The great artesian basin is Australia's largest freshwater resource. The basin underlies portions of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, and northern territories. It is the only reliable source of water in the area. Furthermore, even though it is costly to operate, the management and positives outweighs the consequences of the basin. There are so many positive effects just from this one piece of land whether it be environmental, social, or economic benefits. The basin is an important aspect of modern day Australia.
Australia's main focus towards the basin is to provide people within a range of the basin an easy natural supply of water. To find water without the basin would be a very difficult task like before the basin was discovered. If only people could have known there was water beneath them in the struggling days of Australia. When water was discovered underground Australia's natural spring systems became valuable to many people. Water travels at a extremely slow rate through porous rock deep underground. Sometimes water bubbles and soaks its way to the surface through natural springs. However; we also dig in the ground for water. The great artesian basin is located on the top right corner in Australia based on a map. Through large amounts of years when ice ages and when tectonic plates move they cause the ocean to rise and fall. When ocean levels rose, water became caught inside where land once was. The effect of water being trapped inside caused an ocean to form. When the ocean levels fell the area became land again. The Water became trapped between sandstone rock and an impermeable layer of rock. In order for water to reach the surface it has to pass through the sandstone rock.The great artesian basin has been...
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...e facts listed it makes more sense for all the positive effects that you get from this one area it is far too valuable to let cost get in the way.
Australia has been fortunate enough to have access to an astonishing local and natural water source. The basin has to be a good thing because it is the only reliable water resource that. Without any thought we are able to use this basin as a positive aspect to the Australian community. Australians have access to this natural water source with just the cost of the construction. The great artesian basin is never the less amazing but also beyond one of the greatest natural resources on the Earth. The basin has many uses not just for water but the geological and hydrological point of view is pristine towards knowledge of the basin . The great artesian basin is a complex aquifer with a large amount of history behind it.
Water is the most relied upon resource on earth and if it disappeared life could not and would not exist on this planet. So if one of our main sources of water in South Australia, The Murray Darling-Basin, becomes unusable then we would need to find the problem and do everything possible to stop it or counteract it. This report investigates on salinity in the Murray Darling-Basin, using the issue question “Is there enough being done to counteract the effects of salinity in the Murray?” as the focus. Salinity is a key significant environmental challenge which the Murray faces and if left unmanaged it could cause serious implications for water quality, plant growth, biodiversity, land productivity, infrastructure and could lead to a loss of a water source that’s critical to human needs. In this investigation five different aspects of this salinity issue are presented and these aspects include what Salinity is and how it has become an issue, what the effects are, how salinity affects the rest of Australia, what can be done and is anyone doing anything and finally what the visions are for the future of the Murray and its salinity levels.
Long ago, the middle of the North American continent was a treeless prairie covered by tall grasses and roaming buffalo. When European settlers came, they called this area the Great American Desert. Today, this "desert" is covered with fields of wheat, corn, and alfalfa made possible by center-pivot irrigation. My grandfather used to sell center-pivot systems and when my family drove to my grandparent's home in Nebraska, we would count how many "sprinklers" were watering each section of land. At the time, I didn't know that this water was being pumped from somethng called the Ogallala Aquifer, a huge underground water supply. Throughout the years, this aquifer has made the Great American Desert one of the best farming areas in the world. Unfortunately, the Ogallala Aquifer's future as a valuable resource is in jeopardy, unless citizens of the Plains states reduce their water consumption.
The Ogallala Aquifer was found in 1889. Since then, 170,000 wells have been made, just in SW Kansas. If we stop pumping right now it will take hundreds of years to refill. If we use it until it is completely dry, it will take 6,000 years to naturally refill. One of the main reasons the aquifer is drying up so fast is center pivot irrigation, which is used by a lot of farmers in SW Kansas. 50% of the water brought up through the wells to water crops is wasted. Water is being pumped out much faster than the Ogallala Aquifer can replenish, therefore dropping the water levels in the aquifer severely.
Decreasing rainfall and exterior reservoir recharge since the mid-1970s in Western Australia have been related to fluctuations in atmospheric circulation that are constant with what would be predictable in an atmosphere subjective by rising greenhouse gas intensities. The Water Corporation of Western Australia is focusing the lessening surface water resource by setting out to distribute a ‘climate-independent’ reserve of water for domestic
The lack of groundwater oversight has unfortunately introduced concerns that need to be mitigated and better addressed. Some groundwater basins throughout the state are not sustainable for they have experienced a depletion in groundwater storage, experienced groundwater overdraft, had a reduction in stream flows, the potential to lose ecosystems, had a depletion in groundwater quality, experienced land subsidence, and or faced salt water intrusion.
