ENVIRSC 1B03 Lecture Notes - Crop Rotation, Sinkhole, Aquifer
23 Feb 2014
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Document Summary
Marketing prospective: add penalty to companies for using non-renewable resources. Wells that are shallower than other ones will become dry. Only the deeper well is able to capture water. Ogallala aquifer provides water for numerous states. Discharge rate is greater than recharge rate non renewable. Diminishes surface water because groundwater interacts with streams: land subsidence. Sinkhole land collapses (roof of cave has collapsed) Overharvesting groundwater causes ground level lowers because all the pore space is gone: saltwater intrusions. There is a limited amount of freshwater and it is surrounded by saltwater - saltwater is drawn into freshwater. Pumping freshwater lowers fresh water hydraulic potential and seawater moves into the water zone and is pumped out; hard to remove. Rate of discharge is much greater than rate of recharge. Accumulation of salts in and on the soil to the point that plant growth is suppressed: positive feedback mechanism : low precipitation -> low productivity.
