Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review: Lowering Water Tables

Isaac A. Lara

University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1302

Vierra, P.

04/08/2018
LITERATURE REVIEW 2

Abstract

Water is the foundation of life. Without it, we as a species and all living things on our

planet would perish. So why are we not doing more to make the clean water on our planet

sustainable and accessible to everyone? By making intelligent improvements to policies aimed

towards water conservation may be the solution to maintaining a good water reserve that will last

for decades to come. Improving communication between water management leaders or relying

on specific agencies to oversee water management are methods of improving administration for

water resources as well. But in order to make water equally available to everyone in the world,

first world countries need to step in by pushing students in those countries to assist to find the

answers by suggesting new methods and innovative ideas to minimize environmental damage.

Implementing new methods of modeling bodies of water, such as aquifers and basins, is

imperative to decrease the amount of environmental damage. These are solutions that we are

imposing to hopefully one day solve the issues with distribution and conservation of our current

water supply globally.

Literature Review: Lowering Water Tables

Students at UTEP can help solve the issue of lack of water in third world countries and

help make water more accessible to everyone with a number of innovative changes. During the

last few decades utilization of aquifers has continued to accelerate at an exponential rate to meet

the needs of the world. Things like irrigation, suburban/urban water supplies, and even simple

commodities like bottled water are some of the many diverse and necessary uses of water. Well

owners are interested in how aquifers respond to heavy water pumping while they put aside the

idea of resource management and are far more interested in how to exploit this vital resource.

Even though policies are in place to protect such a precious resource, they may not be enough to

keep up with and satiate the needs of the world. While some of these issues might be in our own

backyard, other areas of the world face real problems when they may not have access to clean

accessible water on a daily basis and may even have to walk miles to a well. If resources are not

managed appropriately excessive water pumping could disrupt the natural water cycles causing

the water tables to lower and eventually wells around the world could go dry.

This topic will be answered using four research questions:

1. How effective are the modeling methods for aquifers? And how accurate are they?

2. How do water policies affect methods of conservation and availability?

3. How can water management officials improve their process on how the resource is

administered?

4. What is UTEP doing to make water more accessible for third world countries?
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Modelling

Methods used for modelling aquifers are not anywhere near one-hundred percent

accurate, in order to better manage water in aquifers or basins modelling needs to be improved,

focusing on math and sciences will lead to new methods that would improve current techniques

and by mapping aquifers more frequently would all increase the accuracy of current readings.

Walton (1970) insisted that water levels can be regulated by first quantizing the amount of water

in an aquifer by using different mathematical and technological innovations and once the levels

have been identified that information can then be used to manage the resource in the most

appropriate manner (p. iii). Walton noted that it is very difficult to try to map/model an aquifer

because most of the time their hypothesis tends to be incorrect but if we do not truly know how

much water there is then how can it be regulated. Walton tabulated data from research he had

conducted, and his argument is mostly based on his experience in the field. Walton was right that

the use of math and science is important in order to truly quantify how much water is inside an

aquifer he seems on more dubious ground when he claimed that water management is not

effective unless we really know how much water is located inside the aquifer was flawed.

Even though when people refer to water issues most of the time what is assumed are

droughts some places have the opposite scenario where there is too much water. Dewals (2013)

insisted that the current hydraulic modeling for the Meuse basin and some local tributaries

needed to be reevaluated considering the current change in climate change that poses a higher

risk of flooding (Dewals, p.19). Dewals questioned if the current flood management systems in

Europe are truly providing safety for the population and their goods with the flood risks

becoming more of an issue due to climate change and how that surplus of water can be used in

more productive ways. To support his theory, Dewals used the published work of Van Alphen
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(2009), Becker (2007), and Van Pelt (2011), to highlight the need for more uniform approaches

in flood risk assessments, implement flood management issues, and what to do when the river

basin becomes full after capturing too much rainwater. Dewals thesis that local tributaries need

to be reevaluated considering the change in climate that has altered the previously assessed risk

for flooding was extremely useful because it shed light on the scenario of different ways that

their surplus water could be managed and how many areas may have surplus water that could be

used for other positive projects.

