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Agriculture,
Water Resources: the
and
Environment, Society
An assessmentof the status of water resources
David Pimentel, James Houser, Erika Preiss, Omar White, Hope Fang, Leslie Mesnick,
Troy Barsky, Stephanie Tariche, Jerrod Schreck, and Sharon Alpert
February 1997 97
millions of years in aquifers located Table 1. Regions of the world with day; Table 1). Water stress occurs
below the surface of the earth. An water problems (based on the criterion when water availability ranges from
estimated 8.2 x 1015m3 of water are that yearly water availability per capita 1000 to 1700 m3 per person per year
now present in the world's aquifers is less than 1000 m3/yr) and their per
(Engelman and LeRoy 1993). The
(WRI 1989). Most aquifers are re- capita water availability (Falkenmark result is a lack of water for irriga-
and Lindh 1993).
plenished slowly, with an average tion, industry, and protection of the
recharge rate that ranges from 0.1% Region Water availability environment. Twenty-six nations,
to 0.3% per year (Covich 1993). per capita (m3/yr) including Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Syria,
Assuming an average 0.2% recharge Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, are
rate, only 16.4 x 1012 m3 of water per Egypt 40 currently defined as water scarce
year is available for sustainable use. Malta 50 (Engelman and LeRoy 1993, Postel
The amount of fresh water stored in West Bank 126 1992). At least 11 countries experi-
the top 0.2 m of world soil is esti- Gaza Strip 133 ence water stress, including Ethio-
mated to be 16.5 x 1012 m3 (Levine et Yemen 220
Jordan 255 pia, Kenya, Somalia, Algeria, and
al. 1979). On average, water ac- Israel 376 Libya.
counts for nearly one-quarter of the Saudi Arabia 300 Even in countries that possess
weight of the upper-soil level. Libya 300 abundant water resources, such as
In the United States, ground wa- Hai-LuanRiver the United States, many existing
ter provides approximately 46% of Basin, China 308
sources of water are being stressed
Huai He River
the water used by all households Basin, China 424 by withdrawals from groundwater
(Solley et al. 1993), although ap- Syria 440 wells and diversions from rivers and
proximately 97% of the water used Tunisia 600 reservoirs to meet the needs of homes,
Kenya 610
by rural households is from ground- cities, farms, and industries.1 Increas-
water sources (NGWPF 1987). Irri- ing requirements to leave water in
gation for agriculture also relies streams and rivers to meet environ-
heavily on ground water. For ex- and patterns of rainfall, substrate mental, human, and recreational
ample, 66% of irrigation water in qualities, temperature, evaporation needs further complicate the prob-
Texas and 38% in California is rate, vegetation cover, and runoff. lem. In the past, water management
pumped from ground water (Solley The average precipitation for most in the United States has focused on
et al. 1993). continents is approximately 700 mm/ developing ways to exploit the
Population growth and the asso- yr (7 million liters/ha). Australia and country's supplies of fresh water.
ciated increase in irrigated agricul- South America vary from this figure Many large dams were built dur-
ture have led to the mining of ground- significantly, with 450 mm/yr and ing the early twentieth century to
water resources-that is, the rate of 1600 mm/yr, respectively (Shiklo- increase the supply of fresh water.
water withdrawal is considerably manov 1993). Africa, however, is The era of constructing large dams
faster than the recharge rate, caus- relatively arid despite having a simi- and conveyance systems to meet
ing water tables in the United States lar average rainfall to other conti- water demand in the United States
to fall approximately 3-120 cm/yr nents because its warm climate causes is drawing to a close; the limited
in some irrigated regions (Sloggett 80% of its water to evaporate before water supply and established infra-
and Dickason 1986). The Ogallala it is available for use (Budyko 1986). structure require that demand be
aquifer, which underlies parts of Ne- Some areas simply receive insuffi- managed effectively within the avail-
braska, Kansas, Colorado, Okla- cient rainfall (less than 500 mm/yr) able supply (Figure 1). New water
homa, New Mexico, and Texas is for agriculture, which leads to seri- supplies likely will result from con-
nearly half depleted, and recharge ous water and food problems. Of the servation, recycling, reuse, and im-
rates are only a small fraction of the 14 Middle Eastern countries, nine proved water use efficiency rather
withdrawal rates (Soule and Piper are facing shortages of water (less than from large development pro-
1992, Thomas 1987). In Beijing, than 1000 m3 per person per year; jects, as in the past (Postel et al.
