GIS and Water

A brief look into how GIS and Remote Sensing is changing water resource management and what that means as a global community.

Introduction

With an imminent water crisis right around the corner, it is important to assess how water is being managed and exactly how much there is to manage. This proves to be tricky with different water rights around the world, and with the silent 'groundwater revolution' (Lopez-Gunn, Llamas). How do we figure out how much potable water is left in the world? Who should be able to have access? How do we manage a depleting water supply with growing populations? Through Geospatial Technologies and satellites we can monitor water systems and even groundwater for 'healthy management'. This is important because the first to feel the severity of water shortages will be impoverished regions and the emergence of remote sensing and GIS allow transparency for decision-making and easily accessible information allows for more participation from all fields. Through this Storymap we will look at the impact of remote-sensing in predicting and monitoring potential regions for water crisis and opportunities to address the situation before it becomes more severe.

(Image 1) By monitoring soil moisture and Earth's gravity we are able to obtain an accurate depiction of water flow.

The link to the Water Scarcity Clock above is a really informative and cool interactive visualization on how many people are affected by water scarcity and allows you to play with the time bar and compare numbers from 1980 to the predicted figures in 2030. I would highly recommend taking a quick look!

GRACE Sees Groundwater Losses Around the World - YouTube

For 15 Years, GRACE Tracked Freshwater Movements Around the World - YouTube

Thanks to this technology, it allows for more research to take place to allow for accurate and efficient water management. A GIS-based program in Bolivia allowed the comparison of the efficiency of customary water uses versus proposed allocation due to formalized water rights. Thanks to this data it was determined that the customary uses were no less efficient than the newly proposed water rights (Lopez-Gunn, Llamas).

PPGIS in Real Life!

PPGIS is extremely important with the dissemination of information that is easily able to take complex information and visualize it in a user friendly format. Because of this easily digestible format is allows a dialogue to open up between marginalized sectors of society and policy-makers which can create a space for collaboration and can transform institutional policies (Lopez-Gunn, Llamas). Thanks to PPGIS and visualized data it creates transparency for the decision-making process which can be hidden for average citizens. Allowing the people to understand why decisions are being made certain ways creates a trusting relationship between the people and their government which in the long run will continue to have success.

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Who Has Access?

With this easily accessible information now at our fingertips, are the people who truly need access to this information in order to increase their way of life or simply have adequate water to survive receiving this information? As mentioned above, the communities most affected by water shortages will be the most impoverished in developing nations. Is it the governments job to make sure their small-scale subsistence farmers have enough water? With their access to it and not the farmers will they enforce harsher water rights and allocations based off the information they are receiving? How do we make sure these underrepresented communities will have appropriately managed water in corrupt governments?

In Conclusion...

I think the answer lays in making sure we (developed nations) use our available resources to assure sustainable and sufficient water management to be able to continue our way of life while also improving others' way of life. The ethical frameworks of government officials should be to watch out for their people, which is not always the case in corrupt nations. The new and ever-changing technology in GIS and remote sensing provides so many opportunities to uplift underrepresented communities and allow a discussion to start about correct and sustainable water management that allows everyone to thrive. As with everything concerned with GIS-based technology the ethical frameworks rely in the people who have access and create this information and what they decide to do with it is entirely up to them with a lack of national regulations, much less global regulations.

https://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2014/03/waterscarcity.jpg.860x0_q70_crop-scale.jpg

Thank You!

Works Cited

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    Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. https://www.wri.org/applications/aqueduct/water-risk-atlas/. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

    Climate Change: Obsession with Plastic Pollution Distracts Attention from Bigger Environmental Challenges. https://phys.org/news/2019-02-climate-obsession-plastic-pollution-distracts.html. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

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    “Environmental Issues in Kenya.” Wikipedia, 19 Sept. 2019. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Environmental_issues_in_Kenya&oldid=916645618.

    For 15 Years, GRACE Tracked Freshwater Movements Around the World - YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/embed/MaxBOvQ2a_o. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

    GRACE Fact Sheet. 30 Mar. 2004, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/GRACE.

    Lopez‐Gunn, Elena, and Manuel Ramón Llamas. “Re-Thinking Water Scarcity: Can Science and Technology Solve the Global Water Crisis?” Natural Resources Forum, vol. 32, no. 3, 2008, pp. 228–38. Wiley Online Library, doi:10.1111/j.1477-8947.2008.00200.x.

    Ojeda-Bustamante, Waldo, et al. “Using Spatial Information Systems to Improve Water Management in Mexico.” Agricultural Water Management, vol. 89, no. 1, Apr. 2007, pp. 81–88. ScienceDirect, doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2006.11.002.

    rambaldi, giacomo. About Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS). http://www.ppgis.net/the-practice/about-ppgis/. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

    Remote Sensing for Monitoring Water Use and Stress in Savannas: A Handbook - UNU - Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources. https://flores.unu.edu/en/news/news/remote-sensing-for-monitoring-water-use-and-stress-in-savannas-a-handbook.html. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

    “River Revives After Largest Dam Removal in U.S. History.” National Geographic News, 2 June 2016, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/06/largest-dam-removal-elwha-river-restoration-environment/.

    Scanlon, Bridget R., et al. “Hydrologic Implications of GRACE Satellite Data in the Colorado River Basin.” Water Resources Research, vol. 51, no. 12, 2015, pp. 9891–903. Wiley Online Library, doi:10.1002/2015WR018090.

    Solander, Kurt C., et al. “GRACE Satellite Observations Reveal the Severity of Recent Water Over-Consumption in the United States.” Scientific Reports, vol. 7, Aug. 2017. PubMed Central, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-07450-y.

    “The Role of GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment): Derived Data in Groundwater Resource Management.” Global Water Forum, 18 Aug. 2012, http://www.globalwaterforum.org/2012/08/18/the-role-of-grace-gravity-recovery-and-climate-experiment-derived-data-in-groundwater-resource-management/.

    Trend Magazine | A Map of the Future of Water. http://trend.pewtrusts.org/en/archive/spring-2019/a-map-of-the-future-of-water. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

    “Water Crisis - Learn About The Global Water Crisis.” Water.Org, https://water.org/our-impact/water-crisis/. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

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    Water Scarcity Clock. https://worldwater.io/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=WaterscarcityData&campaignid=6444167483&adgroupid=77198318295&adid=376808482554&gclid=CjwKCAiAxMLvBRBNEiwAKhr-nFxo87tBoeEQP-Dy9QMf3KS-C--tVDMcetyVXasq8bE6xtCHnUt9UhoCCMYQAvD_BwE. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

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    YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tX_148en_Y. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

(Image 1) By monitoring soil moisture and Earth's gravity we are able to obtain an accurate depiction of water flow.

http://www.oneworld.net/sites/default/files/slideshow/slideshow%201.png

https://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2014/03/waterscarcity.jpg.860x0_q70_crop-scale.jpg