This topic contains a solution. Click here to go to the answer

Author Question: Briefly discuss the issues facing the Colorado River basin. What will be an ideal ... (Read 36 times)

stevenposner

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 608
Briefly discuss the issues facing the Colorado River basin.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Discuss the different aspects of groundwater storage and movement below the surface. Include the ways in which groundwater comes to the surface on its own, and is drawn to the surface by humans, along with the consequences.
 
  What will be an ideal response?



Related Topics

Need homework help now?

Ask unlimited questions for free

Ask a Question
Marked as best answer by a Subject Expert

momo1250

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 338
Answer to Question 1

The Colorado River flows Wyoming to the southwestern United States. It supplies water for roughly 30 million people in 7 states (Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and California) and northern Mexico. Within these states, rapidly growing urban areas, such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Denver, and San Diego are dependent on the river. In order to equitably allocate the water, the seven states joined the Colorado River Compact, while the US. signed the Mexican Water treaty. In addition to the pressures put on the river by these populations, the Colorado River is an exotic stream with natural stream flow variability. Recent droughts have added extra strains on this resource.

Answer to Question 2

Precipitation is the main source of groundwater, percolating downward as gravitational water from the soil moisture zone, moving through the zone of aeration and, eventually, accumulating in the zone of saturation. The upper limit of the zone of saturation is the water table.
An aquifer is a subsurface layer of permeable rock or unconsolidated materials through which groundwater can flow. The two types are confined (bounded by impermeable layers above and below) and unconfined (bounded by permeable surface only below).
Humans extract groundwater from aquifers via wells. In unconfined aquifers, the water is not under pressure and must be pumped. In confined aquifers, the water is under pressure and may rise under its own pressure to the potentiometric surface.
Overconsumption of groundwater can lead to the lowering of the water table (drawdown) and a cone of depression. When water is used beyond the flow and recharge capacities of an aquifer, groundwater mining occurs.




momo1250

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 338

 

Did you know?

Nitroglycerin is used to alleviate various heart-related conditions, and it is also the chief component of dynamite (but mixed in a solid clay base to stabilize it).

Did you know?

Prostaglandins were first isolated from human semen in Sweden in the 1930s. They were so named because the researcher thought that they came from the prostate gland. In fact, prostaglandins exist and are synthesized in almost every cell of the body.

Did you know?

Approximately one in four people diagnosed with diabetes will develop foot problems. Of these, about one-third will require lower extremity amputation.

Did you know?

For high blood pressure (hypertension), a new class of drug, called a vasopeptidase blocker (inhibitor), has been developed. It decreases blood pressure by simultaneously dilating the peripheral arteries and increasing the body's loss of salt.

Did you know?

More than 34,000 trademarked medication names and more than 10,000 generic medication names are in use in the United States.

For a complete list of videos, visit our video library