Mitigation

Water Resource Plan SCI/275 University of Phoenix (Axia Online) August 15, 2010 Water Resource Plan The definition of water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater). Water pollution has an effect on plants, organisms living in the bodies of water. In many cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and populations, but to the natural biological communities. (Wikipedia) Water pollution has been suggested to be the leading cause of worldwide deaths and diseases, and is accountable for the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily. 700 million Indians have no access to proper toilets, and 1,000 Indian children die of diarrheal sickness every day. In addition to the acute problems of water pollution in developing countries, industrialized countries continue to struggle with pollution problems as well. In a most recent national report on water quality in the United States, forty five percent of assessed stream miles, forty seven percent of assessed lake acres, and thirty two percent of assessed bay and estuarine square miles were classified as polluted. Water pollution has become an issue because of people polluting our water resources. People have been dumping chemicals, drugs, garbage, oil and fuel into our lakes, oceans, seas, rivers. Sewage is a great concern because it is a severe threat to the health of the people, sewage can have bacteria that thrive and live in the dirty water. Coliform bacteria are a commonly use bacterial indicator of water pollution, although not an actual cause of disease. Other microorganisms sometimes found in surface waters which have caused human health problems include; Burkholderia pseudomallei, Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia, Salmonella, Novovirus, Parasitic worms and other viruses are caused by polluted waters. Erosion, which is caused by construction, mines, wood chopping, logging, all this can cause the destruction of the food chains, aquatic life, it also leaves disease carrying agents in the water, it may or can reduce photosynthesis. Water pollution also causes many more problems like; organic compound, inorganic compound, radioactive chemicals and thermal pollution. A sustainment plan that I think will alleviate the problem of water pollution is to have heftier fines and even prison time if a person or company is caught dumping garbage into any body of water. Our water plant system needs to be re-evaluated and new and improved system that would be able to keep up with today’s world and the many people that inhibit it. I think that there needs to be more water testing done, especially in city waters or in towns where there are mining companies. Gas companies like BP that has millions and millions of crude oil into our ocean and has cause much harm to the fisher men, aquatic life and animals that live of the ocean. I think that them paying only a hefty fee is not enough. I think that someone should be made an example of. I think that they should be banned from drilling anymore holes into our oceans. Who know what the long term damage is because of this. They should check the bottoms of our water resources to see if there is any garbage or junk that people have dropped in there. I think that this should be done at least once a year. Laws should be enhanced in ourselves and in our families. Another thing that would be a great help in stopping the water pollution is to stop polluting period. Even though this is something that is unrealistic, everyone should stop or stop someone from polluting. I also think that they or we as a whole should come with a recycling our sewage, even if it is a disgusting job. There should not be any one with opposing views to stopping our water pollution. This is something that will keep our water resources a lot than the rate we are going now. There are many people who do not care about our water resources or our aquatic life and what is happening to them because what we are doing to our waters. Point source pollution refers to contaminants that enter a water way through a discrete conveyance, such as a pipe or ditch. Some examples of sources in this category include discharges from a sewage treatment plant, a factory, or a city storm drain. The United States Clean Water Act (CWA) defines point source for regulatory enforcement purposes. The Clean Water Act (CWA) definition of point source was amended in 1987 to include municipal storm sewer systems, as well as industrial storm water, such as from construction sites. Citations and References * "Issues: Water" - Guides, news and reports from Natural Resources Defense Council (US nonprofit organization) * "Troubled Waters" - Video from "Strange Days on Planet Earth" by National Geographic & PBS * "Threatened Waters: Turning the Tide on Pesticide Contamination" - Report (2006) by Beyond Pesticides (US nonprofit organization) * Digital Water Education Library - Teaching resources for elementary & secondary education, from Colorado State University