Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review:

Lowering Water Tables at UTEP

Anais Blanco

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1302

Dr. Vierra

4/8/18
LITERATURE REVIEW 2

Abstract

This paper contains arguments between multiple authors and their opinions on the topic of

lowering water tables. The paper is based off four major research questions that are later

answered by the authors and how they side with their opinion. The majority of the authors claim

that water levels and the quality of water have significantly depreciated. Overall the authors do

agree that pollution is the main cause to the damages in the ecosystem. Contributors to the

disruption of water levels include car exhaust fumes, waste lands, and other sources of pollution.

This paper also contains the results of a survey taken by students at the University of Texas at El

Paso. The students were asked questions about their thoughts on water issues and how they think

the University is helping reverse any negative effects on water tables. The results from the water

table survey are shown in figure 1 and figure 2 at the end of the paper. More than half of the

students surveyed believe there is no water problem at UTEP according to figure 1. More than

half of the students also believe water levels are lowering according to figure 2.
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Literature Review:

Lowering Water Tables at UTEP

Water is the most important resource on Earth. Overtime water has become a difficult

subject to discuss. Many people are unaware of the damages to our water system. Pollution and

over extraction of rivers, aquifers, and oceans are beginning to create panic to the population. If

water depletion continues at this rate water could become scarce in some areas or it could

become unpotable.

At the University of Texas at El Paso they have begun making local changes to water

systems. The University has created a water drainage that allows rain water to be recycled to

keep a balanced and stable water level at the campus. This drainage helps prevent water

contamination and over extraction. This idea could eventually spread worldwide to put an end to

excessive water extraction and allow water levels to reboot.

This topic will be answered using four research questions.

1. What are the causes of lowering water levels?

2. Are UTEP students affecting water quality?

3. Can UTEP reverse negative effects on water levels?

4. What factors in lowering water levels can be controlled?

Lowering water levels

Everyday activities such as driving cars, showering and such are negatively affecting

water tables. These activities are causing excess pollution and it is leading back to water sources.

According to Romo (1990), he claims pollution in the El Paso area has being excessive because

of fumes emitted from ASARCO that the University of Texas at El Paso contemplated creating
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on spot pollution detectors. Romo focuses on ASARCO being the main contributor to water

pollution rather than expanding the danger of water pollution globally. Romo believes that

pollution on local water was expanding quickly and water was becoming unsafe to drink. Over

time it was seen that ASARCO did have a negative effect on the community and was later

demolished (p.4).

On the other hand, Manheim (2016) makes a broad claim that other factors such as cars

and waste effect the content of water. Manheim does not just focus on one polluter making his

claim more valuable because it does not just focus on a certain region of people. There are

people who do not believe water is decreasing. For instance, Campos (2015) believes water

sources are not available or inadequate to lots of parts of the country therefore people cannot be

the leading factor of lowering water levels. Campos states water in “colonias” found in Dona

Ana County tend to be unsanitary and unusable so people don’t use the water as much as areas

that have access to clean water. Water levels in this area are not depreciating because it is

unpotable which can also be a factor of the pollution created over time.

Sheng (2005) also emphasized that the greatest threat to lowering water levels is the rapid

increase in population over the years. The increase in population has made water demands rise

greatly putting water levels to decrease to dangerous levels. Sheng believes that if the population

continues to increase at this rate we could face greater issues in local water sources. Water could

become scarce and difficult to retrieve in the future if the extraction rate continues at this rate.

Although Sheng claim is reasonable Knott J (2017) pointed out water levels are rising because of

the warming of the planet. Knott agrees humans are the cause of water issues but he believes

they indirectly cause problems—create pollution which later effects the water. Knott claims

pollution is what is affecting water quality, the more people go without noticing their effects of
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pollution created from automobiles, factories, and littering. Knott also believes water sources

such as the oceans are being damaged by people’s careless mistakes is also affecting the

ecosystem. Trash is ending up in bodies of water which is affecting the quality of the water and

the chemicals emitted into the air is making the planet heat up. The gas buildup is piercing

through layers in the ozone and causing direct sunlight go through making the earth to overheat.

