Abstract
Over the past two decades, Texas has faced several water challenges that harm people’s health, irrigation, livestock, and aquatic life. Several management plans have been introduced in Texas to cater for water shortage and treatment; they include recycling, reusing, and influencing the use of freshwater. The 2012 recommendation was followed by a drought that hit Texas in 2011, affecting many people, including farmers and city dwellers. The 2012 plan was made in the reflection of the protections detailed in the 2007 report. There have been drought and floods in many regions in Texas, which are worsened by the lack of a distribution based approach for water management and supply. However, there are fewer approaches that have been done in improving adequate fresh water for consumption. This study justifies economy and engineering-based perspectives in providing water as the Basic Water Requirement. The two perspectives seem to have a close relationship with each other. Relevant disciplines deal with the specific challenges in Texas and appropriate economy and engineering approaches to use. Some of the approaches include water conservation, treatment, reusing, and recycling methods. The discipline on economy provides sources that maximized benefits and outputs in production, livestock, crops, and profit. The other second discipline entails engineering perspectives and provides appropriate production methods and technologies as alternative water sources. The entire study is based on providing water by imploring the Basic Water requirements approach.
Perspectives in Integrative Studies
The concepts and activities to guarantee freshwater are considered primary and essential basic needs for communities and humanity. The world has adequate freshwater with water-rich sources for human beneficial use and consumption. In the past, some states have announced to their people that in serious drought times, it would be hard to have access to fresh water for agricultural use, businesses, and domestic needs. In 2012, the Texas state board announced that freshwater would not be available considering drought conditions; the state made water management strategies and conservation approaches with other associated economic challenges. The strategy was considered essential in ensuring economic development, Public health, social safety and welfare. The 2011 drought reflected many inefficiencies in the 2007 Texas State Board Plan, considering many areas experienced floods in Texas. Some of the strategies used to improve weather reusing and recycling have been associated with economic challenges that affected people in the society, including farmers and urban residents. An exploration of engineering and economic perspectives could provide an effective way to reuse, recycle, and influence water use.
Justifying Engineering and interdisciplinary Economic Approach
Two main concepts need to be considered when addressing the plan to make water recycling and reusing, and they are development and sustainability. The history of water perspectives has addressed water as the basic need for humans; the modern plans have strategies with absent traditional water planning; this has led to challenges in climatic, atmospheric behaviors, and associated economic demands (Gleick, 1996). The plan made in 2007 and 2012 plans was ineffective since it lacked a sustainable approach to provide basic water to all people and the society. For instance, Sandbranch is a black community region that did not have access to fresh water, yet it experienced great floods in 2016 (Hodge, 2021). SandBranch and Flint city have lived many decades without access to fresh water. According to the 2060 recommended mater management plans, East Texas did not include any water recycling strategy and about 0.5 % was catered for reusing; the report set aside 85.2 % portion for irrigation conservation (as 2060 recommendation plan) following drought less food supply and loss of trees in 2011; these issues have been associated with adverse economic challenges (Silverstein, 2013; Hodge, 2021). The plan made in Texas included the adoption of state and regional water plans in response to uncertainties and challenges in the water supply. The cyclical plan has been used in the Texas water plan for state and regional development which lacked perspectives to address uncertainty and risk assessment.
The drought problem cannot be noted easily by people, and it has a tenuous hold on the public domain and their imagination. Addressing the economic perspective on drought should include all integrated regions and state concepts to ensure water supply to all areas and their population. Some regions such as Franzen in Texas did not receive sufficient water to grow rice and affected many trees, causing associated climatic issues. Texas had approximately 4.8 billion trees, and by 2011, 300 million trees were lost. The growing population in Texas is rapidly going against natural water constraints and primary sources. The Report in Texas did not quantify the amount that each person is expected to get on an annual basis considering the growth of population and thus also making it hard to determine reuse and recycling approaches for different Texas places. Economic perspectives are important to ensure that there is no undervaluation of the water management project.
Moreover, there are several cases of lack of proper sanitization of water in many regions in Texas. Thus an engineering perspective will be sustainable for people as sufficient low technology can guarantee waste treatment, minimize environmental impact, and realize economic benefits to the community. Engineering and economic perspectives are dependent areas that should be integrated to ensure sustainability and development in water management.
