Part I
Part II
Purpose
In this lab, we are investigating the human impacts on the sustainability of groundwater. Using information from credible and relevant internet sources, we were observing whether ground water will be sustainable given that the current human development does not change.
Introduction
It is known that ground water is a vital resource for the nation. In the world, ground water is far much more than surface water, statistically, 30.1% of all the water I the world is ground water, while surface water accounts for about 0.3%. Out of the 30.1% (ground water), 25 percent is fresh while the rest is saline. This means that all the rest of the fresh water is stored away in glaciers and ice. It is of great concern that the human race is exhausting the water stored in the aquifers at a faster rate than the hydrological cycle can restore it.
Hypothesis/Predicted Outcome
Based on the information learnt and researched, and the observations from the lab, we respect to see how water resources have slowly been depleted due to human activity over the 1800s. 1900s and the 2000s.
Methods
During this lab, background information was obtained from course material and research from credible and credited online information.
Statistical data relating to human impacts on sustainability of ground water was obtained from scientific research initially conducted by specialists in the field of environmental and water source management.
Results/Outcome
30.1% of all the water I the world is ground water, while surface water accounts for about 0.3%. Out of the 30.1% (ground water), 25 percent is fresh while the rest is saline.
Over the past three centuries, forest cover has decreased drastically, by 50% between the 1800s and the 1900s and further by 90% from the 1900s to the 2000s.
Ground water levels have also suffered the same fate, reducing by the same margins over the same period of time.
In the 1800s, there were fewer number of farms. In the 1900s, with increasing population and farming and development, the size of the farms increased while their numbers reduced, moving from subsistence to large scale commercial farming. In the 2000s, the number of the farms remained the same while their sizes reduced owing to increased industrialization.
Industrialization and population increased over the three decades, more significantly in the 2000s.
Discussion/Analysis
According to the data collected, the results were as expected. As human beings continued to seek industrialization, the impact on the sustainability of ground water become more severe. This can be shown by the impacts on the intrusion of salt water into ground water and the reduction in the size of the farms over the three centuries. Forest cover also depicts this fact by the drastic reduction of forest cover, especially in the 2000s.
Putting into consideration the data collected and the observations made from previous studies, if the current level and rate of development does not change, ground water sustainability will most definitely be affected. This is a fact and is evident through a number of indicators.
Forest cover decreased drastically in the 2000s from the 1900s, a period that experienced massive and extensive industrialization. This decrease in forest cover, 90%, affects the water cycle owing to the fact that humans are and will be consuming much more water than the hydrological cycle can restore.
The intrusion of saline or salt water into ground water means the amount and content of fresh water has reduced in the earth. This is further compounded by the fact that in the 2000s, the amount of ground water has severely decreased, by 90%.
These three indicators show that at the current rate of development, should it be maintained, then ground water sustainability will be near impossible since there will be continual decrease in forest cover, a further increase in the amount of intrusion of salt water into the ground water and a reduction in the amount of ground water. Ground water sustainability will be affected if human development does not change.
Works Cited
Alley, W. M., Reilly, T. E., & Franke, O. L. (1999). Sustainability of ground-water resources. Denver: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
Foster, S. S. D., & World Bank. (2000). Groundwater in rural development: Facing the challenges of supply and resource sustainability. Washington: World Bank.
Krešić, N. (2009). Groundwater resources: Sustainability, management, and restoration. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Krešić, N., & Stevanović, Z. (2010). Groundwater hydrology of springs: Engineering, theory, management, and sustainability. Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann.