China, water tables are falling at a Postel 1992). Egypt, which receives 1996).
rate of 1 to 2 m/yr (Postel 1992). The practically no rainfall and also has a
rapid depletion of ground water by high rate of evaporation, depends Climate and other human-induced
irrigation poses serious threats to almost totally (97%) on the lower environmental changes. Estimates of
the sustainable use of groundwater Nile, which flows in from its up- water resources and their availabil-
supplies in rural and irrigated farm- stream neighbors, including the ity are based on present world cli-
ing regions. Sudan and Ethiopia. mate patterns. However, the contin-
Some hydrologists define water ued loss of forests and other
Water availability. Although water scarcity based on the flow or runoff vegetation and the accumulation of
is a renewable resource, its avail- in rivers after evaporative losses carbon dioxide, methane gas, and
ability is finite in terms of the amount (Falkenmark and Lindh 1993). In nitrous oxides in the atmosphere may
available per unit time in various general, a nation is considered water
regions of the earth (Table 1). Over- scarce when the availability of wa- 1W. Solley, 1995, personal communication. US
all water availability is affected by ter drops below 1000 m3 per person Department of the Interior, US Geological Sur-
many factors, such as the amounts per year (2740 liters per person per vey, Washington, DC.
Municipal (7%)
Water resources are withdrawn for
use and consumption in many hu-
man activities. The term use implies Agricultural \ Industry (24%)
irrigation (65%)
that some of the withdrawn water is
returned for reuse, for example,
cooking water or wash water. In
contrast, consumption means that
the water is nonrecoverable and is
not returned to the water resource. Total withdrawn = 4130 km 3
Reservoirs (7%)
Figure 1. Total reservoirstorage capac- Human use of water. The water con- > Municipal (2%)
ity (in millions of acre-feet; 1 acre-foot tent of all living organisms ranges 70//!||
-
, Industry(4%)
= 1231 m3) in the United States from from 60% to 95%. Humans need to
1880 to 1990 (USGS 1995). consume 1 to 2 liters of water per S . < '
Agricultural
irrigation (87%)
day per person (Watson 1988).
lead to global warming, which would Americans use approximately 400
change precipitation and tempera- liters of water per person per day for ,im' - - _
ture patterns (Downing and Parry drinking, cooking, washing, dispos- ia,.- - >, -..
1994). Meeting agricultural and ing of wastes, and other personal
other societal needs for fresh water uses (USBC 1994). This use is much Total consumption = 2360 km 3
will become even more difficult in higher than the average world per-
some regions; however, in other re- sonal use of 90 liters per person per Figure 2. Annual human water use
gions benefits might accrue because day (Brewster 1987). Worldwide, worldwide (data from Shiklomanov
of warmer temperatures and higher total use of fresh water averages 1993). Water withdrawn refers to wa-
rainfall for agriculture. approximately 1800 liters per per- ter pumped, and consumption refers to
For example, California, which is son per day for all uses (WRI 1991). water that is used and is nonrecover-
Total US freshwater withdrawals able (per year).
already experiencing water short-
ages, is likely to have a 20%-40% are approximately 1280 billion li-
decrease in mountain snowpack and ters per day, or approximately 5100 United States is used for agriculture
water flow through its river basins liters per person per day including (Solley et al. 1993).
(Vaux 1991). And the snowpack water use in irrigation, with 77% Different crops and regions vary
would most likely melt earlier in the coming from surface water and 23 % in their water requirements. Rain-
year, creating early summer short- withdrawn from ground water fall patterns, temperature, soil qual-
ages and more severe water short- (Solley et al. 1993). In China, only ity, and vegetative cover all influ-
ages late in the summer (Vaux 1991). approximately 1100 liters per per- ence soil moisture levels. For ideal
On the other hand, areas like Canada son per day are withdrawn for all growing conditions, soil moisture
may benefit from warming, which purposes, one-fourth of the use in should not fall below 50% in the
would create longer growing sea- the United States (Zhang 1990). root zone (Blackshaw 1990), but for
sons; however, these areas may be Postel et al. (1996) report that hu- some crops, like rice, more than
faced with water shortages (Parry mankind now uses 26% of total 50% is needed for full yields
and Carter 1989). evapotranspiration and 54% of all (Bhuiyan 1992). Good vegetative
If mean annual temperatures rise runoff in rivers, lakes, and other cover, high levels of soil organic
3?-4?C, rainfall in the US corn belt accessible sources. matter, active soil biota, and slow
region is projected to decline by ap- water runoff increase the percola-
proximately 10% (Downing and Crop production. Agricultural pro- tion of rainfall into the soil for use
Parry 1994). Low rainfall and in- duction consumes more fresh water by growing crops.
