Water resources

Abstract

There has been an increased awareness and concern in sustaining precious natural resources. Water resources planning is rising to the top of the international agenda (Berry, 1996). In the following, we present some of the problems that are affecting water resources. Chiras et al. (2002) list the following water-related problems in the United States: increasing demand in states such as Florida, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona; water used for food has tripled in the last 30 years to about 24(106) hectares straining one of the largest aquifers, Ogallala aquifer, ranging from Nebraska to Texas with a water table decline of 1.5m per year in some regions; high industrial and personal use; unequal distribution; and water pollution. In the United States, the estimated water use is about 408 billion [408(109)] gallons per day with a variation of less than 3% since 1985. The water use by categories is as follows: 48% for thermoelectric power, 34% for irrigation, 11% for public supply, and 5% for other industrial use (Hutson et al., 2004).