Australia's main crop irigation source has been in a drought stage for almost 5 years and this year they decided to take a stand against the unwelcome dryness. The Murray Darling Water Basin provides water to many of Australia's inland crops, meaning crops that are not grown near the coast and are sold within the country. Without this basin not only would this country's economy drop but so would its food source hence leading to a much larger issue known as population depletion. When natives started to realizes that they drought was getting to be little too extreme they created the AWAS. AWAS keeps track of the water's assests, liabilities, and its flow. This means that they are just watching to see where the water is going, what it is being used for, and how fast/slow the flow of the water is. This will help them to determine what will need to be done in order to keep the Murray Darling Water Basin up and running, which will also keep their economy up and running.
Opinion:
When I first read this I was kind of shocked that they let a drought go on for so long in such an important body of water. But as I read on I became very impressed that they are doing so much now to keep in alive. I think that it is very smart to create a group that watches the behavior of the water so that they will be able to figure what is going on more accurately than if that just took a shot at it.
Questions:
1) What precentage of Earth's water do you think we use for our own good (showers, pools, etc.)?
2) How many bodies of water do you think are used for agricultural reasons in America?
3) Do you think that this orginization was a wise decision for this country to make or not? Why?
www.TheEnvironmentSite.org/getting-a-grip-on-water-use/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tes_org+%28TheEnvironmentSite.org%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
That, in my opinion, is a great idea. If every country had something like the AWAS, we would save a lot of people and oceans probably. I know that we, as Americans, take our water for granted a little too much. We use it all with out worrying about the consequences. I bet we all take showers that are a bit too long. We let the tap water run too much - I do sometimes.
ReplyDeleteTo answer question 2: We probably use about 50% for showers and pools and other recreational activities.
To answer question 3: I think that this organization is a very good idea for Australia. If they have been in a drought for almost 5 WHOLE years, they need to something about it. I think this is a great solution because now they will be cutting back on the amount of water that they use, therefore slowly saving the water until they are no longer in a drought.
I agree! That maybe if every country had some sort of foundation similar to this one, we would be able to save ALOT of water! This organization seams like an appropriate approach at this problem, this way they can tell what the water activities are. I also agree with Tal that as Americans we are really care free about a lot of things but then we realize when it's to late to fix it, however It does seem like they waited awfully long to react, but then again they are trying now
ReplyDeleteAccording to the link below:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_water_is_used_in_a_shower
It claims that only one percent of water is suitable for drinking, okay so aside from that fun fact I found that the answer to question 1: it is approximately 35% of water is used for our benefit.
My question is: why didn't they take action earlier, and what caused the drought?
2) do you think Australia will save more water by using this method or will the water activity remain the same?
I agree, its scary too see a drought for that long! This is a great idea because it helps both the environment and the economy.
ReplyDelete1. I think the amount of water for human use is less then we all think. We go through so much water but the earth is more than 70% water, so the percent we use turns out to not be as large as it seems. the majority of water on earth is salt water so that also narrows it down. I say about 5% is for human use.
Correction in mine 3-5% not 35!
ReplyDelete