Managing water shortage crisis in north Texas

This paper discusses water management proposals for the Northern Texas based on the 5 provided questions. Identify and describe three feasible alternative and sustainable sources that could be developed as a means of providing additional potable water for your district’s customers. Firstly, is incorporating supply from brackish ground water. It is approximated that Texas aquifers hold more than 3,300,000 MCM of brackish ground water that can be renewed to fresh water for drinking and other domestic uses (Buono, Zodrow, Alvarez, & Li, 2015, p. This can meet the current consumption needs. Deficiency of run off sewer systems is a challenge in urban and rural areas in north Texas. Other methods of collection, other than from household roofs, such as harvesting from roads and parking lots can help combat water shortage even in the whole country.

Thirdly, construction of additional water reservoirs such as dams can be used to combat the rising water shortage. Dams have been previous mainly constructed to tap hydroelectric power but they can as well be source of water supply during drier seasons (Mix, Groeger, & Lopes, 2016, p. Construction of upstream dams, according to the research, can be used to intercept and store large volumes of water. However, the cost and time to construct dams makes it not a first priority, neither the second. Further water that is collected by dams have to undergo treatment procedure that is an added cost to be incurred. Dams have been previously used to tap hydroelectric powers across rivers. When more dams are constructed upstream, they are likely to reduce the kinetic energy of flowing water that is converted to electrical energy (Mix, Groeger, & Lopes, 2016).

Provide a more detailed proposal for implementation, including justifications for selecting your first ranked alternative over the two. Funding the technology to be used in drilling and desalination facilities, once mined are key factors of the puzzle for implementation. Discuss the environmental, social, and political (without bias) impacts associated with this first ranked alternative, including cost-benefit considerations. The process of drilling brackish underground water and desalination is likely to be environmentally unfriendly. Brine (concentrated common salt sodium chloride) maybe injected into disposal well whose connection with seismic activity could pose threats to Texans against calamities like earthquakes (Makkawi, 2014, p. The other waste products of desalination are likely to impact negatively on agricultural farms. Identification starts brackish ground water source starts with review of available information pertaining underground water sources in maps, reports, water data and geophysical logs.

From the information gathered on geological characteristics of the host aquifer the preferential exploration corridors are obtained. The practical siting of the siting wells in the preferential corridors is then obtained. A test well or a series of wells aimed at providing detailed characteristics of the underlying water bearing strata is then drilled. Through the crushed rock particles, subsurface geology is then viewed. This technology reduces the overall cost of desalination of brackish water (Makkawi, 2014, p. Ion exchange regenerant brine is a byproduct of the softening process. The personnel required for the execution of the implementation of this project include the drilling engineer, survey engineer, cementing engineer, measurement engineer and system engineer. Conclusion Presently in north Texas, water demand surpasses supply, a condition that necessitates Texas legal and institutions to create additional sources of safe water for human consumption and even encourage water conservation.

The alternative sources outlined in this paper are, incorporating brackish ground water, encouraging roof harvesting of rainwater in residential homes and construction of additional water reservoirs for water storage.  M. , Zodrow, K.  R. , Alvarez, P.  J. , Friedler, E. , DeBusk, K. , … Han, M. Urban rainwater harvesting systems: Research, implementation and future perspectives. Water Research, 115, 195-209. Desalination and Water Treatment, 18(1-3),doi:10. 10513714 Ferrier, C. Bottled Water: Understanding a Social Phenomenon. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, 30(2), 118. doi:10. Health Risks Associated with Consumption of Untreated Water from Household Roof Catchment Systems. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 38(5), 1301-1306. doi:10. 1111/j. tb04349. , & Lopes, V.  L. Impacts of dam construction on streamflow during drought periods in the Upper Colorado River Basin, Texas. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research & Management, 21(4), 329-337.