creased evaporation rates would than any other human activity The transfer of water to the atmos-
combine to limit corn production in (Falkenmark 1989). US agriculture phere from the terrestrial environ-
the region (Rosenzweig and Parry accounts for 87% of the fresh water ment by transpiration through vegeta-
1994). The predicted global warm- consumed after being withdrawn tion is estimated to range between
ing could increase world irrigation (Figure 2). Plants render all water 38% and 65% of precipitation de-
needs by 26% to maintain current that passes through them nonrecov- pending on the terrestrial ecosystem.2
production (Postel 1989). In addi- erable through evaporation and tran- The processes of carbon dioxide fixa-
tion to global warming, population spiration. In the United States, ap- tion and temperature control require
growth and associated activities may proximately 62% of the water used plants to transpire enormous amounts
influence water resources through in agriculture comes from surface of water. For example, a squash plant
other environmental changes, such sources and 38% comes from transpires ten times its fresh weight in
as deforestation, desertification, soil groundwater sources (Solley et al.
erosion, and loss of biodiversity 1993). Approximately 68% of all 2T. Dawson, 1995, personal communication.
(Heywood 1995). ground water withdrawn in the Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
February 1997 99
water per day, and many deciduous Table 2. Estimated liters of water re- amount of land under irrigation is
trees transpire two to six times their quired to produce 1 kg of food and slowly expanding, even though salin-
fresh weight per day. forage crops. ization, waterlogging, and siltation
The water required to grow vari- are decreasing productivity of some
Crop Liters/kg
ous food and forage crops ranges irrigated lands.3 Despite a small an-
from 500 to 2000 liters of water per nual increase in irrigated areas, the
kg of yield produced (Table 2). For Potatoes 500 per capita irrigated area has been
Wheat 900
instance, 1 ha of US corn transpires Alfalfa 900 declining since 1978 (Postel 1992).
approximately 4 million liters (4000 Sorghum 1110 For example, per capita irrigated
m3/ha) of water during its growing Corn 1400 land in the United States has de-
season, and an additional 2 million Rice 1912 clined 8% between 1978 and 1988
liters/ha evaporate concurrently from Soybeans 2000
Broilerchicken 3500 (USDA 1993).
the soil (Donahue et al. 1990). Thus, Beef 100,000 Irrigation requires a significant
during the growing season approxi- amount of energy for pumping and
mately 600 mm (6 million liters/ha) moving irrigation water. Annually,
of rainfall is needed for corn produc- approximately 120 x 1012kcal/yr, or
tion. Even with 800-1000 mm (8-10 Livestock production. Producing 1 approximately 10% of the total en-
million liters/ha) of annual rainfall kg of animal protein requires ap- ergy expended each year in US crop
in the corn belt region, corn usually proximately 100 times more water and livestock production, is used to
suffers from lack of water at some than producing 1 kg of vegetable pump water for irrigation. Partially
point during the summer growing protein (Pimentel and Pimentel irrigated wheat uses 4.2 times more
season (Troeh and Thompson 1993). 1996). In the United States, live- energy than rainfed wheat, and in
High-yielding rice requires much stock directly use only 1.3% of the the US, irrigated alfalfa requires three
more water for production, from 10 total water used in agriculture, but times more energy than if it is rainfed
to 18 million liters of water/ha. Up including the water required for for- (Singh and Mittal 1992). In Ne-
to 50% more rice per hectare is age and grain production greatly braska, irrigated corn production
produced under flooded conditions increases the water requirements for requires more than three times the
than under sprinkler irrigation. livestock production. Producing 1 energy of rainfed corn production
The biomass and total yields of kg of beef requires approximately (Pimentel 1980). Delivering the 7
soybeans (2.3x 103 kg/ha) and wheat 100 kg of hay-forage and 4 kg of million liters of irrigation water
(2.7 x 103 kg/ha) produce less bio- grain (Pimentel et al. 1980). Produc- needed by a hectare of irrigated corn
mass and total yields than corn (7.6 ing this much forage and grain re- from surface water sources requires
x 103 kg/ha) or rice (6.2 x 103 kg/ha) quires approximately 100,000 liters approximately 8 million kcal of fos-
