Example Policy Brief: Water Use in Perth

The consumption of water has been increasing in the last few decades. Most of the demand is caused by agricultural activities (BBC Features). Water needed for industrial purposes also drives up the demand. The world can learn about ways of conserving water from the countries that have initiated the measures and have become successful at it. Australia is considered as the most successful so far. Recycling, desalination, and harvesting rainwater are some of the solutions that can be applied to handle water shortages and create

On March 27, 2014, Wade Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle reported “The Water Revolution California needs.” California is having a severe drought. Wade Graham tells his readers that California is in a serious water crisis. The state of California needs to make strict changes to how water is being distributed amongst farmers and residents. Before all of California’s ecological system is destroyed. Wade Graham believes that water should be priced higher; that way people aren’t wasting water. Water is a limited resource that should never be wasted, and is probably California’s most valuable resource. Unfortunately, many people waste water; instead of conserve water especially when we live in the state of California where we are subject to

The article “Water Works”, published by Orion Magazine and written by environmental specialist Cynthia Barnett intends to inform the reader anyone can make water an important factor. Overlooking it has become common many people in the United States have adapted to through the changes that have occurred in society over time. At the beginning of her article, she describes an area that does not make water care a priority, whereas in another location they make it very evident water is important. The location she describes is gloomy, grey, and is a populated area that has old water systems that are damaging environmental factors. Barnett continuously emphasizes that people are the ones who can help restore nature. This is at a less cost than

The environment, and recreational activities that are essential to the outdoors, have also been negatively impacted by this system for allocating water rights. The issue of whether or not this system is equitable towards environmental protection has been raised because environmental organizations typically do not have the same funds as other entities, such as cities and towns, oil, gas, and energy companies, and manufacturing. Furthermore, as Jones and Cech point out, “environmental concerns continue to be underrepresented in Colorado water law and policy” (p. 712). This has created a situation similar to agriculture, where environmental concerns become second thoughts to those of M&I, giving rise to environmental issues across the state. These environmental issues can have an effect on residents throughout Colorado, from anglers who enjoy healthy streams and rivers for fishing, to kayakers and rafters who need flowing rivers to recreate

In accordance with Adam Nagourney and Jack Healy’s New York Times article, “ Drought Frames Economic Divide of Californians,” it is believed that the residents of California are economically divided which determines the amount of water they consume. In the two cities of comparison, Cowan Heights and Compton, consumption of water has a lot to do with the residents financial background. The daily water consumption rate for the residents of Cowan Heights, whose household median income is $122,662, was 572.4 gallons per person. The daily water consumption rate for the residents of Compton, whose household median income is

It was a blistering summer day and it was so hot you could fry eggs on the sidewalk. I remember the day as clearly as if it happenned yesterday. The water ninjas were prowling the streets. Mocking undercover espionage and often anonymous, they secretly watch you, snapping away photos of all your wastefulness with their iPhones. Then uploading the evidence for the world to see – and the newly empowered local Glendale water agency – to blatantly see. Within five minutes of me starting to wash my car, I look behind me and there were the water district people. They did the whole calling me “mam” cliche and asking whether I knew the laws. In the end, they wrote me up a citation for using water on a non watering day. This is just an example of an incident that can occur when excess watering occurs. Luckily for me I managed to get out of the citation for being a first time offender and promising not to do it again. Many of the conventional beliefs have laid blame on the homeowners hooked on having the shiny clean cars, crisp green lawns, and sparkling swimming pools.  However, the conventional beliefs don’t always tell the whole story. The truth is California communities all across the state have tremendously reduced their average water consumption. There have been both successes and failures in the fronts of California’s drought and the conservation efforts, but as we go forward there is a definite need in better planning.

