10.4 Environmental Sustainability
265
world’s wetlands have been completely lost, and the quality of the world’s water
is consistently being degraded, thus threatening the health of local ecosystems and
people with ever-increasing costs associated with its treatment. These problems
are deeply rooted in our wasteful use of water, which is characterized by inefficient management systems, lack of economic incentives, underinvestment, and
our failure to implement new technologies for superior management. Our water
wastage is further exacerbated from a political standing as groundwater aquifers
and watersheds do not respect political borders, meaning conflict between countries
and municipalities for its ownership often leads to over-extraction. With a water
demand that grows day-by-day, we are further draining our existing supplies,
creating a greater debt on groundwater use. The rate at which groundwater stores
are depleted has doubled since 1960. With such a high level of drainage from
aquifers, we are causing major problems to the world’s aquatic ecosystems, such
as rivers, floodplains, and watersheds. These ecosystems bear the brunt of the
repercussions following water reductions, by entering a state of degradation, or
completely disappearing all together. This further increases the environmental costs,
as we often rely on these ecosystems for a number of other ecosystem services
besides water provision. There are many opportunities to conserve water, such as
implementing more efficient management of our resources. A large quantity of
global water usage is for agriculture, so this should be the first area we look for
better management solutions. Through the implementation of better agricultural
techniques, such as drip irrigation and growing crops that are more suitable to
their local climate, vast sums of water can be saved. This can be further augmented
by offering financial incentives to farmers to encourage them to incorporate more
efficient water practices into their farming methods.
What activities can put in place to maintain the efficient management of
water?
It is also imperative that we safeguard against water contamination to preserve
the quality of water that we still have. Agricultural runoff, which leads to leeching
of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides into the soil and groundwater supplies has
resulted in contaminated local water sources. By switching to more sustainable
alternatives, such as some organic sources, we can decrease contamination levels
and preserve water quality. Of course, it is not just farming practices that can
be altered to save water. Other industries must also incorporate better water
management strategies so that their enterprises can be more sustainable. Businesses
should begin to conduct audits that will reveal areas where major water costs are
occurring (particularly those that use large amounts of water such as the hospitality
industries, such as hotels). This will highlight areas that can be improved and
government incentives should be offered to allow investment in new technology
and water reduction schemes. All these methods of improved water management,
265
world’s wetlands have been completely lost, and the quality of the world’s water
is consistently being degraded, thus threatening the health of local ecosystems and
people with ever-increasing costs associated with its treatment. These problems
are deeply rooted in our wasteful use of water, which is characterized by inefficient management systems, lack of economic incentives, underinvestment, and
our failure to implement new technologies for superior management. Our water
wastage is further exacerbated from a political standing as groundwater aquifers
and watersheds do not respect political borders, meaning conflict between countries
and municipalities for its ownership often leads to over-extraction. With a water
demand that grows day-by-day, we are further draining our existing supplies,
creating a greater debt on groundwater use. The rate at which groundwater stores
are depleted has doubled since 1960. With such a high level of drainage from
aquifers, we are causing major problems to the world’s aquatic ecosystems, such
as rivers, floodplains, and watersheds. These ecosystems bear the brunt of the
repercussions following water reductions, by entering a state of degradation, or
completely disappearing all together. This further increases the environmental costs,
as we often rely on these ecosystems for a number of other ecosystem services
besides water provision. There are many opportunities to conserve water, such as
implementing more efficient management of our resources. A large quantity of
global water usage is for agriculture, so this should be the first area we look for
better management solutions. Through the implementation of better agricultural
techniques, such as drip irrigation and growing crops that are more suitable to
their local climate, vast sums of water can be saved. This can be further augmented
by offering financial incentives to farmers to encourage them to incorporate more
efficient water practices into their farming methods.
What activities can put in place to maintain the efficient management of
water?
It is also imperative that we safeguard against water contamination to preserve
the quality of water that we still have. Agricultural runoff, which leads to leeching
of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides into the soil and groundwater supplies has
resulted in contaminated local water sources. By switching to more sustainable
alternatives, such as some organic sources, we can decrease contamination levels
and preserve water quality. Of course, it is not just farming practices that can
be altered to save water. Other industries must also incorporate better water
management strategies so that their enterprises can be more sustainable. Businesses
should begin to conduct audits that will reveal areas where major water costs are
occurring (particularly those that use large amounts of water such as the hospitality
industries, such as hotels). This will highlight areas that can be improved and
government incentives should be offered to allow investment in new technology
and water reduction schemes. All these methods of improved water management,