on average (USDA 1993). Neverthe- of water to produce approximately sil fuel (Pimentel 1980). This irriga-
less, soybeans are highly consump- 100 kg of plant biomass plus 5400 tion energy is 1.5 times the total of
tive of water, requiring approxi- liters to produce 4 kg of grain all other energy inputs required for
mately 4.6 million liters/ha for (Falkenmark 1994). On rangeland, corn production. If the water has to
more than 200,000 liters of water be pumped from a depth of 100 m,
transpiration. Wheat, by contrast,
are needed to produce 1 kg of beef the energy cost rises to approximately
requires only approximately 2.4
million liters/ha. (Thomas 1987). Forage, some cere- 24,500 kcal, more than three times
Sorghum and millet production als, and livestock can be produced the energy cost of surface water
with rainfalls of only 150 to 200 mm (Gleick 1993a). In some areas, wa-
require only 250-300 mm (2.5-3
million liters/ha) of annual rainfall per year (1.5-2 million liters/ha; Rees ter must be pumped from 200 m,
(Gleick 1993a), and some cereal pro- et al. 1990, USDA 1993), but pro- requiring a much greater fossil en-
duction can take place with annual duction is low under such arid con- ergy investment. Furthermore, the
rainfall levels as low as 200-250 ditions. dollar cost of delivering 7 million
mm (Rees et al. 1990). Under these Animals vary in the amounts of liters of water per hectare from a
relatively arid conditions, crop yields water required for their production. depth of 30 m is approximately
are low (1-2.5 x 103 kg/ha), even In contrast to beef, 1 kg of broiler $1000/ha (Hinz 1985). Few crops
with adequate amounts of fertilizer chickens can be produced with ap- are sufficiently valuable to justify
(USDA 1993). proximately 2.5 kg of grain requiring spending $1000/ha for irrigation
US agricultural production is pro- approximately 3500 liters of water. alone. In regions with falling ground-
jected to expand because of increased water tables, the high costs of pump-
food needs and the increase in popu- Irrigation and energy use. Both wa- ing ground water eventually make
lation. The projected 30% increase ter and energy resources are ex- crop production progressively less
in US crop and livestock production pended in the irrigation of arid land economical.
during the next two decades will to make them productive. Approxi- In total, approximately 10 mil-
mately 16% of the world's lion kcal are expended for machin-
significantly stress water resources cropland
in the central United States. Increas- is irrigated (WRI 1992) and approxi- ery, fuel, fertilizers, pesticides, par-
ing crop yields carries a parallel in- mately 33% of the world's food is
crease in freshwater consumption in produced on this irrigated land 3D. Haith, 1994, personal communication.
agriculture. (Postel 1992). Worldwide, the Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
101
February 1997
Distribution of river water has Table 4. Cost of delivering 1000 liters of clean, safe water in the United States.
also created conflicts between sev-
eral states of the United States, Treatment Cost Source
Mexico, and Canada (Gleick 1994c).
For instance, the Colorado River is Chlorination 0.3-17? Troyan and Hanson 1989
shared by several states, including Sewage treatment 8-100 EPA 1980, Gleick 1993a
California, Nevada, Colorado, New Activatedcarbon 13? Gammieand Giesbreck1986
Removingsalts 21? EPA1980
Mexico, Utah, and Arizona. Because Potable water (processing) 30-33? Unpublisheddataa
these states depend heavily on the Desalinization (ocean water) Approximately$2.00 Gruen1994, Ingram1991, Kally1994
river water, the Colorado River is a
trickle by the time it reaches the aJ. Rogers, 1980, personal communication.Village of CayugaHeights, NY.
Gulf of California and after Mexico
takes its share of the water (Postel into streams and lakes ranges from m3 (Bolling 1990). If US farmers
1995). 8? to 10? per 1000 liters (EPA 1980, paid the full cost of water, they
Dam construction on the Ganges Gleick 1993a). If salt water from would probably manage irrigation
River has also led to water rights oceans has to be desalinated, the water more effectively (LaVeen and
disputes. The Ganges River arises in costs are enormous, ranging up to $2 King 1985).
the Himalayas and flows through per 1000 liters (Table 4). At this The 12% of US cropland that is
India and eventually into Bangladesh. rate, for an average per capita use of irrigated produces 27% of the dollar
Between 1961 and 1975, India con- water of 5100 liters/day (the total value of all crops (USDA 1993).