Relevant Disciplines in the Study
Population projection and water management systems have not been reflective to cope with changes in water supply, climatic changes, attitudes, and financial needs. Tuerff-Davis EnviroMedia Inc. report showed that Texas, unlike other states, factors in weather supply, climates, and attitudes vary in regions. Economic and Engineering perspectives are needed in the study to provide an appropriate framework for the segmented geographical view of the plan. Economic and engineering perspectives have various associated disciplines incorporated for water management projects (Gleick, 1996). It should be noted that water reusing, recycling, and reclamation addresses tend to solve challenges related to water resources, scarcity, used to have high-quality water. Although water recycling and reusing methods are practiced in many parts of Texas, the current levels of reusing and recycling constitute a small fraction regarding industrial and municipal effluent. Engineering and economic perspectives provide traditional and non-traditional water supply sources that include brackish groundwater, co-production from mining and energy, storm water, floods water, other water streams, and agricultural returns flow (Silverstein, 2013). Some of the discipline and concepts in the integrated perspective includes assessing significant challenges, public perception, regulation, health risks, and governance (Gleick, 1996). Specific engineering perspectives provide concerns on emerging pollutants and the use of modern advanced water treatments, including environmental restoration, non-potable water reuse, salinity management, aquifer storage, and membranes.
The new water reusing and recycling methods address the challenges experienced by Texas people, such as lead poisoning and taking away self-governing rights from people. There need different approaches in use for distinguished regions in Texas. For instance, urban areas need a modular production system so that they can utilize new technologies in water recycling; the modular approach will be based on units of production and individual units for rural economic development; this ensures that water is treated as a critical source for Basic Water Requirement (BWR). The modular system addresses issues of public perception of water; it includes approaches to recycle and reuse water for both direct human consumption, irrigation, and livestock. The modular system includes two processes with specific nutrients and by-products ofr each side (process-plant production and processes-animal production) (Fedler, 2003). For instance, in some production systems in modular systems, excess water from fish production is recycled for livestock use; this is economic and beneficial since fish needs water with more nutrients than livestock (Fedler, 2003). Much of the water in rural areas is used for irrigation (sorghum, rice, millet, and wheat) and livestock. The methods that need to be used requires a specific quantity of disposal waste and quantified quality water reproduction; this ensures that individual units can be made for populations projected in a specific area (Gleick, 1996). Economic perspectives reintroduce the need for BWR so that water use in growing food, drinking, energy production and commercial needs so that minimum water is catered for use in every sector (Gleick, 1996).
Literature Review
Each discipline in the Economy and engineering perspective have distinguished sources that address the reusing and recycling of water. Some of the sources in each perspective provide information that is integrated into both engineering and economy.
Economy Perspectives
Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) has been an effective approach used in many states and nations such as Australia. Treatment of water is not the final thing to do but its storage matters a lot. ASR is a new approach that offers an alternative to store treated water; water is stored in the at weather seasons and flood and then is provided to the public in the dry seasons. According to Miller (2006), ASR ensures that demand and supply in water are balanced concerning seasonal weather patterns and population perspectives. ASR is used to accomplish requirements and activities such as reducing the cost of water management, controlling flows, and emerging in shortage (Fedler, 2003). Drought scoured many local canyons and mainstream, reducing water for irrigation and livestock in the rural areas (Dubious, 2012). Balancing water sources in the flooding and drought sons through ASR can tell the amount of water to distribute in a specific region and particular quantification per individual Unit.
The modular production system is an effective source for Biomass and ensures certainty in the quantities of Biomass production. Fedler (2003) states that “Normal disposal in a landfill or similar system is usually expensive and justifies the need to seek an alternative solution” (p.6). The recycling process provides a by-product (Biomass) that is a rich source of energy; this could be treated as another marketable product. The amount of electricity generated in modular biomass production is 800000 MW which is higher than the current average generation of 500000 MW in the U.S. (Fedler, 2003) (Mace et al., 2006). Electrical power generation would; contribute to several economic developments and reduced adaptation of fossil fuel.
Floods in Texas have caused adverse economic perspectives, and less has been done in the Urban areas. A source shows that farmers and livestock owners considered rainfall reports similar to their bank statement, but city-dwellers do not note any reports (Silverstein, 2013). Silverstein (2013) states that “Agriculture suffered the worst, with losses totaling $7.62 billion, including $3.32 billion for the livestock industry, which saw the bovine population drop by around 600,000 cows—the largest one-year decline ever” (n.p); this follows the great Texas report on drought, and there is little that has been done considering urban and rural floods. A study shows that floodwater capture and reusing have been effective in some places, such as the Oshana region in Namibia and the United Kingdom; other places, such as California states, have been using flood management mechanisms. Storing floodwater pumping water into ponds and underground tanks and reservoirs and then follows treatment to make it effective for human consumption.