In the documentary, Blue Gold: World Water Wars, it follows several people and countries world-wide in their fight for fresh water. The film exposes giant corporations as they bully poorer developing countries to privatize their own supply of fresh water. As a result of the privatization, corporations make a hefty profit while the developing countries remain poor. Blue Gold: World Water Wars also highlights the fact that Wall Street investors are going after the desalination process and mass water export schemes. This documentary also shows how people in more developed nations are treating the water with much disregard, and not taking care of our finite supply. We are polluting, damming, and simply wasting our restricted supply of fresh water at an alarming speed. The movie also recognizes that our quick overdevelopment of housing and agriculture puts a large strain on our water supply and it results in desertification throughout the entire earth. The film shows how people in more industrialized nations typically take water for granted, while others in less industrialized nations have to fight for every drop.
The Colorado River resides in North America at 1,450 miles long it spans from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado flowing southwest through six other states into Mexico. During the 19th century, settlement within this region was limited to merely accessing the Colorado River. Back then adjacent water was strictly used to support life. Today, with our advanced water treatment and transportation methods, water is known for its more loose sense of sustaining “life” and that is of an economic sense. Now, we utilize water for more than just drinking. We apply water to trigger industry, mass produce agriculture, generate power and even recreationally. With our new thirsts we encounter dizzying demands for water. As we use this water for economic gains we take increasing amounts from the river. The water that is returned is then of severely lower quality causing detrimental effects to biologic life. To complicate the problem at hand the Colorado River has experienced drought since 1999. Currently, according to The Bureau of Reclamation, most areas of the river are experiencing extreme drought conditions. The Colorado River is not only degrading, but also drying up due to climate change and poor water management, consequently modern human development is impeded and the environment permanently scarred, therefore to prevent further damage local and state authorities should plan to alter wasteful methods of water management.
According to the United States EPA, only one percent of all water on Earth is deemed suitable for human consumption. In a world with a continually-growing population in need of an ample water supply, the world's sources of fresh water are showing increased signs of overuse as they are emptied faster than they can be naturally refilled. In fact, over the past half-decade the demand for water has more than tripled as the watersheds across the globe have been devastated (EPA).
Water systems were key to the economical, technological, and political development of ancient societies, which developed water machines to carry water to their lands and use as irrigation and water supply. Water usage was so important that it had a prominent role in laws of many early societies, making control of water more significant than land itself. Irrigation was able to make the land so fertile that the societies became richer and powerful. Successful irrigation could bring glory and power to rulers who controlled it. Thus, the water system was a key point for the economical, technological, and political development of the ancient societies.
Flooding is an ongoing challenge in regional Victoria and it is expected to affect Victoria every 10-20 years. Victoria consists of 39 drainage basins and each of the basins comprises of rivers and streams (Comrie, 2011, pp.17). These rivers and streams are susceptible to flooding, which may impact various regional towns and communities within close proximity to water courses (Comrie, 2011, pp.17). The discussion of flooding is vital, as it is the most frequent occurring natural hazard, which affects approximately 520 million people per year Moore et al.2012, pp.1). Additionally, flooding is responsible for the lives of approximately 25,000 people every year and cost the global economy approximately $50- 60 billion per year (Moore et al.2012,
No I don’t think benefits can outweigh the cost of production in manner because of the following reasons:
... the water from seas. It appears that the better pace against the water scarcity ought to be every person’s economy in every-day living.
Murray Darling Basin Authority, (2014). Irrigated Agriculture in the Mallee. [online] Available at: http://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/pubs/MDBA_IAM_Web_FA3.pdf [Accessed 14 May. 2014].
Freshwater is quite scarce, but it is even scarcer than one might think: about seventy percent of all freshwater is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland and is unavailable to humans. Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater. It is not economically feasible to extract this waster for use as drinking water. This leaves less than one percent of the world’s fresh water that is available to humans. It includes the water found in lakes, reservoirs, groundwater that is shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. These freshwater sources are the only sources that are frequently replenished by rain and snowfall, and therefore are renewable. At the current rates of consumption, however, this supply of fresh water will not last. Pollution and contamination of freshwater sources exacerbate the problem, further reducing the amount of freshwater available for human consumption. Something must be done if humans want to even survive in the near future: the lack of clean drinking water is already the number one cause of disease in the world today. The first step is worldwide awareness of the water crisis: governments and the citizens they govern worldwide need to know about this problem and be actively involved in solving this problem.
Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007). Teaching challenges & dilemmas (3rd .ed). South Melbourne: Thompson.