Water withdrawals refer to the process of taking water from its natural source, such as rivers, lakes, or groundwater, for various purposes such as drinking, irrigation, or industrial use. It basically means using or extracting water from its original location.
Full definition
The energy sector accounts for roughly 10 % of
total water withdrawals and 3 % of total water consumption worldwide.
This is more than any other economic sector, including agriculture, and occurs in an era when all other use sectors are
reducing water withdrawals.
There are many stressed lakes and wetlands around the world affected by
increasing water withdrawals and the resulting anthropogenic drought.
These measures were to include a water management framework that protects river flows from excessive tar
sands water withdrawals.
This usually occurs in coastal and estuarine areas due to reducing land - based influence (e.g., either from reduced runoff and associated groundwater recharge, or from excessive
water withdrawals from aquifers) or increasing marine influence (e.g., relative sea - level rise).
See The Hamilton Project's interactive maps to compare county - by - county variation in total
water withdrawals for irrigation, thermoelectric, and domestic withdrawals.
The geographic variation
in water withdrawals across the country underscores both the complexity of America's water challenges and the importance of a diverse set of policy reforms.
According to USGS estimates
of water withdrawals in the year 2000, thermoelectric power generation accounted for 48 % of all withdrawals.
These mechanisms
include water withdrawals in times of, or in areas with, low water availability; spills of hydraulic fracturing fluids and produced water; fracturing directly into underground drinking water resources; below ground migration of liquids and gases; and inadequate treatment and discharge of wastewater.
The impacts of mussels
on water withdrawal systems can be controlled and even stopped with proper maintenance and engineering.
Conducts research to inform policy decision makers on subjects pertinent to the agency's priorities, such
as water withdrawal fees.
The agency downplayed the impact of the withdrawal, saying it would amount to only a 0.07 percent increase in total
surface water withdrawal from Lake Michigan.
One 2010 drilling program by Apache Corp. near Fort Nelson, B.C., (described as «the world's largest frack») had to be halted
when water withdrawals caused the level of nearby Two Island Lake to fall 15 centimetres.
Combined
with water withdrawals that many believe are not sustainable, the drought has caused a dramatic drop in Lake Powell's water level.
Sen. Grisanti, a Buffalo Republican, and Assemblyman Robert Sweeney (EnCon Committee chairman sponsored a bill that ended unregulated large -
scale water withdrawals from lakes, rivers and streams.
«The equations derived from our analysis can be used by water resources managers to better predict how a
proposed water withdrawal or other alteration to natural stream flow will affect the health of downstream fish populations.»
But the talk
about water withdrawal is genuine, even if like other long - time - coming environmental and climate changes, the river will see plenty of seasonal ups and downs before and end comes.
In practice, power plants have priority over
other water withdrawals from the same source (usually a river), and when water is in short supply — e.g. in the Southeast right now — the demands of power generation are competing with municipal water supplies, irrigation, etc..
On June 28, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission suspended 37 separately
approved water withdrawals for fracking due to localized streamflow levels dropping throughout the Susquehanna Basin in Pennsylvania and New York.
Water stress - A country is water - stressed if the available freshwater supply relative to
water withdrawals acts as an important constraint on development.
12.4 billion cubic meters of
fresh water withdrawals could be reduced from India's power sector needs if proposed cooling mandates were fully implemented and aggressive renewable targets completely achieved
Relative to the baseline scenario, achieving the SunShot Vision scenario reduces power -
sector water withdrawals by 8 % in 2030 and 5 % in 2050, while water consumption is reduced by 10 % in 2030 and 16 % in 2050.
We compare this water stress exposure with companies»
water withdrawal intensity, use of water recycling, and water governance frameworks as a proxy for potential revenue disruption.
NPS asked New York to work with the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), a federal and multi-state compact agency that is also developing gas regulations, to calculate the potential cumulative impact of
water withdrawals if the gas boom continues.
NPS also raised concerns about the
potential water withdrawals from rivers, given that each well in the Marcellus shale requires about 4 million gallons of water.
Upgrading these plants to use cooling systems with
lower water withdrawal needs would incur significant costs for many plants that are already economically uncompetitive, making them even stronger candidates for closure.
Quantitative model to
determine Water Withdrawal and Consumption Factors of Thermal Power Plants Utilizing Multiple Climate Variables.
# 7: Laurel Hill Creek (PA) Threat: Excessive
water withdrawals Laurel Hill Creek is a Pennsylvania treasure that brings valuable recreation and tourism dollars to local communities.
In that third scenario, - how about we call it «Power Scramble» — no amount of holding back on water releases can make up for evaporative water losses from reservoirs and continued
consumptive water withdrawals.
Due to the combination of drought lowering flows in the Catawba River and the added heat of midsummer, coal fired power plants that rely on
Catawba water withdrawals for cooling are being forced to shut down or limit operations due to discharge permit
Earlier, as CM for NAVFAC, managed construction and commissioned key elements of this campus including
Sea Water Withdrawal for HVAC and aquatic facilities including captive care facility for fish and marine mammals,...
Pending legislation in the House and Senate would
facilitate water withdrawals, help the private sector clean out the dead wood on public lands and fund operational research into storage, water recycling and desalinization technology.
According to a River Network report in June, electricity production by coal, nuclear and natural gas power plants is the fastest - growing use of freshwater in the U.S., accounting for more than half of all fresh,
surface water withdrawals from rivers.
An indirect but small secondary effect on water demand would be the increased electricity demand for cooling of buildings, which would tend to
increase water withdrawals for cooling of thermal power plants (see Chapter 7).
The authors used data science techniques and innovative methodologies and developed a comprehensive plant - level geodatabase
on water withdrawal and consumption for India's thermal power sector, making a first - cut attempt to fill the data gap.
Approximately 8,421 billion gallons
of water withdrawals and 149 billion gallons of water consumption could be avoided if both retiring and ripe - for - retirement generators were replaced with renewables and efficiency.
The Act maintains the use of the term «work» however, rather than taking a broader approach that includes processes or actions that may affect navigable water such
as water withdrawal and flow regulation.
According to the USGS, «Since 1950, irrigation has accounted for about 65 percent of
total water withdrawals, excluding those for thermoelectric power.»
Water withdrawal from Virginia aquifers have resulted in subsidence in Virginia, that could extend into North Carolina, something not mentioned in the documentary produced by the North Carolina TV station.