Free-market approaches to recycled water have been an effective move in encouraging water recycling activities and providing alternative sources of water supplies. Miller (2006) states that “…estimated that the average cost to retrofit a recycled water customer site was G.W. Miller / Desalination 187 (2006) 65–75 69 U.S. $30,000 plus $2635 per acre-foot ($8.09/ 1000 gal) ($2.14/m3) of potential use at that site” (p.69). The study conducted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection shows that in a free-marketplace, consumers can save a lot as they use reclaimed water rather than potable water (Dubois, 2012). It is also a process that can be quantified to tell the amount of quality weather used by a specific number of people in a given region.
Engineering Perspectives
Climatic changes lead to preparation challenges following risk to natural disasters. From the Texas State Board Report, uncertainty and associated problems such as climatic changes and floods result from proper techniques to effectively create awareness of disasters (Jessop, 2009). Also, it is united that even after foreseeing the occurrences of the disaster, many people in Texas do not follow the appropriate measures to use in irrigation and water consumption patterns. Some states, such as California, introduced some strategies such as terrestrial ecosystems distribution in water plan management, which has effectively affected the quality of water supply. Terrestrial ecosystems distribution could be used in Texas to understand water-use-efficiency and enable people to use appropriate irrigation as people hydrological changes. Since climatic changes and variability in Texas have led to uncertainty and risk, the modern distribution approach will reveal regional variations as per climatic changes, populations, and individual consumption units.
Considering the Texas report, much wastewater results from livestock and irrigation, causing extreme quantities of organic matter. The product causes degradation in many of the water resources. Therefore, a modular production system would be effective in recycling and reusing factors; according to Miller (2006), wastewater from irrigation and livestock provides important nutrients for terrestrial and aquatic production. However, effective technologies are needed for water treatment; for instance, if water is treated through an anaerobic system, a valuable product will include ammonia-nitrogen as the affluent, which is unhealthy for aquatic life (Fedler, 2003). The Plant-Based process from the modular production system is an effective approach for recycling nutrients in that area (Miller, 2006). The sources have both economy and engineering-based perspectives. The process is most beneficial for fish production and livestock production, which means that the Texas economy will grow (Fedler, 2003).
Some technological adaptation has been used in California, among other states, to enhance water treatment. California states have been using some strategies such as ultraviolet irradiation (U.V.), reverse osmosis, and ground recharge micro-filtration for water treatment. SandBranch where an individual income of about USD 7120, has cases of contaminated water (Silverstein, 2013). The residents in the urban areas blame the livestock owners in the rural areas instead of having appropriate strategies to purify water sources. Groundwater recharge employed in California requires higher water treatment than natural water; this is needed in municipal utility purification. Microfiltration (M.F.) employs a low-pressure membrane so that small suspended particles are removed; the water from the process is reused in reverse osmosis to more water for industrial processes.
Water use in Texas strategically follows the regional and state use and production. However, some people are forced to move to other regions to have clean water; this affects the plan projections in terms of water in use for individual units. New technologies should depend on the highest treatment for the highest use as used in other effective areas (Miller, 2006). The bacteriological water quality standards ought to match with the magnitude of public contact with recycled water. For instance, where the core application is cooling tower water or irrigation, secondary treatment and dual-media filtration are necessary to enhance water quality. Also, the state needs to invest in public education so that the population using recycled water; this ensures they also use appropriate processes before using the water. Order an Essay.
References
Dubois, R. (2012, September 27). Texas trees were hit hard by drought in 2011. Texas Monthly. https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/texas-trees-hit-hard-by-drought-in-2011/
Fedler, C. B. (2003). Water Recycling to Save Our Future Drinking Water. In 2003 ASAE Annual Meeting (p. 1). American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
Gleick, P. H. (1996). Basic water requirements for human activities: meeting basic needs. Water international, 21(2), 83-92.
Hodge, R. D. (2021, February 5). The writing is on the wall. Texas Monthly. https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-writing-on-the-wall/
Jessop, K. (2009). TWDB Focus Group Report. Tuerff-Davis EnviroMedia Inc. Retrieved from http://www.wateriq.org/texas-water/doc/2004Study/marketingplan.pdf
Kingsolver, B. (2012). Water is life. National Geographic Freshwater Initiative. Retrieved from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/04/water-is-life/kingsolver-text
Mace, Robert E., PG Sarah C. Davidson, Edward S. Angle, and PG Merry L. Klonower. “Texas Water Development Board.” Austin, TX (2006).
Miller, G. W. (2006). Integrated concepts in water reuse: managing global water needs. Desalination, 187(1-3), 65-75.
Silverstein, J. (2013, January 21). The truth about Texas: Water = life. Texas Monthly. https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-truth-about-texas-water-life/