Water Quality

People can help maintain stable water levels but they can also have negatively affect

them by creating excess pollution. According to Doehrman (2005) El Paso County has been

found to have an alarming level of toxic pollution in water. This pollution has been created over

the years by an excess dumping of chemicals into water sources. McQuigge (2009) agrees water

sources are taken for granted and are constantly being polluted by careless mistakes. McQuigge

claims clean water is being taken for granted and people do not understand how hard it is to

maintain water sources uncontaminated. McQuigge focus on the spread of E. Coli in water in

1982 in Canada because people were not cautious of being sanitary around and properly

disposing waste. Doehrman has narrowed down the issue to El Paso and is reliable because the

toxin levels where compared throughout other counties across the US. Thangarajan (2007) also

agrees with Doehrman and McQuigge that people are adding on to the water issue. Thangarajan

argues that ground water is being affected by a high level of pollution from burning waste lands

and car exhaust. Thangarajan believes if car usage and if burning trash from wastelands could be

controlled to not be done so often water quality could increase. The burning of trash is expelling

fumes into the air, and ashes are being absorbed by the ground which later ends up in the ground

water. The trash being burned is highly contaminated making our water dangerous to consume.
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Reversing negative effects

If more people become aware of lowering water tables and the contamination of our

water they could all assist in the recovery of water. Recycling water can help maintain the level

of water extraction low. For instance, Anderson (2003) states that freshwater is a limited source

and it should be used cautiously. Anderson believes the limited freshwater that is left is being

threatened by pollution but can be restored by recycling waste water for irrigation. Kirk (2017)

also believes pipe size could result in a change of level of water extraction. The smaller the pipe

used for water extraction the less water goes to waste. When using a larger pipe the more water is

used and could potentially be over extracted and misused.

Controlling water levels

Carefully observing water levels and making sure water stays uncontaminated will help

the community strive and lower concerns. Manheim (2016) states pollution is to blame for water

shortages because water is becoming unusable due to the contamination from cars and waste are

affecting all types of water sources such as oceans, aquifers and lakes. Thangarajan (2007)

agrees to pollution being a large contributor to water issues but he believes over extraction is also

a key factor to water shortages. Manheim (2016) tends to focus only on pollution rather than

other issues that can contribute to lowering water levels. Manheim must take into consideration

that pollution takes a time to effect water sources in comparison to extraction because extraction

of water immediately shows effect on aquifers.

Another way water extraction could be controlled is using smaller pipes for the extraction

process. These pipes must be selected in different sizes for different task. For a home pipes

should not be the size they are for a vegetation field because not the same amount of water is

required in a house hold. According to Kirk (1918) he claims that the size of pipes used to extract
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water influences how much water is extracted. The larger size of pipe leads to more extraction

and people over time are beginning to use them more frequently because they are more

convenient and time efficient.

Problem with water sources

Many issues have been said to be contributors to fluctuating water levels. According to

Thangarajan (2007), he argued that ground water is being affected by a high level of pollution

from burning waste lands and car exhaust. Thangarajan based his claim only on pollution rather

than seeking further issue affecting water tables. While Thangarajan’s claim is true he

overlooked that water-levels are also decreasing due to over extraction. According to Nepali

Times (2017) water levels are lowering because of the excessive extraction of aquifers by people

in nearby areas. For instance, Nepali Times (2017) uses the example of water levels in

Kathmandu Valley. They claim water levels are lowering due to over extraction by people in the

area. Although Nepali Times may have seemed of concern to only a small group of people in the

Kathmandu Valley, it should in fact have concerned anyone who cared about lowering water

levels.