Policies

Policies are the foundation of water management, making changes to the current policies

in place would in turn change how we approach the issue of availability and conservation.

Changes such as federal funding for programs that strive to making water available to the world

such as, Pure Water for the World. Or by setting daily limits for water usage per household may

be the key solution to maintaining a good water reserve and make water more available to the

rest of the world. Gleick (1998) reminded us about the long-term goal of having clean and

accessible water for not only the current population of the Earth, but for generations to come.

Gleick suggested that we implement new principles such as guaranteeing access to a minimum

amount of clean water in order to maintain human health, ecosystems and areas in order to

maintain a long-term water management and sustainability. In making his case, Gleick referred

to the Seven Sustainability Criteria, Basic Water Requirement (BWR) and “backcasting” policies

to display the basic needs and rights that humans deserve along with the environment that they

live in. By focusing on the problem of water being a basic human right that everyone should

have access to, Gleick overlooked the deeper problem where the water will come from or who

will assist with these issues, there are several methods that can be adopted in order to make this
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resource more accessible to people, but in order to adopt these methods they involve manpower

and financial support in order to achieve.

Even though Gleick may have overlooked a lot of the ins and outs when creating his

utopia, alternative policies may help the levels of fresh water across the board. For example,

Shelley (1991) agreed that El Paso City Council’s methods to conserve water by scheduling

watering days for everyone and by accessing higher rates for careless water use. Shelley noted

that the changes presented by city council are of paramount importance if we plan on making the

water supply of the city available to future generations. In making her case Shelley conducted

interviews with Raul Carrasco, who was the superintendent of buildings and grounds

management of the University of Texas at El Paso, as well as Juan Ontiveros director of facility

services, and John Sutton water conservation manager with El Paso Water Utilities. Shelley

surely is right about the importance of taking certain measures like watering days because, as she

might not have been aware, recent studies have shown, as presented by Sedlak, that most of the

water usage happens outdoors but what the research supports is that our lawns and plants can

survive with half of the amount of water and still have a nice green landscape appropriate for the

are we live in.

Although the policies in place do assist the strained water supply in our city, there are

people like Sheng (2001) who claimed that the increase in population size is decreasing the

amount of water in the Hueco Bolson aquifer that has a low recharge rate considering its location

in the Chihuahua Desert. Sheng questioned whether the management strategies that protect the

aquifer will help the aquifer survive past the year 2025 so that it can continue providing fresh

water to El Paso, New Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez. In making his argument based on information

gathered at the El Paso Research and Extension Center, Texas Development Board, and from the
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El Paso Water Utilities. These findings connected with Turner, who also argued that the increase

in population and the slow recharge rate of the Hueco Bolson aquifer made him question

management of said aquifer and plans in place to help the aquifer recharge at a faster rate. Turner

(unknown), just as Sheng also questioned whether the current policies we have in place will

prove to be sustainable enough to keep up the water tables and have enough fresh water for

future generations. Although Sheng stated that with current policies the water in the Hueco

Bolson would last us until the year 2025, it must be pointed out that according to Turner

proposed changes to local policies that would aid in conserving the water that is remaining in the

aquifer, things like time limits on showers and overall limits on water usage for the entire

household. With the ideas presented by Sheng and Turner it would be possible the aquifer can

last way beyond the predicted depletion date to serve the cities successors.

Management

Improving communication between water management leaders or relying on specific

agencies to oversee resource management decisions are methods of improving administration for

water resources. König (2008) suggested that despite the inefficiency of mapping aquifers and

groundwater resources we must take an “integrated approach”. König observed that because the

lack of communication between all the various institutions and the stakeholders there is not a

clear vision on how to allocate the resource responsibly, in order to correct this issue,

government agencies, cities, and well owners would have to fix the fragmentation that exists

within themselves. König compiled in an anthology with several suggestions from various

scholars, backed up by years of his personal research, along with the help of Weiss. Although

König may seem trivial, it was in fact crucial in terms of today’s concern over how different

groups have contrasting views on how water should be allocated, by reducing the gap from these
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different parties through better communication it can help mitigate the differences and aid in

coming in an overall consensus that will better represent everyone’s ideal way of how to use

water responsibly.

