SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES FOR ENSURING CLEAN AND RELIABLE WATER FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Many areas in the world are experiencing significant fresh water shortages due to drought, growing populations, increased agricultural and industrial demands, and extensive forms of pollution or water quality degradation. Many more are expected to face similar predicaments in the next 20 years. Water shortages will significantly limit economic growth, decrease the quality of life and human health for billions of people, degrade the ecologic health of natural environments, and could potentially lead to violence and conflict over securing scarce supplies of water. These concerns are not limited to the economically poor countries, of course, as many parts of the United States face similar dilemmas. These problems can be exacerbated by fluctuating imbalances between need and supply, poor water management or land use practices, social, economic, political, and trans-boundary disputes, as well as factors related to climate change. The future is one that will require significant technological advances to support the conservation, preservation, and movement of fresh water, as well as in the development of new or alternative supplies. It is also one that will also require concomitant improvements in the use of practical solutions and the ways in which the broader scientific and technical community interacts with policy-makers, water-related agencies, the educational community, as well the public in the solution process. This presentation will review several aspects of these issues and proposed or implemented solutions for new and reliable water in the context of an example water situation in the US.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 15014768
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-PROC-206169; TRN: US200807%%670
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at: Erice International Seminars on Nuclear War, Planetary Emergencies and Associated Events, Erice, Italy, Aug 18 - Aug 23, 2004
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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