Other authors such as McQuigge (2009) claims clean water is being taken for granted and

people do not understand how hard it is to maintain water sources uncontaminated. McQuigge

focus on the spread of E. Coli in water in 1982 in Canada because people were not cautious of

being sanitary around and properly disposing waste. McQuigge uses this example to show how

people have become careless of how to properly dispose of waste. If water is not protected

properly it could eventually lead to health problems like the Canadian E. Coli outbreak. If water
LITERATURE REVIEW 8

contamination goes unnoticed this could eventually lead to water scarcity as well because water

will become unpotable.

Rios-Arana (2004) also believes human activities are contributors to the rise in sediment

load, inconsistent water flows and runoff of minerals into the water system of the Rio Grande.

The negative effects of the Rio Grande lead to higher issues into the Gulf of Mexico. Although

Rios-Arana extended the water issue into The Gulf of Mexico rather than just to the Rio Grande

it fails to get an overall effect of water tables across the world. On the other hand, Anderson

(2003) makes his claim based off of a versatile group rather than just focusing on one. Anderson

makes a similar claim stating human usage is the leading factor of water depreciation but he

presented his information more effectively.

An opposing view, Knott (2017) believes water levels are rising but he claims ground

water is also rising. Knott (2017) believes sea-levels are rising because of a surface pressure and

are inducing ground water to rise as well. The pressure created by sea level effects the pressure

of the land making the ground water rise because of the tension pushed from the sea. Manheim

(2016) agrees that sea levels are rising but was unaware that the sea level was contributing to the

rise of groundwater. Knott believes pollution is a factor in the warming of the planet but does not

consider it to be a direct issue with water levels, he only believes it affects quality of water.

Primary Research

The primary research method used in this paper was a survey. The survey was taken by

students at University of Texas at El Paso and consisted of questions based off of water tables.

There were five close ended questions and two open ended questions to the survey.

Students responses varied when asked if they believed UTEP was doing something to maintain

good water levels. For instance, one student replied, “they use low-gallon flush toilets and sinks
LITERATURE REVIEW 9

are motion censored. ” On the other hand, the majority of students replied they were unsure or

did not believe the University was doing anything to assist the water issues. The responses

recorded showed many of the students are unaware of water problems. More than half of the

students surveyed believe there is no water problem at UTEP according to figure 1 which

explains why they believe UTEP is not involved in water restoration. More than half of the

students also believe water levels are lowering globally according to figure 2 but seem to think

UTEP is not an example of how water levels are lowering.

Conclusion

In conclusion, students at The University of Texas at El Paso are unaware of the water

issue going on. If more people could be educated and informed about the fluctuation of water

the easier it will become to control the problem. Having water drainages that allow rainwater to

be collected can later reuse it for vegetation is one solution to control excessive extraction.

Another solution to help preserve water quality is recycling to prevent excessive waste in

landfills. Limiting car trips and using the carpool method are other solutions to eliminating

pollution in water.
LITERATURE REVIEW 10

References

Adler, R. W. (2013). Agriculture and water quality: A climate-integrated perspective. Vermont

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Blanco, A. G. (n.d.). Water Table Survey [Chart].

Campos Flores, I. (2015). Evaluation of point of use drinking water treatment systems for

colonias in the Southwest United States Available from Dissertations & Theses Europe Full

Text: Science & Technology. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1732168228

J Anderson. (2003). The environmental benefits of water recycling and reuse. Water Science &

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Kirk L. Clarence, Brush W. William, Folwell Prescott, Maury W. John, & Alvord W. John.

(1918). Lowering ground water levels. Retrieved from http://0-

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9b4e8fdfe0241d389cf

Knott, J., Daniel, J. S., & Jacobs, J. (2017). Eyeing the rise: Assessing the effects of rising

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Marylou Doehrman. (2005). El Paso County makes toxic polluter list. The Colorado Springs

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Water Table Survey

Figure 1.

Figure 2.