The gap can be portrayed by Goodwin (2011) whom urged everyone to be very self-

aware in the amount of water that is used on a daily basis and being critical of our leaders by

highlighting the court case between the Sierra Club and San Antonio in which the Sierra Club

sued the city for pumping 5 billion gallons of water a day from the Edwards aquifer to fill the

River Walk that almost made the blinded salamander species go extinct. Goodwin questioned

whether the ways that we used our water were really worth the long-term consequences that face

us if we continue to recklessly use the water we currently have stored. He based his claim on the

court case between the Sierra Club and San Antonio, an interview with Steve Clouse, the chief

operating officer of the San Antonio Water System. Goodwin’s thesis where he questioned

whether the way we use our water was really worth the long-term consequences was extremely

useful because it shed insight on the difficult problem of who should be in charge of water

resource management, if somebody is making these decisions that are ultimately harming our

environment should they really be making these decisions, if not who?

Some have confidence in the decisions of their government, Koundouri (2011) claimed

that the water management on the island of Cypress is a troublesome issue with increased

tourism considering the limited availability of getting fresh water to the island and the threat of

salt water invading their current fresh water aquifers. Koundouri observed the increased amount

of tourism and the population growth rates would deplete the available fresh water on the island

unless the government develops a new water management plan. Her argument is based on the

Agricultural Statistics of the Republic of Cypress, the Statistical Service of the Republic of
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Cypress, and Socratous Management of water in Cypress. Koundori’s position that the

government should come up with a new water management plan was valid, yet Goodwin’s

argument about how water is ultimately used sheds light on who is the ideal candidate to make

these choices, especially since in the case that Goodwin was looking at involved the government

deciding how the water would be used.

Individuals tend to look towards the government to solve most of some of societies

issues, but sometimes the lines may be blurred for politicians whom are not always looking after

the environments best interest. Maganda (2003) claimed that planning is necessary to help ensure

that extraction and distribution of water resources within the social context of growth is efficient

and will last for generations to come. Maganda questioned whether the current leaders in Mexico

are planning accordingly to the expected population growth and how we can get politicians to

want to take on a larger role in water conservation. His argument is based on Luis Aboites

bibliography on the problem of water in Mexico in the 1990’s, Blakies 1983 Interpretations of

Calamity, and on the arguments of Ulrich Beck who is a German sociologist. On the one hand,

Maganda was correct to question if his nations current leaders are taking certain precautions to

plan for future population growth so that everyone has enough water to go around. On the other

hand, however Maganda needs to question if the nations officials are the appropriate party to

determine how the water is restricted/distributed, as depicted by Goodwin political officials are

not always the best people to ultimately decide how water will be used and hence it might be

useful to get other environmental groups or scholars involved that know what kind of

repercussions certain actions will have on the environment.

Availability

In order to make water equally available to everyone in the world, first world countries

need to intervene by pushing the students in those wealthier countries to assist in finding the

solutions and aide in implementing new conservation methods to make water available

everywhere. Garibay (2015) demonstrated that through students seeking an education, it is a

great advantage to reach out to the younger generation through clubs and organizations that work

on educating them in order to understand and manage resources in a water scarce world so that

they may take action and come up with a solution using modern technology. Garibay reminded

us that despite living in a wealthy country, there are people all around the world who need help

getting clean drinking water and that by taking advantage of our wealth and education in the

United States, we can help find a solution to this issue. Garibay compiled evidence through his

previous work experience serving on the El Paso Water Utilities Public Service board for 24

years, interviewing Richard Schoephoerster who is the dean of the college of engineering, and

interviewing the new leader of this program (WREM), Ivonne Santiago. These findings

somewhat connected with Walton (1970) who insisted that in order for us to be able to really

quantize the amount of water in an aquifer we would have to use mathematical and technological

innovations, Garibay suggested that by pushing today’s youth and educate them about the

importance of water they can come up with new innovative ways to solve the water issue.