Throughout the article, Barnett analyses the idea of water scarcity. She accentuates the fact that aging infrastructure hampers our ability

The way Americans use water all depends on the location and how much water is readily available. California, a dry state with scarce water supply, versus Florida, a tropical state with more water resources, have very different ways of using water throughout the day. For example, Coastal southern California has cutting-edge water usage policies, including mandatory low-flow toilets and strict lawn watering laws (Pickert, 19). Compared to Florida, which has an adequate water supply, Floridians still use more water than what is available, and have very little water usage policies to resolve this issue (Behn, 45). Although there are many issues concerning water usage in Florida and California, there are many ways in which they can be resolved,

Q1. Briefly describe the complexity of international water use, using the Rhine River or the Aral Sea as an example.

Water is essential to sustain life. It is becoming an ever more valuable resource every year as it becomes scarcer. The general problem is that California is in the midst of a severe drought. The specific problem is that the typical urban consumer has little knowledge of how to reduce their every day consumption of water. Urban usage accounts for approximately 5.7 million acre-feet per year, which equates to approximately 10% of California’s annual water supply in a year with normal precipitation (Burt, 2014). In this previous water year (October 1, 2013 - September 30, 2014) California experienced its driest year in 119 years (Ca.Gov/Water Conditions). Serious action needs to be taken immediately to reduce consumptive usage, especially in the case of urban consumption of water. Shakespeare famously said “I to the world am like a drop of water that in the ocean seeks another drop”. While each individual may believe their actions to be insignificant, in the bigger picture, California needs every drop it can get.

From the Water Sydney website, I found that each person uses 297 litres of water each day and 1.4 billion litres a day are provided to homes! This water can be contributed to long showers being a factor and also drinking, cooking, washing up etc. Within Warragamba Dam, I discovered that the annual rate of rainfall is 840 millimetres and currently it has a 92.5% dam level. Within the primary and secondary sources I can see that there is more linking evidence, rather than conflicting. This could possibly be due to the audience I surveyed, being already educated about the dam, yet the water usage knowledge was the same as any aged person found in my secondary research. Therefore I can assume that after researching both sources and collecting evidence, that primary and secondary link together to show that Sydney uses more water than necessary and as a city, we need to come up with a solution to stop this excessive

One such farm uses more than 22 billion gallons of water annually to irrigate their 30,000-acre wheat and corn farm (Parker). Another contributing factor is the pressure for farmers to continue over irrigating their lands. The push behind this practice is coming from other businesses, like seed and grain mill operations, farm implement dealers, bankers, and anyone else that rely on these farms for a living. Even the majority of the farmers are for this because their property is worth more and earns more as long as it stays green compared to going to a dry land

Water usage for agriculture in Ontario is exceeded by two other sectors but, does play a large part and quite important as it generates a lot of economic revenue for the citizens. In Ontario, the Canadian Government requires all farmers who will be withdrawing more than 50,000 L of water to obtain the “Permit to Take Water”. This allows for the government to monitor how much water is being allotted to the agricultural sector. There are several issues faced by the government when trying to track water usage rates in Ontario. Agricultural water use in Ontario is distributed amongst 60,000 farms (figure 1) mostly in Southern, Ontario (Loë, 2005). The allocation of water in Ontario depends on accurate information from the sources of water, users

A survey was also conducted as part of the case study on Georges River, by asking stakeholders’ water-use habits, views on the issues surrounding stormwater pollution and catchment management issues. A number of questions were asked to explore the importance of engaging stakeholders in the water management improvements. This survey had increased local residents' awareness and have encouraged them to get involved in protecting and caring for the Georges River. The community survey highlighted a lack of concern about the quality of your water and knowledge of actions to conserve water. One survey respondent significantly stated “the quality and quantity of water is one of the utmost crucial issues facing us therefore it will need a resolute effort by individuals, groups and governments to be prosperous.”

For this assignment, I chose my home in Coastal Georgia. This area includes Brunswick (city and rural areas), St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island and Sea Island. I have had the privilege of contacting our County Commissioner, Dale Provenzano, formally a board member for the Joint Water and Sewer Commission, to enlighten me in the areas of water sourcing, demand, challenges, and solution recommendations.