Water

CHAPTER 16
Water on Earth

2/3RDS OF THE EARTH

IS COVERED BY WATER
IF WE POOLED ALL THE
WATER ON EARTH, IT MOST OF FRESH
WOULD BE 332.5
MILLION CUBIC MILES THAT IS WATER IS
(MI3), OR 1,386 MILLION
CUBIC KILOMETERS SALT WATER SCARCE
(KM3)
 PERCENT
WAT E R
WAT E R V O L U M E , I N PERCENT OF OF
WAT E R S O U R C E VOLUME, IN
CUBIC KILOMETERS F R E S H WAT E R T O TA L
CUBIC MILES
WAT E R

Oceans, Seas, & Bays 321,000,000 1,338,000,000 -- 96.54

Ice caps, Glaciers, & 5,773,000 24,064,000 68.7 1.74

Permanent Snow

Groundwater 5,614,000 23,400,000 -- 1.69

Fresh 2,526,000 10,530,000 30.1 0.76

Saline 3,088,000 12,870,000 -- 0.93 One estimate of global water

distribution
Soil Moisture 3,959 16,500 0.05 0.001 (Percents are rounded, so will not add to 100)
Ground Ice & Permafrost 71,970 300,000 0.86 0.022 Source: Igor Shiklomanov's chapter "World
Lakes 42,320 176,400 -- 0.013
fresh water resources" in Peter H. Gleick
(editor), 1993,
Fresh 21,830 91,000 0.26 0.007
Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's
Saline 20,490 85,400 -- 0.006 Fresh Water Resources (Oxford University
Atmosphere 3,095 12,900 0.04 0.001 Press, New York).
Swamp Water 2,752 11,470 0.03 0.0008

Rivers 509 2,120 0.006 0.0002

Biological Water 269 1,120 0.003 0.0001

Drinking Water
2 Sources

◦ Surface Water
◦ Rivers, lakes, reservoirs

◦ Ground Water
◦ Aquifers

◦ Less than 1% of water on earth is drinkable

https://gpm.nasa.gov/education/water-cycle/hydrologic-cycle
Current Water Issues in the United States
Eastern US: Growing populations
◦ Increasing Demand for water
◦ Effective management of large water systems
◦ Protections from groundwater (aquifer) contamination
◦ Stormwater runoff

Western US:
◦ Using aquafers faster than they can recharge
◦ Urban areas growing, water dedicated to agriculture
◦ Water transfers complicated and controversial

All over the US:

◦ Loss of wetlands
◦ Instream flows
◦ Climate change leads to HOT droughts, catastrophic fires, biome shifts,
habitat loss
 Water Rights in the US
Eastern States
◦ Riparian Water Rights
◦ Reasonable Use Doctrine
◦ Old English Law
◦ No prior use necessary

Western States
◦ Prior Appropriation
◦ Senior and Junior Water Rights
◦ Preferential Use Doctrine
◦ First in Time, First in Line
◦ Use it or Lose it

http://maps.maphill.com/united-states/maps/satellite-map/satellite-map-of-united-states.jpg
 How do you pay for water?
• Included in rent?
• Fixed monthly fee?
Water Pricing • Water meter – pay per 1,000 gallons?
• Drill a well ($5,000+) then replace the
pump every 15 years ($1,000)?

Pricing schemes vary from town

to town
 Average Cost Pricing
$ MC
Efficient Allocation:
◦ p1 and q1
◦ Total Revenue = a + b + c + d
◦ Total Cost = c + d
◦ Profit (or excess revenues) = a + b
Should a Municipality “Profit” from it’s Citizens???

p1
a d
b
c MB

q1 Quantity (millions of gallons per year)

 Average Cost Pricing
Efficient Allocation:
$ MC ◦ p1 and q1
◦ Total Revenue = a + b + c + d
◦ Total Cost = c + d
◦ Profit (or excess revenues) = a + b

Average Cost Pricing

p1 g ◦ p2 and q2
a d f ◦ Total Revenue = b + c + e
p2 ◦ Total Cost = c + d + e + f + g
b
e MB ◦ If b = d + f + g, then this is average cost pricing
c
◦ Is Average Cost Pricing Efficient?
q1 q2 Quantity (millions of gallons per year)
 Average Cost Pricing
Average Cost Pricing
$ MC ◦ p2 and q2
◦ Total Revenue = b + c + e
◦ Total Cost = c + d + e + f + g
◦ If b = d + f + g, then this is average cost pricing
◦ Is Average Cost Pricing Efficient?

p1 g ◦ Price is below MC!

a d f ◦ Too much is sold for too low of a price!
p2 ◦ e + f + g is a Dead Weight Loss!
b
e MB
c

q1 q2 Quantity (millions of gallons per year)

 Declining Block Pricing
$ What if the MC is Diminishing?
o The utility has Total Costs of a + b
o Total Revenues are only b
o Water supply company faces losses of a
o This may be acceptable for municipal (government)
a providers
p1
o Higher quantitates are less expensive to deliver
MC
o Homes have very narrow pipes
o Hospitals have pipes with a much wider diameter
b
MB

q1 Quantity (millions of gallons per year)

 Declining Block Pricing
Equilibrium for household use is p1 and q1
$ ◦ Here, TC = a + b + e
◦ TR = b + e
◦ Loss of a
◦ Loss is minimized at equilibrium

Equilibrium for institutional use is p2 and q2

◦ TC = a + b + c + d + e + f + g
a ◦ TR = e + f + g
p1 ◦ Loss of a + b + c + d
b ◦ Loss is minimized at equilibrium
c d MC
p2
g
f Solution: add a Fixed Connection Charge to the per gallon price
e
MB1 MB2 to cover losses

q1 q2 Quantity (millions of gallons per year)

 Other pricing schemes
$ Peak Load Pricing Increasing Block Pricing
$

MC
MC

p2
p1
MB2 p2
p1

MB1 MB1 MB2

q1 q2 Quantity Quantity
(thousands of gallons per month) q1 q2 (thousands of gallons per month)