Other scholars support the ideas presented by Garibay. Sultana (2013) claimed that the

water situation in the southern Bengal Delta was inhumane in that the local people suffered with

having to find fresh water that does not contain arsenic. Sultana reminded us that fresh water is

such a privilege in the first world and that we need to spend more time helping third world

countries have access to clean water – a basic human right. She based her claim on personal
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experiences when she spoke to locals in the Bengal Delta, a workshop held by Ahmed in 2002

about the Arsenic mitigation in Bangladesh and on a journal by Kaika 2000, “Fetishing the

modern city: the phantasmagoria of urban technological networks”. At first glance Sultana

appeared to have the same ideas as Gleick, but on closer inspection, Sultana just claims that

water should be a basic human right while Gleick suggests that everyone should be guaranteed

access to a minimum amount of water while it might sound the same, Sultana looks at the reality

and urges people in the first world to spend more time helping make water more accessible to the

third world while Gleick does not.

While some scholars may be searching for assistance on making water more available

other scholars focus on developing methods to keep water sustainable and available in different

areas of need. Sedlak (2015) emphasized that he is confident by adopting different methods

storm harvesting, water re-usage, water desalination, and water conservation we can solve our

lack of urban water problems. Sedlak reminded us that with the shifting climate patterns in the

world sources of water that used to be deemed abundant in certain areas may find reservoirs dry

and groundwater aquifers depleted. Sedlak concluded that by using these different methods it

would greatly reduce the stress being applied to our planet, based on research he conducted some

of the methods are more effective than others but even if one or two of the methods were adopted

in different cities the risk of drying up sources would be reduced, he also supports his claims by

using data from cities water management services. Sedlak matters because he presented

innovative ways to solve the urban water problem by implementing old methods in new ways to

overcome this problem, his suggestions help overcome a lot of the political red tape problems or

monetary costs since a lot of the methods are natural.

Rather than working on making water more available, some scholars closely study the

scenario when water resources are not available and start adopting those methods as if we did not

have water. Lewis and Liljedahl (2010) insisted that we prepare our framers and their lands to

face any number of weather occurrences like droughts, so that we can be ready to face the social,

biological, and economic impacts that might occur and in turn conserve water. Lewis and

Lijedhals reminded us of the Dust Bowl that farmers had to face along with the stress that the

drought brought and how we need to be prepared to avoid these impacts when we face another

severe drought. They based their claim on the 1976 published essay, The Great American Desert

in the American Mind, on the 1981 published book, Misconceptions, Misinterpretations, and

Misrepresentations of the Behavioral Approaches in the Human Geography. Lewis and Lijedhals

view that we need to adopt different methods of water usage for farmers by essentially treating

the land as if it were in drought all the time connects with Sedlak whom suggested climate

change is a call for adopting different methods for water conservation.

Primary Research

Thirty students were randomly surveyed from the library at the University of Texas at El

Paso. The students were from different classifications, backgrounds and majors. Each table was

approached for the survey in order to remove any sort of bias. The survey was conducted on an

IPad given to each respondent to fill out anonymously through Surveymonkey.com, which

compiled all the data as well. The survey included several questions regarding water

management, policies and usage. The research provided insight on how students in the El Paso

area perceive several aspects of this resources and how they currently preserve it (if they do).

According to the research, 83% of the students surveyed at UTEP believe that water should be

considered a basic human right and agreed that since the United States is a world power we
LITERATURE REVIEW 13

should have a duty to aide third world countries attain a clean and accessible water supply

(Figure 1 and 2). The fact that 83% of the students surveyed believed that it is the United States

duty to aide other countries to attain stable water resources supports the notion that a change in

policy is needed. Figure 3 demonstrates the percentage of students that believe who should

regulate in cities, 75% of students believe the city government should be in charge while only

25% voted for the federal government. This research connects with the research question

regarding water management and how Goodwin and Maganda believes that not even the

government can be entirely trusted with water management and that perhaps a solution should be

to have other agencies overlook the government.