structed a dam to divert water to a US freshwater withdrawal rate), it However, this 27% dollar value does
tributary that carries water to would cost approximately $10 per not take into account the costs to the
Calcutta (McCaffrey 1993). This person per day to use desalinated government of supplying and subsi-
dam has reduced the flow of water water. In some cases, sewage efflu- dizing a large portion of US irriga-
to Bangladesh, where it is needed for ent might be used for crop and for- tion water. The construction cost
irrigation. In addition, the natural age production, and this would re- subsidy for western irrigation is ap-
flow of the Ganges is essential to duce overall water costs (Tanji and proximately $4870/ha, which repre-
prevent siltation and flooding in Enos 1994). sents an annual construction cost
Bangladesh and to prevent salt wa- Cleaning water and reducing the subsidy of approximately $440. ha-1
ter intrusion from the Bay of Bengal. BOD (biological oxygen demand) is * yr41over the life of the project (US
India's continued diversion of more energy costly; removing 1 kg of BOD Congress 1989). An annual $540/ha
and more water from the Ganges has requires 1 kWh (Trobish 1992). Most is added to the construction cost for
recently led to riots and protests in of the cost of cleaning water arises water and power for moving water
Bangladesh (Khurshida 1989). from the energy and equipment costs (LaVeen and King 1985). Thus, the
involved in pumping and delivering total subsidy for irrigation per hec-
Limits to water use water. Delivering 1 m3 (1000 liters tare in the western region of the
or 1 metric ton) of water in the United States is approximately $980
Utilization of fresh water is limited United States requires the expendi- *ha'1 . yr'1; based on these data, this
by pollution, economic costs, and ture of approximately 1140 kcal. irrigation costs approximately 10?/m3.
land management practices. Excluding the energy for pumping The total annual government subsidy
sewage, the amount of energy re- is estimated to be approximately $4.4
Costs of water treatment. Surface quired to process 1 m3 in a tertiary billion for the 4.5 million ha irri-
and groundwater pollution not only waste water treatment plant requires gated in the West.
pose a threat to public and environ- approximately 70 kcal of energy.5 Other nations have similar pat-
mental health, but the high cost of The cost of water treatment and the terns of subsidies. For example, farm-
water treatments further limits the energy used to purify water will most ers in Mexico pay only 11% of their
availability of water for use. De- likely increase in the future as popu- water's full cost, and farmers in In-
pending on the water quality and the lation growth increases both water donesia and Pakistan pay only 13%
purification treatment used, potable pollution and water demand. (Postel 1992). Such undercharging
water costs from 30? to 33? per for irrigation water in the United
1000 liters (Table 4; Gleick 1993a).4 Economic costs and subsidies for States and other nations encourages
If the water has to be run through water. Because the high cost of treat- the planting of relatively low-value
charcoal filters for further purifica- ing and delivering water can limit its crops and the inefficient use of wa-
tion, it costs an additional 13? per availability and use, many govern- ter. In general, vegetable and fruit
1000 liters. If salts also have to be ments throughout the world subsi- crops return more per dollar invested
removed from the water, costs rise dize water for agriculture. For ex- in irrigation water than field crops.
by an additional 21? per 1000 liters ample, farmers in California pay as For example, in Israel 1 m3 of water
(EPA 1980). In the United States, the little as 0.50 per m3, whereas the from irrigation produces 79? worth
cost of treating sewage for release public pays approximately 250 per of groundnuts and 57? worth of
tomatoes but only 13 worth of corn
4J. Rogers, 1980, personal communication. SB. Cross, 1994, personal communication. grain and 12? worth of wheat
Village of Cayuga Heights, NY. Village of Cayuga Heights, NY. (Fishelson 1994).
February 1997
103
all influence salt accumulation Conclusions water pollution. According to the
(Dinar and Zilberman 1991). World- World Health Organization (1992),
wide, approximately half of all irri- The availability and quality of fresh approximately 90% of all illnesses
gation systems are adversely affected water has become a major interna- in developing countries result from
by salinization (Szabolcs 1989). Ag- tional problem. Limited water re- waterborne parasites and pathogens.
ricultural land lost by salinization is sources and inefficient water use, As fossil energy supplies decline,
estimated to be approximately 2 combined with the rapidly growing large amounts of water will be needed
million ha/yr (Umali 1993). world population, will further stress to make use of some less common
Subsurface runoff and leaching the world's finite freshwater supply. forms of fossil energy, such as shale
from saline soil can increase salt Competition for water within re- oil. New renewable energy technolo-
levels in river and stream water. gions and countries continues to gies that require less water than ex-
Some ground water and aquifers also grow. isting fossil energy technologies need
accumulate salts after extensive irri- Water resources, along with fer- to be developed.
