Have you ever stood in the shower and realized that you’ve been showering for over 30 minutes; or ever left the faucet on while doing dishes and completely forgot to turn it off while you tuned in to the local news on the television; or have you ever come home from vacation to notice that your toilet has been running for the last 7 days? At times we forget how precious that water really is when it is at the tips of our fingers, but think about the statement from the April 2010 National Geographic entitled “Water our Thirsty World”...
“By 2050, a third of the people on Earth may lack a clean, secure source of water.”
The reality is that we are nearing the so-called “inevitable reality” of a dry world. Are we consuming the world’s water at a rate too fast to replenish, and if so, what are our options for the dry future?
In the article entitled “The Last Drop”, National Geographic takes an in-depth look at the reality of the rising problem. Elizabeth Royte, author of the article, talks about the problems around the world with water conservation, and touches on some of the major focus points of the overall problem. She states that 70% of the overall water used by humans is consumed by irrigated agriculture. We know that the agricultural business is very important in the production of human food and the ability to feed the billions of people that inhabit this earth, but are there ways to decrease the amount of water used by those farmers so that our precious water continues to provide for the Human Race for hundreds of years to come?
Cities and companies around the world are coming up with ways to preserve the water they use. For example: Google recycles 100% of its water used to cool its giant data centers; Coca-Cola moved from a water-based system to an air pressured system to clean the lint from beverage containers; and Frito Lay will soon recycle all of its water used in plants around the world. Beijing plans on recycling 100% of its water by the year 2013, and yes that means toilet water.
Peter Gleick stated, “it’s inevitable that we’ll solve our water problem, the trick is how much pain we can avoid on the path to where we want to be.” With this said, the solutions need to come fast so that the pain suffered is minimal. Allow us to talk about some of the possible solutions, but more specifically, lets focus on the solutions to the 70% of water that is being consumed in irrigated agriculture.
After reading the mentioned National Geographic Journal, and studying Abdullah Kadayisci´s article in the recent African Journal of Biotechnology, as well as K. Ferguson´s article entitled Water Conservation Methods in Urban Landscape Irrigation, an Exploratory Review, I have found 4 major methods or techniques that farmers and ranchers alike can implement that would decrease the amount of water used. These methods would also allow farmers to continue to have the same output of crops and goods.
- Drip Irrigation – The use of this technique, which feeds water directly to the root of the plant, via underground pipes, decreases immensely the amount of water needed to produce crops. Even though it is a more expensive alternative, with the reduction of water evaporation due to the underground method, the decrease of the quantity of water is great. A farmer can reduce its water needed by nearly 2/3rds by paying the money needed to install this irrigation system.
- Micro-Sprinkler Systems – As you target the roots, you have less runoff and a more productive use of water. In a sense, these are underground sprinklers that use a form of mist or spray to water the roots directly. This method is similar to the drip system mentioned above, but can even reduce water usage to a higher degree.
- Laser Level Fields – By creating perfectly flat fields, farmers control the amount of water runoff, and in turn, decrease the amount of water needed to water fields by containing the water on a flat field.
- Soil-moisture monitors – Monitors that are placed beneath the soil indicating to the drip or micro-sprinkler systems the exact amount of water needed in the soil to effectively provide water to the desired plants.
The four methods and techniques mentioned above are currently used around the world by farmers and ranchers alike, but the numbers are far and few between. The downfall, or in other words the reason why all farmers and ranchers do not participate in such systems, is because the cost to implement such systems is higher than the cost of extra water. Farmers and ranchers are not convinced, because the water is still available and they are not under any sort of pressure to change to more water-efficient systems.
If laws and help were to be implemented by governments and associations to insure that all agriculture fields were using systems that decrease immensely the use of water, the world as a whole would come a little closer to finalizing the problem with the loss of water. With all said and done, the pressure needs to come from higher authorities. Now that options are available, there is simply no excuse. We do not want to go without water. We don’t want the future generations of this world living in a world with a lack of water. So lets step forward today and start implementing the suggested ideas to help the conservation of water worldwide.
If laws and help were to be implemented by governments and associations to insure that all agriculture fields were using systems that decrease immensely the use of water, the world as a whole would come a little closer to finalizing the problem with the loss of water. With all said and done, the pressure needs to come from higher authorities. Now that options are available, there is simply no excuse. We do not want to go without water. We don’t want the future generations of this world living in a world with a lack of water. So lets step forward today and start implementing the suggested ideas to help the conservation of water worldwide.
