Water in America: A Neglected Commodity
Water may be the most vital resource for all life on Earth, yet only a marginal percent is drinkable. Water scarcity is not just a third-world problem, but the need to conserve fresh water is an issue that the United States is dealing with as well. Lake Mead, the largest water reservoir in the United States, reached a historic low in 2015 (Schwartz, 2015). In addition, a drought in California forced Governor Brown to issue a state of emergency in 2014. Shrinking water bodies and climate change are partly caused by nature, but there are human elements involved too. Water is valuable to many industries and there are more water systems in this country than there are schools. In fact, the United States are …show more content…
The city of Flint, Michigan serves as a cautionary tale about how neglecting fresh water can lead to a community getting poisoned. In 2014, Flint switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River while a new pipeline was being built connecting the two bodies of water. This gave the city a chance to save money despite previous records of the river being contaminated. That same year, after the switch, the city had to issue a boil water advisory twice and a General Motors plant stop using city water because it was corroding engine parts. Finally, in January 2015, the city notified residents that the water does not fit the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act and may lead to cancer over time. Flint city officials had an opportunity ten days later to switch back to Lake Huron as a water source, but they refused because it was deemed too costly. The Flint City Council voted to stop using the river as a water source in March 2015, but the vote was overruled by the state-appointed emergency manager because it was too expensive and there was no difference in the two water sources. In June 2015, a Virginia Tech study showed that tap water had more than twice as much lead levels than what the Environmental Protection Agency would consider hazardous waste. In July 2015, the mayor of Flint insisted that the water was safe and drank a cup himself. The Virginia Tech study continued to show that
Water may be the most vital resource for all life on Earth, yet only a marginal percent is drinkable. Water scarcity is not just a third-world problem, but the need to conserve fresh water is an issue that the United States is dealing with as well. Lake Mead, the largest water reservoir in the United States, reached a historic low in 2015 (Schwartz, 2015). In addition, a drought in California forced Governor Brown to issue a state of emergency in 2014. Shrinking water bodies and climate change are partly caused by nature, but there are human elements involved too. Water is valuable to many industries and there are more water systems in this country than there are schools. In fact, the United States are …show more content…
The city of Flint, Michigan serves as a cautionary tale about how neglecting fresh water can lead to a community getting poisoned. In 2014, Flint switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River while a new pipeline was being built connecting the two bodies of water. This gave the city a chance to save money despite previous records of the river being contaminated. That same year, after the switch, the city had to issue a boil water advisory twice and a General Motors plant stop using city water because it was corroding engine parts. Finally, in January 2015, the city notified residents that the water does not fit the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act and may lead to cancer over time. Flint city officials had an opportunity ten days later to switch back to Lake Huron as a water source, but they refused because it was deemed too costly. The Flint City Council voted to stop using the river as a water source in March 2015, but the vote was overruled by the state-appointed emergency manager because it was too expensive and there was no difference in the two water sources. In June 2015, a Virginia Tech study showed that tap water had more than twice as much lead levels than what the Environmental Protection Agency would consider hazardous waste. In July 2015, the mayor of Flint insisted that the water was safe and drank a cup himself. The Virginia Tech study continued to show that