gation (Stolte et al. 1992). As the tile soil, energy, and biodiversity, Water limits exist in many regions
Colorado River flows through the are vital to maintaining the world's of the world even without the effects
Grand River Valley in Colorado and food supply. Agricultural produc- of the projected global warming. By
water is withdrawn for irrigation, tion currently accounts for approxi- causing changes in rainfall patterns
some is later returned to the river mately 87% of the world's freshwa- and more rapid evaporation, global
along with an estimated 18 x 103 kg/ ter consumption. In the future, the warming is likely to intensify the wa-
ha of salts leached from the irrigated need for and the use of water in ter crisis in many regions of the earth.
land (EPA 1976). At times during agriculture will increase as the pro- Increased water stress, with or with-
the summer, the Red River in Texas duction of food and fiber is aug- out global warming, is projected to
and Oklahoma is more saline than mented to meet the needs of the have a negative impact on agricultural
seawater, because of leached salts expanding world population. In and forest production and other plant
(USWRC 1979). Disposal of saline many parts of the world, per capita and animal species throughout the
water also has a detrimental impact freshwater resources available for world ecosystem.
on agriculture and aquatic species food production and for other hu- To avoid further water problems
(Kelman and Qualset 1991). The man needs are declining and are and lessen projected harsh outcomes
addition of salts to water not only becoming scarce in the arid regions. for the future, humankind must con-
severely limits water use, but the In the future, in arid regions where serve water and energy, and must
process of desalinization is expen- groundwater resources are the pri- protect land and biological re-
sive. mary source of water, irrigation sources-all of which are vital for a
The severity of water use and salin- probably will have to be curtailed sustainable economy and environ-
ization is illustrated by the Aral Sea and the types of crops and livestock ment. Humans can manage water
in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The altered to meet the changing water resources more efficiently in agri-
surface area of the Aral Sea has been situation. culture and in other activities. Con-
reduced by nearly 50% and its vol- To encourage conservation and servation of water and -pollution
ume by 75% during the last 33 years to increase overall efficiency, subsi- control by individuals as well as by
(Postel 1995), while its salinity has dies for irrigation water should be society is essential if the integrity of
more than tripled (WRI 1994). The phased out. Irrigation technologies the water supply is to be protected.
reduction and salinization in the Aral that make efficient use of water for
Sea was brought about by diversion crop production must be encour- Acknowledgments
of river water for irrigation pri- aged. In general, more efficient use
marily for cotton production (WRI of water in agricultural production We thank the following people for
1994). could be achieved by providing farm- reading an earlier draft of this ar-
Waterlogging is another prob- ers with incentives to conserve wa- ticle and for their many helpful sug-
lem associated with irrigation. ter and soil resources. Controlling gestions: S. I. Bhuiyan, International
Over time, seepage from canals erosion also helps conserve water by Rice Research Institute; T. Dawson,
and irrigation of fields results in reducing rapid water runoff. Pro- Cornell University; Wen Dazhong,
the rise of water tables and water- tecting forests and other biological Chinese Academy of Sciences; J. D.
logging. In the absence of adequate resources facilitates effective use of Hamilton, George Washington Uni-
drainage, this water rises into the water resources and helps maintain versity; M. Giampietro, National
root zone and damages the growing the hydrologic cycle. Nutrition Institute, Rome; P. Gleick,
crops. These waterlogged fields are Most human activities adversely Pacific Institute, Oakland, Califor-
sometimes referred to as "wet affect the quality of freshwater re- nia; J. Hardy, Cornell University; P.
deserts" because they are rendered sources. Chemical and pathogen Harriot, Cornell University; R. D.
unproductive (Postel 1992). To pollution of water supplies not only Lacewell, Texas A&M University;
prevent salinization and waterlog- diminish the quality of water but J. Lancaster, Science Policy Insti-
ging, sufficient water and adequate cause human health problems. Agri- tute, Boston, Massachusetts; J. Letey,
drainage must be available to leach cultural and industrial chemicals and University of California, Riverside;
out salts anddrain the excess water the lack of community sanitary fa- G. Levine, Cornell University; M.
from the soil. cilities are the primary causes of Pimentel, Cornell University; Z.