeys. So about 200 gallons per month per person. This is compared to 2,400 to 3000 gallons a month per person for the average American. So, we are living proof that it is easy to live on less and still have a nice lifestyle. 

But on the surface, it is easy to criticize people watering their nice green grass while living in the desert, washing cars, filling their swimming pool, or taking extra long showers. But what about the virtual water we consume? What I am referring to is the enormous amount to water required to produce all the consumer products that buy, use, and throw away, and the things we eat and drink. We never tend to think about the amount of water it takes in the manufacturing of everyday materials such as paper, plastic, metals and fabric.  

Allow me to throw out a few numbers on the amount of water it takes to produce certain products: 

1. A single hamburger: 634 gallons
2. A T shirt: 700 gallons, most of which goes into growing the cotton
3. A cup of coffee: 34 gallons
4. Jeans: 2,108 gallons
5. Bed sheets: 2,839 gallons
6. Smart phone: 3,190 gallons
7. A car: 13,737 to 21,926 gallons

Now that you have a few numbers in your head, take those numbers and multiply that by billions of consumer purchases and you might start to appreciate just how much water we use.  

And of course this does not take into account for the amount of water that it takes to generate our energy. The average American uses 5 times more electricity compared to 50 years ago. But what most of us do not realize is that it takes a substantial amount of water to generate that energy. Water is used to cool the power plants that are fueled by coal oil, and natural gas and nuclear. Water is required to generate hydroelectric power. Water is used during fuel extraction, refining and production of petroleum products. What this means is that is you are wasting energy, you are wasting water. 

How to Conserve Water

If you really sit and think about some of these things, it is really quite staggering. Consequently, you may start to think there is nothing you can do.  But you would be wrong about that because I am going to give you a few helpful tips on what you can start doing today.  

1. Cut your indoor water usage: Install a low flow shower head. Put a bucket in the shower while you are waiting for the water to warm up. Then use that water for plants, for your animals, or for cleaning. Take shorter showers. Turn off the water when yo brush your teeth. Don’t leave the water running while you are washing dishes

2. Use less water outdoors. Landscape with native plants that require little water. Collect rain water for use on your garden. Consider using grey water to water plants outside 

3. Take steps to conserves as much electricity as possible

4. Buy fewer clothes

5. Avoid purchasing low quality disposable products.

6. Eat meat once a day instead of two

7. Change your buying habits;Think before you buy something. Do you really need a new pair of jeans. Buy reusable products. Recycle everything you possibly can especially paper and plastic. In 2012, in the US we threw away 24 million tons of paper and 29 million tons of plastic. 

Now I am going to have to say there is so too much information on this topic of water conservation to cover in the scope of the podcast episode.  But, I did find a fantastic website with tons of information on this subject that will be enormously helpful.  It is called watercalulator.org. And I do have a link to that website in the transcript.  So, please check it out. 

Summary

So just for a quick summary of this episode: 

There are many, many things in our lives that we take for granted. We are so accustomed to having what we want when we want that we think that is now our right, meaning we are a bit entitled 

-Fresh water is a resource that we view as being unlimited and it is something we take for granted. Turning on the tap and expecting water to come out is a rote motion, meaning it is something we do without even thinking about. 

-The reality is that our fresh water supply comprises only a small percentage of the water on the planet and we are wasting it. 

-Not only that, a huge portion of the fresh water we do have is contaminated with “forever chemicals”. 

-But there are numerous ways to conserve water such as being mindful of how you use water in your home, being mindful of your daily purchases, and or course recycling. 

-Educate yourself. Whenever I produce a podcast episode, I conduct a fair amount of research on each topic because I enjoy it. So use those resources and follow the links I provide in the transcript to further educate yourself.  

In closing, I want to give you something to think about. Most people are really good, in fact most people are at their best when they see a crisis close at hand. A hurricane is on the way so you prepare. There is a major forest fire in your area so you prepare to evacuate. A road is closed due to a major traffic accident so you use your GPS to find another way. We come face to face with a dangerous animal so we take evasive action. 

But, we are not so adept at dealing with invisible dangers and threats. It is because these dangers are out of sight, out of mind. For example, carbon emissions are invisible so we do not routinely think about how that is altering our climate. Diminishing ground water is something we cannot see at all. All the products we toss away everyday is responsible for a considerable amount of fresh water contamination.  All of these things are mostly invisible to us so it is almost impossible to get excited about it.  

But one of the reasons I produce content on a regular basis is to try and get your attention. Unless we start paying attention to these things and start taking action, then we are being complacent and irresponsible.

I know I have mentioned before about a scientist that published a seminal paper in the late 1800 expressing concern about increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causing climate change.  I started hearing about these concepts when I was a teenager.  And now I am almost embarrassed to say that at that time I thought well these are interesting topics but I will never see that in my life time. How wrong I was because I hear about it every day. 

Do you know the definition of a perfect storm? 

A perfect storm is a meteorological event that is aggravated by a rare combination of circumstances. By analogy a perfect storm is a rare combination of events or circumstances creating an unusually bad situation. 

Let me put it to you this way. 

The climate is warming. We are running out of fresh water. River basins are running dry. Less water means less food production leading to shortages. Less water means people, perhaps even entire cities of people are now displaced  due to lack of fresh water. 

Yes, this is a rare combination of events creating an unusually bad situation, the perfect storm. 

Remember, one single isolated action is not going to save the planet. But a lifetime of sustainable habits will. 

This is your host Patrick signing off until next week.  Until then, remember to always live sustainably because this is how we build a better future. 

Resources

The Colorado River Runs Dry 

The Rio Grande is Dying: Does Anyone Care New York Times

How Dry is the Colorado River Basin? 

Fresh Water Crisis : National Geographic

The US Is Going to See Water Shortages in the 21st Century 

Adaptations to Future Water Shortages in the United States 

If You Think the Water Crisis Couldn’t Get Any Worse, Wait Until the Aquifers Are Drained National Geographic

Forever Chemicals Are Widespread in U.S. Drinking Water 

12 Cities With the Worst Tap Water in the U.S.  

watercalculator.org 

Our Nation’s Growing Water Crisis: What You Need to Know 

US West Prepares for First Water Shortage Declaration 

Will the World Run Out of Water? 

Americas Clean Water Crisis Goes Far Beyond Flint 

Water Scarcity: the US Connection