Case Study: Palm Beach County, Florida: Water Use, Conservation and Reuse What are some of the

benefits of using reclaimed water? Some benefits are saving money, fertilizer, more drinking water, and help of the natural environment. 1: What are some of the factors that make water so special? Water is special because it is limited and critical. 2: What is the largest reservoir of water on Earth? The largest reservoir is the ice caps. What is the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth? The ice caps hold the most freshwater. 3: What is the residence time of water in the atmosphere? The average time is 9 days. Groundwater and Streams 4: What is the water table? It is where saturated conditions exist. 5: What is a discharge zone? It is where groundwater flows/seeps out into the surface. 6: What is an aquifer? It is an underground zone where groundwater can be found. What is a cone of depression? How is it created? It is when water from ground is pumped, the water table depresses around the well. 7: What is an effluent stream? The flow from the dry season by groundwater seeps into the stream from the subsurface. What is a stream that flows all year called? It is a perennial stream. 8: What is an influent stream? The water above the water table flows from precipitation. What is a stream that doesnt flow all year called? It is called an ephemeral stream. Water Supply: A U.S. Example 9: What is a water budget? How is it calculated? It is a model to show the input, output, and storage. Calculated by precipitation evaporation= runoff. Precipitation and Runoff Patterns 10: What is the average water use for people in the U.S.? The average is 100 gallons. What is the average water use for people in Europe? The average is 50 gallons. What is the average water use for people in Sub-Saharan Africa? The average is 5 gallons. Groundwater Use and Problems 11: How many people in the U.S. use groundwater as a source of drinking water? The percentage is 50%. 12: What problems can groundwater overdraft cause? IT can cause damage to ecosystems, land subsidies, and yields to decrease.

13: What is happening to the Ogallala Aquifer (High Plains Aquifer)? They are being overused and turned to dryland farming. Desalination as a Water Source 14: What is the percentage of salt in saltwater? 3.5% 15: To be used as a freshwater source, the salt content must be reduced to about 0.05% 16: What are some of the environmental impacts of desalination? Some impacts include place value, gas emissions, and increase salinity. Water Use 17: Describe the difference between off-stream use and in-stream use. Off-stream is water removed from the source, while in-stream use is the use of navigation of a stream but not completely replenishing the source of water. 18: What is one of the issues with off-stream use in the Pacific Northwest? An issue was the diversity of the nearby ecosystem was decreased due to less water. 19: Describe what happened to the Aral Sea. The diverted water for agriculture cause damage to the Aral Sea, including less water and less surface area. Some Trends in Water use 20: What are the two biggest users of freshwater withdrawals? The two are human use and groundwater. Water Conservation 21: What are some of the suggestions for improved irrigation to conserve water? Some suggestions include using lined canals, using computer monitoring and schedule for release of the water, and encouraging the developments of crops that require less water. Public Supply and Domestic Use 22: Domestic use of water (homes) accounts for 12% of total national water withdrawals. 23: What is Southern California (San Diego) doing to help with water shortages in the future? They are building higher dams, making farmers buy urban water, and building salination plants. 24: List 5 things that you can do at home to help conserve water usage * Taking a long bath rather than a long shower * Sweeping sidewalks and driveways * Turn off water when not needed *Flush only when really necessary

*Use a drip irrigation Virtual Water 25: What is virtual water? The thinking of the amount of water necessary to produce a product in a global scale. 26: How much water does it take to make a cup of coffee? 40 gallons of water. 27: How much water does it take to raise beef? It takes 15500 m^3 for beef. Wetlands 28: How do we define wetlands? It is defined as areas inundated by water or saturated to a depth of a few centimeters for at least a few days per year. 29: Wetlands are very important, what are the natural service functions of wetlands? A natural service is the sponge of water by wetlands. They are able to store water, reducing down-stream flooding. 30: How much of the original wetlands of the U.S. have disappeared? 1% each year. Restoration of Wetlands 31: What did the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 require? It requires that if a project ruins a wetland, then the company or builder must create a new wetland on another site. Dams and the Environment 32: Explain the environmental impacts of dams. Dams can cause loss of land, potential for flood, and limits life of the reservoir. 33: What are the PROS and CONS of the Three Gorges Dam? Pros: produces 18000 MW, less pollution. Cons: drowned cities, farm fields, archaeological sites, and scenic gorges. 34: What are some of the issues associated with removing of dams? It can cause problems if it is removed too quickly, that can kill fish downstream, and the price of removing is high. Global Water Shortage Linked to Food Supply 35: What are the environmental issues associated with global water shortage and food supply? Less food for the world, riots, political unrest, and concern for food amount. 36: Water is one of our most abundant resources, why are we concerned about its availability in the future? We are concerned due to the population growth that will need to be controlled for our availability of drinking water is decreasing. Study Questions

1: Which is more important from a national point of view, conservation of water use in agriculture or in urban areas? Why? Conservation of water use in agriculture is more important. Agriculture uses a large amount of water for many food items that will soon spoil after a number of days. If the agriculture industry were to be known for conserving the water, then there would be less water use spreading throughout the nation. The agriculture industry has enough power to influence the public, and with less water in agriculture, less water in urban areas.