Conclusion

Students at UTEP can help solve the issue of lack of water in third world countries and

help make water more accessible to everyone with a number of innovative changes. Through

development of superior methods of modelling bodies of water, authorities can get a better

understanding of the amount of water available and how it can be allocated properly. By making

changes to current policies such as limiting water usage per household or time limit for showers

would extend the lifespans of aquifers and wells by keeping the water table levels from dropping.

Getting the “right” people in charge and improving communication between water management

leaders would assure that everyone’s interest would be considered when making important

decisions. The overall goal is to make water more available in places of the world where it is not

like it may be to the population of the United States. Pushing the students at UTEP and peak their

interest in water conservation it would lead to adopting advanced methods of water conservation

and replenishment that can be embraced and implemented across the world.
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References

Dewals, B., & Fournier, M. (Eds.). (2013). Transboundary water management in a changing

climate. Leiden, The Netherlands: CRC Press/Balkema.

Garibay, L. Y. (2015). New water resources engineering management track at UTEP. Retrieved

from http://engineering.utep.edu/announcement071715.htm

Gleick, P. H. (1998). Water in crisis: Paths to sustainable water use. 8(3) 10.1890/1051-

0761(1998)008 Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/1051-

0761(1998)008[0571:WICPTS]2.0.CO;2/full

Goodwin, W. (2011). Recycled water quenches San Antonio's thirst. NPR Retrieved

from https://www.npr.org/2011/10/01/140937267/recycled-water-quenches-san-antonios-

thirst

König, L. F., & Weiss, J. L. (Eds.). (2008). Groundwater modeling, management, and

contamination. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Koundouri, P. (Ed.). (2011). Water resources allocation. New York, NY: Springer.

Lewis, J., & Liljedahl, B. (2010). Groundwater surveys in developing regions.3 Retrieved

from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.4137/ASWR.S6053

Maganda, C. (2003). The politics of regional water management: The case of Guanajuato,

Mexico. The journal of environment & development, 12(4), 389. Retrieved

from https://www.jstor.org/stable/44319662?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

David Sedlak: 4 ways we can avoid a catastrophic drought. Sedlak, D. (Director).

(2015).[Video/DVD] Retrieved

from https://www.ted.com/talks/david_sedlak_4_ways_we_can_avoid_a_catastrophic_drou

ght#t-805106
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Shelley, K. (1991). University cooperates with El Paso's water regulations. Prospector, pp. 4.

Retrieved from https://theprospector.newspaperarchive.com/el-paso-prospector/1991-10-

08/page-4/

Sheng, Z., Mace, R. E., & Fahy, M. P. (2001). The Hueco Bolson: An aquifer at the crossroads.

Retrieved from http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/hueco_bolson.htm

Sultana, F. (2013). Water, technology, and development: Transformations of development

technonatures in changing waterscapes. Environment and Planning Development: Society

and Space, 31, 337. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1068/d20010

Turner, C., Hamlyn, E., & Ibáñez Hernández, O. The challenge of balancing water supply and

demand in the Paso del Norte. Retrieved

from https://faculty.utep.edu/LinkClick.aspx?link=the+Challenge+of+Balancing+Water+Su

pply+and+Demand+in+the+El+Paso+del+Norte.pdf&tabid=19444&mid=43213

Walton, W. C. (1970). Groundwater resource evaluation. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Figure 1. Percentage of students who believe whether or not access to water should be

considered a basic human right.

Figure 2. Percentage of students who agree with statement one (shown in green) and with

statement two (shown in blue). 1) Since the United States is a World power, we should have a

duty to aide third world countries in attaining a clean and accessible water supply. 2) The United

States has enough water problems within its own boundaries and should focus on its problems at

home before focusing on the aiding other countries.

Figure 3. Percentage of students who believe who should be in control of water management in

cities located in the united states.